the cost of the funeral, and to furnish the widow with a temporary fund for the support of the family. The contributions were Is. or 2s. from each man, according to seniority, every one being expected to give with reference partly to the time he had been in the service, and partly to the official age of the deceased Letter Carrier.

The sum thus raised on the death of a Letter Carrier varied geuerally from about 251. to 45l. ; but owing to the union of the two corps of Letter Carriers, an apprehension arose that the collection of "funeral money" would gradually fall into disuse, and consequently that the families of those who might continue their contributions would reap no benefit.

Under these circumstances my predecessor received a memorial from the General Post Letter Carriers, asking for assistance in support of a fund to which many of them had long contributed, and which they had looked forward to as a means of affording relief to their families at their death.

On examination it was found that if, instead of engaging to pay funeral money, each of the memorialists, when he entered the service, had insured his life, even for 501., in some regularly constituted Insurance Office, he would not have had to pay more in the form of premium than he had had to contribute in funeral money; while his position would have been safe from all danger such as that which had given rise to the memorial.

Proceeding on this fact, Lord Canning gave directions that every Letter Carrier who had hitherto paid funeral money, should be permitted to insure his life for 501. in a regular Office, on the understanding that the difference between the rate of premium which he would then have to pay, as compared with what would have been demanded at the time he entered the service, should be defrayed by the Department; the money to be taken from the fund which your Lordships had kindly placed at the disposal of the Postmaster General for promoting life insurances.

I am glad to be able to state that about 300 Letter Carriers, not included in the preceding table, have thankfully availed themselves of Lord Canning's offer, and are in course of completing their insurances.

The following are statements of the Gross Receipts, Expenditure, and Net Revenue, of the Department during the year 1855.—

This sum shows an apparent increase of 15,000l. on the Gross Revenue for 1854, which was estimated at 2,689,0007, but which actually reached 2,702,000. Virtually, however, the receipts in 1855, instead of being larger than those of 1854, were somewhat less.

The discrepancy is thus explained; until last year the Commis. sioners of Inland Revenue, under whose direction the Postage Labels and Stamped Envelopes are manufactured, paid over to this Department only the net produce of the Stamps and Envelopes after deducting the cost of paper and manufacture; but now our accounts are on the one hand credited with the gross produce, and on the other hand are debited with the expense of paper and manufacture.

As compared with the year 1854, the gross revenue of 1855 is further increased by an addition, for the first time, of a charge for the conveyance of Newspapers.

As already stated, the greater portion of this charge is received for impressed Stamps by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, and is not brought into the Post Office accounts; but that which is collected for Postage Labels, amounting to between a fourth and a fifth of the whole (being about 25,000l. out of about 118,000/. for the half-year since the abolition of the Newspaper Stamp), is carried to the Postal Revenue, and forms part of the foregoing sum of 2,717,000/.

The virtual diminution in the Gross Revenue of the Post Office, notwithstanding the addition just named, and the increase of letters, is thus explained :

1st. The diminished number of English Mail Packets between this country and the United States last year, owing to the war, not only reduced the correspondence, but transferred a large portion of the remainder from the British to the American Packets; thus causing a decrease of not less than 35,000l. in our share of the postage; to which must be added about 16,000 for loss caused in the same way, in the receipts for letters to Canada.

2nd. Notwithstanding the increase in the number of letters to France, consequent on the reduction of postage, already referred to, there was in this branch also a loss last year of more than 19,000l.; but I think it not impossible that this loss will quickly diminish, and that before many years have passed, the amount of French postage may be as large as before.

I entertain similar expectations also, and a yet speedier realization, with regard to the recent reduction in Colonial postage; and am supported in these expectations by the results already arrived at.

Packets+

32,000

Manufacture of Postage Stamps, &c.
Miscellaneous, including the conveyance of Mails in
Colonies under the postal direction of the Post-
master General; the conveyance of the Mails
through Egypt; the cost of the Army Post
Office; clothing for Letter Carriers and Guards;
rents, taxes, law expenses, &c.

...

144,000

£1,591,000

The sum, after deducting 32,000l. for the manufacture of Postage Stamps, (an item which, as already explained, appears in the accounts for the first time,) shows an apparent increase on the expenditure of 1854 of 146,000l.; but £28,000 of this is owing to the circumstance of the charge for railway conveyance in the year 1854 not having included sums which, while really belonging to that year's expendi ture, were not paid till the year had closed. In the account for 1855, however, the sun stated shows, as nearly as can be ascertained, the real expense incurred without regard to the time of payment; and this course will be adopted in all future accounts.

Thus corrected, the actual increase in expenditure last year over that for 1854, was about £118,000, or about 8 per cent.

The following have been the chief causes of increased expenditure:

1st. An increase in the number of Sorters and Letter Carriers in the London Office, required chiefly on account of the holiday now allowed to these men; the adoption of a higher scale of salaries for Sorters and Letter Carriers; and an enlargement of the pensions granted to these officers in old age.

The entries under this head show the expenditure properly appertaining to the year, not the payments actually made.

The Packet service is for the most part under the superintendence of the Admiralty, and is borne on the expenditure of that Department; the Contractors for the several lines being subject, in most cases, to conditions framed with other objects than the efficiency of the postal service. The above sum does not include the payments made by the Admiralty.

The omission in the expenditure of the Post Office of such part of the cost of these Packets as may fairly be chargeable to that Department, is more or less counterbalanced by the omission (under the head of Revenue) of the charge for the transmission (inland) of stamped newspapers.

2ndly. An addition to the salaries of most other officers in the London Office, resulting from the more general provision of an annual augmentation made in the scale of salaries recommended by the Treasury Commissioners.

3rdly. The revision, as already mentioned, of the Post Offices in Dublin and Edinburgh, and of some of the larger provincial towns. This revision is not yet complete, but it has already had the effect of increasing the number of Clerks and Letter Carriers, and of raising the salaries of many who were already in the service; producing in the aggregate an enlarged annual expence of about 32,0004; to which sum must be added about 5,000l. for uniforms, supplied, for the first time, to the Letter Carriers in Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, and Birmingham, and to a certain class of Letter Carriers in London.

4thly. Increased use of Railways, accelerations of Mails, and enlarged Postal accommodation generally; amounting in annual cost to more than 20,0001.

5thly. Increased expense of the Army Post Office.

In the last Report it was stated that there would probably be a very considerable increase in the expenditure of the year 1855 as compared with that of 1854; and I expect a further considerable increase in 1856.

The following tables may prove interesting to some of our

RATE per mile, paid to the various Railways for carrying thre Mails:

AN ACCOUNT of the Amount of Postage, &c.,collected at the undermentioned Cities and Towns of the United Kingdom, including Postage Stamps sold by this Department, and by the Office of Inland Revenue and its Agents, during the Years 1854 and 1855.

• The amount of Postage, &c. for 1854 is made up to 31st December; the Stamps sold by the Inland Revenue Department to 5th January, 1855. t Including 173,4511. for postage charged to Government Departments. Including 159,9061. for postage charged to Government Departments.