COLONIAL POST-OFFICE ARRANGEMENTS: CANADA.
AN important question relating to the Colonial Post-office was asked of Sir Robert Peel this week by Mr. Roebuck ; but, in consequence of the interest and disturbance created by the Minis- terial measure now under discussion, the inquiry excited no re- mark, and received no very satisfactory answer. The Post-office of the Mother-country and the Colonies is one united branch of the administration, and is regulated entirely by Imperial acts of Parliament. But while the management is wholly Imperial, the funds are provided as well by the colonists as by the people of this country. Great changes have of late been introduced into the system as respects Great Britain and Ireland,- among which the most important is the PENNY POST: but, unfortunately., this system has not 'pen extended to the Colonies ; so tltat, while the Mother-country enjoys all the advantages of cheap communica- tion, the Colonies are condemned to bear the burden of the old extortionate Post-office. In Canada the evil is felt the more acutely as the people of that province have constantly before their eyes the system established and acted on in the United States, where the Post-office is not used as a means of revenue, but is simply applied to carry on a perfect communication be- tween all parts of the Union. Most of our late alterations in the criminal law, and various other administrative improvements, have regularly- been introduced into our Canadian government ; whence the people have been led to consider that they are of right entitled to all the great advantages which increased know- ledge introduces from time to time into our general administra- tion. None has of late years. been fraught with greater good than the Penny Post, and for none have the people of Canada been more anxious than the ha py improvement devised by Mi. the Rowland Hill. Frequent applications have been made to the Colonial Administration by e people of Canada, praying that the benefit of the new system might be extended to them : but all these applications have hitherto been ineffectual. In this state of things, a question was put to Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons; and from th'e question we learn what are the obstacles in the way of this improvement. Mr. Roebuck sug- gested that no objection could be raised on the ground of dimin- ished revenue; for the Colonial Legislature might be required, 'as a necessary preliminary to the desired change, to undertake to make good any deficiency which might arise from it : but he at the same time stated one consequence of such a pledge, which at once explained why the Penny Post has hitherto been denied to Canada. If the Provincial Legislature provide the funds, it will inquire into the expenditure. At the present time the Post-office expenditure of Canada is exceedingly extravagant ; being regu- lated by an English and not a Canadian scale of payment. The office of Postmaster-General is perhaps the most lucrative place in the colony ; surpassing, it is said, even the salary and emolu- ments of the Governor himself. If England paid for this extra- vagance, the people of the colony- would have no right to com- plain; but such is not the case : the funds are really provided by the colony; and the Postmaster-General, though paid by the people of Canada, can and does set them at defiance, because he is an Imperial olicer and responsible to the Home Government alone.
The past history of Canada teaches us how reluctantly the Colonial Office has from time to time been compelled to give up its patronage ; but we hope that the present Administration will set a wiser example, and cheerfully yield to the just demands of the colonists this remnant of a bad system. Happily for the colonists, Lord Stanley is no longer Colonial Secretary ; and we would advise the people immediately to act on the suggestion of Sir Robert Peel, and make direct application to the Home Govern- ment upon this important subject. The newspapers report Sir Robert Peel to have said that the application should be made through the Governor-General: such, however, was not the lan- guage used by him ; and if it were, there is no reason why such a suggestion should be exclusively followed. Let the Colonial Legislature and the colonists apply both through the Governor- General and through such persons in this country as deserve their confidence, and who have the power to give weight to their demands. All official communications are proverbially slow; and official persons, if not urged by those who are able daily to insist on their just claims, delight in systematic procrastination. A well- directed and sustained application, at the present time, would be attended with the happiest results. The difficulties of detail, alluded to by Sir Robert Peel, can easily be avoided or overcome. The packet system may be and ought to be left under the control of the Home Government; and all officers of the Post-office whose duties are not confined to the limits of the Colonies should be responsible alone to the Post- office authorities in this country. But all that Canada pays for exclusively, ought to be subject to the control and supervision of the Canadian Legislature ; who will do but their duty by insist- ing that Colonial frugality be adopted by all parts of the Colonial Administration.
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