l. IV & 1 Vict., cap. 34, [S] 28.

[500] 2 & 3 Vict., cap. 52, [S] 1.

[501] 3 & 4 Vict., cap. 96, [S] 4.

[502] _Vide_ _Annual Reports of the Postmaster-General_ 1859 et seq.

[503] _British Official Records_, 1863.

[504] See _supra_, p. 31.

"The public felt aggrieved at the restriction, and, as the difficulty of
defining samples in all cases could not be overcome, it was decided to
reduce the inland letter postage to such an extent as would enable the
public to send through the post in closed covers not only patterns and
samples, but also any light articles for a moderate charge; thus
abolishing altogether the distinction between letters and samples, and
providing a cheap and convenient post for small parcels."--_Seventeenth
Report of the Postmaster-General_, London, 1871, p. 4.

[505] _Report of Select Committee on Estimates of Revenue Departments_,
1888, p. 24.

It may be noted, in justification of the view sometimes advanced that
additional traffic can without loss be undertaken by the Post Office at
rates lower than those for the main services, that in this case the Post
Office anticipated that no direct additional expense would be incurred
in the provinces in dealing with the increase of traffic, and that in
London the additional expense would only amount to some [L]500 a year.

[506] See _supra_, p. 223.

[507] Arr[^e]te of 4th March 1858. In 1881 these limits were raised
slightly--to 350 grammes and to 30 centimetres respectively.

[508] In 1871 the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Est filed a petition
in which they contested the right of the Post Office to send samples of
merchandise by railway without specially remunerating the railway
company. They claimed that under the law they were obliged to carry free
only "letters" and "despatches." The case was, however, decided against
the company.--P. Jaccottey, op. cit., p. 334.

[509] Ibid., p. 333.

[510] _Statistique g['e]n['e]rale du service postal_, Berne, 1914, p. 7.

[511] _Archiv f[:u]r Post und Telegraphie_, 1880, p. 270.

[512] _Archiv f[:u]r Post und Telegraphie_, 1880, p. 273.

[513] Dr. Artur Schmidt, _Finanz-Archiv_, 1905, vol. ii., p. 180.

[514] 9 Anne, cap. 10, [S] 13.

[515] H. Joyce, _History of the Post Office_, p. 332.

[516] 6 Geo. I, cap. 21.

[517] 41 Geo. III, cap. 7, [S] 4.

[518] "We find that in France, and generally on the Continent, the
circulation of Prices Current, at a low charge, is encouraged by the
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