Volume 1

1838] UNIFORM RATE. 313
the ground that the cost of conveyance varies so far as that varies the
;
charge ought to vary but it
appears to me that that which consists
;
of a tax upon individuals ought to have no reference to the place of
their residence ; it should either be equal, or, if it varies at all, it
should be in proportion to their means of bearing the tax."
Being asked whether, if a uniform rate of twopence
were imposed on all letters, and if a person at Limerick
got his letters for twopence, a person at Barnet would
not soon find out that he ought to have his letters for a
penny, Mr. Loyd answered :
" If such be the fact, he would soon find it out, I presume ; if it
was not the fact, of course he would never find it out"*
Mr. Dillon made the following remarkable statement
:
" To show how little the cost of transit sometimes enters into the
price of goods, I may mention to the committee, in the way of
illustration, that we buy goods in Manchester ; they are conveyed
to London ;
we sell them in London very often to dealers resident
in Manchester, who again carry them back to the place from whence
they came, and after the cost of two transits, they will have bought
them of us cheaper than they themselves could have bought them in
Manchester. In this instance, the cost of transit, as an element of
price, has become absolutely destroyed by the force of capital and
other arrangements."!
Colonel Maberly would like a uniform rate of
postage, but did not think it practicable. "Any
arrangements which, in the great details of Post
Office matters, introduce simplicity, he looks upon as
a great improvement."! Most of the other Post Office
authorities liked the idea of a uniform rate, as "it
would very much facilitate all the operations of the
Post Office."
The feasibility of payment in advance, now the
almost universal practice, was the subject of much
* "Third Report," P
.
34. t Ibid. + Ibid. Ibid.