Page:The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago.djvu/85

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COST OF TRANSIT.
17

Estimate of the cost of conveying a Letter from London to Edinburgh, a distance of 400 miles.


Mileage on the whole Mail.[t 1] £  s.  d.
From London to York, 196 miles, at 1 9⁄16 d. per mile 1  5  6¼
From York to Edinburgh, 204 miles, at 1½d. per mile 1  5  0
  2  10  6¼
Guards' Wages.—Say six Guards, one day each at 10s. 6d per week.[t 2] 0  10  6
Allow for Tolls (which are paid in Scotland,) and all other expenses.[t 3] 1  18 11¾
Total cost of conveying the Mail once from London to Edinburgh, including the Mails of all intermediate places 5  0  0
The average weight of the mail conveyed by the London and Edinburgh mail coach is about  8 cwt.
Deduct for the weight of the bags, say  2
Average weight of letters, newspapers, &c.  6
The cost of conveyance is therefore per cwt   16s. 8d.
Per ounce and a half, the average weight of a newspaper, about one-sixth of a penny.
Per quarter of an ounce, the average weight of a single letter, about one thirty-sixth of a penny.
  1. ↑ Parliamentary Return, 1836, No. 364.
  2. ↑ Parliamentary Return, 1835, No. 442.
  3. ↑ In strict fairness the English tolls ought perhaps to be included, as the exemption may be considered part of the price paid by the public for the conveyance of the mail. On the other hand, at least part of the coach duty, which for the mails is two-pence for every mile travelled, should be deducted from the estimate. Sir Henry Parnell is of opinion that exemption from this duty would, under good management, be a compensation in full
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