James Wilson Hyde

The Post-office is no stranger to the taunt that it is swathed from head to foot in red tape; or, at any rate, that its operations are so trammelled with routine that no inquiry into irregularities can be made with anything like due expedition. Such accusations as these often come from unreflecting persons, or from those whose business operations are of a small kind, and who have no idea of the methods necessary for carrying on a huge administration.

An ordinary shopkeeper, for example, has under his own eye the whole sphere of his daily business; he has a personal knowledge of all purchases from the wholesale houses, and knows exactly the particulars of his daily sales; he has, moreover, the behaviour of his servants constantly under observation with a view to discipline; in fact, he is ever present in his own business world, the whole scope of which is within his individual purview. If a person of this class were asked a question in regard to his affairs, it would probably be in his power to afford an answer at once; and when he addresses an inquiry to the Post-office he expects a reply with like rapidity. Not receiving an answer with the looked-for despatch, as might very likely happen, the cause would be assumed to be needless routine—otherwise red tape.

Now it is proper here to observe, that between business or trade in the ordinary sense, and the administration of a department like the Post-office, there exists a gulf which forbids all comparison, and establishes a contrast of the most striking kind. A stranger, were he taken through the Secretariat of the Post-office at St Martin's-le-Grand, the brain of the whole Department, could not fail to be struck by the method which reigns throughout, and the way in which various subjects coming up for consideration are disposed of in different branches. In one quarter he would find inquiry going on into the characters and antecedents of candidates for appointments throughout the country, and preparations being made for their examination by the Civil Service Commissioners. In another room would be found officers exercising judicial functions in regard to cases of misbehaviour reported from the country— meting out arrest of pay or dismissal in accordance with the gravity of the offence in each instance. Then in other rooms questions as to new buildings, their fittings and furniture, and the increase of staff when demanded by provincial offices, are undergoing close examination. Inquiries for missing letters take up attention in one branch; various other kinds of irregularities are dealt with in another. The foreign mails branch, the home mails and parcel-post branch, the telegraph branch, with all their subdivisions of work, occupy separate rooms, and claim the attention of officers specially trained to their several duties.

And how does all the correspondence for the Secretary at headquarters find its way to its proper quarter for treatment? There is a branch called the Registry, in which every letter or communication of any importance is registered on receipt—that is, it receives a number, the name of the writer is indexed, and the subject of his letter recorded. The number of officers employed in the Registry is 73; and the original papers passing through the branch in the way stated exceed 320,000 annually. From this branch every morning the papers for treatment are distributed over the Secretariat, each officer receiving the papers proper to his duty. Nor does the business of the Registry end here, for every case—each separate set of papers on a subject is called a case—is recorded again whenever sent elsewhere, so that its destination can be traced. Were this not done, laggard postmasters, or persons acting from base or interested motives, might find it convenient not to return the papers, and so by silence end them. Sometimes a single case will go backwards and forwards thirty or forty times, yet its whole history of travel is recorded. This is the routine which some people call red tape.

In dealing in this way with large masses of correspondence, each atom of which has to receive its due share of brain-attention, there is necessarily some degree of retardation; and it may be remarked that, between this process and the law in mechanics, under which, other things being equal, a gain of power is accompanied by a loss of speed, there exists a strong analogy. But by this classification and division of labour it is possible to bring about results which could not be achieved by a much larger staff under any plan of desultory working.

We will mention one thing which, perhaps more than any other, excites the public to use the taunt of red tape. It is a printed reply to a complaint, commonly spoken of as the "stereotyped reply." The public do not know how carefully and conscientiously delays and reported losses of letters are investigated in the Post-office. Inquiries are made in every office through which the letters would pass in transit, and records made, lest an explanation should afterwards be forthcoming; but after all, in the eyes of some persons, the printed reply spoils all. These persons forget, however, that the printed letter conveys all that is to be said on the subject, and that it is used in the interests of economy.

It may be admitted of the Post-office, that of all its characteristics, the most prominent is that of its method, routine, or red-tapeism, in the limited sense of what is necessary for the furtherance of the public service; but there is, perhaps, no concern of like magnitude in the world in which there is less of the musty fusty red tape of antiquity that has outlived its time, and no longer serves any useful purpose.

Red tape

Red Tape.

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FOOTNOTES

1 In the north of Scotland a similar account was given of the roads there about the year 1730. The writer of 'Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland' stated that "the Highlands are but little known even to the inhabitants of the low country of Scotland, for they have ever dreaded the difficulties and dangers of travelling among the mountains; and when some extraordinary occasion has obliged any one of them to such a progress, he has, generally speaking, made his testament before he set out, as though he were entering upon a long and dangerous sea-voyage, wherein it was very doubtful if he should ever return."

PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH.

THE ROYAL MAIL:
ITS CURIOSITIES AND ROMANCE.
By JAMES WILSON HYDE,
SUPERINTENDENT IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

The Times.—"The author of 'The Royal Mail' has served five-and-twenty years in the Post-office, and had it been his fortune to turn novelist, like his confrÈre Anthony Trollope, he would never have been so lavish of invaluable materials. The merest glance through his pages might suggest subjects or incidents for half a score of sensational romances. But the whole of the volume is so full of fascination that once taken up it is difficult to lay it down."

Saturday Review.—'Mr Hyde's work certainly shows that, even at the present time, the business conducted by the Post-office is not unfrequently enlivened by romantic incidents; while in antiquarian interest it is rich beyond the average."

Pall Mall Gazette.—"This volume is a storehouse of amusing anecdotes."

The Echo.—"The curiosities and romance of the Post-office have furnished Mr J. Wilson Hyde, Superintendent in the General Post-office, Edinburgh, with a subject for one of the most entertaining books of the year. The book is well written, well arranged, and thoroughly deserves success."

Graphic.—"Contains a vast number of well-arranged facts, some valuable, some curious, about what is pre-eminently 'the people's institution.'"

St James's Gazette.—"The result is a work that is sure to be widely read. The author treats of the old coaching days in a cheery spirit; and if some of his excellent anecdotes lack the gloss of novelty, that was only to be expected. But by far the most interesting pages in his interesting book are those in which he deals with the working of the present system.... An extremely readable and meritorious book."

Whitehall Review.—"'The Royal Mail' is not a book to be put down unfinished, for what is told in it is well worth knowing, and the admirable way it is related makes it all the more enjoyable."

The Literary World.—"This book is free from the least suspicion of dulness, and is replete with the liveliest anecdotes we have seen for many a day. There is a good story on almost every page."

Daily News.—"A book which is an interesting addition to Post-office literature, and it will be read with pleasure by thousands who know nothing of the internal working of the postal service."

Scotsman.—"A book of singular interest, and excellence.... The carelessness with which in some cases the mails were conveyed, the means taken to preserve them from robbers, the length of time occupied in their transmission from one place to another, the difficulty in dealing with particular portions of them,—all these are described in the earlier chapters of Mr Hyde's book, and are described with singular power and ease of narrative. The book, in short, is far more interesting than most of the modern novels, and it will enable the country to understand better than it could otherwise understand the vast and complicated machinery by which one of the most ordinary and yet imperative requirements of modern life is carried out. Mr Hyde must have hearty commendation for the manner in which he has done his work."

Glasgow Weekly Citizen.—"Positively the most interesting book I have seen for an age. It is certain to have an immediate and very wide popularity. It reads like a novel, and shows in many cases how true is the old maxim, that 'Truth is stranger than fiction.' To everybody this volume will be of the greatest interest. And many subjects of great and universal interest are treated in the most lively and entertaining manner. The volume abounds in capital stories."

North British Daily Mail.—"It is brimful of the most curious out-of-the-way facts illustrative of the early struggles of the postal service, and also contains some very amusing and romantic stories of the old stage-coach days. The work is written in such an easy unpretentious chatty style, and is so admirably arranged, that when taken up few will lay it down until they have read it through to the end. It is, moreover, capitally illustrated."

Newcastle Daily Journal.—"This is a thoroughly instructive and amusing book. Mr Hyde approaches his subject in the character of a chronicler. The book is a most entertaining one."

Liverpool Daily Post.—"His volume is replete with interesting facts, anecdotes, and illustrations, and it is written on a subject which has an interest for every one.... His pages will repay perusal."

Dundee Advertiser.—"A perusal of Mr Hyde's clever book will show the difference between the postal service of a century ago and that of the present time. To the credit of the author be it said, that he succeeds in doing this without being tiresome, a consummation not always achieved by those who undertake such a mission."

Aberdeen Journal.—"Every page is full of interest, and the whole book shows the man accustomed to put the greatest amount of information in the fewest and most appropriate words. From beginning to end of the book the reader finds himself in the company of one that speaks what he knows."

Bristol Times and Mirror.—"In this work, Mr J. Wilson Hyde has gathered together a perfect budget of information pertaining to our postal service both in the past and present days. The book is neatly bound, and is decidedly a valuable addition to the literature of the season."

Manchester Examiner and Times.—"'The Royal Mail' is singularly interesting. The writer has unearthed from ancient documents, old newspapers, and official reports, a curious collection of incidents and facts which give a vivid idea of the difficulties of the postal service in its youth, and of the immense improvements which have been made in recent years. The book is both entertaining and instructive. The reader will find a good deal that is strange and even romantic in the account."

Quiz.—"A delightful book, by the Superintendent of the Edinburgh General Post-office.... A book, full of contemporary curiosities and old-world romances, which, while it gives an entertaining account of the inner workings of the Post-office of to-day, transports you to the grand idyllic epoch of sleepy Britain, the times of pack-horses and postboys, of wayside inns and county hostelries, of masked cavaliers, and great snows and impracticable roads. A glance at the contents of Mr Hyde's volume is sufficient to indicate the extent and variety of the materials he has gathered together."

Birmingham Daily Mail.—"A book which may be looked upon in the light of a historical work.... Its aim, while historic, seems to be to deal with the lighter features of the great department of the State, the Post-office. 'The Royal Mail' ... will be found very entertaining, and sometimes very strange and romantic reading."

Practical Teacher.—"A book which, albeit not a novel, has all the charm and interest of the most exciting romance. Altogether it would be difficult to speak too highly of Mr Hyde's delightful volume."

Yorkshire Post.—"Mr J. W. Hyde of Edinburgh has collected and arranged an altogether admirable array of historical and illustrative matter bearing on our postal system."

Courant.—"He has made a wonderfully good book. By some curious instinct he has divined what is most interesting in the subject he writes about, and there is not a dull page from the first to the last. No previous writer on the Post-office has given us so graphic a picture of its daily life, and of the adventures it undergoes from hour to hour. He has in truth written a romance of the Post-office abounding in truths stranger than fiction."