THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 501 



dance of men whose integrity is above suspicion ; 

 secondly, to the admirable training for business (viz., 

 the adaptation of means to an end, as Mr. Walter 

 Bagehot happily defines it) which the Post-Office ser- 

 vice affords ; and, thirdly, to the corporate nature of 

 the Civil Service. In the establishment of almost 

 every other trading company, as it seems to me, the 

 promoters aim at some advantage for themselves and 

 their friends beyond what is avowed, getting perhaps a 

 larger allotment of shares, or obtaining them on more 

 favorable terms than the general public, or at least secur- 

 ing appointments for their nominees. Indeed, so general 

 is this practice, that it would, I suppose, be impossible 

 to persuade the public that a company had been formed 

 on such a footing as to give equal benefit to every in- 

 dividual shareholder. On the other hand, when the 

 Civil Service Supply Association was formed, not only 

 did not the originators of it obtain any special benefit 

 for themselves, but no one ever imagined that they did. 

 During the eight years that the Association has been 

 in existence, though nearly ,2,500,000 have passed 

 through the committee's hands, there has arisen, so far 

 as I know, no suspicion whatever of any dishonesty, 

 or even of any questionable dealing. 



"As I have before stated, the Association originated 

 and was organized in the Post-Office a department 

 which, under the guidance and control of Sir Rowland 

 Hill, has seen a great rise of able and energetic men. 

 Even in earlier days, Post-Office men had, of course, 

 taken constant part in a vast and complex business ; 

 but the introduction of penny postage had prodigiously 

 enlarged this business in all its branches. Moreover, 

 Sir Rowland's system of management particularly 



