or the abolition of the postage rate on newspapers, on the
grounds that it was illegal, a tax on knowledge, and of no benefit to
the public revenue, since the proceeds were retained by an official
already adequately remunerated for his services. The petition was
submitted to the Home authorities; and the Solicitor to the Post Office
advised that, since the Act of 1837 repealed the Act of the 4th of
George III, cap. 34, the charge on newspapers made by the Deputy
Postmaster-General in North America rested on no legal basis, and long
established usage and custom was the only justification for allowing
newspapers to pass by post at less than the legal rate. The House of
Assembly in New Brunswick also took up the question on their own
account. Like the Nova Scotians, they were anxious to facilitate the
distribution of newspapers. They regarded the charge for postage as an
odious tax on knowledge, and in 1844, in a joint Address to his Majesty,
recommended its abolition.

In 1842 the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia also petitioned for the
abolition of postage on newspapers and pamphlets, contending that the
proceeds of the postage rate, which was collected from the country
districts, on which it lay as a heavy burden, did not benefit the
general revenue, since they were appropriated by the Deputy
Postmaster-General, and that the newspapers were well-nigh the only
vehicle of information in the province. In reply, the British
authorities pointed out that since pamphlets were charged as letters in
England, the Treasury could not sanction free transmission in the
colonies; moreover, even with the existing rate, the number of
newspapers sent by post was increasing so rapidly that it was becoming a
matter of some difficulty, on account of the bad condition of the roads
in the province, to provide for their transmission from place to place.
Free transmission was therefore not conceded; but in July 1844 certain
changes were made in the general system of rates, and the Deputy
Postmaster-General's newspaper privilege was withdrawn, a uniform rate
of 1/2d. per sheet for transmission to any point in Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Canada, and Prince Edward Island being established.

When the Post Office service throughout British North America was
unified and transferred to provincial control, the then existing rates
of postage on newspapers and pamphlets were continued, but power was
reserved to each Legislature to authorize transmission