ce."[691] In consequence of this difficulty an
Act was passed in 1815 making it compulsory on all shipmasters to carry
such mails as should be tendered to them by the Post Office. The Post
Office was required to pay the owners a reasonable sum as remuneration
for the carriage of the letters, the ordinary fee of 2d. a letter still
being paid to the commander as a perquisite. The East India Company was
placated by the concession of further exemptions in its favour. By this
Act the rate of postage to India or the Cape was fixed at 14d. the ounce
on letters, and on newspapers at 3d. the ounce--the first enactment
providing a lower rate for newspapers than for letters in the foreign
service.[692]

The result of this Act was eminently satisfactory. In the first eighteen
months or so the postage on letters for India and the Cape of Good Hope
amounted to [L]11,658, while the amount paid for the conveyance by private
ship was only [L]1,250; although it should be explained that expense was
incurred for less than half the number of despatches, the remainder
being conveyed by his Majesty's ships, or by ships of the East India
Company which were placed at the disposal of the Post Office free of
charge.

Other minor changes were made in subsequent years. In 1836 a postal
treaty was arranged with France, under which certain rates--in general,
rates slightly lower than those previously in force--were agreed for all
letters passing through France.

The rates for colonial letters were revised when uniform postage was
introduced in the inland service. They were made chargeable according to
weight, and for transmission to any port in the colonies were fixed
generally at 1s. the 1/2 ounce.

In 1850, on political grounds, the Postmaster-General[693] proposed the
establishment of a general 1s. rate for all colonial letters. The
proposal was not immediately adopted, but a few years later a rate of
6d. the 1/2 ounce was established for all parts of the Empire except
India, the Cape, Mauritius, and Tasmania. This rate was extended to all
the colonies in 1857, and to the United States in 1868. In 1869 the rate
for letters to the United States, Canada, and Prince Edward Island was
reduced to 3d. In 1875 the Universal Postal Union rate of 2-1/2d. came
into operation. The next great advance was the result mainly of the
efforts of Sir J. Henniker Heaton, who for many years advocated the
facilitation of postal intercourse, especially within the Em