2 72 THE COACHING AGE. 



used to be about one shilling and twopence, but if 

 sent in a parcel by mail or coach would be more than 

 three shillings and sixplence. 



Whether the carriage of parcels by the Post Office 

 — which seems to be a purely commercial rnatter, 

 and not necessarily adopted in the due conduct of its 

 legitimate province in conveying the correspondence 

 of the kingdom — be financially successful, may, as 

 I have observed, be scarcely ascertainable at present ; 

 but it bears somewhat the aspect of assuming a branch 

 of business which could be efficiently carried out with 

 means already existing. That what I may call the 

 enforced reductions made by the railway companies 

 in their charges are most welcome to those who have 

 to pay them, I have no doubt ; but one would 

 imagine that private enterprise through the medium 

 of companies or individuals alone would have been 

 equal to accomplishing that object without the in- 

 tervention of a Government establishment. But 

 while expressing this opinion, I would also observe 

 that the railways have almost a monopoly of the 

 carrying business, and from the readiness with which 

 they seem to have issued, their reduced tariff" in 

 anticipation of the parcel-post coming into operation, 

 it may be inferred that they had been receiving rates 

 for carriage beyond what would return a reasonable 

 profit after all expenses were discharged. 



