The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

282 LIFE OF SIR ROWLAND HILL. [1855-9
abandoned, but my
estimate of its value remains un-
diminished ; I see no intrinsic difficulty in the plan, no
counterbalancing evil to its benefit, nor any obstacle to
its adoption, but the want of a more general and accu-
rate knowledge on the subject ; for lack of this, supposing
my view to be correct, Government has been
and still is constantly expending a quarter of a million
per annum more than necessary, the railway companies
are deprived of a valuable relief, and the postal service
is cramped to a degree seriously affecting the interests
of the public at large.
Attempts to procure Legislation.
My attempt in the same year (1857) to obtain satisfactory
legislation was not more successful than my
previous efforts. The bill was prepared with every just
consideration for railway interests, which, indeed, I was
little likely to neglect, but was introduced too late in the
session to give it any chance of passing against the
opposition
countered.*
which, to my great disappointment,
Two years later, thinking
it en-
I had found a favourable
conjuncture, I proposed a measure on new terms, which
I hoped would prove more acceptable. A bill being
drawn accordingly at the Post Office, with the sanction
of the Treasury, I hoped that it would be introduced
early in the session of 1860; but before the time
arrived, my increasing illness took so serious a form
that many months elapsed
before I was able to
do work of any kind ; and, in short, my direct
attempts to obtain an end.
railway legislation
here came to
* "Fourth Annual Report," p. 13. The bill in txtenso, with explanatory
remarks thereon, will be found at p. 46 of the same report.