reamed that
it was in the power of the government to suppress it by penal enactments.

An individual, whose name and residence are, for obvious reasons,
suppressed, gave the committee a full description of these private
posts. He said that, in the year 1836, he kept an account of his
letters; that the number sent by the post-office was 2068, and
those sent by other means were 5861. Of these, about 5000 were to
places within twenty miles, all of which were sent for 1_d_. each.
Some carriers made it their sole business to carry letters. Some
of them travelled on foot; others went by the stage coach to the
place, and then distributed their letters. He found the practice
prevailing when he began his apprenticeship in 1807. The
population of the district thus accommodated was from 300,000 to
500,000. The practice was notorious, and used by all persons
engaged in business. The object of a great deal of the
correspondence was to convey orders, notes of inquiry, and other
information to and from the small manufacturers, to whom it would
be a tax of twenty-five per cent. on their earnings, if the
letters were sent through the post-office at 4_d_. The letters
were commonly wrapped up in brown paper, or tied with a string,
some directed and some not. Very few persons thought about the
practice being illegal. He had never heard of an attempt by the
post-office to institute legal proceedings. It would absorb the
whole revenue of the post-office to carry on the prosecutions that
would be required to stop it, and without any effect, as most of
the carriers were worth nothing. To suppress it by law, would be
very injurious to the trade of the place. The only way to
supersede it is to reduce the postage to 1_d_. Were this done, the
post-office would be preferred, for its greater certainty, even
though the carriers would go for a halfpenny. The post-office
would unquestionably receive more money by the change.

"E. F.", a manufacturer, described what he called the
_free-packet_ system. Those manufacturers who did much business
with London, in forwarding parcels through the stage coaches, were
allowed by the coach proprietors to send a "free-packet," without
any charge, except 4_d_. for booking; and this package contained
not only the letters and patterns of the house itself, but of
others,