In spite of desolating wars and quarrels between rival nations, there has been growing in Europe during the last fifty or sixty years a sense of the need for international action. The Great Exhibition of 1851 raised hopes of universal brotherhood and of the turning of spears into pruning-hooks, but in a few short years the nations were again engaged in the fiercest conflicts, and at the present time European countries are armed in a way that is a constant danger to peace. Still the fact remains that during the whole time international movements have been developing, and a spirit of unity is spreading among the nations. Governments are usually the last bodies of men to feel such influences. The movements come from below—from the workers, who realise that the problems they have to face are the same as those of every other country, and from the men of business, who have long since realised that co-operation with the foreigner is better for trade than any attempts to hamper his action. The doctrines of universal brotherhood and of love have no doubt exercised a certain influence on European thought: the message of the poets and of religious enthusiasts has usually taken this form; but the verdict of the men who pride themselves on their common sense has in the past been, that the ideas do not belong to practical politics. The discovery of modern times is that the message of the poets is good business. Solidarity among the nations is the discovery of the commercial man, and although the sentiment of nationality and the instinct for war are too deeply engrained in the human mind to be uprooted at once, the fact remains that the avoidance of war at all hazards is now the avowed object of European peoples, just as in former times the rushing into war seemed the easiest and most profitable way of settling difficulties.

Then the long peace which followed on Waterloo, and the introduction of the railways, opened up the Continent to the traveller, and year by year the communications, friendly and commercial, between the nations increased. And nothing irritated both the traveller and the business man more than the capricious varieties in postal rates which existed in Europe prior to 1875. There were in existence treaties, agreements, and understandings between different nations on the subject of postal communications, but every national Post Office made the best terms it could for itself when making a treaty, and there was no approach to uniformity. The idea of each nation was to make the foreigner pay, and while in many instances this policy may have meant an immediate increase of revenue to the particular Government, it did not help the trade of the country, which suffered also from the natural efforts of the rival country to pursue a policy of retaliation in postal matters. There were many units of weight in use; and the scale of progression was variable, as were also the charges. The latter were very high, and their calculation was a matter of great difficulty. A letter which had to be sent in transit through several countries was charged according to the different units and progressions of weight in vogue. Thus the postage on such a letter was ordinarily composed of the internal rate of the country of origin, the internal rate of that of destination, the rate of each country it passed through, and the charge for sea transit where such means was employed. With the ideas then prevalent, it seemed to be not only good business but the fair and square thing all round, that every nation should exact its full charge on every letter which passed through its boundaries.

The honour of first raising the question of the organisation of international postal business belongs to the United States Government, which in 1862 suggested a conference of the delegates of different Postal Administrations for the purpose of discussing the matter. Fifteen Governments at once adopted the proposal, and the Conference took place at Paris in May 1863. The Conference lasted nearly a month, and discussed thirty-six questions which arose in connection with the three fundamental questions of the uniformity of weight, the uniformity of rates and the simplification of accounting, including naturally an amelioration of the system of transit. From a postal point of view the delegates represented nine-tenths of the commerce and nineteen-twentieths of the correspondence of the whole world. They represented, moreover, 400 millions of persons belonging to the most civilised and the most industrious nations of the world. The outcome of the labours of the Conference was the proposition for an International Postal Union. This idea was set forth in 1868 in the official journal of the Postal Administration of Northern Germany, by Herr Von Stephan, who deserves a place of honourable mention among postal reformers. He suggested a Universal Congress to consider the matter, but the Franco-Prussian War interrupted the negotiations. They were reopened when peace was established, and the first move came then from the little republic of Switzerland, which from its neutral position was better able to take the lead at a time when national animosities were strong in Europe. The Government of the Swiss Confederation invited representatives from Europe, the United States, and Egypt to meet at Berne in 1874, and it was here that the Postal Union was called into existence. The man of the hour was Herr Von Stephan, who came fresh from carrying out a similar scheme among the numerous small German States. Dr. Von Stephan was a man of ideas who also possessed eloquence, and he was the leading spirit of the Congress.

The central idea of the Union which he proposed was to arrange that the whole of the countries forming it should be for postal purposes a single territory, and within that territory there was to be a uniform tariff. It was necessary that such a scheme should be large enough to make it possible for the greatest available number of administrations to adhere to it, and that the sacrifices that it would be needful to make would be more than compensated for by the development of postal traffic. Of course the idea met with great opposition. Financial experts shook their heads, and authoritatively declared that proposals for reducing and simplifying postal rates were a danger to the finances of their respective countries. In Great Britain, where the Post Office brings in annually a great revenue to the Treasury, there was also opposition: it was clear that under the new arrangement the British Government would have to do a great deal for nothing in the carrying of the world's letters. Nationalists of all countries saw in the proposal a menace to national sentiment and national glory. But over and above all these considerations was the great question of the public convenience, and people were beginning to understand the great principle of State administration, that a loss to one Department is not a loss to the State if the people benefit. Dr. Von Stephan was for twenty-five years the head of the German Postal Administration, and he attended more than one of the Congresses subsequent to that at Berne. At the Vienna Congress of 1891 he modestly resisted the idea that the Postal Union originated from his action. He said: “Ideas are not originated by any individual. They float in the atmosphere for a whole epoch, at first vaguely, then in a more distinct form, until they condense and precipitate themselves in taking body and life. The idea of unification is in harmony with the aspirations of our century: it prevails to-day in many of the domains of human activity: it constitutes the true motive power of human civilisation. As for our great machine of international exchange, it was, moreover, stimulated by this irrefutable fact, that the enormous masses which devolved upon it to handle, which increased from day to day, and extended from frontier to frontier, and to the furthest seas and latitudes, urgently demanded a simplification of the entire mechanism as the only means of making headway against its almost unlimited requirements and of maintaining indispensable rapidity and regularity. Such are the natural elements which were the true founders of the Universal Postal Union.”

The Treaty of Berne has been described as the greatest manifestation of the spirit of solidarity in the history of the world, and the Conference of Berne has been spoken of as the first Parliament of Mankind. It is always a temptation to speak in exaggerated terms of great advances in humanity and civilisation. International Conferences had been held before in the history of mankind, notably those of the Catholic Church, but their tendency had been rather to stultify human thought, and they had done little or nothing to promote the peace of the world. But here at Berne had been called into existence a Postal Parliament, and in the different Congresses which have been held since at various capitals, debates and discussions have taken place between delegates from all the nations participating in the Union. The work these Congresses do is quietly and unostentatiously performed, but it is a real portion of that great movement in favour of peace and goodwill among nations which, in spite of great armies and huge navies, is leavening the life of Europe at the present day.

Ten years after the Treaty of Berne the Union had absorbed nearly all the nations of the world, and to-day China is the only civilised country which does not participate, although she is constantly expressing her hope to be able to do so at no distant date.

The first and principal work of the Union was to abolish the involved and differing rates of postage on correspondence between various nations. Letters, postcards, and printed matter were in future to circulate at one common series of rates, viz. 2½d., 1d., and ½d., or their equivalents in the currencies of the different countries. As the Union grew, the sphere of its activities also increased, and to the original scheme were added arrangements for the exchange of insured articles, money orders, and parcels.

The business of the Postal Union is conducted at a Central Office at Berne. Here are settled misunderstandings and disputes, and the accounts for the conveying of mails and the exchange of money orders, &c. The expenses of this bureau are remarkably small, and are met by the Post Offices of the participating nations. A publication called L'Union Postale is issued monthly by the Central Office.

One of the latest schemes adopted by the Union is the reply coupon. People of a generous disposition are able to pay not only the postage on their own letters but also that of the replies. Whatever opinion may be formed of the anxiety of men and women in general to save other people's pockets at the expense of their own, there can be no doubt that a limited number, either from altruistic motives or because possibly they wish to exploit some commercial scheme, demand some means of prepaying replies other than the double postcard, which has never been much in favour. Special coupons are now exchangeable by the Post Office of any country which adopts the scheme for a postage stamp of 25 centimes (2½d.) or its equivalent. For instance, a friend can write to you from Japan and enclose a coupon which, if you present it at a post office, will obtain for you without charge the stamp necessary for your reply.

Since the Congress at Berne there have been held Congresses at Berne in 1876, Paris in 1880, Lisbon in 1885, Vienna in 1891, Washington in 1897 and Rome in 1904. What does a Congress of this kind resemble when it is sitting? Is it simply a dull assembly of black-coated gentlemen such as our own House of Commons? Here is a lively account of the first meeting of the Washington Congress, taken from the Washington Evening Star of the 5th May 1897: “The Universal Postal Congress begun its sessions at the old Corcoran Art Gallery this morning shortly after eleven o'clock. The delegates began to gather long before this hour, and assembled in the room to the left of the entrance on the first floor. They made a striking and picturesque group. The majority of the gentlemen were in full dress with white gloves, but a number of them wore military uniforms with side arms. The profusion of decorations worn by the delegates was as notable as the insignias were brilliant and beautiful. Jewelled stars, gem-encrusted circlets, and a large variety of other emblems significant of the honours conferred upon their wearers by potentates and governments, were displayed. Some of the delegates wore as many as a dozen decorations of this character hanging pendent from brilliant ribbons around their necks, pinned to coat lapels or bosoms, or held by broad, bright scarfs that encircled their bodies. The Danish and Italian representatives were attired in military uniforms heavily embroidered with gold, and the Russians wore velvet cloaks with many silver buttons, while golden spurs hung at the heels of their patent-leather riding-boots. The Japanese wore the military uniform of that empire.... The conversation among the delegates buzzed in a dozen different languages, the little groups of delegates from the same country talking together in their native tongues but quickly using French when addressing their remarks to others.”

Perhaps I may add an extract from a speech made at the conclusion of the same Conference by Sir Spencer Walpole, who was at that time Secretary of the British Post Office: “One word more, gentlemen. We are going back to our duties and our toils: but we shall never forget our meetings in this beautiful city of Washington, where we have worked to improve the postal communications of the world. At this moment I recall the morning on which we found ourselves collected in a little church of this city. The representatives of sixty nations and I know not how many religions were met together to show respect to a colleague unfortunately deceased, and to commend his soul to the God of all nations of the world—both eastern and western. That gathering seems to me a type of our Congress. We, the delegates of sixty nations, found ourselves united in the same thought—I had almost said in the same religion. I hope that this thought will more and more dominate our work, and that the improvement of the communications of the world at which we have laboured will lead to friendship among the nations, to brotherliness among men, and to universal peace.”

Only those who have been present at one of these Congresses can fully realise how much they make for the results hoped for by Sir Spencer Walpole. It is a revelation of the community of interest which is shared by all the nations of the world in the matter of international intercourse. And of course the effect on other departments of life is wide-reaching.

In order to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Universal Postal Union a monument was unveiled at Berne in October 1910. The sculptor is M. RenÉ de Saint Marceaux of Paris. On a ledge of a rock whose broad base is solidly embedded in the earth, and from the foot of which flows a small spring, is seated a woman whose delicate hand rests on the escutcheon of the town of Berne. On the summit of the rock a bank of clouds, which seems to glide in space, bears up a sphere round which float five female figures, symbols of the five continents of the world. The figures are passing a letter from hand to hand, illustrating the activity of the universal post. Always moving, regardless of obstruction or frontiers, it carries to the utmost limits of the world the messages of joy or mourning which are entrusted to its care. The monument is an additional ornament to the beautiful city of Berne: it is also an abiding memory of the success of the greatest of modern efforts to bring under one banner all the nations of the earth.