s against it, since it would soon
cease in any case.

On Christmas Day, 1775, the Secretary to the Post Office in New York
issued a notification to the public that, in consequence of the decision
of a provincial convention at Annapolis not to permit the parliamentary
post to travel through the province, that mail would be discontinued,
and the letters held at New York at the disposal of the persons to whom
they were addressed. The parliamentary post did not, however, altogether
die. As late as 1779 the Secretary in London wrote to the Deputy-General
at New York that the Postmasters-General were glad to find that a number
of letters were being brought to the Post Office to be delivered, and as
they hoped that method would be continued, the deputy would, no doubt,
soon have sufficient funds to pay the expenses of the establishment. But
in 1780 the Postmasters-General were concerned to find that the whole
postage would not defray the cost of management, a circumstance
attributed to the fact that the mails were often seized on arrival and
carried first to the headquarters of the Army. In consequence of this, a
great part of the letters were never delivered at all. Very little
postage could be collected, and the Postmasters-General addressed strong
representations to Lord George Germain, his Majesty's principal
Secretary of State.[150]

In 1776, in view of the great necessity, for the safety of the colonies,
that means should be provided for the frequent and rapid transmission of
intelligence, further dispositions with regard to the posts were made by
the Congress. Riders were appointed for every twenty-five or thirty
miles on the several post roads. They were required to proceed through
their respective stages three times a week. They were to set out
immediately on the receipt of the mail and were to travel "by night and
by day, without stopping," until they had delivered the mail to the next
rider. It was found that the revenue produced by the existing rates of
postage fell far short of the expenses, and on the 17th October 1777 the
rates were raised by 50 per cent. The difficulties of the administration
continued, and various committees of inquiry were appointed. In April
1779 one of these committees recommended the doubling of the rates, a
course which met with approval from patriotic Americans.[151]

Even this increase was not sufficient. In October of that year there was
a balance of [L]375 18s. 6d. due to the Postma