"_March 8th, 1848._--The Postmaster-General, in speaking of the many improvements which I have effected, remarked the singular absence of all complaints from the public, though some [of the improvements] are more or less restrictive." Among the means formerly taken to account for the existence of a revenue under what it regarded as the ruinous system of penny postage, the Post Office had uniformly maintained that a large profit was obtained in the Money Order Department. A return now made to Parliament showed that, so far from this being the case, the expenditure of the previous year, the last before that department came under my control, exceeded the receipts by about £10,000. A summary of the improvements effected thus far in this department will be found in a letter addressed by me to the Postmaster-General on January 3rd, 1849, which is given in the Appendix. Some incidents of the years 1847 and 1848, which for convenience I have hitherto omitted, are yet worthy of record:-- _Carelessness in Remittance._ "_May 27th, 1847._--Mr. Ramsey (missing-letter clerk) brought me a packet containing whole bank-notes to the amount of £1500, so carelessly made up that they had all slipped out; and to add to the carelessness the packet was imperfectly addressed to some country house in Herefordshire, no post town being named. It had found its way, after much delay, into the post office at Ross, and had been sent to London by the postmistress. Instances of such carelessness are not infrequent." I may add that, some years afterwards, there was sent to the office for the book-post a large sum in bank-notes, the ends of the packet being left open, according to book post rule, so as to expose the contents. It is much to be wished that all persons inclined to such carelessness would pause to think how grievous is the temptation to which the humbler servants of the Post Office are thereby exposed. _Attempted Robbery._ "_July 7th, 1847._--There was a serious attempt this morning (fortunately unsuccessful) to rob a letter-carrier who was taking out a large number of bankers' parcels for delivery. It is said in the office that they contained nearly half-a-million of money." The circumstances of this extraordinary proceeding are thus described in the "Annual Register":-- _From the "Annual Register" for 1847. Chronicle, p. 82._ "July 7. MURDEROUS ATTACK ON A LETTER-CARRIER.