again to look to postage for increased
revenue. Penny postage itself has been in danger in the country of its
origin. Various war increases of postage have already been made, both
here and abroad, and brief particulars of the changes in the countries
dealt with have been included. Further proposals for increasing the
revenue from postage will possibly be made, and I am hopeful that these
pages, in which the course of postage is traced, may then be found of
service.

For the privilege of numerous facilities in connection with my work on
the rates in this country I am indebted to Mr. W. G. Gates,
Assistant-Secretary to the Post Office; and for assistance in my
inquiries abroad I am indebted to Dr. R. M. Coulter, C.M.G., Deputy
Postmaster-General, Ottawa, and Mr. William Smith, I.S.O., at the time
of my visit Secretary to the Canada Post Office; to Congressman the Hon.
David Lewis, of Maryland, and Mr. Joseph Stewart, Second Assistant
Postmaster-General, United States Post Office; to M. Vaill['e], of the
Secr['e]tariat Administratif, Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, Paris; and
to M. Ruffy, Director of the International Bureau, Universal Postal
Union, Berne.

I am especially indebted to Professor Graham Wallas for valuable
suggestions and advice.

A. D. SMITH.

LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS,
1917.

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE v

INTRODUCTION xi

I. THE RATE FOR LETTERS--
Letter Post in England 1
Letter Post in Canada 37
Letter Post in the United States of America 59
Letter Post in France 78
Letter Post in Germany 97

II. THE RATE FOR NEWSPAPERS--
Newspaper Post in England 111
Newspaper Post in Canada 136
Newspaper Post (Second-class Mail) in the United States of America 148
Newspaper Post in France 164
Newspaper Post in Germany 173

III. THE RATE FOR PARCELS--
P