A passage from the Report of the Chief Examiner shows the great improvements which had taken place in the system of accounts, and the strange laxity which had existed before the late reforms. By this it appeared that under the old system the accounts of the provincial postmasters were usually from three to six months in arrear; that no vouchers were demanded for the proper disbursement of the money with which the postmasters were credited; that through this dilatoriness they were themselves frequently ignorant of the real state of their affairs, and under temptation to use the public money for their own purposes;[177] while, at the same time, the revenue was injured by the delay in remitting the balances. This was contrasted with the new system, under which "each postmaster renders his account week by week, with all its proper vouchers for every receipt and every payment, and showing the revenue left in his hands at the close of each week to be the smallest possible sum."[178] At the same time, notwithstanding the "many and great struggles made to bring the accounts of the Post Office into a satisfactory state," the force in the offices of the Receiver and Accountant-General had been reduced from ninety-three to fifty-one, and that not only without any demand for extra time, but with a fair allowance of holiday to those engaged. PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT FROM 1855 TO 1859. NUMBER OF POST OFFICES, ETC. The number of receptacles for letters in the United Kingdom, which before the establishment of penny postage was about 4,500, and which had subsequently been raised to about 10,000, was increased during the period now under consideration to more than 13,000,[179] thus nearly tripling the original number.[180] Of these about 2,000 were pillar-boxes. It is to be observed that, while these cannot fulfil all the purposes of post offices, they have the advantage over them in one important respect. They can be cleared at all hours of the night, when receiving-houses and sub-post offices are closed; a convenience especially valuable in London, in reference to the morning mails. Their superiority in respect of economy is obvious; and this valuable quality so facilitates their multiplication that in London, by the close of the period, there was scarcely a house but had a posting-place within a furlong.[181]