THE LATER MAILS 15 



attention to fast day-coaches on their own 

 account. 



Thus the Post Office found itself in a novel 

 and unAVonted position. Coach-proprietors and 

 contractors, instead of anxiously endeavouring to 

 ohtain the mail-contracts, held aloof, and the Post 

 Office surveyors, when renewals were necessary, 

 found they had to make the advances and do the 

 courting. Then the tahles were turned with a 

 vengeance ! Por Benjamin Home's " Poreign 

 Mail," carrying what were called the " hlack 

 hags " {i.e. hlack tarpaulin to j^i'otect the mail 

 from sea-water) hetween London and Dover, 

 Is. 3f f/. per douhle mile was paid ; W^d. for the 

 Carmarthen and Pembroke ; and 8t/., and then 

 9fZ., for the Norwich Mail, by Newmarket, 

 strongly opposed as it was by the NorAvich " Tele- 

 graph," and therefore loading badly on that lonely 

 road. Por the Chester, originally contracted for 

 at Is. a mile, then doAvn to 3f/., and in 1826 up 

 to 4f/., Qd. Avas jiaid, on account of passengers 

 going l)y the direct Holyhead Mail, and the 

 Holyhead itself Avas raised to the same figure 

 Avhen fast day-stages had l)egun to run from 

 ShreAVsbury. 



A Committee of the House of Commons had 

 sat upon this question before these jirices Avere 

 giA^en, and much evidence Avas taken ; but these 

 revised tariffs did by no means end the matter. 

 Substantial contractors Avould in many instances 

 haA^e nothing to do A\dth the Post Office, and the 

 Department could not run the risk of employing 



