306
with
as the principal motive, viz: the saving of time, which mainly induces the surreptitious conveyance of letters, will, be removed, when the Public are allowed to post letters
up to the latest moment, and when the mails
are delivered to the public at their Doors quite
early, which in
reach the Port Office without having to
undergo the process of sorting, a process
that necessarily occupies
in all cases
a considerable
time. We do not think that the petty
motive of saving
a small amount of
postage
is very
prevalent to any
extent: arrange this. Arrangements for Convenience of China
In the case
of mails carried
by
Private Ships, we fear that, in the absence of Officers of Customs, it will, be
difficult
and indeed impossible to suppress
altogether this illegal conveyance of letters, where so many facilities are given by
greedy Ship Agents. At the same time we have to record
the advantages of
our
voyages from Board to Port: on the boats, to impress upon the masters of private Mercantile vessels the legal obligation they
are under
of delivering
all letters to the
Post Office,
and the advantages
which
they commercially receive personally in the shape of their letter grat...cities by complying
with the Law, and we
hope that some
improvement