20 THE WONDERFUL CENTURY. CHAP. m. 



pence, or double, and one over an ounce and a half ten- 

 pence, or four times that of the half-ounce letter, al- 

 though an extra halfpenny would probably cover the 

 extra cost of the service in both cases. 



The same inability of the official mind to carry out an 

 admitted principle is seen also in the case of Postal 

 Orders. The cost to the Post Office of receiving and 

 paying money is exactly the same whether the amount 

 is eighteenpence or fifteen shillings, and there is neither 

 justice nor common-sense in charging three times as 

 much in the latter case. There is no risk, because the 

 money is paid in advance; and as the amounts taken in 

 and paid out for postal orders must be approximately 

 equal, it is difficult to see what justification there is for 

 making any difference in charge. The same objection 

 applies to Money Orders; and "as there is doubtless a cer- 

 tain percentage of both which, from various causes, are 

 never presented for payment, the profit to the Post Office 

 must be greater in case of the higher amounts, which is 

 another reason why these should not be exceptionally 

 taxed. When the railways are taken over by the state, 

 to be worked for the good of the community only, the 

 principle will admit of great extension, each increment 

 of distance being charged at a lower rate, just as is each 

 increment of weight in our inland letters. 



The third stage in the means of communication, when 

 by means of electric signals it was rendered independent 

 of locomotion, is that which has especially distinguished 

 the present century. The electric telegraph serves us as 

 a new sense, enabling us to communicate with friends at 

 the other side of the globe almost as rapidly and as easily 

 as if they were in different parts of the same town. The 



