The arrangement of secretarial and other duties being now settled, reforms proceeded satisfactorily; new and greatly improved post offices were erected, and older ones were cleared of accumulated rubbish, and made more habitable in many ways. It was found that at the General Post Office itself no sort of provision against the risk of fire existed—an extraordinary state of things in a building through which many documents, often of great value and importance, were continually passing. Little time was lost in devising measures to remedy this and other defects.
But, strange to say, in 1858 the construction and alteration of post office buildings was transferred by the Treasury to the Board of Works. Knowing that the change would lead to extravagance, Rowland Hill essayed, but quite unsuccessfully, to effect a reversal of this measure; and in support of his views instanced a striking contrast. A new post office had been erected at Brighton, the cost, exclusive of a moderate sum expended to fit it up as a residence, being about £1,600. A similar building had now to be put up at Dundee, whose correspondence was half that of Brighton. The Board of Works' estimate came to four or five times that amount, and all that Rowland Hill could accomplish was to bring the cost down to £5,700.
The first of the long series of “Annual Reports of the Postmaster-General” was published in 1854. It was prefaced with an interesting historical sketch of the Post Office from its origin, written by Matthew Davenport Hill's eldest son Alfred, unto whom my father was further beholden for valuable assistance as arbitrator in the already mentioned disputes between the Post Office and the railway companies. The modern weakness of apathy—most contagious of maladies—seemed after a while to settle even on the Post Office, for, late in the 'nineties, the issue was for a time discontinued.
One passage alone in the First Report shows how satisfactory was the progress made. “On the first day of each month a report is laid before the Postmaster-General showing the principal improvements in hand, and the stage at which each has arrived. The latest of these reports (which is of the usual length) records 183 measures, in various stages of progress or completed during the month of December 1854. Minor improvements, such as extension of rural posts, etc., are not noticed in these reports.”[203]