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Detailed Contents
List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Digital Resources
Part I Introduction
Chapter 1 Introduction to Forensic Psychology
Chapter Objectives
The Forensic Sciences
Forensic Psychology: An Overview
Brief History of Forensic Psychology
Forensic Psychology Today
Police and Public Safety Psychology
Legal Psychology
Psychology of Crime and Delinquency
Victimology and Victim Services
Correctional Psychology
Forensic Psychology, Forensic Psychiatry, and Forensic
Social Work
Ethical Issues
Careers in Psychology
Education and Training
Graduate Training: Doctoral Level
Licensure
Employment
The Applied Specialties
Forensic Psychology as a Specialty
Educational and Training Requirements
Research and Practice Careers in Forensic Psychology
Police and Public Safety Psychology
Legal Psychology
Family Forensic Psychology
Psychology of Crime and Delinquency
Forensic School Psychology
Victimology and Victim Services
Correctional Psychology
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
8
Questions for Review
Part II Police and Investigative Psychology
Chapter 2 Police and Public Safety Psychology
Chapter Objectives
Police Psychology: A Developing Profession
Forensic Assessment in Police and Public Safety
Psychology
Police Culture
Job Analysis
Preemployment and Post-Offer Psychological
Evaluations
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and
Beyond
Screening Out and Screening In
Commonly Used Inventories in Police Screening
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–
Revised (MMPI-2)
The Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI)
The California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)
The NEO Personality Inventory–Revised (NEO
PI-R)
The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
(16-PF)
Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation (FFDE)
Special Unit Evaluations
Conclusions on Psychological Testing for Police and
Public Safety Personnel
Psychological Intervention Responsibilities
Stress Management
Organizational Stress
Task-Related Stress
External Stress
Personal Stress
Post-Shooting Traumatic Reactions
Police Suicide
Operational Responsibilities
Hostage-Taking Incidents
Crisis Negotiation
Consulting and Research Activities
Gender and Ethnic Minority Issues
9
Police Bias and Excessive Force
Police Corruption
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 3 Psychology of Investigations
Chapter Objectives
Investigative Psychology
Profiling
Crime Scene Profiling
Geographical Profiling and Crime Mapping
Suspect-Based Profiling
Psychological Profiling
The Psychological Autopsy
Problems With Profiling
Crime-Scene Profiling Limitations
Suspect-Based Profiling Limitations
Psychological Autopsy Limitations
Psychological Profiling Limitations
Overall Limitations
Police Interviewing and Interrogation
Accusatorial Versus Information Gathering
Approaches
HUMINT Interrogation
Interrogation of Juveniles
False Confessions
Summary
Detection of Deception
The Polygraph
Research on the Polygraph
Forensic Hypnosis
Hypnotic Trance Theory
Cognitive-Behavioral Viewpoint
Hypnosis in Forensic Settings
Eyewitness Evidence
Eyewitness Testimony
Cognitive Interview
Identifying the Face
Unconscious Transference
Own-Race Bias (ORB)
Pretrial Identification Methods
10
Lineups and Photo Spreads
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Part III Legal Psychology
Chapter 4 Consulting and Testifying
Chapter Objectives
Court Structure and Jurisdiction
Civil and Criminal Courts
The Judicial Process
The Pretrial Stage
The Trial Stage
The Disposition Stage
The Appellate Stage
The Assessment of Risk
Can Violence Be Predicted?
Clinical Versus Actuarial Prediction
Dynamic and Static Risk Factors
Risk Assessment Instruments
Trial and Litigation Consultation
Scientific Jury Selection
Witness Preparation
The Voir Dire
Trial Consultation: The Main Concerns
Expert Testimony
Expert Certification
Legal Standards for the Admission of Scientific
Evidence
The Confidentiality Issue
Duty to Warn or Protect
Ultimate Issue or Ultimate Opinion Testimony
Surviving the Witness Stand
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 5 Consulting With Criminal Courts
Chapter Objectives
Competency to Stand Trial
Legal Standard for Competency
Immigration Proceedings
Self-Representation in Criminal Cases
11
Evaluating Adjudicative Competence
Competency Assessment Instruments
The Competency Screening Test (CST)
The MacArthur Competency Assessment Tool–
Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA)
Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial—
Revised
Other Measures of Competency
Assessment of Malingering
Restoration to Competency
Drugs and the Incompetent Defendant
Insanity
Insanity Standards
Incidence of Insanity Defense
Assessment of Criminal Responsibility
Instruments for Evaluation
Insanity Trials
Treatment of Defendants Found Not Guilty by Reason
of Insanity
Other Psychological Defenses Pertaining to Criminal
Conduct
Sentencing Evaluations
Risk Assessment
Capital Sentencing
Sex Offender Sentencing
Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 6 Family Law and Other Forms of Civil Litigation
Chapter Objectives
Family or Domestic Courts
Child Custody Evaluations
Child Custody Standards
The Ultimate Issue Question
Methods of Evaluation in Child Custody Cases
Assessment Measures
Visitation Risk Assessments
Parental Relocation
Research on Custody Arrangements
Impact of Divorce on Children
12
The Forensic Psychologist as a Case-Blind Consultant
Forensic Psychology and Civil Litigation
Employment Compensation, Disability, and Personal
Injury Claims
Neuropsychological Damages
Psychological Tests Used for Personal Injury Claims
Civil Capacities
Testamentary Capacity
Legal Guardianship Determinations
Competence to Consent to Treatment
Measures of Competence to Consent to Treatment
Incapacitation: Special Condition
Involuntary Civil Commitment
Outpatient Civil Commitment
Role of Forensic Psychologists
Sexual and Gender Harassment
Psychological Measures of Sexual Harassment
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Part IV Criminal Psychology
Chapter 7 The Development of Delinquent and Criminal
Behavior
Chapter Objectives
The Juvenile Offender
Definition of Juvenile Delinquency
The Nature and Extent of Juvenile Offending
The Uniform Crime Reports (Crime in the United
States)
The Developmental Perspective
The Moffitt Developmental Theory
Adolescent Brain Development
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
The Social Brain and Peer Influence
Neuroscience and Sex Differences in Adolescence
Developmental Factors in the Formation of Persistent
Criminal Behavior
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and
Delinquency
Conduct Disorder (CD)
Cognitive Ability and Crime
13
Intelligence
Language Development
Self-Regulation Skills
Executive Functions
Deficient Interpersonal Skills and Peer Rejection
Additional Social Developmental Influences
Juvenile Firesetting: An Illustration of the Developmental
Perspective
Developmental Stages of Firesetting
Firesetting Typologies
The Criminal Psychopath
General Behavioral Characteristics of Psychopaths
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
Prevalence of Criminal Psychopathy
Offending Patterns of Criminal Psychopaths
Psychological Measures of Psychopathy
The PCL-R as a Risk Assessment Tool
Core Factors of Psychopathy
The Boldness Factor
Juvenile Psychopathy
Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits
Appropriateness of PCL-R and PCL:YV for
Testing Adolescents
The Female Psychopath
Females Psychopaths Compared to Male
Psychopaths
Racial/Ethnic Differences
Treatment and Rehabilitation of Psychopaths
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 8 Psychology of Violence and Intimidation
Chapter Objectives
UCR Data on Violent Crime
Gender, Race, and Ethnic Differences in Criminal Violence
Theoretical Perspectives on Violence
The Causes of Violence
Neurobiological Factors
Socialization Factors
Cognitive Factors
Situational Factors
14
The Effects of Violent Media
Violent Video and Electronic Games
Threat Assessment
School Shootings
Types of School Threats
The Safe School Initiative (SSI) Report
Prevention of School Shootings and Other
Violence
Guidelines
Workplace Violence
Criminal Homicide
Multiple Murder
Serial Killers
Serial Killer Typologies
Mass Murder
Hate or Bias Crimes
Stalking: The Crime of Intimidation
When Does Stalking Usually Stop?
Predictions of Violence in Stalking Cases
Cyberstalking
Peer Non-Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying
Effects of Cyberbullying
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 9 Psychology of Sexual Assault
Chapter Objectives
Definitions of Sexual Assault and Rape
Definitions for Gathering Statistics
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
The National Incident-Based Reporting System
(NIBRS)
The National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS)
Statutory Rape Statistics
Rape by Fraud
Prevalence and Incidence of Rape and Other Sexual
Assaults
Date or Acquaintance Rape
Demographics of Men Who Rape
15
Sexual Homicide
Typologies of Men Who Rape
The Massachusetts Treatment Center Rapist Typology
Aggression
Impulsivity
Social Competence
Sexual Fantasies
Sadism
Naïve Cognitions or Beliefs
Rape Myths
The MTC:R3
The Opportunistic Rapist (Types 1 and 2)
The Pervasively Angry Rapist (Type 3)
Sexually Motivated, Sadistic Rapists (Types 4
and 5)
Sexually Motivated, Non-Sadistic Rapists (Types
6 and 7)
Vindictive Rapists (Types 8 and 9)
Summary
The Groth Rapist Typology
Child Sex Offenders
Definitions of Pedophilia
Some Demographics of Child Sex Offenders
The MTC:CM3
The First Dimension
The Second Dimension
The Groth Typology
Female Sex Offender Typologies
Online Child Sexual Predators
Juvenile Sex Offenders
Female Juvenile Sex Offenders
Future Directions
Recidivism Rates of Sex Offenders
Age Factors
Recidivism of Juvenile Sex Offenders
Assessment of Sex Offenders
Assessment of Adult Sex Offenders
The Static-99
The Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20)
Assessment of Juvenile Sex Offenders
Summary and Conclusions
16
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Part V Victimology and Victim Services
Chapter 10 Forensic Psychology and the Victims of Crime
Chapter Objectives
Multiculturalism and Victimization
Victims With Disabilities
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Legal Rights of Victims
Restorative Justice
Crime Victimization Data
Measurements of Victimization
The National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS)
The National Survey of Children’s Exposure to
Violence (NatSCEV)
Violent Victimization Committed by Strangers
Ethnic/Minority Differences in Criminal Victimization
Criminal Victimization as a Function of Age
Psychological Effects of Criminal Victimization
Psychological Impact of Violence
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Homicide Victimization
Relationship of the Victim to the Offender
Death Notification
Reactions of Homicide Co-Victims
Complicated Bereavement
Sexual Assault Victimization
Characteristics of the Victims
Age
Gender
Extent of Injury to Victims
Relationship of the Victim to the Offender
Intimate Partner and Dating Violence
Additional Victimization Data
Child Sexual Abuse
Psychological Effects
Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome
(CSAAS)
Psychological Impact
Internet Victimization
17
Online Sexual Solicitation
Human Trafficking
Child and Adolescent Sex Trafficking
Psychological Effects on CSEC Victims
Psychological Services
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 11 Family Violence and Child Victimization
Chapter Objectives
Intimate Partner and Family Violence
The Typical Development of an IPV Relationship
Based on Power and Control
Psychological Characteristics of Batterers
Battered Woman Syndrome
Same-Sex IPV
Mental Health Needs of Children Exposed to IPV
Roles of the Forensic Psychologist in IPV Cases
Risk Assessment: Is the Victim Safe?
Forensic Assessment in IPV—Other Factors
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
Assessment of Victim Reactions
Necessary Training for IPV Assessment
Child Abuse
Types of Maltreatment
Pet Abuse
Dynamics of Family Violence
Infanticide, Neonaticide, and Filicide
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (Medical Child
Abuse)
Abusive Head Trauma
Repressed and Recovered Memories
Special-Expert Panels on Repressed Memory
Research Sketches of Human Memory and Its
Limitations
Roles of the Forensic Psychologist in Child Abuse
Cases
Child Abduction
Family Abduction
Acquaintance and Stranger Child Abduction
NISMART
18
Psychological Impact of Family Abduction
Elder Abuse and Neglect
Roles of the Forensic Psychologist in Elder Abuse
Cases
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Part VI Correctional Psychology
Chapter 12 Correctional Psychology in Adult Settings
Chapter Objectives
Institutional Corrections
Overview of Correctional Facilities
Legal Rights of Inmates
Right to Treatment
The Extent of Inmates With Mental Disorders
Right to Refuse Treatment
Right to Rehabilitation
Prison Transfers
Privacy and Confidentiality
Segregation
Rights of Pretrial Detainees
Roles of the Correctional Psychologist
Psychological Assessment in Corrections
Initial Inmate Screening and Classification
Principles of Risk, Needs, and Responsivity
(RNR)
Crisis Intervention
Competency to Be Executed
Treatment and Rehabilitation in Correctional Facilities
Common Psychological Treatment in Corrections
Behavioral Models
Cognitive-Behavioral Models
Treatment of Special Populations
Substance-Abusing Offenders
Violent Offenders
Criminal Psychopaths
Sex Offenders
Women Prisoners
Treatment in Jail Settings
Obstacles to the Treatment of Inmates
Confidentiality
19
Coercion
Environment
Community-Based Corrections
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Chapter 13 Juvenile Justice and Corrections
Chapter Objectives
Juvenile Courts
A Brief History of the Juvenile Court
Supreme Court Decisions
Juvenile Assessment: An Overview
Risk Assessment
Assessment of Competence to Waive Miranda Rights
False Confessions
Evaluating Adjudicative Competence
MacArthur Juvenile Competence Study
Juvenile Amenability to Rehabilitation
Waiver Decisions
Life Without Parole
Disposition
Conducting the Evaluation
Out-of-Home Placements
Juvenile Detention
Psychological Treatment in Juvenile Facilities
Approaches to Rehabilitation
Group Home Models
Family Preservation Models
Homebuilders
Multisystemic Therapy
Functional Family Therapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment
Substance Abuse Models
Violence-Prevention Programs
Juvenile Sex Offender Treatment Programs
Summary of Institutional Treatment
Summary and Conclusions
Key Concepts
Questions for Review
Glossary
Cases Cited
20
References
Author Index
Subject Index
About the Authors
21
List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures
Focus Boxes
Focus 1.1 Selected Historical Benchmarks Pertinent to Forensic
Psychology 9
Focus 2.1 Before and Beyond Ferguson: Is There a “Ferguson
Effect”? 52
Focus 2.2 Community-Oriented Policing and Law and Order
Policing: Can They Coexist? 55
Focus 2.3 Firefighters, EMTs, and More 59
22
Focus 2.4 Racial Bias and Decisions to Shoot 69
Focus 3.1 Psychological Coercion: A Case Example 95
Focus 3.2 The Innocence Project 100
Focus 3.3 Eyewitness Identification: Courts in Virginia Weigh In
(Payne v. Commonwealth, 2016) 112
Focus 4.1 Mental Health and Other Problem-Solving Courts 127
Focus 4.2 Perry v. New Hampshire: A Case That Centered on
Eyewitness Identification 134
Focus 4.3 Tarasoff’s Duty to Protect—and More 151
Focus 5.1 Indiana v. Edwards: Competency to Stand Trial and
Competency to Represent Oneself 165
Focus 5.2 Factors Common to FMHAs 168
Focus 5.3 Legal Burdens of Proof 171
Focus 5.4 A Long-Unsolved Child Abduction 180
Focus 6.1 Family Forensic Psychology 198
Focus 6.2 Relocation Decision Making 207
Focus 6.3 Forensic Neuropsychology 216
Focus 6.4 Compassion and Choice: Is There a Right to Aid in Dying?
224
Focus 7.1 Lenny’s Story 244
Focus 8.1 Expert Report on Gun Violence 283
Focus 8.2 Stand Your Ground, Open Carry, and Concealed Carry
Laws: Do They Encourage or Discourage Violence? 288
Focus 8.3 Summary of Secret Service Safe School Initiative (SSI)
Report 296
Focus 8.4 ViCAP: Sharing Data to Solve Violent Crime 305
Focus 8.5 Hatred on Display 312
Focus 9.1 Sexual Assault and the Military 334
Focus 9.2 The Persistence of Rape Myths 343
Focus 10.1 Serving Immigrant Populations 379
Focus 10.2 Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 381
Focus 10.3 Sexual Victimization of Males 397
Focus 10.4 Preventing Human Trafficking, Helping Survivors 406
Focus 11.1 Recovered Memory in Court: Two Cases 432
Focus 11.2 State-Dependent Memory 436
Focus 11.3 Infantile Amnesia 437
Focus 12.1 Corporatizing Punishment 455
Focus 12.2 IACFP Standards 458
Focus 12.3 Career Opportunities in the Federal Bureau of Prisons 460
Focus 12.4 Moore v. Texas: Intellectual Disability and Death,
Revisited 472
23
Focus 12.5 Death Is Different 476
Focus 12.6 The Cognitive-Behavioral Approach: Key Elements 485
Focus 13.1 Juvenile Courts, Juvenile Facilities, and Delinquency 496
Focus 13.2 Common Terms Used in Juvenile Courts 498
Focus 13.3 From Michael C. to J.D.B.: Questions of Interrogation and
Custody 507
Focus 13.4 Juvenile Life Without Parole 512
Focus 13.5 Youth in Confinement 517
Focus 13.6 A Cognitive Intervention Program for Juveniles 525
Tables
Table 1.1 Specialties in Professional Psychology and Year of Initial
Recognition 18
Table 1.2 Colleges and Universities Offering Graduate Programs in
Forensic and/or Legal Psychology 20
Table 2.1 Common Activities and Tasks of a Police Psychologist 38
Table 2.2 Residents With Police Contact Who Experienced Threat or
Use of Force, by Race or Hispanic Origin, 2002–2011 70
Table 3.1 Forms of Profiling and Key Weaknesses of Each 81
Table 3.2 Categories and Examples of Major Interrogation
Techniques 91
Table 4.1 Structure of the Federal Court System 126
Table 4.2 Some Examples of Static and Dynamic Risk Factors 138
Table 4.3 Representative Violence Risk Assessment Instruments and
Populations for Which They Are Intended 140
Table 4.4 Key Cases Cited in This Chapter 155
Table 5.1 Representative U.S. Supreme Court Cases Relevant to
Competency to Stand Trial 162
Table 5.2 Representative Insanity Tests in State and Federal Law 177
Table 5.3 Representative Insanity Cases 178
Table 6.1 Roles and Sample Tasks of Psychologists and Other Mental
Health Professionals in Family Courts 197
Table 6.2 Definitions and Characteristics of Four Basic Custody
Arrangements 208
Table 7.1 Juvenile Arrests for Violent and Property Crimes, 2015 240
Table 7.2 Gardner’s Different Intelligences Model 255
Table 7.3 Summary Table of Four Core Factors of Psychopathy 268
Table 8.1 Some Tasks Associated With Threat Assessment 292
Table 8.2 Age Distribution of Murder Offenders, 2015 303
24
Table 9.1 Rape and Sexual Assault Victimizations Against Women
and Girls Reported and Not Reported to Police, 2005–2010 333
Table 9.2 Various Paraphilias and Their Definitions 347
Table 10.1 Violent Victimization Against Persons With Disabilities,
by Disability Type, 2009–2011 380
Table 10.2 Rate of Violent Victimization by Race of the Victim per
1,000 Persons Age 12 or Older 387
Table 10.3 Family Relationship of Victim to Offender 392
Table 10.4 Murder by Known and Unknown Relationships, 2015 392
Table 11.1 Murder Circumstances, by Victim Relationship to
Offender, 2015 410
Table 12.1 Estimated Number of Persons Supervised by Adult
Correctional Systems (Both Federal and State), by Correctional
Status, 2011 and 2015 452
Table 12.2 Representative U.S. Supreme Court Cases Relevant to
Inmates Cited in Chapter 462
Table 13.1 Representative U.S. Supreme Court Cases Relevant to
Juveniles 506
Table 13.2 Number and Types of Facilities Holding Youth in
Residential Placement Nationwide, Including Both Detained and
Committed Youth 515
Figures
Figure 7.1 Steinberg’s Dual System Model 248
Figure 8.1 Five-Year Trend in Violent Crime 281
Figure 8.2 Violent Crime Distribution in the United States, 2015 282
Figure 8.3 Decision Tree for Student Threat Assessment 298
Figure 8.4 Workplace Homicides Due to Shootings, by Industry, 2010
299
Figure 9.1 Breakdown of Four Categorizations of Rapist Types Into
Nine Rapist Subtypes (MTC:R3) 346
Figure 9.2 A Flow Chart of the Decision Process for Classifying
Child Molesters (MTC:CM3) 354
Figure 10.1 Age Distribution of Victims of Sexual Assault 396
25
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clear on the subject, the following extract from a letter written by
the one of James's secretaries to the other, Lord Conway, is
sufficiently explicit: "Your Lordship best knoweth what account we
shall be able to give in our place in Parliament of that which passeth
by letters in and out of the land, if every man may convey letters as
he chooseth." Sir John Coke, the writer of the above, would seem to
have got rid of the difficulty in a thorough manner, if we may believe
an English letter-writer addressing a friend in Scotland, when he
wrote, "I hear the posts are waylaid, and all letters taken from them
and brought to Secretary Coke."[118]
During the Commonwealth, of course, letter-opening was to be
expected. The very reason which Cromwell gave for establishing the
posts was, that they would be "the best means of discovering and
preventing many wicked designs against the Commonwealth,
intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of
escript." Foreign and home letters shared an equal fate. On one
occasion, the Venetian ambassador remonstrated openly that his
letters had been delayed and read, and it was not denied. At the
Restoration, a distinct clause in the "Post-Office Charter" provided
that "no one, except under the immediate warrant of one of our
principal Secretaries of State, shall presume to open any letters or
pacquets not directed unto themselves."
Under the improved Act of Queen Anne, 1711, it is again stated that
"no person or persons shall presume to open, detain, or delay any
letter or letters, after the same is or shall be delivered into the
General or other Post-Office, and before delivery to the persons to
whom they are addressed, except by an express warrant in writing
under the hand of one of the principal Secretaries of State for every
such opening, detaining, or delaying." This Act was continued under
all the Georges, and again agreed to in 1837, under 1 Vict. c. 32.
During the last century, the practice of granting warrants was
exceedingly common; and they might be had on the most trivial
pretences. It was not the practice to record such warrants regularly
in any official book,[119] and few are so recorded: we can only guess
at their number from the frequent mention made of them in the
State trials of the period, and in other incidental ways. In 1723, at
Bishop Atterbury's trial, copies of his letters were produced and
given in evidence against him. A clerk from the Post-Office certified
to the fact that they had passed through the post, and that he had
seen them opened, read, and copied. Atterbury, as well he might,
asked for the authority for this practice; and, especially, if the
Secretary of State had directed that his letters should be interfered
with? A majority in the House of Lords decided that the question
need not be answered. It is pleasant to relate that twenty-nine peers
recorded an indignant protest against this decision. One of them
proposed to cross-examine the Rev. (!) Edward Willes, "one of His
Majesty's Post-Office decipherers," but the majority going to a still
greater length, resolved: "That it is the opinion of this House that it
is not consistent with the public safety to ask the decipherers any
questions which may tend to discover the art or mystery of
deciphering."[120] Again, at the trial of Horne Tooke for high treason
in 1795, a letter written to him by Mr. Joyce, a printer, was
intercepted at the Post-Office, and was stated by the prisoner to be
the immediate occasion of his apprehension. On his requiring its
production, a duly certified copy was brought into Court by the
Crown officers and given in evidence.
Twelve years after the trial of Bishop Atterbury, members of both
Houses became alarmed for the safety of their correspondence, and
succeeded in getting up an agitation on the subject. Several
members of the House of Commons complained that their letters
had been opened. Revelations were made at this time which remind
us strongly of the episode of 1844, both discussions resulting in a
parliamentary committee of inquiry. It was stated in the debate of
1735, that the liberty which the Act gave "could serve no purpose
but to enable the idle clerks about the office to pry into the private
affairs of every merchant and gentleman in the kingdom."[121] It
transpired on this occasion that a regular organization existed, at
enormous expense, for the examination of home and foreign
correspondence. The Secretary of the Post-Office stated that the
greater part of 45,000l. had been paid, without voucher of any kind,
to Robert, Earl of Oxford, for defraying the expenses of this
establishment. Among the principal annual expenses were the
salaries of the chief decipherers[122] (Dr. Willes and his son), 1,000l.;
the second decipherer, 800l.; the third, 500l.; four clerks, 1,600l.;
doorkeeper, 50l.; incidental charges, but principally for seals, 100l.
The result of the inquiry was, that the Committee condemned the
practice, and the House declared that it was a breach of privilege on
the part of the Government to use the power except in the exact
manner described in the statute.
Whether any real improvement took place may best be judged by
the following circumstances. Walpole, who doubtless carried his
prerogative in those matters beyond any two Secretaries of State we
could mention, lent his ear to both public and private applications
alike, issuing warrants even to further cases of private tyranny. In
the Report of the Secret Committee, p. 12, we find that a warrant is
granted, in 1741, for what purpose may be judged by the following:
"At the request of A, a warrant is issued to permit A's eldest son to
open and inspect any letters which A's youngest son might write to
two females, one of which that youngest son had imprudently
married." And this inquisitorial spirit beginning with the highest,
descended even to the lowest class of officials. A writer in the
Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xviii. p. 405 (quoting from the State
Trials, vol. xviii. p. 1369), tells us, in relation to this subject, that so
little attention was paid to the requirements of the Act of Queen
Anne, or the Committee of the House of Commons just referred to,
the very bellmen took to scrutinizing the letters given them for their
bags. One of those functionaries was examined at the trial of Dr.
Hensey in 1758, and deposed as follows: "When I have got all my
letters together I carry them home and sort them. In sorting them I
observed that the letters I received of Dr. Hensey were generally
directed abroad and to foreigners; and I, knowing the Doctor to be a
Roman Catholic, advised the examining-clerk at the office to inspect
his letters." This witness, in answer to the questions, "How came
you to know Dr. Hensey to be a Roman Catholic?" and "What had
you to do with his religion?" clinched his evidence thus: "We letter-
carriers and postmen have great opportunities to know the
characters and dispositions of gentlemen, from their servants,
connexions, and correspondents. But, to be plain, if I once learn that
a person who lives a genteel life is a Roman Catholic, I immediately
look upon him as one who, by education and principle, is an
inveterate enemy to my King and country."
At the beginning of the present century an improvement was carried
out. It was seen that the indiscriminate issue of the warrants was
stimulated and fostered by the fact that no account was kept of
them. As a means of placing a necessary check upon the officers,
Lord Spencer, then Home Secretary, introduced the custom in 1806,
of recording the dates of all warrants granted, and the purposes for
which they were issued. Since the year 1822, the whole of the
warrants themselves have been preserved at the Home Office. In
comparing the number of warrants issued by different Home
Secretaries during the present century, we find that Sir James
Graham enjoys the unenviable notoriety of having granted the
greatest number, though the fact is partly explained by the
commotion which the Chartists made in the north of England, 1842-
3.
The revelations made in the two Committees with reference to
foreign correspondence, especially that of foreign Ministers
accredited at the English Court, were very remarkable, and not likely
to induce confidence in our postal arrangements on the part of other
powers. It was shown that in times of war whole foreign mails had
been known to have been detained, and the letters almost
individually examined. The Lords' Committee went so far as to say it
was clear, "that it had been for a long period of time and under
successive administrations, up to the present time, an established
practice that the foreign correspondence of foreign Ministers passing
through the General Post-Office should be sent to a department of
the Foreign Office, before the forwarding of such correspondence,
according to the address." What the feelings of foreign Governments
were at this revelation may well be imagined. They would know, of
course, that the English Government, hundreds of years ago, had
not scrupled to lay violent hands on the letters of their
representatives, if by any possibility they could get hold of them.
When Wolsey, for example, wanted possession of the letters of the
ambassadors of Charles V. he went to work very openly, having
ordered "a watche should be made" in and about London, and all
persons going en route to the Continent to be questioned and
searched. "One riding towards Brayneford," says an early record,
"when examyned by the watche, answered so closely, that upon
suspicion thereof, they searched hym, and found secretly hyd aboute
hym a pacquet of letters in French." In the reign of Queen Mary,
Gardiner ordered that the messengers of Noailles, the French
ambassador, should be taken and searched in much the same
manner.[123] Notwithstanding this, they would scarcely be prepared
for the information that later Governments, with less to fear, had
preferred more secret measures, establishing a system of espionage
which was certainly not in accordance with the English character, or
likely to subserve the interests of peace in Europe. That the
arrangement with regard to foreign mails was unlawful, may be
judged by the prompt action which was taken in the matter. "Since
June, 1844, the Postmaster-General," so runs the Lords' Report two
months later, "having had his attention called to the fact, that there
was no sufficient authority for this practice, has discontinued it
altogether."
The Commons' Committee reported that the letter-opening warrants
might be divided into two classes—(1) Those issued in furtherance
of criminal justice, usually for the purpose of affording some clue to
the hiding-place of an offender, or to the mode or place of
concealment of property. (2) Those issued for the purpose of
discovering the designs of persons known or suspected to be
engaged in proceedings dangerous to the State, or deeply involving
British interests, from being carried on in the United Kingdom. In the
case of both classes of warrants, the mode of proceeding was nearly
similar. The first were issued on the application of the law-officers;
the principal Secretary of State himself determined when to issue
the latter. No record was kept of the grounds on which the second
class of warrants were issued. "The letters which have been
detained and opened are," according to the Committee,[124] "unless
retained by special order, as sometimes happens in criminal cases,
closed and re-sealed without affixing any mark to indicate that they
have been so detained and opened, and are forwarded by post
according to their respective superscriptions." They then classed the
warrants issued during the present century in the following way:—
For thefts, murders, and frauds, 162; for treason and sedition, 77;
foreign correspondence, 20; prisoners of war, 13; miscellaneous, 11;
and for uncertain purposes, 89. Undoubtedly, with one class of
letters, the Government were only performing a duty in applying the
law as laid down in 1 Vict. c. 33. The information obtained by the
warrants to find the locale of Chartist disaffection was described by
the Committee as most valuable and useful to the Government.
While the whole history of the transaction in question grates
unpleasantly on English ears, there can be no doubt that in other
cases—such as frauds on the banks and revenue, forgeries, murders,
&c.—the power was used impartially to the advantage of individuals
and the benefit of the State. Whether, however, the discoveries and
the benefits were so many as to counterbalance the odium of
countenancing what was so like a public crime, and which violated
public confidence in the Post-Office, or whether the issue of a few
warrants annually, in proportion to the 40,000 committals[125] which
took place yearly at that time, could by any means be called an
efficient instrument of police, are vastly different questions. With
regard to the general question of letter-opening, the issue was
altogether vague and uncertain. Though the practical end of the
inquiry was, no doubt, gained, and warrants may almost be said to
have ceased, still the Committees recommended Parliament to
decide that the power and prerogative of opening letters, under
certain given circumstances, should not be abrogated. They argued
that, if the right of the Secretary of State was denied, it would be
equivalent to advertising to every criminal conspirator against the
public peace, that he might employ the Post-Office with impunity.
[126] It was decided, in consequence of this finding, that the law
should remain unaltered.
Mr. Duncombe was not satisfied. In the next session he attempted to
revive the subject by calling the attention of the House to what he
termed the evasive and unsatisfactory character of the report of the
Secret Committee, and moving the appointment of a Select
Committee to investigate the whole subject over again; but he met
with little success. Sir J. Graham, Sir. R. Peel, Viscount Sandon, Mr.
Warburton, Mr. Ward, and Lord John Manners, spoke against his
motion, which he then withdrew. Upon this, Lord Howick tried to
carry a resolution for the appointment of a Committee to inquire into
the case of Mr. Duncombe's letters only. Mr. Disraeli seconded the
motion, desiring not to have the Government censured, but to see
the practice condemned. Mr. Roebuck believed that the country
would not be content until the invidious power intrusted to the
Secretary of State respecting letter-opening was absolutely
abolished. Lord John Russell spoke against the motion, which was
negatived by 240 to 145 members.[127] A few days later Mr.
Duncombe renewed his attack in another form, moving that Colonel
Maberly, Secretary to the Post-Office, should attend at the bar and
produce certain books connected with his office. The Home
Secretary resisted the motion, grounding his objection on the reports
of the Committees and the necessities of the public service. Lord
John Russell and a great number of the Liberal party concurring in
this view, the motion was again rejected by 188 to 113.[128] For
some weeks the subject was not again noticed in Parliament, and
probably would have dropped; but it was a theme on which the
Press could not be induced to be silent. Fresh events occurring in
Italy, owing, it was said, to the past action of the English
Government at the Post-Office, Mr. Sheil gave notice of a resolution,
which he moved on the 1st of April, 1845, expressing regret that
Government had opened the letters of M. Mazzini, thus frustrating
the political movement in Italy. Few members, however, showed any
desire to prolong a desultory debate, and thirty-eight only were
found willing to affirm Mr. Sheil's proposition. Mr. Wakley, a day or
two afterwards, tried to revive the same discussion, but a motion
which he made was negatived by three to one. On the 8th of April,
1845, Mr. Duncombe, while intimating his desire to waive personal
questions, and disclaiming all party feeling, moved for leave to bring
in a Bill "to secure the inviolability of letters passing through the
Post-Office." He was at war with the system, not with the
Government. Let the Government approach the subject in a fair and
not in a party spirit. All the Ministers, however, and the chiefs of the
Liberal party, again stoutly resisted any change in the law; and this
long controversy was finally set at rest by an adverse decision of 161
to 78.
The English people, it must be added, all along objected less to the
power which the Government possessed in the exertion of their
discretion, than to the manner in which that power was exercised.
Mr. Duncombe's statements during the earlier stages of the
discussions, relating to the "secret office"—never denied—could not
be forgotten by the public when they intrusted their letters to the
custody of the Post-Office. The revelations in question caused a
perfect paroxysm of national anger, because it was felt, throughout
the length and breadth of the land, that such arrangements were
repugnant to every feeling of Englishmen. Had the officers of the
Government broken open letters in the same way as, under certain
circumstances, the law allows the sheriff's officers to break open
houses and writing-desks, there might still have been complainings,
but these complainings would neither have been so loud nor yet so
justifiable.[129] There was something in the melting apparatus, in the
tobacco-pipe, in the forged plaster of paris seals, in the official
letter-picker, and in the place where, and manner how, he did his
work, utterly disgusting to John Bull, and most unsuitable to the
atmosphere of England. The law, it is true, remains unaltered, but it
is believed to be virtually a dead letter.
FOOTNOTES:
[116] Hansard, 1844.
[117] Ibid.
[118] Lang's Historical Summary of the Post-Office in Scotland.
Postmaster-General's Third Report.
[119] Report of Secret Committee, 1844, p. 9.
[120] Lords' Journal, xxii. pp. 183-6.
[121] Commons' Journal, vol. xxii. p. 462.
[122] The place was not only lucrative, but in the path of
promotion. We find that, for the proper performance of these
very unclerical duties, the Rev. Dr. was first rewarded with the
Deanery of Lincoln and afterwards with the Bishopric of St.
David's.
[123] Froude.
[124] Report of Secret Committee, 1844, pp. 14-17.
[125] Report of the Secret Committee, 1844, pp. 14-17.
[126] Ibid. Commons' Committee.
[127] Hansard, 1844-5.
[128] Ibid.
[129] Among many expressions of opinion to which the inquiry on
the subject gave rise, we find the following characteristic effusion
from Thomas Carlyle: "It is a question vital to us that sealed
letters in an English post-office be, as we all fancied they were,
respected as things sacred; that opening of men's letters, a
practice near of kin to picking men's pockets, and to other still
viler and far fataler forms of scoundrelism, be not resorted to in
England, except in cases of the very last extremity. When some
new Gunpowder Plot may be in the wind, some double-dyed high
treason, or imminent national wreck not avoidable otherwise,
then let us open letters; not till then. To all Austrian Kaisers and
such like, in their time of trouble, let us answer, as our fathers
from of old have answered—Not by such means is help here for
you."
CHAPTER X.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
From the year 1844 to the present time the progress of the Post-
Office institution has been great and unexampled. Among Mr. Hill's
minor proposals were those for the institution of day-mails, the
establishment of rural posts, and the extension of free deliveries.
The period between the passing of the Penny Postage Act and the
year 1850 saw these useful suggestions carried out to an extent
which proved highly beneficial to the public. With regard to the day-
mails, Mr. Hill proposed that on the morning of each day, as well as
evenings, mails should leave London after certain country and
continental mails had arrived, by which means letters, instead of
remaining nearly twenty-four hours in London, might be at once
forwarded to their addresses, and two mails per diem be thus given
to most English towns. The Earl of Lichfield would seem to have
seen the useful and practicable nature of these proposals, for, being
Postmaster-General at the time, he did not wait to adopt them till
the passing of the Act of 1839. As early as 1838 one or two day-
mails were established, running out of London. Before 1850 we find
the list included those of Dover, Southampton, Bristol, Birmingham,
and Cambridge. These day-mails are now established on every
considerable line of railway in the kingdom. London, in 1864,
possesses not only day-mails on all the lines running from the
metropolis, but one to Ireland, and two by different routes into
Scotland. Further, a great number of railways in the United Kingdom
have stipulated to take mails by any passenger-train.
Mr. Hill also contemplated the establishment of rural posts in every
village. In 1840, the number of village post-offices was about 3,000.
At that time nothing but "guarantee posts"—by means of which
parties in the country might obtain additional accommodation on
their consenting to bear the whole additional expense—were granted
to new localities. Mr. Hill urged upon the Post-Office authorities the
abandonment of this plan, and the gradual establishment of ordinary
post-offices. He calculated that an annual outlay of 70,000l. would
suffice to give 600 additional daily posts to neglected districts, and
he pledged his word that the outlay would be remunerative. There
are now more than 8,000 additional rural post-offices, the erection
of which has done all for the public and the Post-Office revenue that
Mr. Hill anticipated.
The extension of free deliveries, also strongly urged by Mr. Hill, has
progressed fairly from that time to this. Round each provincial town
there used to be drawn a cordon, letters, &c. for places beyond
which had either to be brought by private messenger, or were
charged an extra sum on delivery as a gratuity to the postmaster.
From year to year new places have been included in these free
deliveries; soon the most remote and inaccessible parts of our
country—the nooks and crannies of our land—will enjoy nearly equal
privileges with our large towns, more rural messengers being
appointed as this work approaches completion.
In 1848, the advantages of a book-post were granted to the country.
By the new rate, a single volume might be sent to any part of the
United Kingdom at the uniform rate of sixpence per pound. The
privileges of this book-post were gradually extended to the colonies.
The railway companies, at the time and subsequently, complained
loudly that the Post-Office, by establishing the book-post, had
entered into an unfair competition with them. This competition was
described as very injurious, on account of the low rates at which
books and book-packets were conveyed. It was answered, however
—and in this answer the country very generally agreed—that the
railway companies had no legal or equitable right to the monopoly of
parcel-traffic; and if they had, the exceptions taken in the case of
the book-post were only to books and printed matter intimately
connected with objects such as the diffusion of knowledge and the
promotion of education—matters with which the Post-Office was
now most immediately concerned. The facts, however, were, that
very few indeed of the packets sent by the book-post were such as
had been previously sent by railway. The Post-Office, by offering its
vast machinery for the transmission of such articles, especially to
remote districts, gave facilities which had never before been offered,
and which caused books and documents to pass through the Post-
Office which otherwise, had no book-post existed, would not have
been sent through any other channel. A Select Committee, which sat
in 1854, on the conveyance of mails by railway, took evidence on
this point, and in their report stated it as their opinion, that a large
proportion of the packets sent would not have been so forwarded
but for the facilities offered by the Post-Office in their distribution.
Any loss, however, which the railways might experience in this
respect was more than counterbalanced when the Executive
abolished the compulsory impressed stamp on newspapers, this
arrangement giving rise to a conveyance of newspaper-parcels by
railway-trains to an enormous extent, and proportionately lessening
the work and profits of the Post-Office.
The year 1849 is principally remarkable for the agitation which
existed with respect to Sunday labour at the General Post-Office.
Previous to this year no work was allowed in the London
establishment, but now an arrangement was proposed to receive the
mails as on other days, officers attending, though not during the
period of Divine service, to assort and dispose of the letters
received. Public meetings were held in London and many of the
principal towns to protest against any increase of the Post-Office
work. Public opinion in the metropolis was pretty unanimous against
any change; in the provinces it was more divided. The authorities
gave way before the force of opinion, and the London office has
remained closed ever since on the first day of the week. In the
country different arrangements are made. In Scotland, and in one or
two English towns, no letter-delivery takes place from house to
house, a short time only being allowed for the public to apply for
their letters at the post-office windows. In the majority of English
towns the early morning delivery only is made. The day-mails, as a
rule, do not run on Sundays. The post-offices in the major part of
our English and Scotch villages are entirely closed on Sundays.
Wires having been laid down to St. Martin's-le-Grand from the
different railway stations, telegraph messages were first used to
expedite post-office business on the 31st of August, 1849. All
important matters, such as bag or registered letter irregularities,
requiring prompt notice, are made known or explained through the
medium of the electric telegraph.
Commissioners were appointed from about this year to secure the
services of railways on the most equitable terms, and to arbitrate for
that purpose between the Post-Office and the railway companies.
The Committee, on the conveyance of mails by railways, suggested
this course. On the debate which followed the report of the
Committee to which we have before alluded, Sir Robert Peel frankly
acknowledged "the enormous error" into which he, and the House
generally "had fallen when the railroad bills were under discussion.
They ought to have foreseen," said he, "when these bills were
before them, that they were in fact establishing a monopoly, a
monopoly in respect to which there could be no future condition.
They ought to have foreseen that, if the railroads were successful,
other modes of internal communication would almost necessarily fall
into disuse, and they ought, therefore, to have stipulated—as it
would have been perfectly just and easy for them to have done—
that certain public services should be performed at a reasonable
rate." However, as this had not been done, Parliament could only fall
back upon its inherent right to say on what terms such services
should be provided from time to time; for which purpose they could
not do better than employ arbitration, as it was the same course
pursued when the companies disputed with the owners of property
the value of land compulsorily taken for railway works. Sir James
Graham[130] moved a declaratory clause on the occasion, that
arbitrators should take into consideration the cost of the construction
of the particular lines in awarding the sums for different services. Mr.
Labouchere, the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, speaking for
the Government, wished the arbitrators to be wholly free, but he
gave a pledge on behalf of the Post-Office that no attempt would be
made to exclude the cost of construction from the consideration of
the arbitrators. With this assurance, the Opposition expressed
themselves satisfied.
In 1855, the Postmaster-General, the late Lord Canning, commenced
the practice of furnishing the Lords of the Treasury, and through
them the public, with annual reports on the Post-Office. These
reports, which have been continued up to the present time, show
the progress of the Department from year to year, and present to
the general reader, as well as to the statistician, a vast mass of
interesting information. Compared with the reports of the Committee
of Revenue Inquiry or of the Commissioners of Post-Office Inquiry,
they are lucid and interesting in their nature. Though constructed on
the same plan and little varied from year to year, they are much
above the ordinary run of official documents. Lord Canning, in
recommending the adoption of the plan, gave as one reason among
many, that the Post-Office service was constantly expanding and
improving, but that information respecting postal matters, especially
postal changes, was not easily accessible. This information, he
believed, could be given without any inconvenience, whilst many
misapprehensions, and possibly complaints, might be avoided. The
public might thus see what the Post-Office was about; learn their
duty towards the Department, and find out—what half the people
did not then and perhaps do not even yet understand—what were
the benefits and privileges to which they were justly entitled at its
hands.
The Duke of Argyll succeeded Lord Canning in the management of
the Post-Office in 1855, and his years of office are distinguished by
many most important improvements and reforms. One important
change consisted in the amalgamation of the two corps of London
letter-carriers, effected soon after the installation of the Duke of
Argyll at the Post-Office. The two classes of "General Post" and
"London District" letter-carriers were perhaps best known before
1855, by the former wearing a red, and the latter a blue, uniform.
The object of this amalgamation, for which Mr. Hill had been
sedulously striving from the period of penny postage, was to avoid
the waste of time, trouble, and expense consequent on two different
men going over the same ground to distribute two classes of letters
which might, without any real difficulty, be delivered together. The
greatest objection in the Post-Office itself to completing the change,
arose from the different status of the two bodies of men, the one
class being paid at a much higher rate of wages and with better
prospects than the other class. This difficulty was at length
surmounted, when the benefits of this minor reform became clearly
apparent in earlier and more regular deliveries of letters. Inside the
Post-Office the work was made much more easy and simple, and the
gross inequality existing between two bodies of public servants
whose duties were almost identical, was done away.[131]
Still more important was the division of London into ten postal
districts, carried out during the year 1856. The immense magnitude
of the metropolis necessitated this scheme; it having been found
impossible to overcome the obstacles to a more speedy transmission
of letters within and around London, or properly to manage without
some change, the ever increasing amount of Post-Office business.
Under the new arrangements, each district was to be treated in
many respects as a separate town, district post-offices to be erected
in each of them. Thus, instead of all district post-letters being carried
from the receiving houses to the chief office at St. Martin's-le-Grand,
there to be sorted and re-distributed, the letters must now be sent
to the principal office of the district in which they were posted;
sorted there; and distributed from that office according to their
address. The time and trouble saved by this arrangement is, as was
expected, enormous. Under the old system, a letter from Cavendish
Square to Grosvenor Square went to the General Post-Office, was
sorted, and then sent back to the latter place, travelling a distance
of four or five miles: whereas, at present, with hourly deliveries, it is
almost immediately sent from one place to the other.[132] An
important part of the new scheme was, that London should be
considered in the principal provincial post-offices as ten different
towns, each with its own centre of operations, and that the letters
should be assorted and despatched on this principle. Country letters
would be delivered straightway—without any intermediate sorting—
to that particular part of London for which they were destined; whilst
the sorters there having the necessary local knowledge, would
distribute them immediately into the postmen's walks. With respect
to the smaller provincial towns, it was provided that their London
correspondence should be sorted into districts on the railway during
the journey to the metropolis. Thus, on the arrival of the different
mails at the several railway termini, the letters would not be sent as
formerly to the General Post-Office, but direct to each district office,
in bags prepared in the course of the journey. It was a long time
before this new and important plan was thoroughly carried out in all
its details; but now that it is in working order, the result is very
marked in the earlier delivery of letters, and in the time and labour
saved in the various processes. In fact, all the anticipated benefits
have flowed from the adoption of the measure.
In the same year a reduction was made in the rates for book-
packets. The arrangement made at this time, which exists at
present, charges one penny for every four ounces of printed matter;
a book weighing one pound being charged fourpence. A condition
annexed was, that every such packet should be open at the ends or
sides, and if closed against inspection, should be liable to be charged
at the unpaid letter rate of postage. This penalty was soon found to
be unreasonably heavy and vexatious, and was therefore reduced to
an additional charge of sixpence only. At the present time, the
conditions under which such packets may be sent through the post
are the same, but the fines inflicted for infringements are still further
reduced.
In 1857, a new regulation provided that a book-packet might consist
of any number of sheets, which might be either printed or written,
provided there was nothing in it of the nature of a letter. If anything
of the sort should be found in the packet on examination, it was to
be taken out and forwarded separately as a letter, and charged
twopence as a fine in addition to the postage at the letter rate. The
packet might consist of books, manuscripts, maps, prints with
rollers, or any literary or artistic matter, if not more than two feet
wide, long, or deep.
In the same year, the letter-rate to all the British Colonies (which
were not previously under the lower rates) was reduced to the
uniform one of sixpence for each half-ounce, payable in advance.
The privileges of the English book-post were also extended to the
Colonies; the rate at which books &c. might be sent being
threepence for every four ounces. Exceptions were made in respect
to the following places, viz.—Ascension Island, East Indies, Hong
Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Gold Coast, to which places
the rate charged was fourpence for four ounces, the weight being
restricted to three pounds.
Another important improvement was made when, about the same
time, the postage on letters conveyed by private ship between this
country and all parts of the world, was reduced to a uniform rate of
sixpence the half-ounce.
Nor were these reforms the only results of the wise rule of the Duke
of Argyll. Through his exertions, a postal convention was concluded
with France, resulting not only in a considerable reduction of
postage on letters passing between the two countries, but in the
lowering of the rate to all European countries, letters for which went
by way of France. An attempt was made to arrange a postal
convention with the United States during the year 1857, but like so
many previous ones, it came to nothing.
The Duke of Argyll is also favourably remembered in the
metropolitan offices, for having granted—to the major establishment
at any rate—the boon of a Saturday half-holiday.
But perhaps his Grace laboured most arduously to bring about a
more satisfactory relation between the railway companies and the
Post-Office. Since the advent of cheap postage, nothing had so
much impeded the progressive development of the Post-Office, as
the adverse attitude of the companies who must convey the mails,
now that all other modes of conveyance had been virtually
superseded by the power of steam. Although the Postmaster-
General failed in this instance, he is none the less entitled to the
gratitude of the country for his well-meant attempt to repair the
mistake which the Executive originally made in not carefully
providing for the public service. Few could say that the existing law
was, and is, not defective. The gain to the Post-Office through
railways is certainly enormous: besides the advantage of increased
speed, they make it possible to get through the sorting and the
carrying of the mails at the same time. But here the gain ends; and
the cost for the service really done is heavy beyond all proportion.
The cost of carrying mails by coaches averaged twopence farthing a
mile; the average cost under railways is tenpence a mile, some
railways charging nearly five shillings per mile for the service they
render. The cost of running a train may be reckoned, in most cases,
at fifteen pence per mile; and thus the Post-Office, for the use of a
fraction of a train, may be said constantly to be paying at the rate of
from sixty to three hundred per cent. in excess of the whole cost of
running! The Postmaster-General stated that the terms upon which
one railway company would undertake postal service was totally
disproportionate to those of a neighbouring company. On the other
hand, all the companies were alike dissatisfied, however dissimilar
the contracts, or the terms imposed and agreed to.[133] Moreover, it
was declared next to impossible to secure regularity and punctuality
in the conveyance of mails, and to agree to amicable arbitration for
the services which were done, until the Legislature should lay down
reasonable laws, binding all the companies alike. A Bill was
introduced into the House of Lords regulating the arrangements
between the Post-Office and the different companies. Though it was
carefully prepared, it was strongly opposed by the railway interest in
Parliament. The opposition was all the more unreasonable, inasmuch
as many of its clauses sought to remove objections to the existing
law which railway companies had frequently complained of. As far as
the Post-Office was concerned, it seems to have been the extent of
the wish of the authorities that the question of remuneration might
be based on the actual cost of running the trains, making due
allowance, on the one hand, for the benefits accruing to the
companies from their connexion with the mail service, and adding,
on the other hand, compensation for any special extra expenses to
which the companies might be subjected by the requirements of that
service, together with a full allowance for profit.[134] The Bill also
provided for the more extensive employment of ordinary passenger
trains,—not, however, to the supercession of the regular mail-trains
—for the exclusive employment of certain trains for postal purposes,
for penalties, &c. The measure had been brought in late in the
session, and was eventually withdrawn. The Bill itself, with its
twenty-one clauses, forms part of the Appendix to the Postmaster-
General's fourth report; and as the basis of arrangements between
the two interests is still unsettled and uncertain, the Duke of Argyll
there commends it to the careful attention of the public, as well as
to the fair consideration of the railway authorities themselves.
In 1858, on the accession of Lord Derby to power, Lord Colchester
was appointed to the Post-Office without a seat in the Cabinet.
Improvements continued during his short administration, both as
regards inland, foreign, and colonial postages; but nothing calls for
special mention here except an attempt on the part of the Post-
Office to render the payment of inland letters compulsory. The plan
cannot be said to have had a fair trial. Its benefits and advantages
were not clearly apparent, except to those who were acquainted
with the machinery of the Post-Office. While, without doubt, the
principles upon which it was based were sound, the objections to the
arrangement lay on the surface, and were such as could not be
overcome except by the exercise of great patience on the part of the
public: the measure pressed heavily on certain interests: a great
portion of the less thoughtful organs of the public press manifested
considerable repugnance to it, and, in consequence, the Postmaster-
General was led to recommend to the Treasury the withdrawal of the
order after the expiration of a few weeks of partial trial. As pointed
out by Mr. Hill at the time, compulsory prepayment of letters was a
part of the original plan of penny postage; it was one of the
recommendations which he made having for their object the
simplification of accounts, and the more speedy delivery of letters.
The Secretary of the Post-Office in urging a fair trial of the measure,
[135] argued that after the lapse of a few months it would be
productive of good even to letter-writers, not to speak of the saving
of time, trouble, and expense to the Department. He very truly
added that there were no difficulties attributable to the new rule
which might not be surmounted by a little care or ingenuity. As it
was, the public preferred an immediate termination of the
experiment to the possible and problematical advantages that might
arise from its continuance; and in this instance the country was
indulged by an early return to the old plan.
In the following year, Lord Colchester was succeeded by the late Earl
of Elgin as Postmaster-General, with a seat in Lord Palmerston's
Cabinet. When Lord Elgin was sent on the special mission to the East
in 1860, the Duke of Argyll held the joint offices of Lord Privy Seal
and Postmaster-General until a permanent successor was appointed
in the person of Lord Stanley of Alderley, who now (March, 1864)
holds the office.
In 1859, the Money-order Office in London, and the money-order
system generally, were remodelled. By a process meant to simplify
the accounts, and other judicious alterations, a saving of 4,000l. a-
year was effected, while the public were benefited by some
concessions that had been much desired, such as the granting of
money-orders up to the amount of 10l. instead of 5l. The money-
order system was likewise extended to the colonies, the first
connexion of the kind having been opened with Canada and our
European possessions of Gibraltar and Malta. It has subsequently
been extended to the principal British colonies, including the whole
of Australia.
Important improvements were also made in the department charged
with the transmission of mails. Several accelerations—in one case a
most important one—were made in the speed of the principal mail-
trains; the number of travelling post-offices was increased; the
construction of the whole of them was improved; and the apparatus-
machinery, attached to the carriages for the exchange of mail-bags
at those stations where the mail-trains do not stop, was called more
and more into requisition.
Under the Earl of Elgin, the British Post-Office endeavoured to form
conventions with foreign countries, the object in all cases being the
increase of postal facilities. In the case of Spain and Portugal, the
authorities seem to have been successful, and partially so with the
German Postal Union. An attempt to renew negotiations with the
United States calls for mention here. The advocates of ocean penny
postage (of which so much was heard some years previously—not
only a desirable, but a practicable scheme) may thus obtain some
idea of the difficulty of coming to any reasonable arrangement
between the two countries. We have already stated that a former
Postmaster-General urged upon the Government of the United
States the necessity of reduction in the rates of postage of letters
circulating from one country to the other, but was unsuccessful at
the time.[136] In 1859, the Postmaster-General of the United States
(Mr. Holt) communicated to the English Department his concurrence
in the principle of a reduction in the postage of British letters from
twenty-four to twelve cents, providing that England would give
America the lion's share of the proposed postage! The United States'
Government would agree to the change provided the new rate be
apportioned as follows, viz.:—
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