icles of events, and were beginning to publish comments and to
criticize persons and parties. A Bill to impose a tax of 1d. a copy on
all periodical publications was brought into Parliament in 1701, but was
abandoned owing to the opposition of the newspaper proprietors, who
represented that they were in the habit of selling their papers at a
1/2d. a copy.[271] In 1712 a message from the Crown, adverting to the
undesirable character of the new development of newspaper enterprise,
recommended that a remedy be found without delay. The result was the
imposition of a stamp duty of 1/2d. the sheet on all newspapers of a
sheet and a half.[272] The privileges with regard to their transmission
by post were, however, in no way interfered with.

In 1776 the tax was raised to 1-1/2d. a copy, in 1789 to 2d., in 1794 to
2-1/2d., and in 1815 to 4d., at which amount it stood until 1836. In
1819 onerous restrictions with regard to registration, bonds, and
sureties were imposed, mainly with the view of preventing the issue of
publications of undesirable character.[273]

In consideration of these charges the Government were prepared to allow
free transmission by post. Moreover, the franking privilege of the
Clerks of the Road was favoured as an economy. They argued that as these
officers received considerable sums from their newspaper business their
salaries from the Post Office were correspondingly low, and if the
newspaper business were taken from them it would be necessary for the
Post Office to make good the loss in income which they would
suffer.[274] It would seem that there was at this time no conception of
charging a rate of postage on newspapers; and so far the authorities
were right in thinking the abolition of the privilege would cause an
addition to the expenses of the Post Office, in compensation for which
there would be no increase in revenue. Whatever were the taxes paid to
other departments, it was clearly in the financial interest of the Post
Office, so long as newspapers passed free by post, to retain a system
which enabled certain of its officers to obtain part of their income
from special arrangements for the distribution of the newspapers,
instead of from Post Office funds.

The Clerks of the Road still held an advantage over the ordinary
newsagents. The local postmasters acted as their agents, and they had,
moreover, the important privilege of posting their papers later.
Newsagents were not permitted to post after