“The eyes of men,After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,Are idly bent on him that enters next,Thinking his prattle to be tedious.”CHAPTER IX.[In the Summer of 1833, as has been shown, Rowland Hill had gone abroad for the benefit of his health. In the Prefatory Memoir to the History of Penny Postage, he thus carries down from that date the history of his life to the year when his great occupation first took strong hold of his mind.]“I had spent some weeks in France, without, however, having gone further than Orleans (travelling was slow in those days), when an opportunity for such a change as I was revolving in my mind happened to present itself. A project was forming for the colonisation of the then unoccupied territory now called South Australia, the prime mover being the late Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, with whom I had previously some acquaintance, and who, indeed, had shown me a year before a prospectus of his enterprise, in which, however, all places for names, whether directors or officers, were then vacant. Meeting him now in France, I was invited by him to join in the scheme, being also assured that several men of high character and position had already done so. His proposal was that, in the event of his project being launched, I should be secretary in England; while another gentleman, the late Mr. Gouger, was to be secretary in the new colony. Though very unwilling to cut my holiday so short, yet fearing that if I missed this opportunity I might not soon find another equally promising, I determined on accepting the offer, and went forthwith to my work.“The change was obviously a very great one, and it was to be seen how far my past training, if I may apply the term to what was in so large a degree fortuitous, had fitted me for the duties that now devolved upon me. Necessity had taught me diligence, punctuality, and perseverance; and combined with inclination, and perhaps some natural aptitude, it had cultivated in me the power and habit of invention, created a certain versatility, and armed me with boldness to surmount obstacles, to disregard mere conventionalisms, and to feel and exercise a certain independence of spirit. I had alsobeen led to acquire a power of influencing and directing others, and of holding subordinates to responsibility. In my new occupation all these powers and habits were to find abundant exercise; and the question naturally arises in my mind whether, considering all that lay before me, the course of circumstances by which they had been formed or strengthened was not more fortunate than the training which would have been given by a more premeditated and systematic mode of proceeding, with ample means at command. Had I been more regularly prepared for the profession I was leaving, should I have been equally able to perform what I afterwards accomplished, or indeed equally fitted to make those improvements in school management of which I have already spoken, and which, however trivial some of them may appear in these more advanced days, were at the time decided and even bold innovations?[80]“Before going on to my proceedings in reference to the South Australian Association, I will, for the sake of convenience, mention two passages which occurred in the midst of them; and here I will take the liberty to remark that, though I had ceased to take part in formal education, I nevertheless bore the general object constantly in mind, and made all my subsequent efforts more or less subservient thereto.“In the year 1834 I took, with others, an active part in proposing that total abolition of the stamp duty on newspapers which was effected about twenty-five years later: and I endeavoured to show, I still think correctly, that this might be done with little or no loss to the revenue. It must be remembered that there was then a heavy duty on advertisements, and my expectation was that the field for advertising would so increase, and thereby so multiply advertisements, as soon to restore the whole fiscal produce of newspapers to its former amount. In estimating the probable increase in the number of newspapers, I applied a principle on which I subsequently relied in reference to postal reform, viz., that the cheapening of an article in general demand does not as a rule diminish the total public expenditure thereon, the increased consumption making up for the diminished price. Perhaps the actual state of things (1869), though the matter is complicated by the repeal of the advertisement duty, may be regarded as sufficient to show that such expectation was not unreasonable. These views I set forth when I went up in a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the late LordMonteagle, who then held the office, not only did me the honour to listen with much attention, but requested that he might be supplied with further information on the subject—a request with which I complied as soon as I could collect the necessary materials. The result, as may be remembered, was not the total abolition, but a reduction of the stamp duty, from about threepence-halfpenny (net) to one penny; an excellent measure in itself, yet but feebly tending to that recuperation for which I looked; since the retention of any duty left a serious obstacle to the multiplication of journals, a fact abundantly showne conversoby subsequent events. My argument on the subject will be found in full in the ‘Companion to the Newspaper’ for June 1st, 1834; where also, I may observe, may be seen the first suggestion of stamped covers, though not in relation to letters. The suggestion came from the editor, Mr. Charles Knight, and was indeed in some sort indispensable to the plan of total abolition, since the unstamped newspapers would not be transmissible by post without payment; and this, if made in money, would seriously add to the trouble of transmission. Of course, adhesive stamps were as yet undreamt of.“In looking over the paper referred to, I find that, at the time when I drew it up, London was the only town in Great Britain which produced a daily newspaper; that there were but six other towns with papers issued oftener than once per week; only two of the six being in England, viz., Liverpool and Canterbury.“The other passage referred to is my addressing a letter to Lord Brougham, in April, 1834, on the subject of pauper education. The bill subsequently called the New Poor Law was then in progress through Parliament, and the intended changes seemed to me to afford an opportunity, not to be neglected, for improving the education of pauper children, then for the most part in a wretched state, the schoolmasters being very frequently themselves paupers. To suggest this improvement was the object of my letter.“I pointed out that the union of parishes, combined with the proposed classification of paupers (a design unfortunately but very imperfectly realized), would bring together large numbers of pauper children, and thus facilitate their education. By reference to the report of the Commissioners, I showed that children educated in workhouses became for the most part paupers for life; while in the few parishes where good education had already been established, few remained chargeable beyond the age of childhood; that by making good education general, one great source of pauperism would be stopped; and that even as regarded immediate benefit, if industrialoccupation were introduced into the schools, the expense of maintaining the children would be partly defrayed by the results of their labour, while such occupation instead of retarding would even promote their intellectual progress. After urging some further considerations, I concluded by offering any assistance that I could give in forming a complete plan. Perhaps amidst Lord Brougham’s multitudinous duties he had no attention to spare for the proposal; perhaps the difficulty with which the actual changes were made, and the outcry long maintained against them, may have indisposed Government to any further innovation. But whatever may be the explanation, I cannot avoid speculating on the amount of the benefit which might by this time have resulted from the suggestion, had it been adopted and efficiently worked. How much pauperism and how much crime might have been prevented![81]“To return now to the subject of South Australian Colonisation. The main principles on which it was intended to proceed were, first, that the colony should from its very establishment be self-supporting (a condition hitherto unheard of); secondly, that means should be taken to keep the colonists from that dispersion which had so often produced grievous suffering and a fearful mortality; thirdly, that no convicts should be admitted into the colony; fourthly, that means should be taken for the immigration of a sufficient number of free labourers; and, lastly, that in the selection of these the numbers of the sexes should be kept equal. It is only necessary to add that, with a view to discourage dispersion and to supply an emigration fund, the price of land was to be fixed comparatively high, probably at one pound per acre. All these provisions will be found embodied in the Act of Parliament eventually passed on the subject (4th and 5th William IV., chap. 95).“As I found Mr. Wakefield’s report relative to the high character of the association fully supported by the facts, I joined it with great satisfaction.“Hoping to avoid the expense, difficulties, uncertainty, and delay of an application to Parliament, the association applied to the Colonial Secretary for a charter; which, however, was refused, partly on the alleged ground of want of precedent. As there was no remedy, we took the necessary measures for carrying a bill through Parliament. But here the obstacles were so many, that earnest and able as were those who undertook the management of the bill, viz., Colonel Torrens, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. (now Sir William) Hutt, there would have been but small chance of success without some one to take upon him, as it were, the drudgery of the process. Such aid we were fortunate enough to command in the person of my brother Matthew, who had been elected to the first reformed Parliament as member for Hull. By the joint efforts of all, the bill was at length carried through both Houses.“Commissioners to put the Act in execution were appointed by the Crown, May 5th, 1835; the chairman being Colonel Torrens, and Sir William Hutt and Sir John Lefevre being two of the commissioners. To this body I was appointed Secretary. To colonise, without any assistance from Government, an almost unknown wilderness, was a sufficiently difficult task; but the difficulties of the commission were increased by certain stipulations which Government, doubtless a little uneasy at the novel project of independent colonisation, had thought proper to impose.[82]One of these was the preliminary investment in Government securities of the sum of £55,000, £35,000 to be produced by sale of land, and the remaining £20,000 to be raised on the security both of further sales and of the colonial revenue; the investment in full to precede the exercise of any of the general powers and authorities under the Act. As no surveys had yet been made, the province indeed being very little known, and as even the site of the capital could not yet be fixed on, compliance with such requirements was obviously difficult, and the difficulty was increased by the want of funds with which to pay preliminary expenses; but by great effort the necessary means were secured before the close of November in the same year,[83]Andhere, in justice, it must be mentioned, that in the great work of founding the colony, the Commissioners were materially assisted by the formation of the South Australian Company, due mainly to the exertions of Mr. G. F. Angas.“Under all circumstances, however, the early surveying of the land was very important; while, at the same time, economy restricted the choice of surveyors mainly to those embarking in the enterprise on other grounds. The selection having been made, however, and the staff sent out, we hoped for the best; but disappointment followed. The survey made slow progress, and demands came home for such an increase of force as in that early stage would have swamped the whole enterprise. These, fortunately, my previous practice in surveying enabled me successfully to oppose; but it was not until a new chief surveyor had been sent out, in the person of Lieutenant (now General) Frome, R.E., and a new governor with ampler powers than his predecessor, that matters were at length put right.[84]“The payments to ship-owners and ship-surgeons were regulated by the number of emigrants conveyed; but as the occurrence of births and deaths produced considerable variation during the voyage, it became important to determine at what period the number should be ascertained. I advised that this should be done, not, as was customary, at the beginning of the voyage, but at its close, so as to supply a strong motive to the maintenance of the general health aboard ship. This plan being adopted answered so well, that the number that arrived in the colony often exceeded that recorded at departure; the births on board having outnumbered the deaths. Not thinking it well, however, to trust entirely to this arrangement, I took, under authority of the Commissioners, every care to have both ship and provisions effectually surveyed. On both points a controversy frequently occurred which it may be well to mention. I always took care that the requirements authorised by the Commissioners should be emphatically urged on the attention of the contractors, and constantly received assurance that they were fully understood, and should be fully acted upon; but when defects and blemishes were brought to light by the accuracy of the survey, and the stipulated consequences enforced, an outcry arose, as if the connection between promise and performance were an unheard-of and most unwarrantable innovation. After a time, however, as our practice became recognised, evasive attempts grew rare, the first expense being found to be the least.“Another difficulty arose from unpunctuality in time of sailing, the ships chartered to convey emigrants being too often unprepared when the appointed day arrived. The first means adopted to obtain punctuality was to stipulate for fines in case of delay; but the artificial nature of this arrangement rendered its maintenance difficult. Excuses were tendered, often plausible, sometimes substantial, so that their rejection was hard, while at the same time, whether the penalty were enforced or remitted, the passengers by the particular ship suffered all the inconvenience of delay. To remedy these evils, the rule now established was, that whenever the day for sailing arrived, whether the vessel were ready or not, the expense of boarding and maintaining the emigrants was to be borne by the ship-owners. This gave such a motive to punctuality that delay became infrequent, while, at the worst, detained passengers were relieved from all loss save that of time. I may add that the combined effect of our precautions was that no emigrant ship was lost, nor even sustained any serious accident.“Yet further to expedite the despatch of emigrants, I procured one additional arrangement. At this early period the sailing of chartered ships being but monthly, the interval was inconveniently long; so that persons who had made up their minds to emigrate were often kept for two or three weeks in that unsettled state which inevitably precedes a great removal. To furnish intermediate opportunity, I induced the Commissioners to give notice to ship-owners that if they were willing to submit to the conditions imposed on vessels chartered by the Commissioners, at the same time undertaking the conveyance at the lowest rate yet tendered and accepted, any unappropriated space should be occupied, in whole or in part, by such emigrants as might be on hand.“In short, the whole scheme—in which, however, I must admit that my share was but subordinate—worked so well that in the year when I withdrew from my connection with the colony, though this was only the fourth year of the despatch of settlers, the sales of land produced as much as £170,000, the number of chartered ships being thirty-eight, and that of emigrants upwards of five thousand.“Subsequently, indeed, difficulties arose, serious indications of which had appeared before I ceased to be secretary. The expenditure in the colony, notwithstanding every precaution taken at home, had begun to exceed the authorised estimates, and this eventually compelled the Commissioners to seek aid from the Government; the consequence being that the management of the colony was in effect transferred to the Colonial Office. The debt, however, thencontracted was, I believe, subsequently discharged, and if so, the colony may fairly be said to have been from the first self-supporting, being certainly the first, and perhaps the only, colony that could claim that honour.“As regards the political system of the colony, I may be allowed to mention that when the Commissioners, in their third annual report, recommended Government to grant it municipal institutions, the recommendation included at my suggestion the plan[85]which has been already spoken of[86]as devised by my father many years before, and has recently been more known to the world in connection with the name of Mr. Hare. This plan was adopted at the time, though abandoned at a later period.“As this secretaryship was my first public employment, and as the estimation in which I was held at its close was important, if not essential to my subsequent course, I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I give here the letter in which my resignation was acknowledged, and my services referred to. I have only to add that, heavy as were my duties during the four years of my secretaryship, and the year or two that preceded my formal appointment to that post, I was also engaged, throughout the whole period, at one or other of two arduous undertakings. Of the former I shall speak presently; the latter was Postal reform; my facts being collected, my plan devised, my pamphlet written, and my case established before a parliamentary committee, more than a year before I left my post.“‘South Australian Colonisation Office,“‘Adelphi Terrace,[87]September 27, 1839.“‘Sir,—The Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, tendering your resignation as Secretary to their Board; an appointment in the Treasury having been conferred upon you by Her Majesty’s Government“‘In communicating their acceptance of your resignation, and in conveying to you their thanks for the zeal, energy, and talent which you have uniformly displayed in the discharge of your duties as Secretary, the Commissioners cannot forego the satisfaction ofrecording their high appreciation of your successful exertions, in systematising the general business of the Commission, and in devising, framing, and carrying into effect the arduous and complicated arrangements of the Department of Emigration.“‘Though sensible of the loss they have suffered in being deprived of that combination of theoretical and practical ability which you have manifested in conducting their business, yet the Commissioners, while expressing their individual regret, cannot withhold from you their sincere congratulations upon the advancement you have obtained through the important service which you have rendered to the public.“‘I have the honour to be, Sir,“‘Your most obedient servant,“‘Robert Torrens,Chairman of the Commission.“‘Rowland Hill, Esq. &c. &c. &c.’“The former of my two interludes—if I may so style a piece of downright hard work—was an improvement of the printing machine, which I took in hand when it yet seemed doubtful whether the South Australian enterprise would yield me an income. My attention to the subject of printing, I may here observe, arose from my connection with the Useful Knowledge Society, then so actively engaged in promoting and cheapening popular literature.“Every one knows that about twenty years before this period the process of printing, at least in the largest offices, had been almost revolutionized by the admirable machine invented in great part by the late Mr. Edward Cowper, afterwards Professor Cowper of King’s College, London; with whom, I may add, I became acquainted about this time, and whom to know was to regard and esteem. At the time when I turned my thoughts earnestly to the subject, the machines then in use (for by this time great improvements had been made in the original invention, partly by Mr. Cowper himself, partly by others, particularly by Mr. Applegarth), could throw off in the hour, instead of the two hundred and fifty single impressions, to which the Stanhope press, the best in previous use, was limited, eight hundred sheets thoroughly well printed on both sides, or four thousand of such quality as was admissible in newspapers, printed on one side.“Meantime, however, an important improvement had been made in the manufacture of paper, viz., that of Fourdrinier; and it occurred to me that advantage might be taken of this to construct aprinting machine capable of working at much higher speed. By Fourdrinier’s machine, as is well known, paper is produced, not in single sheets, as by the former mode, but in long scrolls, capable, I believe, of almost indefinite extension; and I perceived that by their use, one, and probably the only insuperable obstacle to a rotatory machine, was removed. I perceived also that such machine would have a double advantage; its greater speed being produced by a far smaller expenditure of power.“The difficulties to be surmounted, however, were neither small nor few. The plan implied the necessity of attaching the types to a roller; which, again, involved a change in their form, and also devices to keep them firmly in place against the combined power of gravity and what is called, or rather miscalled, centrifugal force. Another difficulty regarded the supply and proper distribution of the ink, for which no interval could be left, as the process of printing off was to be absolutely continuous. As my invention was not practically adopted, and has been in a great measure superseded by later improvements, I forbear details, referring the curious either to my specification, which is dated August 12th, 1835, and numbered 6762; a printed copy of which may be procured at the Patent Office, or to the ‘Repertory of Patent Inventions,’ No. 35, where the machine is accurately and lucidly described.“It is but just to record, that in giving my invention a practical shape, I was constantly and ably assisted by my brother Edwin, who, I may here add, afterwards became known as the originator of the machine for folding envelopes, which attracted so much attention at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Many of the minor parts, essential, however, to the efficient working of our printing machine, were of his device and construction, and in my necessary absence the work proceeded under his superintendence.“At length, as is already implied, the machine was completed, and the patent secured. Its operation was repeatedly shown to members of the trade and others interested in the matter; the work produced, though at high speed, being pronounced beautiful, and that which is technically called the register accurate perhaps beyond parallel, while its action was so rapid that even when worked by hand it threw off double impressions of the size of theGlobenewspaper at the rate of eight thousand per hour, or nearly ten-fold the number produced at the same time by the reciprocating machine; nay, more, during this very process it could concurrently throw off eight thousand single impressions from each of its two rollers; thus making up thirty-two thousand single impressions in all.“It remains to be explained why the invention never came into general use.”[It was Sir Rowland Hill’s wish that the passage which next followed in the Prefatory Memoir should be enlarged. He was not well enough himself to make the additions which he desired, but he supplied his son, Mr. Pearson Hill, with the necessary information and documents. After suggesting in a manuscript marginal note the changes which should be made, he added: “I leave this in my son’s hands, who will best know how to deal with it.” Mr. Pearson Hill has accordingly supplied me with the following statement:—]“The practical difficulties to the employment of the machine for the printing of newspapers—the work for which it was especially fitted—were all in a fair way of being removed. A provisional contract, which is still in our possession, had even been entered into with certain parties to provide my father with the means of rapidly casting curved stereotype plates, similar to those now used for printing newspapers, when he found himself face to face with what proved an insuperable difficulty on the part of the Stamp Office.“In those days, and indeed for many years after, newspapers were charged with Stamp Duty. By the requirements of the Inland Revenue Department, every separate sheet on which a newspaper was printed had to bear an impressed stamp—the separate sheets being sent to the Stamp Office to be so impressed, and then returned to the various newspaper printing offices ready for use.“This necessity for cutting the paper into separate sheets before printing, of course, was absolutely inconsistent with printing the newspaper from a continuous scroll. My father applied, therefore, to the Treasury to make arrangements to allow the stamp to be affixed by machinery as the scroll passed through the press (as was indeed done years afterwards), but his request was refused.[88]This decision on the part of the Treasury deferred for something likefive-and-thirty years the introduction of the present rotatory printing-press.“The following is a copy of his memorial to the Treasury, and of the answer that he received:—ToThe Right Honorable the Chancellor of the Exchequer.The Memorial ofROWLAND HILL.Sheweth,That your Memorialist has recently obtained His Majesty’s Letters Patent for certain improvements in the method of letter-press printing by machinery, the object of which improvements, besides considerable economy, is a very greatly increased speed in the printing of newspapers, but which object cannot be fully realized unless a change can be permitted in the manner of impressing the Government Stamp upon the newspapers printed by his machines, inasmuch as it is an important part of his plan to make use of the paper, not in separate sheets but in very long scrolls,i.e., in the state it is first produced by the modern paper-making machines, each long scroll as it passes rapidly through the printing-machine receiving a series of repetitions of the letter-press.Further thatYour Memorialist’sapparatus is so constructed that one complete impression, and no more, is produced by one revolution of the machine, since the types necessary to the printing of a complete impression are arranged around a cylinder, whose surface is by the said types, with the addition of proper marginal spaces, wholly covered, so that each revolution of this cylinder gives exactly one impression.AlsoThat the Government Stamp could readily be attached to the printing cylinder of your Memorialist’s machine, so that each revolution of the cylinder giving an impression of the type, should necessarily give an impression of the Stamp also; and that there are contrivances well known to machinists, and extensively used by them, by which the number of turns made by a machine canbe recorded without chance of error or possibility of fraud. The Gas Meter is the most familiar instance, and upon its accuracy the Gas Companies stake their important interests without doubt or hesitation.ThatUnder these circumstances your Memorialist ventures to hope that in the Bill now before Parliament for the consolidation of the Stamp Acts, a power may be given to the Commissioners of Stamps to make such arrangements as they may deem advisable for affording to your Memorialist and to the Public the advantages which the use of his improved printing machine offers.Your Memorialist takes the liberty to enclose the draft of a clause for consideration.Copy of Enclosure.178.—And whereas it is expedient that no obstacle should be presented to the introduction of improvements in machinery for printing newspapers; and that to this end it is desirable that a provision should be made for allowing newspaper stamps to be affixed to the paper before it is cut up into separate sheets: Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any printer of newspapers to stamp his own paper (either as it passes through the printing machine, or in such other way as he may prefer), provided he can satisfy the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes that no danger of a fraud on the Revenue will arise in his case.Copy of Reply.Treasury Chambers, 18th June, 1836.Sir,Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury your Memorial praying that a Clause may be inserted into the New Stamp Bill, allowing the printers of newspapers themselves to impress the necessary Stamps on their papers, I am directed to acquaint you that My Lords cannot comply with your request.I am, Sir,Your obedient Servant,A. G. Spearman.Mr. Rowland Hill, 2, Burton Crescent.“It may not be without interest to the public to show how easily ‘insuperable’ official objections can be overcome, when those who raise them desire it. Many years afterwards, when the proprietors of a London newspaper were making improvements in their printing machinery, and required the very facility for which my father had vainly contended, the Board of Inland Revenue, as I am told, on looking into the Act of Parliament on the matter, found that though the printing of the impressed stamp at the same time as the rest of the newspaper was clearly illegal, the only parties who could proceed against any newspaper proprietor so offending were the Commissioners of Inland Revenue themselves. Now as the Commissioners had made up their minds to allow the change, not only was an intimation given to the proprietors of the newspaper in question that they would not be interfered with, but the officers of the Stamp Office—Mr. Edwin Hill especially—gave most valuable assistance in devising the means of carrying out the improved (though decidedly illegal) arrangement.“I may add that at the Caxton Exhibition in 1877, a copy of my father’s patent, as well as a type cylinder, inking apparatus, and such other portions of his printing machine as, after a lapse of forty-two years, could be got together, were exhibited, and are now to be seen by any one interested in the matter in the South Kensington Museum.”[Though the employment of his printing machine for newspaper work was rendered impossible by the obstacle described above, it might still have been available for other purposes, had he been able to give it his attention. He thus continues his narrative:—]“It was about this time that I began to entertain distinct hopes, however slight as yet their foundation, of employment in relation to postal affairs; and as usual in cases of great difficulty, I consulted my father and my brothers on the subject of future proceedings. I represented that I found myself unable to continue my duties in relation to the Australian Commission, and, at the same time, both to take effectual means for establishing the success of the printing machine, and to labour efficiently at my project for postal reform. Here was grave matter for consideration, the invention having already cost a large amount of labour, spread over a whole year, from both my brother and myself, besides £2,000 in hard cash; while, on the other hand, postal prospects, in which every onepresent took a deep interest, all having indeed already laboured with me in the cause, were regarded as promising. It was inquired whether my brother, who had thus far assisted me in the printing machine, could not himself carry the matter to completion; but unhappily his health was at that time in too depressed a state to leave any hope that he could alone surmount obstacles so formidable. Here I may remark that, at one time or other, every member of our family has fallen, at least once in his life, through excessive labour and anxiety, into severe, protracted, and even dangerous illness—illness involving consequences which nothing but our unshaken union could have enabled us to support. After long and careful consideration, they concurred in advising that the Post Office should be preferred to the printing machine; and as this recommendation seconded my own opinion, I decided to act upon it.“I have only to say, in conclusion, that a printer of the highest standing in his trade, induced, I suppose, partly by what I had done in this matter, partly by a general knowledge of my antecedents, offered me in 1839 a very advantageous partnership,[89]which I should certainly have accepted, but that it would have involved my refusal of the offer which Government had just then made me, viz., of a post in the Treasury for the prosecution of my plan of postal reform.”[90][This account of Rowland Hill’s printing-press may be well brought to an end by the following extract from a letter which he wrote to his wife on July 17th, 1835:—]“I have a good account to give of the printing machine. We have now completed the single machine, and the night before last we gave it a trial. It worked better than I hoped even, and fully established, I think, the correctness of the views we have entertained. Miss D——, who left for Birmingham this morning, has taken with her the scroll of paper which was printed.... It will be forwarded to you. I need not ask you to take care of it, and to return it when you come back to me. Some day or other it may be a great curiosity.”BOOK II.HISTORY OF PENNY POSTAGE.“There is good to a man’s self in doing good to others; and the further this extends the higher it rises, and the longer it lasts. Besides, there is beauty in order, and there are charms in well-deserved praise: and both are the greater, by how much greater the subject.”—Sir William Temple.PREFACE TO THE HISTORY OF PENNY POSTAGE.The following narrative was originally drawn up at much greater length, and in its present shape is the result of a double abridgment, first in manuscript and afterwards in print. This proceeding was according to a preconceived plan; my wish being to leave to my relatives a more detailed history than was likely to be acceptable to the public, and at the same time to supply ample means for dealing with any question that might arise as to accuracy of statement.Perhaps it may be thought that abridgment might have been advantageously carried yet further; but, on the one hand, I hope there is at present no more superfluous matter than can be readily skipt; and, on the other, I naturally desired that the public should have so much of detail as would distinctly set forth the authorship, execution, and administration of the chief Postal Reforms effected during the last thirty years.My story is told in the first person; but it is only in a limited sense that it is autobiographic. For reasons that will be easily gathered from the narrative, I had to devolve upon another the task of immediate composition, and I deemed it fortunate that one upon whose pen I had much relied from the first, had leisure for the work. This, I may remark, is much more vicarious in the narrative presented to the public than in the original, where events are to a great extent described in letters or in extracts from my Journal. Of course the whole has undergone my careful revision, a duty in which I have been by no means unaided; but, after every correction, I cannot feel sure that sense has not sometimes suffered in paraphrase; and if it appear hereafter that on some minor points expression conveys or suggests erroneous meaning, I must ask the reader to believe that such deviation is not only contrary to my intention and sincere desire, but has occurred in spite of our earnest efforts.If the reader find somewhat too much of self-assertion—if he think I have too often quoted what is complimentary to myself—I ask him to consider how much I have suffered from detraction and injustice; how my conclusions were ridiculed, my success denied; and how, when success was incontestable, the origination of my plan was claimed by others. Let him see me dismissed from office, without recompense, by a man of Sir Robert Peel’s high character, and consider the presumption naturally arising from an act so unusual; let him observe howlong and pertinaciously the progress of Postal Reform was troubled and thwarted, and how loudly and confidently I was charged with proceedings for which I of all men was farthest from being responsible. He will readily be aware that claims and accusations may revive when I am no more; and will perhaps pardon me if, with all the reserve adverted to above, I am still led by precaution into what he may regard as prolixity.One point more. If it be asked why I do not yet publish this history, so as to enable me to meet in my own person any controversy to which it may give rise, I answer—first, that by the time of its completion my vigour, both of body and mind, had become so impaired, as to put such direct defence, should it be needed, altogether beyond my power; and, secondly, that I hope and trust the delay of a few years may enable my executors, while retaining all statements essential to the completeness of the narrative, so to place it before the public as to avoid wounding the feelings of any one.ROWLAND HILL.February, 1871.HISTORYOFPENNY POSTAGE.CHAPTER I.CONCEPTION OF MY PLAN. CHIEFLY 1836.Amongst the many subjects which casually attracted the attention of our family, the operations of the Post Office naturally took their turn. My father spoke at times of Palmer’s great improvement,[91]which he well remembered, and mentioned its beneficial results. Postal considerations, moreover, came upon us in a very practical form; every day that brought post-letters brought also a demand for payment, the postman waiting at the door till he had received his money. In the very early period, when we were most straitened in means, his rap was not always welcome; the demand being certain and sometimes inconvenient; the recompense, in the way of news, doubtful. Tradesmen’s circulars, in particular, which sometimes came from a considerable distance, and always unpaid, were great causes of disappointment and irritation. Happily they were but rare in those days, or the evil would have been intolerable.As much more than half the present generation have had no experience of any other system than that ofpenny postage, it must be difficult, if not impracticable, to give an adequate conception of the state of things at the time referred to, of the height and variety of rates charged, and of the multitudinous shifts resorted to for their evasion. The law gave the Post Office a monopoly, and respect for the law is considered characteristic of our countrymen; but, to the best of my memory, I never knew of any one being withheld from its breach on this point, save by considerations either of convenience or of prudence.The following facts are given by way of example: If, when residing at Birmingham, we received a letter from London, the lowest charge was ninepence, while the slightest enclosure raised it to eighteenpence, and a second enclosure to two shillings and threepence, though the whole missive might not weigh a quarter of an ounce. We had relatives at Haddington; the lowest rate thence was thirteenpence-halfpenny; others at Shrewsbury, but the postage thence I do not remember, as we never used the Post Office in our correspondence with them, since a tradesman in our town who had occasion to send and, in turn, to receive a weekly packet, was kind enough to enclose our letters, we carrying them more than half a mile to place them in his hands, while the return letters, being dropped by him into the Birmingham Post Office, came to us charged with merely the local rate of one penny. In looking over letters of the period antecedent to the Post Office reform, I find constant reference to expedients for saving postage; thus, in writing to a friend at a particular town, we would trouble him to call upon such and such others to communicate intelligence, or to make inquiries, the result to be reported in his next letter; sometimes, even, we would ask him to call upon tradesmen to give orders,or to urge despatch in commissions previously given. If a friend were about to make a journey to a town where we had connections, we did not hesitate to place letters in his hands, regardless alike of his trouble and the chance of his forgetfulness; being ourselves, of course, ready in turn to perform the like service. In the year 1823, taking a holiday excursion through the lake district[92]to Scotland, and wishing to keep myfamily informed as to my movements and my health (then in a depressed state), I carried with me a number of old newspapers, and in franking these, according to the useless form then required, while I left the postmark with its date to show the place, I indicated my state of health by selecting names according to previous arrangement; the more Liberal members being taken to indicate that I was better, while Tories were to show that I was falling back; “Sir Francis Burdett” was to imply vigorous health, while probably “Lord Eldon” would almost have brought one of my brothers after me in anxiety and alarm.[93]In later days, more especially after our removal to the neighbourhood of London, and most of all while my eldest brother was in Parliament, we sometimes procured franks, particularly when for any reason we had unusual regard to appearances; but as at that time we were in easier circumstances, we felt some compunction in using franks for general purposes, thinking it questionable to evade an impost by the use of means from which, as we well knew by earlier experience, those lower down were utterly debarred. This feeling became stronger as we learnt the monstrous abuses which had grown up in connection with the franking system; when we found, for instance, that though a member’s frankwould cover but an ounce, there were franks of another kind which served for unlimited weight, and were said to have been actually used to free a greatcoat, a bundle of baby-linen, and a pianoforte.Even in our early days, however, necessity being the mother of conception as well as of invention, my father, while testifying great admiration for the postal system generally, had repeatedly expressed the opinion that, even for fiscal purposes, postage was unwisely high, an opinion which in all probability tended to draw my attention to postal affairs. Be this as it may, the earliest record on the subject that I can find in my memoranda, and which is dated August, 1826 (that is, ten years before the publication of my pamphlet), gives my first conception of a travelling post office. It is as follows:—
“The eyes of men,After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,Are idly bent on him that enters next,Thinking his prattle to be tedious.”
“The eyes of men,After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,Are idly bent on him that enters next,Thinking his prattle to be tedious.”
“The eyes of men,After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,Are idly bent on him that enters next,Thinking his prattle to be tedious.”
“The eyes of men,
After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,
Are idly bent on him that enters next,
Thinking his prattle to be tedious.”
[In the Summer of 1833, as has been shown, Rowland Hill had gone abroad for the benefit of his health. In the Prefatory Memoir to the History of Penny Postage, he thus carries down from that date the history of his life to the year when his great occupation first took strong hold of his mind.]
“I had spent some weeks in France, without, however, having gone further than Orleans (travelling was slow in those days), when an opportunity for such a change as I was revolving in my mind happened to present itself. A project was forming for the colonisation of the then unoccupied territory now called South Australia, the prime mover being the late Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, with whom I had previously some acquaintance, and who, indeed, had shown me a year before a prospectus of his enterprise, in which, however, all places for names, whether directors or officers, were then vacant. Meeting him now in France, I was invited by him to join in the scheme, being also assured that several men of high character and position had already done so. His proposal was that, in the event of his project being launched, I should be secretary in England; while another gentleman, the late Mr. Gouger, was to be secretary in the new colony. Though very unwilling to cut my holiday so short, yet fearing that if I missed this opportunity I might not soon find another equally promising, I determined on accepting the offer, and went forthwith to my work.“The change was obviously a very great one, and it was to be seen how far my past training, if I may apply the term to what was in so large a degree fortuitous, had fitted me for the duties that now devolved upon me. Necessity had taught me diligence, punctuality, and perseverance; and combined with inclination, and perhaps some natural aptitude, it had cultivated in me the power and habit of invention, created a certain versatility, and armed me with boldness to surmount obstacles, to disregard mere conventionalisms, and to feel and exercise a certain independence of spirit. I had alsobeen led to acquire a power of influencing and directing others, and of holding subordinates to responsibility. In my new occupation all these powers and habits were to find abundant exercise; and the question naturally arises in my mind whether, considering all that lay before me, the course of circumstances by which they had been formed or strengthened was not more fortunate than the training which would have been given by a more premeditated and systematic mode of proceeding, with ample means at command. Had I been more regularly prepared for the profession I was leaving, should I have been equally able to perform what I afterwards accomplished, or indeed equally fitted to make those improvements in school management of which I have already spoken, and which, however trivial some of them may appear in these more advanced days, were at the time decided and even bold innovations?[80]“Before going on to my proceedings in reference to the South Australian Association, I will, for the sake of convenience, mention two passages which occurred in the midst of them; and here I will take the liberty to remark that, though I had ceased to take part in formal education, I nevertheless bore the general object constantly in mind, and made all my subsequent efforts more or less subservient thereto.“In the year 1834 I took, with others, an active part in proposing that total abolition of the stamp duty on newspapers which was effected about twenty-five years later: and I endeavoured to show, I still think correctly, that this might be done with little or no loss to the revenue. It must be remembered that there was then a heavy duty on advertisements, and my expectation was that the field for advertising would so increase, and thereby so multiply advertisements, as soon to restore the whole fiscal produce of newspapers to its former amount. In estimating the probable increase in the number of newspapers, I applied a principle on which I subsequently relied in reference to postal reform, viz., that the cheapening of an article in general demand does not as a rule diminish the total public expenditure thereon, the increased consumption making up for the diminished price. Perhaps the actual state of things (1869), though the matter is complicated by the repeal of the advertisement duty, may be regarded as sufficient to show that such expectation was not unreasonable. These views I set forth when I went up in a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the late LordMonteagle, who then held the office, not only did me the honour to listen with much attention, but requested that he might be supplied with further information on the subject—a request with which I complied as soon as I could collect the necessary materials. The result, as may be remembered, was not the total abolition, but a reduction of the stamp duty, from about threepence-halfpenny (net) to one penny; an excellent measure in itself, yet but feebly tending to that recuperation for which I looked; since the retention of any duty left a serious obstacle to the multiplication of journals, a fact abundantly showne conversoby subsequent events. My argument on the subject will be found in full in the ‘Companion to the Newspaper’ for June 1st, 1834; where also, I may observe, may be seen the first suggestion of stamped covers, though not in relation to letters. The suggestion came from the editor, Mr. Charles Knight, and was indeed in some sort indispensable to the plan of total abolition, since the unstamped newspapers would not be transmissible by post without payment; and this, if made in money, would seriously add to the trouble of transmission. Of course, adhesive stamps were as yet undreamt of.“In looking over the paper referred to, I find that, at the time when I drew it up, London was the only town in Great Britain which produced a daily newspaper; that there were but six other towns with papers issued oftener than once per week; only two of the six being in England, viz., Liverpool and Canterbury.“The other passage referred to is my addressing a letter to Lord Brougham, in April, 1834, on the subject of pauper education. The bill subsequently called the New Poor Law was then in progress through Parliament, and the intended changes seemed to me to afford an opportunity, not to be neglected, for improving the education of pauper children, then for the most part in a wretched state, the schoolmasters being very frequently themselves paupers. To suggest this improvement was the object of my letter.“I pointed out that the union of parishes, combined with the proposed classification of paupers (a design unfortunately but very imperfectly realized), would bring together large numbers of pauper children, and thus facilitate their education. By reference to the report of the Commissioners, I showed that children educated in workhouses became for the most part paupers for life; while in the few parishes where good education had already been established, few remained chargeable beyond the age of childhood; that by making good education general, one great source of pauperism would be stopped; and that even as regarded immediate benefit, if industrialoccupation were introduced into the schools, the expense of maintaining the children would be partly defrayed by the results of their labour, while such occupation instead of retarding would even promote their intellectual progress. After urging some further considerations, I concluded by offering any assistance that I could give in forming a complete plan. Perhaps amidst Lord Brougham’s multitudinous duties he had no attention to spare for the proposal; perhaps the difficulty with which the actual changes were made, and the outcry long maintained against them, may have indisposed Government to any further innovation. But whatever may be the explanation, I cannot avoid speculating on the amount of the benefit which might by this time have resulted from the suggestion, had it been adopted and efficiently worked. How much pauperism and how much crime might have been prevented![81]“To return now to the subject of South Australian Colonisation. The main principles on which it was intended to proceed were, first, that the colony should from its very establishment be self-supporting (a condition hitherto unheard of); secondly, that means should be taken to keep the colonists from that dispersion which had so often produced grievous suffering and a fearful mortality; thirdly, that no convicts should be admitted into the colony; fourthly, that means should be taken for the immigration of a sufficient number of free labourers; and, lastly, that in the selection of these the numbers of the sexes should be kept equal. It is only necessary to add that, with a view to discourage dispersion and to supply an emigration fund, the price of land was to be fixed comparatively high, probably at one pound per acre. All these provisions will be found embodied in the Act of Parliament eventually passed on the subject (4th and 5th William IV., chap. 95).“As I found Mr. Wakefield’s report relative to the high character of the association fully supported by the facts, I joined it with great satisfaction.“Hoping to avoid the expense, difficulties, uncertainty, and delay of an application to Parliament, the association applied to the Colonial Secretary for a charter; which, however, was refused, partly on the alleged ground of want of precedent. As there was no remedy, we took the necessary measures for carrying a bill through Parliament. But here the obstacles were so many, that earnest and able as were those who undertook the management of the bill, viz., Colonel Torrens, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. (now Sir William) Hutt, there would have been but small chance of success without some one to take upon him, as it were, the drudgery of the process. Such aid we were fortunate enough to command in the person of my brother Matthew, who had been elected to the first reformed Parliament as member for Hull. By the joint efforts of all, the bill was at length carried through both Houses.“Commissioners to put the Act in execution were appointed by the Crown, May 5th, 1835; the chairman being Colonel Torrens, and Sir William Hutt and Sir John Lefevre being two of the commissioners. To this body I was appointed Secretary. To colonise, without any assistance from Government, an almost unknown wilderness, was a sufficiently difficult task; but the difficulties of the commission were increased by certain stipulations which Government, doubtless a little uneasy at the novel project of independent colonisation, had thought proper to impose.[82]One of these was the preliminary investment in Government securities of the sum of £55,000, £35,000 to be produced by sale of land, and the remaining £20,000 to be raised on the security both of further sales and of the colonial revenue; the investment in full to precede the exercise of any of the general powers and authorities under the Act. As no surveys had yet been made, the province indeed being very little known, and as even the site of the capital could not yet be fixed on, compliance with such requirements was obviously difficult, and the difficulty was increased by the want of funds with which to pay preliminary expenses; but by great effort the necessary means were secured before the close of November in the same year,[83]Andhere, in justice, it must be mentioned, that in the great work of founding the colony, the Commissioners were materially assisted by the formation of the South Australian Company, due mainly to the exertions of Mr. G. F. Angas.“Under all circumstances, however, the early surveying of the land was very important; while, at the same time, economy restricted the choice of surveyors mainly to those embarking in the enterprise on other grounds. The selection having been made, however, and the staff sent out, we hoped for the best; but disappointment followed. The survey made slow progress, and demands came home for such an increase of force as in that early stage would have swamped the whole enterprise. These, fortunately, my previous practice in surveying enabled me successfully to oppose; but it was not until a new chief surveyor had been sent out, in the person of Lieutenant (now General) Frome, R.E., and a new governor with ampler powers than his predecessor, that matters were at length put right.[84]“The payments to ship-owners and ship-surgeons were regulated by the number of emigrants conveyed; but as the occurrence of births and deaths produced considerable variation during the voyage, it became important to determine at what period the number should be ascertained. I advised that this should be done, not, as was customary, at the beginning of the voyage, but at its close, so as to supply a strong motive to the maintenance of the general health aboard ship. This plan being adopted answered so well, that the number that arrived in the colony often exceeded that recorded at departure; the births on board having outnumbered the deaths. Not thinking it well, however, to trust entirely to this arrangement, I took, under authority of the Commissioners, every care to have both ship and provisions effectually surveyed. On both points a controversy frequently occurred which it may be well to mention. I always took care that the requirements authorised by the Commissioners should be emphatically urged on the attention of the contractors, and constantly received assurance that they were fully understood, and should be fully acted upon; but when defects and blemishes were brought to light by the accuracy of the survey, and the stipulated consequences enforced, an outcry arose, as if the connection between promise and performance were an unheard-of and most unwarrantable innovation. After a time, however, as our practice became recognised, evasive attempts grew rare, the first expense being found to be the least.“Another difficulty arose from unpunctuality in time of sailing, the ships chartered to convey emigrants being too often unprepared when the appointed day arrived. The first means adopted to obtain punctuality was to stipulate for fines in case of delay; but the artificial nature of this arrangement rendered its maintenance difficult. Excuses were tendered, often plausible, sometimes substantial, so that their rejection was hard, while at the same time, whether the penalty were enforced or remitted, the passengers by the particular ship suffered all the inconvenience of delay. To remedy these evils, the rule now established was, that whenever the day for sailing arrived, whether the vessel were ready or not, the expense of boarding and maintaining the emigrants was to be borne by the ship-owners. This gave such a motive to punctuality that delay became infrequent, while, at the worst, detained passengers were relieved from all loss save that of time. I may add that the combined effect of our precautions was that no emigrant ship was lost, nor even sustained any serious accident.“Yet further to expedite the despatch of emigrants, I procured one additional arrangement. At this early period the sailing of chartered ships being but monthly, the interval was inconveniently long; so that persons who had made up their minds to emigrate were often kept for two or three weeks in that unsettled state which inevitably precedes a great removal. To furnish intermediate opportunity, I induced the Commissioners to give notice to ship-owners that if they were willing to submit to the conditions imposed on vessels chartered by the Commissioners, at the same time undertaking the conveyance at the lowest rate yet tendered and accepted, any unappropriated space should be occupied, in whole or in part, by such emigrants as might be on hand.“In short, the whole scheme—in which, however, I must admit that my share was but subordinate—worked so well that in the year when I withdrew from my connection with the colony, though this was only the fourth year of the despatch of settlers, the sales of land produced as much as £170,000, the number of chartered ships being thirty-eight, and that of emigrants upwards of five thousand.“Subsequently, indeed, difficulties arose, serious indications of which had appeared before I ceased to be secretary. The expenditure in the colony, notwithstanding every precaution taken at home, had begun to exceed the authorised estimates, and this eventually compelled the Commissioners to seek aid from the Government; the consequence being that the management of the colony was in effect transferred to the Colonial Office. The debt, however, thencontracted was, I believe, subsequently discharged, and if so, the colony may fairly be said to have been from the first self-supporting, being certainly the first, and perhaps the only, colony that could claim that honour.“As regards the political system of the colony, I may be allowed to mention that when the Commissioners, in their third annual report, recommended Government to grant it municipal institutions, the recommendation included at my suggestion the plan[85]which has been already spoken of[86]as devised by my father many years before, and has recently been more known to the world in connection with the name of Mr. Hare. This plan was adopted at the time, though abandoned at a later period.“As this secretaryship was my first public employment, and as the estimation in which I was held at its close was important, if not essential to my subsequent course, I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I give here the letter in which my resignation was acknowledged, and my services referred to. I have only to add that, heavy as were my duties during the four years of my secretaryship, and the year or two that preceded my formal appointment to that post, I was also engaged, throughout the whole period, at one or other of two arduous undertakings. Of the former I shall speak presently; the latter was Postal reform; my facts being collected, my plan devised, my pamphlet written, and my case established before a parliamentary committee, more than a year before I left my post.“‘South Australian Colonisation Office,“‘Adelphi Terrace,[87]September 27, 1839.“‘Sir,—The Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, tendering your resignation as Secretary to their Board; an appointment in the Treasury having been conferred upon you by Her Majesty’s Government“‘In communicating their acceptance of your resignation, and in conveying to you their thanks for the zeal, energy, and talent which you have uniformly displayed in the discharge of your duties as Secretary, the Commissioners cannot forego the satisfaction ofrecording their high appreciation of your successful exertions, in systematising the general business of the Commission, and in devising, framing, and carrying into effect the arduous and complicated arrangements of the Department of Emigration.“‘Though sensible of the loss they have suffered in being deprived of that combination of theoretical and practical ability which you have manifested in conducting their business, yet the Commissioners, while expressing their individual regret, cannot withhold from you their sincere congratulations upon the advancement you have obtained through the important service which you have rendered to the public.“‘I have the honour to be, Sir,“‘Your most obedient servant,“‘Robert Torrens,Chairman of the Commission.“‘Rowland Hill, Esq. &c. &c. &c.’“The former of my two interludes—if I may so style a piece of downright hard work—was an improvement of the printing machine, which I took in hand when it yet seemed doubtful whether the South Australian enterprise would yield me an income. My attention to the subject of printing, I may here observe, arose from my connection with the Useful Knowledge Society, then so actively engaged in promoting and cheapening popular literature.“Every one knows that about twenty years before this period the process of printing, at least in the largest offices, had been almost revolutionized by the admirable machine invented in great part by the late Mr. Edward Cowper, afterwards Professor Cowper of King’s College, London; with whom, I may add, I became acquainted about this time, and whom to know was to regard and esteem. At the time when I turned my thoughts earnestly to the subject, the machines then in use (for by this time great improvements had been made in the original invention, partly by Mr. Cowper himself, partly by others, particularly by Mr. Applegarth), could throw off in the hour, instead of the two hundred and fifty single impressions, to which the Stanhope press, the best in previous use, was limited, eight hundred sheets thoroughly well printed on both sides, or four thousand of such quality as was admissible in newspapers, printed on one side.“Meantime, however, an important improvement had been made in the manufacture of paper, viz., that of Fourdrinier; and it occurred to me that advantage might be taken of this to construct aprinting machine capable of working at much higher speed. By Fourdrinier’s machine, as is well known, paper is produced, not in single sheets, as by the former mode, but in long scrolls, capable, I believe, of almost indefinite extension; and I perceived that by their use, one, and probably the only insuperable obstacle to a rotatory machine, was removed. I perceived also that such machine would have a double advantage; its greater speed being produced by a far smaller expenditure of power.“The difficulties to be surmounted, however, were neither small nor few. The plan implied the necessity of attaching the types to a roller; which, again, involved a change in their form, and also devices to keep them firmly in place against the combined power of gravity and what is called, or rather miscalled, centrifugal force. Another difficulty regarded the supply and proper distribution of the ink, for which no interval could be left, as the process of printing off was to be absolutely continuous. As my invention was not practically adopted, and has been in a great measure superseded by later improvements, I forbear details, referring the curious either to my specification, which is dated August 12th, 1835, and numbered 6762; a printed copy of which may be procured at the Patent Office, or to the ‘Repertory of Patent Inventions,’ No. 35, where the machine is accurately and lucidly described.“It is but just to record, that in giving my invention a practical shape, I was constantly and ably assisted by my brother Edwin, who, I may here add, afterwards became known as the originator of the machine for folding envelopes, which attracted so much attention at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Many of the minor parts, essential, however, to the efficient working of our printing machine, were of his device and construction, and in my necessary absence the work proceeded under his superintendence.“At length, as is already implied, the machine was completed, and the patent secured. Its operation was repeatedly shown to members of the trade and others interested in the matter; the work produced, though at high speed, being pronounced beautiful, and that which is technically called the register accurate perhaps beyond parallel, while its action was so rapid that even when worked by hand it threw off double impressions of the size of theGlobenewspaper at the rate of eight thousand per hour, or nearly ten-fold the number produced at the same time by the reciprocating machine; nay, more, during this very process it could concurrently throw off eight thousand single impressions from each of its two rollers; thus making up thirty-two thousand single impressions in all.“It remains to be explained why the invention never came into general use.”
“I had spent some weeks in France, without, however, having gone further than Orleans (travelling was slow in those days), when an opportunity for such a change as I was revolving in my mind happened to present itself. A project was forming for the colonisation of the then unoccupied territory now called South Australia, the prime mover being the late Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, with whom I had previously some acquaintance, and who, indeed, had shown me a year before a prospectus of his enterprise, in which, however, all places for names, whether directors or officers, were then vacant. Meeting him now in France, I was invited by him to join in the scheme, being also assured that several men of high character and position had already done so. His proposal was that, in the event of his project being launched, I should be secretary in England; while another gentleman, the late Mr. Gouger, was to be secretary in the new colony. Though very unwilling to cut my holiday so short, yet fearing that if I missed this opportunity I might not soon find another equally promising, I determined on accepting the offer, and went forthwith to my work.
“The change was obviously a very great one, and it was to be seen how far my past training, if I may apply the term to what was in so large a degree fortuitous, had fitted me for the duties that now devolved upon me. Necessity had taught me diligence, punctuality, and perseverance; and combined with inclination, and perhaps some natural aptitude, it had cultivated in me the power and habit of invention, created a certain versatility, and armed me with boldness to surmount obstacles, to disregard mere conventionalisms, and to feel and exercise a certain independence of spirit. I had alsobeen led to acquire a power of influencing and directing others, and of holding subordinates to responsibility. In my new occupation all these powers and habits were to find abundant exercise; and the question naturally arises in my mind whether, considering all that lay before me, the course of circumstances by which they had been formed or strengthened was not more fortunate than the training which would have been given by a more premeditated and systematic mode of proceeding, with ample means at command. Had I been more regularly prepared for the profession I was leaving, should I have been equally able to perform what I afterwards accomplished, or indeed equally fitted to make those improvements in school management of which I have already spoken, and which, however trivial some of them may appear in these more advanced days, were at the time decided and even bold innovations?[80]
“Before going on to my proceedings in reference to the South Australian Association, I will, for the sake of convenience, mention two passages which occurred in the midst of them; and here I will take the liberty to remark that, though I had ceased to take part in formal education, I nevertheless bore the general object constantly in mind, and made all my subsequent efforts more or less subservient thereto.
“In the year 1834 I took, with others, an active part in proposing that total abolition of the stamp duty on newspapers which was effected about twenty-five years later: and I endeavoured to show, I still think correctly, that this might be done with little or no loss to the revenue. It must be remembered that there was then a heavy duty on advertisements, and my expectation was that the field for advertising would so increase, and thereby so multiply advertisements, as soon to restore the whole fiscal produce of newspapers to its former amount. In estimating the probable increase in the number of newspapers, I applied a principle on which I subsequently relied in reference to postal reform, viz., that the cheapening of an article in general demand does not as a rule diminish the total public expenditure thereon, the increased consumption making up for the diminished price. Perhaps the actual state of things (1869), though the matter is complicated by the repeal of the advertisement duty, may be regarded as sufficient to show that such expectation was not unreasonable. These views I set forth when I went up in a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the late LordMonteagle, who then held the office, not only did me the honour to listen with much attention, but requested that he might be supplied with further information on the subject—a request with which I complied as soon as I could collect the necessary materials. The result, as may be remembered, was not the total abolition, but a reduction of the stamp duty, from about threepence-halfpenny (net) to one penny; an excellent measure in itself, yet but feebly tending to that recuperation for which I looked; since the retention of any duty left a serious obstacle to the multiplication of journals, a fact abundantly showne conversoby subsequent events. My argument on the subject will be found in full in the ‘Companion to the Newspaper’ for June 1st, 1834; where also, I may observe, may be seen the first suggestion of stamped covers, though not in relation to letters. The suggestion came from the editor, Mr. Charles Knight, and was indeed in some sort indispensable to the plan of total abolition, since the unstamped newspapers would not be transmissible by post without payment; and this, if made in money, would seriously add to the trouble of transmission. Of course, adhesive stamps were as yet undreamt of.
“In looking over the paper referred to, I find that, at the time when I drew it up, London was the only town in Great Britain which produced a daily newspaper; that there were but six other towns with papers issued oftener than once per week; only two of the six being in England, viz., Liverpool and Canterbury.
“The other passage referred to is my addressing a letter to Lord Brougham, in April, 1834, on the subject of pauper education. The bill subsequently called the New Poor Law was then in progress through Parliament, and the intended changes seemed to me to afford an opportunity, not to be neglected, for improving the education of pauper children, then for the most part in a wretched state, the schoolmasters being very frequently themselves paupers. To suggest this improvement was the object of my letter.
“I pointed out that the union of parishes, combined with the proposed classification of paupers (a design unfortunately but very imperfectly realized), would bring together large numbers of pauper children, and thus facilitate their education. By reference to the report of the Commissioners, I showed that children educated in workhouses became for the most part paupers for life; while in the few parishes where good education had already been established, few remained chargeable beyond the age of childhood; that by making good education general, one great source of pauperism would be stopped; and that even as regarded immediate benefit, if industrialoccupation were introduced into the schools, the expense of maintaining the children would be partly defrayed by the results of their labour, while such occupation instead of retarding would even promote their intellectual progress. After urging some further considerations, I concluded by offering any assistance that I could give in forming a complete plan. Perhaps amidst Lord Brougham’s multitudinous duties he had no attention to spare for the proposal; perhaps the difficulty with which the actual changes were made, and the outcry long maintained against them, may have indisposed Government to any further innovation. But whatever may be the explanation, I cannot avoid speculating on the amount of the benefit which might by this time have resulted from the suggestion, had it been adopted and efficiently worked. How much pauperism and how much crime might have been prevented![81]
“To return now to the subject of South Australian Colonisation. The main principles on which it was intended to proceed were, first, that the colony should from its very establishment be self-supporting (a condition hitherto unheard of); secondly, that means should be taken to keep the colonists from that dispersion which had so often produced grievous suffering and a fearful mortality; thirdly, that no convicts should be admitted into the colony; fourthly, that means should be taken for the immigration of a sufficient number of free labourers; and, lastly, that in the selection of these the numbers of the sexes should be kept equal. It is only necessary to add that, with a view to discourage dispersion and to supply an emigration fund, the price of land was to be fixed comparatively high, probably at one pound per acre. All these provisions will be found embodied in the Act of Parliament eventually passed on the subject (4th and 5th William IV., chap. 95).
“As I found Mr. Wakefield’s report relative to the high character of the association fully supported by the facts, I joined it with great satisfaction.
“Hoping to avoid the expense, difficulties, uncertainty, and delay of an application to Parliament, the association applied to the Colonial Secretary for a charter; which, however, was refused, partly on the alleged ground of want of precedent. As there was no remedy, we took the necessary measures for carrying a bill through Parliament. But here the obstacles were so many, that earnest and able as were those who undertook the management of the bill, viz., Colonel Torrens, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. (now Sir William) Hutt, there would have been but small chance of success without some one to take upon him, as it were, the drudgery of the process. Such aid we were fortunate enough to command in the person of my brother Matthew, who had been elected to the first reformed Parliament as member for Hull. By the joint efforts of all, the bill was at length carried through both Houses.
“Commissioners to put the Act in execution were appointed by the Crown, May 5th, 1835; the chairman being Colonel Torrens, and Sir William Hutt and Sir John Lefevre being two of the commissioners. To this body I was appointed Secretary. To colonise, without any assistance from Government, an almost unknown wilderness, was a sufficiently difficult task; but the difficulties of the commission were increased by certain stipulations which Government, doubtless a little uneasy at the novel project of independent colonisation, had thought proper to impose.[82]One of these was the preliminary investment in Government securities of the sum of £55,000, £35,000 to be produced by sale of land, and the remaining £20,000 to be raised on the security both of further sales and of the colonial revenue; the investment in full to precede the exercise of any of the general powers and authorities under the Act. As no surveys had yet been made, the province indeed being very little known, and as even the site of the capital could not yet be fixed on, compliance with such requirements was obviously difficult, and the difficulty was increased by the want of funds with which to pay preliminary expenses; but by great effort the necessary means were secured before the close of November in the same year,[83]Andhere, in justice, it must be mentioned, that in the great work of founding the colony, the Commissioners were materially assisted by the formation of the South Australian Company, due mainly to the exertions of Mr. G. F. Angas.
“Under all circumstances, however, the early surveying of the land was very important; while, at the same time, economy restricted the choice of surveyors mainly to those embarking in the enterprise on other grounds. The selection having been made, however, and the staff sent out, we hoped for the best; but disappointment followed. The survey made slow progress, and demands came home for such an increase of force as in that early stage would have swamped the whole enterprise. These, fortunately, my previous practice in surveying enabled me successfully to oppose; but it was not until a new chief surveyor had been sent out, in the person of Lieutenant (now General) Frome, R.E., and a new governor with ampler powers than his predecessor, that matters were at length put right.[84]
“The payments to ship-owners and ship-surgeons were regulated by the number of emigrants conveyed; but as the occurrence of births and deaths produced considerable variation during the voyage, it became important to determine at what period the number should be ascertained. I advised that this should be done, not, as was customary, at the beginning of the voyage, but at its close, so as to supply a strong motive to the maintenance of the general health aboard ship. This plan being adopted answered so well, that the number that arrived in the colony often exceeded that recorded at departure; the births on board having outnumbered the deaths. Not thinking it well, however, to trust entirely to this arrangement, I took, under authority of the Commissioners, every care to have both ship and provisions effectually surveyed. On both points a controversy frequently occurred which it may be well to mention. I always took care that the requirements authorised by the Commissioners should be emphatically urged on the attention of the contractors, and constantly received assurance that they were fully understood, and should be fully acted upon; but when defects and blemishes were brought to light by the accuracy of the survey, and the stipulated consequences enforced, an outcry arose, as if the connection between promise and performance were an unheard-of and most unwarrantable innovation. After a time, however, as our practice became recognised, evasive attempts grew rare, the first expense being found to be the least.
“Another difficulty arose from unpunctuality in time of sailing, the ships chartered to convey emigrants being too often unprepared when the appointed day arrived. The first means adopted to obtain punctuality was to stipulate for fines in case of delay; but the artificial nature of this arrangement rendered its maintenance difficult. Excuses were tendered, often plausible, sometimes substantial, so that their rejection was hard, while at the same time, whether the penalty were enforced or remitted, the passengers by the particular ship suffered all the inconvenience of delay. To remedy these evils, the rule now established was, that whenever the day for sailing arrived, whether the vessel were ready or not, the expense of boarding and maintaining the emigrants was to be borne by the ship-owners. This gave such a motive to punctuality that delay became infrequent, while, at the worst, detained passengers were relieved from all loss save that of time. I may add that the combined effect of our precautions was that no emigrant ship was lost, nor even sustained any serious accident.
“Yet further to expedite the despatch of emigrants, I procured one additional arrangement. At this early period the sailing of chartered ships being but monthly, the interval was inconveniently long; so that persons who had made up their minds to emigrate were often kept for two or three weeks in that unsettled state which inevitably precedes a great removal. To furnish intermediate opportunity, I induced the Commissioners to give notice to ship-owners that if they were willing to submit to the conditions imposed on vessels chartered by the Commissioners, at the same time undertaking the conveyance at the lowest rate yet tendered and accepted, any unappropriated space should be occupied, in whole or in part, by such emigrants as might be on hand.
“In short, the whole scheme—in which, however, I must admit that my share was but subordinate—worked so well that in the year when I withdrew from my connection with the colony, though this was only the fourth year of the despatch of settlers, the sales of land produced as much as £170,000, the number of chartered ships being thirty-eight, and that of emigrants upwards of five thousand.
“Subsequently, indeed, difficulties arose, serious indications of which had appeared before I ceased to be secretary. The expenditure in the colony, notwithstanding every precaution taken at home, had begun to exceed the authorised estimates, and this eventually compelled the Commissioners to seek aid from the Government; the consequence being that the management of the colony was in effect transferred to the Colonial Office. The debt, however, thencontracted was, I believe, subsequently discharged, and if so, the colony may fairly be said to have been from the first self-supporting, being certainly the first, and perhaps the only, colony that could claim that honour.
“As regards the political system of the colony, I may be allowed to mention that when the Commissioners, in their third annual report, recommended Government to grant it municipal institutions, the recommendation included at my suggestion the plan[85]which has been already spoken of[86]as devised by my father many years before, and has recently been more known to the world in connection with the name of Mr. Hare. This plan was adopted at the time, though abandoned at a later period.
“As this secretaryship was my first public employment, and as the estimation in which I was held at its close was important, if not essential to my subsequent course, I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I give here the letter in which my resignation was acknowledged, and my services referred to. I have only to add that, heavy as were my duties during the four years of my secretaryship, and the year or two that preceded my formal appointment to that post, I was also engaged, throughout the whole period, at one or other of two arduous undertakings. Of the former I shall speak presently; the latter was Postal reform; my facts being collected, my plan devised, my pamphlet written, and my case established before a parliamentary committee, more than a year before I left my post.
“‘South Australian Colonisation Office,“‘Adelphi Terrace,[87]September 27, 1839.“‘Sir,—The Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, tendering your resignation as Secretary to their Board; an appointment in the Treasury having been conferred upon you by Her Majesty’s Government“‘In communicating their acceptance of your resignation, and in conveying to you their thanks for the zeal, energy, and talent which you have uniformly displayed in the discharge of your duties as Secretary, the Commissioners cannot forego the satisfaction ofrecording their high appreciation of your successful exertions, in systematising the general business of the Commission, and in devising, framing, and carrying into effect the arduous and complicated arrangements of the Department of Emigration.“‘Though sensible of the loss they have suffered in being deprived of that combination of theoretical and practical ability which you have manifested in conducting their business, yet the Commissioners, while expressing their individual regret, cannot withhold from you their sincere congratulations upon the advancement you have obtained through the important service which you have rendered to the public.“‘I have the honour to be, Sir,“‘Your most obedient servant,“‘Robert Torrens,Chairman of the Commission.“‘Rowland Hill, Esq. &c. &c. &c.’
“‘South Australian Colonisation Office,“‘Adelphi Terrace,[87]September 27, 1839.
“‘Sir,—The Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, tendering your resignation as Secretary to their Board; an appointment in the Treasury having been conferred upon you by Her Majesty’s Government
“‘In communicating their acceptance of your resignation, and in conveying to you their thanks for the zeal, energy, and talent which you have uniformly displayed in the discharge of your duties as Secretary, the Commissioners cannot forego the satisfaction ofrecording their high appreciation of your successful exertions, in systematising the general business of the Commission, and in devising, framing, and carrying into effect the arduous and complicated arrangements of the Department of Emigration.
“‘Though sensible of the loss they have suffered in being deprived of that combination of theoretical and practical ability which you have manifested in conducting their business, yet the Commissioners, while expressing their individual regret, cannot withhold from you their sincere congratulations upon the advancement you have obtained through the important service which you have rendered to the public.
“‘I have the honour to be, Sir,
“‘Your most obedient servant,
“‘Robert Torrens,Chairman of the Commission.
“‘Rowland Hill, Esq. &c. &c. &c.’
“The former of my two interludes—if I may so style a piece of downright hard work—was an improvement of the printing machine, which I took in hand when it yet seemed doubtful whether the South Australian enterprise would yield me an income. My attention to the subject of printing, I may here observe, arose from my connection with the Useful Knowledge Society, then so actively engaged in promoting and cheapening popular literature.
“Every one knows that about twenty years before this period the process of printing, at least in the largest offices, had been almost revolutionized by the admirable machine invented in great part by the late Mr. Edward Cowper, afterwards Professor Cowper of King’s College, London; with whom, I may add, I became acquainted about this time, and whom to know was to regard and esteem. At the time when I turned my thoughts earnestly to the subject, the machines then in use (for by this time great improvements had been made in the original invention, partly by Mr. Cowper himself, partly by others, particularly by Mr. Applegarth), could throw off in the hour, instead of the two hundred and fifty single impressions, to which the Stanhope press, the best in previous use, was limited, eight hundred sheets thoroughly well printed on both sides, or four thousand of such quality as was admissible in newspapers, printed on one side.
“Meantime, however, an important improvement had been made in the manufacture of paper, viz., that of Fourdrinier; and it occurred to me that advantage might be taken of this to construct aprinting machine capable of working at much higher speed. By Fourdrinier’s machine, as is well known, paper is produced, not in single sheets, as by the former mode, but in long scrolls, capable, I believe, of almost indefinite extension; and I perceived that by their use, one, and probably the only insuperable obstacle to a rotatory machine, was removed. I perceived also that such machine would have a double advantage; its greater speed being produced by a far smaller expenditure of power.
“The difficulties to be surmounted, however, were neither small nor few. The plan implied the necessity of attaching the types to a roller; which, again, involved a change in their form, and also devices to keep them firmly in place against the combined power of gravity and what is called, or rather miscalled, centrifugal force. Another difficulty regarded the supply and proper distribution of the ink, for which no interval could be left, as the process of printing off was to be absolutely continuous. As my invention was not practically adopted, and has been in a great measure superseded by later improvements, I forbear details, referring the curious either to my specification, which is dated August 12th, 1835, and numbered 6762; a printed copy of which may be procured at the Patent Office, or to the ‘Repertory of Patent Inventions,’ No. 35, where the machine is accurately and lucidly described.
“It is but just to record, that in giving my invention a practical shape, I was constantly and ably assisted by my brother Edwin, who, I may here add, afterwards became known as the originator of the machine for folding envelopes, which attracted so much attention at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Many of the minor parts, essential, however, to the efficient working of our printing machine, were of his device and construction, and in my necessary absence the work proceeded under his superintendence.
“At length, as is already implied, the machine was completed, and the patent secured. Its operation was repeatedly shown to members of the trade and others interested in the matter; the work produced, though at high speed, being pronounced beautiful, and that which is technically called the register accurate perhaps beyond parallel, while its action was so rapid that even when worked by hand it threw off double impressions of the size of theGlobenewspaper at the rate of eight thousand per hour, or nearly ten-fold the number produced at the same time by the reciprocating machine; nay, more, during this very process it could concurrently throw off eight thousand single impressions from each of its two rollers; thus making up thirty-two thousand single impressions in all.
“It remains to be explained why the invention never came into general use.”
[It was Sir Rowland Hill’s wish that the passage which next followed in the Prefatory Memoir should be enlarged. He was not well enough himself to make the additions which he desired, but he supplied his son, Mr. Pearson Hill, with the necessary information and documents. After suggesting in a manuscript marginal note the changes which should be made, he added: “I leave this in my son’s hands, who will best know how to deal with it.” Mr. Pearson Hill has accordingly supplied me with the following statement:—]
“The practical difficulties to the employment of the machine for the printing of newspapers—the work for which it was especially fitted—were all in a fair way of being removed. A provisional contract, which is still in our possession, had even been entered into with certain parties to provide my father with the means of rapidly casting curved stereotype plates, similar to those now used for printing newspapers, when he found himself face to face with what proved an insuperable difficulty on the part of the Stamp Office.“In those days, and indeed for many years after, newspapers were charged with Stamp Duty. By the requirements of the Inland Revenue Department, every separate sheet on which a newspaper was printed had to bear an impressed stamp—the separate sheets being sent to the Stamp Office to be so impressed, and then returned to the various newspaper printing offices ready for use.“This necessity for cutting the paper into separate sheets before printing, of course, was absolutely inconsistent with printing the newspaper from a continuous scroll. My father applied, therefore, to the Treasury to make arrangements to allow the stamp to be affixed by machinery as the scroll passed through the press (as was indeed done years afterwards), but his request was refused.[88]This decision on the part of the Treasury deferred for something likefive-and-thirty years the introduction of the present rotatory printing-press.“The following is a copy of his memorial to the Treasury, and of the answer that he received:—ToThe Right Honorable the Chancellor of the Exchequer.The Memorial ofROWLAND HILL.Sheweth,That your Memorialist has recently obtained His Majesty’s Letters Patent for certain improvements in the method of letter-press printing by machinery, the object of which improvements, besides considerable economy, is a very greatly increased speed in the printing of newspapers, but which object cannot be fully realized unless a change can be permitted in the manner of impressing the Government Stamp upon the newspapers printed by his machines, inasmuch as it is an important part of his plan to make use of the paper, not in separate sheets but in very long scrolls,i.e., in the state it is first produced by the modern paper-making machines, each long scroll as it passes rapidly through the printing-machine receiving a series of repetitions of the letter-press.Further thatYour Memorialist’sapparatus is so constructed that one complete impression, and no more, is produced by one revolution of the machine, since the types necessary to the printing of a complete impression are arranged around a cylinder, whose surface is by the said types, with the addition of proper marginal spaces, wholly covered, so that each revolution of this cylinder gives exactly one impression.AlsoThat the Government Stamp could readily be attached to the printing cylinder of your Memorialist’s machine, so that each revolution of the cylinder giving an impression of the type, should necessarily give an impression of the Stamp also; and that there are contrivances well known to machinists, and extensively used by them, by which the number of turns made by a machine canbe recorded without chance of error or possibility of fraud. The Gas Meter is the most familiar instance, and upon its accuracy the Gas Companies stake their important interests without doubt or hesitation.ThatUnder these circumstances your Memorialist ventures to hope that in the Bill now before Parliament for the consolidation of the Stamp Acts, a power may be given to the Commissioners of Stamps to make such arrangements as they may deem advisable for affording to your Memorialist and to the Public the advantages which the use of his improved printing machine offers.Your Memorialist takes the liberty to enclose the draft of a clause for consideration.Copy of Enclosure.178.—And whereas it is expedient that no obstacle should be presented to the introduction of improvements in machinery for printing newspapers; and that to this end it is desirable that a provision should be made for allowing newspaper stamps to be affixed to the paper before it is cut up into separate sheets: Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any printer of newspapers to stamp his own paper (either as it passes through the printing machine, or in such other way as he may prefer), provided he can satisfy the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes that no danger of a fraud on the Revenue will arise in his case.Copy of Reply.Treasury Chambers, 18th June, 1836.Sir,Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury your Memorial praying that a Clause may be inserted into the New Stamp Bill, allowing the printers of newspapers themselves to impress the necessary Stamps on their papers, I am directed to acquaint you that My Lords cannot comply with your request.I am, Sir,Your obedient Servant,A. G. Spearman.Mr. Rowland Hill, 2, Burton Crescent.“It may not be without interest to the public to show how easily ‘insuperable’ official objections can be overcome, when those who raise them desire it. Many years afterwards, when the proprietors of a London newspaper were making improvements in their printing machinery, and required the very facility for which my father had vainly contended, the Board of Inland Revenue, as I am told, on looking into the Act of Parliament on the matter, found that though the printing of the impressed stamp at the same time as the rest of the newspaper was clearly illegal, the only parties who could proceed against any newspaper proprietor so offending were the Commissioners of Inland Revenue themselves. Now as the Commissioners had made up their minds to allow the change, not only was an intimation given to the proprietors of the newspaper in question that they would not be interfered with, but the officers of the Stamp Office—Mr. Edwin Hill especially—gave most valuable assistance in devising the means of carrying out the improved (though decidedly illegal) arrangement.“I may add that at the Caxton Exhibition in 1877, a copy of my father’s patent, as well as a type cylinder, inking apparatus, and such other portions of his printing machine as, after a lapse of forty-two years, could be got together, were exhibited, and are now to be seen by any one interested in the matter in the South Kensington Museum.”
“The practical difficulties to the employment of the machine for the printing of newspapers—the work for which it was especially fitted—were all in a fair way of being removed. A provisional contract, which is still in our possession, had even been entered into with certain parties to provide my father with the means of rapidly casting curved stereotype plates, similar to those now used for printing newspapers, when he found himself face to face with what proved an insuperable difficulty on the part of the Stamp Office.
“In those days, and indeed for many years after, newspapers were charged with Stamp Duty. By the requirements of the Inland Revenue Department, every separate sheet on which a newspaper was printed had to bear an impressed stamp—the separate sheets being sent to the Stamp Office to be so impressed, and then returned to the various newspaper printing offices ready for use.
“This necessity for cutting the paper into separate sheets before printing, of course, was absolutely inconsistent with printing the newspaper from a continuous scroll. My father applied, therefore, to the Treasury to make arrangements to allow the stamp to be affixed by machinery as the scroll passed through the press (as was indeed done years afterwards), but his request was refused.[88]This decision on the part of the Treasury deferred for something likefive-and-thirty years the introduction of the present rotatory printing-press.
“The following is a copy of his memorial to the Treasury, and of the answer that he received:—
ToThe Right Honorable the Chancellor of the Exchequer.The Memorial ofROWLAND HILL.Sheweth,That your Memorialist has recently obtained His Majesty’s Letters Patent for certain improvements in the method of letter-press printing by machinery, the object of which improvements, besides considerable economy, is a very greatly increased speed in the printing of newspapers, but which object cannot be fully realized unless a change can be permitted in the manner of impressing the Government Stamp upon the newspapers printed by his machines, inasmuch as it is an important part of his plan to make use of the paper, not in separate sheets but in very long scrolls,i.e., in the state it is first produced by the modern paper-making machines, each long scroll as it passes rapidly through the printing-machine receiving a series of repetitions of the letter-press.Further thatYour Memorialist’sapparatus is so constructed that one complete impression, and no more, is produced by one revolution of the machine, since the types necessary to the printing of a complete impression are arranged around a cylinder, whose surface is by the said types, with the addition of proper marginal spaces, wholly covered, so that each revolution of this cylinder gives exactly one impression.AlsoThat the Government Stamp could readily be attached to the printing cylinder of your Memorialist’s machine, so that each revolution of the cylinder giving an impression of the type, should necessarily give an impression of the Stamp also; and that there are contrivances well known to machinists, and extensively used by them, by which the number of turns made by a machine canbe recorded without chance of error or possibility of fraud. The Gas Meter is the most familiar instance, and upon its accuracy the Gas Companies stake their important interests without doubt or hesitation.ThatUnder these circumstances your Memorialist ventures to hope that in the Bill now before Parliament for the consolidation of the Stamp Acts, a power may be given to the Commissioners of Stamps to make such arrangements as they may deem advisable for affording to your Memorialist and to the Public the advantages which the use of his improved printing machine offers.Your Memorialist takes the liberty to enclose the draft of a clause for consideration.Copy of Enclosure.178.—And whereas it is expedient that no obstacle should be presented to the introduction of improvements in machinery for printing newspapers; and that to this end it is desirable that a provision should be made for allowing newspaper stamps to be affixed to the paper before it is cut up into separate sheets: Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any printer of newspapers to stamp his own paper (either as it passes through the printing machine, or in such other way as he may prefer), provided he can satisfy the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes that no danger of a fraud on the Revenue will arise in his case.Copy of Reply.Treasury Chambers, 18th June, 1836.Sir,Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury your Memorial praying that a Clause may be inserted into the New Stamp Bill, allowing the printers of newspapers themselves to impress the necessary Stamps on their papers, I am directed to acquaint you that My Lords cannot comply with your request.I am, Sir,Your obedient Servant,A. G. Spearman.Mr. Rowland Hill, 2, Burton Crescent.
To
The Right Honorable the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Memorial of
ROWLAND HILL.
Sheweth,
That your Memorialist has recently obtained His Majesty’s Letters Patent for certain improvements in the method of letter-press printing by machinery, the object of which improvements, besides considerable economy, is a very greatly increased speed in the printing of newspapers, but which object cannot be fully realized unless a change can be permitted in the manner of impressing the Government Stamp upon the newspapers printed by his machines, inasmuch as it is an important part of his plan to make use of the paper, not in separate sheets but in very long scrolls,i.e., in the state it is first produced by the modern paper-making machines, each long scroll as it passes rapidly through the printing-machine receiving a series of repetitions of the letter-press.
Further that
Your Memorialist’s
apparatus is so constructed that one complete impression, and no more, is produced by one revolution of the machine, since the types necessary to the printing of a complete impression are arranged around a cylinder, whose surface is by the said types, with the addition of proper marginal spaces, wholly covered, so that each revolution of this cylinder gives exactly one impression.
Also
That the Government Stamp could readily be attached to the printing cylinder of your Memorialist’s machine, so that each revolution of the cylinder giving an impression of the type, should necessarily give an impression of the Stamp also; and that there are contrivances well known to machinists, and extensively used by them, by which the number of turns made by a machine canbe recorded without chance of error or possibility of fraud. The Gas Meter is the most familiar instance, and upon its accuracy the Gas Companies stake their important interests without doubt or hesitation.
That
Under these circumstances your Memorialist ventures to hope that in the Bill now before Parliament for the consolidation of the Stamp Acts, a power may be given to the Commissioners of Stamps to make such arrangements as they may deem advisable for affording to your Memorialist and to the Public the advantages which the use of his improved printing machine offers.
Your Memorialist takes the liberty to enclose the draft of a clause for consideration.
Copy of Enclosure.
178.—And whereas it is expedient that no obstacle should be presented to the introduction of improvements in machinery for printing newspapers; and that to this end it is desirable that a provision should be made for allowing newspaper stamps to be affixed to the paper before it is cut up into separate sheets: Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any printer of newspapers to stamp his own paper (either as it passes through the printing machine, or in such other way as he may prefer), provided he can satisfy the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes that no danger of a fraud on the Revenue will arise in his case.
Copy of Reply.
Treasury Chambers, 18th June, 1836.
Sir,
Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury your Memorial praying that a Clause may be inserted into the New Stamp Bill, allowing the printers of newspapers themselves to impress the necessary Stamps on their papers, I am directed to acquaint you that My Lords cannot comply with your request.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
A. G. Spearman.
Mr. Rowland Hill, 2, Burton Crescent.
“It may not be without interest to the public to show how easily ‘insuperable’ official objections can be overcome, when those who raise them desire it. Many years afterwards, when the proprietors of a London newspaper were making improvements in their printing machinery, and required the very facility for which my father had vainly contended, the Board of Inland Revenue, as I am told, on looking into the Act of Parliament on the matter, found that though the printing of the impressed stamp at the same time as the rest of the newspaper was clearly illegal, the only parties who could proceed against any newspaper proprietor so offending were the Commissioners of Inland Revenue themselves. Now as the Commissioners had made up their minds to allow the change, not only was an intimation given to the proprietors of the newspaper in question that they would not be interfered with, but the officers of the Stamp Office—Mr. Edwin Hill especially—gave most valuable assistance in devising the means of carrying out the improved (though decidedly illegal) arrangement.
“I may add that at the Caxton Exhibition in 1877, a copy of my father’s patent, as well as a type cylinder, inking apparatus, and such other portions of his printing machine as, after a lapse of forty-two years, could be got together, were exhibited, and are now to be seen by any one interested in the matter in the South Kensington Museum.”
[Though the employment of his printing machine for newspaper work was rendered impossible by the obstacle described above, it might still have been available for other purposes, had he been able to give it his attention. He thus continues his narrative:—]
“It was about this time that I began to entertain distinct hopes, however slight as yet their foundation, of employment in relation to postal affairs; and as usual in cases of great difficulty, I consulted my father and my brothers on the subject of future proceedings. I represented that I found myself unable to continue my duties in relation to the Australian Commission, and, at the same time, both to take effectual means for establishing the success of the printing machine, and to labour efficiently at my project for postal reform. Here was grave matter for consideration, the invention having already cost a large amount of labour, spread over a whole year, from both my brother and myself, besides £2,000 in hard cash; while, on the other hand, postal prospects, in which every onepresent took a deep interest, all having indeed already laboured with me in the cause, were regarded as promising. It was inquired whether my brother, who had thus far assisted me in the printing machine, could not himself carry the matter to completion; but unhappily his health was at that time in too depressed a state to leave any hope that he could alone surmount obstacles so formidable. Here I may remark that, at one time or other, every member of our family has fallen, at least once in his life, through excessive labour and anxiety, into severe, protracted, and even dangerous illness—illness involving consequences which nothing but our unshaken union could have enabled us to support. After long and careful consideration, they concurred in advising that the Post Office should be preferred to the printing machine; and as this recommendation seconded my own opinion, I decided to act upon it.“I have only to say, in conclusion, that a printer of the highest standing in his trade, induced, I suppose, partly by what I had done in this matter, partly by a general knowledge of my antecedents, offered me in 1839 a very advantageous partnership,[89]which I should certainly have accepted, but that it would have involved my refusal of the offer which Government had just then made me, viz., of a post in the Treasury for the prosecution of my plan of postal reform.”[90]
“It was about this time that I began to entertain distinct hopes, however slight as yet their foundation, of employment in relation to postal affairs; and as usual in cases of great difficulty, I consulted my father and my brothers on the subject of future proceedings. I represented that I found myself unable to continue my duties in relation to the Australian Commission, and, at the same time, both to take effectual means for establishing the success of the printing machine, and to labour efficiently at my project for postal reform. Here was grave matter for consideration, the invention having already cost a large amount of labour, spread over a whole year, from both my brother and myself, besides £2,000 in hard cash; while, on the other hand, postal prospects, in which every onepresent took a deep interest, all having indeed already laboured with me in the cause, were regarded as promising. It was inquired whether my brother, who had thus far assisted me in the printing machine, could not himself carry the matter to completion; but unhappily his health was at that time in too depressed a state to leave any hope that he could alone surmount obstacles so formidable. Here I may remark that, at one time or other, every member of our family has fallen, at least once in his life, through excessive labour and anxiety, into severe, protracted, and even dangerous illness—illness involving consequences which nothing but our unshaken union could have enabled us to support. After long and careful consideration, they concurred in advising that the Post Office should be preferred to the printing machine; and as this recommendation seconded my own opinion, I decided to act upon it.
“I have only to say, in conclusion, that a printer of the highest standing in his trade, induced, I suppose, partly by what I had done in this matter, partly by a general knowledge of my antecedents, offered me in 1839 a very advantageous partnership,[89]which I should certainly have accepted, but that it would have involved my refusal of the offer which Government had just then made me, viz., of a post in the Treasury for the prosecution of my plan of postal reform.”[90]
[This account of Rowland Hill’s printing-press may be well brought to an end by the following extract from a letter which he wrote to his wife on July 17th, 1835:—]
“I have a good account to give of the printing machine. We have now completed the single machine, and the night before last we gave it a trial. It worked better than I hoped even, and fully established, I think, the correctness of the views we have entertained. Miss D——, who left for Birmingham this morning, has taken with her the scroll of paper which was printed.... It will be forwarded to you. I need not ask you to take care of it, and to return it when you come back to me. Some day or other it may be a great curiosity.”
“I have a good account to give of the printing machine. We have now completed the single machine, and the night before last we gave it a trial. It worked better than I hoped even, and fully established, I think, the correctness of the views we have entertained. Miss D——, who left for Birmingham this morning, has taken with her the scroll of paper which was printed.... It will be forwarded to you. I need not ask you to take care of it, and to return it when you come back to me. Some day or other it may be a great curiosity.”
“There is good to a man’s self in doing good to others; and the further this extends the higher it rises, and the longer it lasts. Besides, there is beauty in order, and there are charms in well-deserved praise: and both are the greater, by how much greater the subject.”—Sir William Temple.
“There is good to a man’s self in doing good to others; and the further this extends the higher it rises, and the longer it lasts. Besides, there is beauty in order, and there are charms in well-deserved praise: and both are the greater, by how much greater the subject.”—Sir William Temple.
The following narrative was originally drawn up at much greater length, and in its present shape is the result of a double abridgment, first in manuscript and afterwards in print. This proceeding was according to a preconceived plan; my wish being to leave to my relatives a more detailed history than was likely to be acceptable to the public, and at the same time to supply ample means for dealing with any question that might arise as to accuracy of statement.
Perhaps it may be thought that abridgment might have been advantageously carried yet further; but, on the one hand, I hope there is at present no more superfluous matter than can be readily skipt; and, on the other, I naturally desired that the public should have so much of detail as would distinctly set forth the authorship, execution, and administration of the chief Postal Reforms effected during the last thirty years.My story is told in the first person; but it is only in a limited sense that it is autobiographic. For reasons that will be easily gathered from the narrative, I had to devolve upon another the task of immediate composition, and I deemed it fortunate that one upon whose pen I had much relied from the first, had leisure for the work. This, I may remark, is much more vicarious in the narrative presented to the public than in the original, where events are to a great extent described in letters or in extracts from my Journal. Of course the whole has undergone my careful revision, a duty in which I have been by no means unaided; but, after every correction, I cannot feel sure that sense has not sometimes suffered in paraphrase; and if it appear hereafter that on some minor points expression conveys or suggests erroneous meaning, I must ask the reader to believe that such deviation is not only contrary to my intention and sincere desire, but has occurred in spite of our earnest efforts.
If the reader find somewhat too much of self-assertion—if he think I have too often quoted what is complimentary to myself—I ask him to consider how much I have suffered from detraction and injustice; how my conclusions were ridiculed, my success denied; and how, when success was incontestable, the origination of my plan was claimed by others. Let him see me dismissed from office, without recompense, by a man of Sir Robert Peel’s high character, and consider the presumption naturally arising from an act so unusual; let him observe howlong and pertinaciously the progress of Postal Reform was troubled and thwarted, and how loudly and confidently I was charged with proceedings for which I of all men was farthest from being responsible. He will readily be aware that claims and accusations may revive when I am no more; and will perhaps pardon me if, with all the reserve adverted to above, I am still led by precaution into what he may regard as prolixity.
One point more. If it be asked why I do not yet publish this history, so as to enable me to meet in my own person any controversy to which it may give rise, I answer—first, that by the time of its completion my vigour, both of body and mind, had become so impaired, as to put such direct defence, should it be needed, altogether beyond my power; and, secondly, that I hope and trust the delay of a few years may enable my executors, while retaining all statements essential to the completeness of the narrative, so to place it before the public as to avoid wounding the feelings of any one.
ROWLAND HILL.
February, 1871.
Amongst the many subjects which casually attracted the attention of our family, the operations of the Post Office naturally took their turn. My father spoke at times of Palmer’s great improvement,[91]which he well remembered, and mentioned its beneficial results. Postal considerations, moreover, came upon us in a very practical form; every day that brought post-letters brought also a demand for payment, the postman waiting at the door till he had received his money. In the very early period, when we were most straitened in means, his rap was not always welcome; the demand being certain and sometimes inconvenient; the recompense, in the way of news, doubtful. Tradesmen’s circulars, in particular, which sometimes came from a considerable distance, and always unpaid, were great causes of disappointment and irritation. Happily they were but rare in those days, or the evil would have been intolerable.
As much more than half the present generation have had no experience of any other system than that ofpenny postage, it must be difficult, if not impracticable, to give an adequate conception of the state of things at the time referred to, of the height and variety of rates charged, and of the multitudinous shifts resorted to for their evasion. The law gave the Post Office a monopoly, and respect for the law is considered characteristic of our countrymen; but, to the best of my memory, I never knew of any one being withheld from its breach on this point, save by considerations either of convenience or of prudence.
The following facts are given by way of example: If, when residing at Birmingham, we received a letter from London, the lowest charge was ninepence, while the slightest enclosure raised it to eighteenpence, and a second enclosure to two shillings and threepence, though the whole missive might not weigh a quarter of an ounce. We had relatives at Haddington; the lowest rate thence was thirteenpence-halfpenny; others at Shrewsbury, but the postage thence I do not remember, as we never used the Post Office in our correspondence with them, since a tradesman in our town who had occasion to send and, in turn, to receive a weekly packet, was kind enough to enclose our letters, we carrying them more than half a mile to place them in his hands, while the return letters, being dropped by him into the Birmingham Post Office, came to us charged with merely the local rate of one penny. In looking over letters of the period antecedent to the Post Office reform, I find constant reference to expedients for saving postage; thus, in writing to a friend at a particular town, we would trouble him to call upon such and such others to communicate intelligence, or to make inquiries, the result to be reported in his next letter; sometimes, even, we would ask him to call upon tradesmen to give orders,or to urge despatch in commissions previously given. If a friend were about to make a journey to a town where we had connections, we did not hesitate to place letters in his hands, regardless alike of his trouble and the chance of his forgetfulness; being ourselves, of course, ready in turn to perform the like service. In the year 1823, taking a holiday excursion through the lake district[92]to Scotland, and wishing to keep myfamily informed as to my movements and my health (then in a depressed state), I carried with me a number of old newspapers, and in franking these, according to the useless form then required, while I left the postmark with its date to show the place, I indicated my state of health by selecting names according to previous arrangement; the more Liberal members being taken to indicate that I was better, while Tories were to show that I was falling back; “Sir Francis Burdett” was to imply vigorous health, while probably “Lord Eldon” would almost have brought one of my brothers after me in anxiety and alarm.[93]In later days, more especially after our removal to the neighbourhood of London, and most of all while my eldest brother was in Parliament, we sometimes procured franks, particularly when for any reason we had unusual regard to appearances; but as at that time we were in easier circumstances, we felt some compunction in using franks for general purposes, thinking it questionable to evade an impost by the use of means from which, as we well knew by earlier experience, those lower down were utterly debarred. This feeling became stronger as we learnt the monstrous abuses which had grown up in connection with the franking system; when we found, for instance, that though a member’s frankwould cover but an ounce, there were franks of another kind which served for unlimited weight, and were said to have been actually used to free a greatcoat, a bundle of baby-linen, and a pianoforte.
Even in our early days, however, necessity being the mother of conception as well as of invention, my father, while testifying great admiration for the postal system generally, had repeatedly expressed the opinion that, even for fiscal purposes, postage was unwisely high, an opinion which in all probability tended to draw my attention to postal affairs. Be this as it may, the earliest record on the subject that I can find in my memoranda, and which is dated August, 1826 (that is, ten years before the publication of my pamphlet), gives my first conception of a travelling post office. It is as follows:—