275
the following rates of Postage are proposed ;-
9.
Letters, per 5 07: Newspapers
10 cents (5?)
Existing Rates
12 cents
3 (15?)
L
#
Bookste per 203: 3 (11⁄23)
"
4
#
All reductions of Postage are welcome. to the public no doubt, but the difference between a 6? and 5. Unil is not sufficient for the mercantile communities
of
Honghong and China to care about, except
as a
step towards the entire abolition of the extra Brindisi charge. The reduction would, I presume, involve this Colony in further contribution towards the Imperial loss, and at least two new
postage Stamps (10 cents and 3 cents) would have to be added to
our
already long list, at a first cost of not
less than £240.
10.
The abolition of any extra charge for
the Brindisi route is what
in
everybody the East wishes to see, and if this Colony were not already contributing as much as its finances will, I think, possibly bear, I should recommend its offering contribution towards the loss resulting from
such abolition.
Jl.
a
People in China, even comparatively
poor people, do not take into account the
many
difference between 5 and 6? As
were
posted
when a letter cost 1/-as
letters
that it only costs 4? But they do appreciate
uniformity, and
they detest complicated.