"17th December, 1856. "MY DEAR LORD DUKE,--Active measures for the improvement of the date stamp have long been in progress, and much has already been accomplished; a further minute on the subject will be ready, I hope, by to-morrow night's post; Lord Campbell's censures are therefore, to say the least, ill-timed. "The foreign stamping is on the whole somewhat better than ours, but the difference is not great, and Mr. Bokenham thinks it will disappear when we have a better ink. The foreign stamping is, I believe, in most cases similar to our own, but the work is done more leisurely. "We have tried various machines, but as yet without success. My son thinks he can overcome the difficulties, and he has for a long time been at work at a model; but your Grace is aware that mechanical inventions are slow of realization; still I hope something may be accomplished before very long. "I have, &c., "ROWLAND HILL. "His Grace the DUKE OF ARGYLL." More than two years elapsed before a satisfactory result was arrived at. Amongst the various machines tried, there were several that would do the work, but such as produced legible marks were deficient in speed, and _vice versâ_; so that the human hand, imperfect as was its operation, still retained its superiority. In the year 1859, however, machines devised by my son were "at length constructed, which are found," says the Report, "to perform the work of stamping and obliterating more quickly and perfectly than by hand."[205] My son, however, laboured hard for further improvement so successfully that at the present time, with much increased legibility in the impression, the speed of operation as compared with the best handwork is at least fifty per cent. higher. The value of his invention was, two or three years after my resignation, on Mr. Tilley's recommendation, handsomely recognised by a special grant of £1,500; of which, however, about £650 was in remuneration for actual outlay. SAVINGS BANKS. In the year 1859 the first move was made towards that important improvement, the establishment of the Post Office Savings Bank; Mr. Edward Baines, M.P. for Leeds, enclosing to me unofficially, but with a request for attention, a paper on the subject, drawn up by Mr. Charles William Sikes, of Huddersfield, the originator of the plan. I wrote on August 2nd to express my concurrence in Mr. Sikes's views, and my readiness to do what I could towards giving them effect. My letter was as follows:-- "August 2nd, 1859. "MY DEAR SIR,--Pray excuse the unavoidable delay in replying to your letter of the 30th ult.