The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 2 (of 2)Hill, Rowland, Sir
History
The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Hill, Rowland, Sir
Hill, Rowland, Sir, 1795-1879; Postal service -- Great Britain -- Rates
Various measures of economy were adopted; not, for the most part, of
sufficient importance to be mentioned in detail, though of considerable
value in their aggregate effect. One, however, by its magnitude, claims
distincter record, being the release for other duties of such a number
of clerks as reduced the Money Order staff, in proportion to its amount
of business, by nearly forty per cent.; an economy effected by the
mere simplification of accounts and modes of procedure. Two others may
be mentioned as curious, the first being a saving of probably about
£800 a-year through the substitution for "guard books" of an apparatus
invented by Mr. Walliker, one of the clerks (now Postmaster of Hull),
and the second the saving of £700 a year by a mere reduction, and that
not the first, in the size of the letter of advice. By the various
improvements thus introduced into the Money Order Office since it came
under my superintendence it was found--the accounts being at length
for the first time balanced--that the annual loss of more than £10,000
had been converted into a small gain. It should be mentioned that, in
fetching up the arrear of accounts, debts, which ought long since to
have been claimed, were found owing by various deputy postmasters, and
had to be recovered, in some instances, of their sureties; a proceeding
sometimes involving much hardship. In one case, at Bilston, where the
payment thus enforced amounted to £230, the postmaster had been dead
some years.
_Condition of Clerks Improved._
The Money Order Department being thus made self-supporting, I felt
justified in recommending not only a considerable increase in the
salaries of the probationary clerks, but also an addition to those
of the lowest grade on the staff. I was also enabled to extend
and regulate the leave of absence in the department. A few months
afterwards, the Postmaster-General thus described the latter measure in
the Upper House, reporting afterwards that the Lords were much struck
with it:--
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