Vickipedia

SOCIALISM, the name given to a class of opinions opposed to the present organization of society, and which seeks to introduce a new distribution of property and labor, in which organized cooperation rather than competition should be the dominating principle, under the conviction that the happiness of the race, and especially of the classes without capital, would be benefited thereby. Historically considered, Socialism, like many of the significant phenomena of our age, is a product of the French Revolution. That terrible outburst of popular discontent is most properly regarded as an anarchic attack on the social system that had its roots in the feudalism of the middle ages. The furious hatred of the court and the aristocracy, the passionate love of the ‘ people,’ of ‘ humanity,’ of ‘ liberty,’ though called forth by special circumstances, and never formally worked out into a theory of social life, virtually contained in themselves the germs of all later proposed organizations. In the middle ages, the right of freely and fully enjoying life, property, and political independence was limited to a favored few; while the great masses were condemned to dumb servitude, and a perpetual minority. Even the industrial population did not recognize the Socialistic idea. The members of the different guilds or fraternities claimed exclusive right to exercise certain branches of industry, and probably the great majority of the inhabitants of a town remained in a disregarded and dependent state. Amid such social conditions, resting, as they did, on a belief in the necessity of different distinct ranks, the free action of individual life, and even the vital progress of the whole community, became well-nigh impossible.

We have not space here to trace the course of the various minor reforms that weakened the authority of the medieval theory of life; but we must not omit to notice the speculations of the political philosophers of the 18th c. in France, England, and Germany, as operating powerfully in favor of a new social system, in which the idea of humanity (assuming, at the French Revolution, as we have observed, the concrete form of the ‘ people ‘) stands out prominently. Nevertheless, the first shape that the modern spirit of industry took, was not Socialistic, in the strict and proper sense of the term: it was rather individualistic, and found, as it still finds—for it is yet the prevailing theory—its natural expression in such proverbs as, ‘ A fair field, and no favor;’ ‘ Everyone for himself, and God for us all.’ But still, even this lawless individualism is to be regarded as a protest against the false class-legislation of preceding times, and as an assertion of the absolute right of each member of society to a share in the general welfare. That it has not universally commended itself to civilized mankind, as a perfect system, is demonstrated by the appearance and temporary popularity of such schemes of society as those of Owen (q. v.), Fourier (q. v.), St. Simon (q. v.), and the enthusiasm excited at intervals in different parts of Europe by the promulgation of extreme communistic opinions. See communism. It is objected to Socialism, under its various forms, that it makes human happiness too much dependent on material gratifications; that it robs man of that energy that springs from ambition; that it unphilosophically ignores an individualism and inequality to which Nature herself has given her inviolable sanction; and that, by the abolition of social rewards and punishments, it neither holds out any hope to the industrious, nor excites any apprehension among the indolent. On the other hand, we must admit that the vigorous assertion of Socialistic principles has led men to a more liberal and generous view of humanity as a whole. Moreover, it has forcibly called public attention to numerous evils that have sprung up along with the modern development of industry, for which no remedy—not even a name—had been provided; to the vital interdependence of all classes; and to the inadequacy of the individual or ‘ selfish ‘ system, as it has been called, to redress the wrongs or cure the evils that inevitably spring from its own unchecked operation. The recent spread of Socialistic opinions in Germany, taken in connection with the two attempts made on the life of the emperor, has led, in 1878, to special and stringent legislation designed to check the growth of Socialism. In 1878 it was computed that there were in Germany 75 Socialistic publications, with 135,000 regular subscribers.

REBE’LLION (Lat. rebellio, from bellum, war, a revolt by nations subdued in war), an openly avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes allegiance, or a levying of war to resist the authority of the government. Unlike insurrection, which may be merely an opposition to a particular law, rebellion involves a design to renounce all subjection to the state. A commission of rebellion is a commission awarded against a person who treats the sovereign’s authority with contempt, by not obeying his proclamation according to his allegiance, and refusing to attend his sovereign when required. It consists of four commissioners, who are ordered to attack the rebel wherever found. In Scotland, by legal fiction, a debtor disobeying a charge on letters of horning to pay or perform in terms of his obligation, was accounted a rebel, as being disobedient to the sovereign’s command contained in the writ. This disobedience was called civil rebellion, and the penal consequences of actual rebellion followed it, until they were abolished by 20 Geo. II. c. 50. By the old form of diligence (which is still competent), it has therefore been said that debtors were imprisoned not for debt but for rebellion. The fiction was discarded in the provisions of the statute 1 and 2 Vict. c. 114, simplifying the form of diligence and the steps by which imprisonment for debt is effected.

The expression ‘The Great Rebellion,’ is generally applied in England to the revolt of the Long Parliament against the authority of Charles I. It began with the votes of the two Houses regarding the militia in 1642, by which they endeavored to seize the military power of the country, and the departure of the king for York, which was immediately followed by the breaking out of hostilities. The civil war was, properly speaking, terminated by the submission of Charles to the Scots, in April 1646; but the period of the rebellion is usually held to include the Commonwealth or Protectorate, and to extend to the restoration of Charles II. in May 1660. The revolts in behalf of the House of Stuart in 1715 and 1745 ire often, particularly in Scotland, spoken of emphatically as ‘The Rebellion.’ The former rising in favor of the Chevalier de St. George, son of James II. of England, called the Old Pretender, was headed by the Earl of Mar, and put down in 1716: the latter was led by Prince Charles Edward, known as the Young Pretender, who, landing in the Hebrides, was joined by the Highland chieftains and numerous followers, and after taking possession of Edinburgh, and marching to Derby, retreated into Scotland, and was defeated with great slaughter by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden, on the 16th of April 1746.

POLICE, military, has two significations—1st, the organized body employed within an army to preserve civil order, as distinct from military discipline; and 2d, a civil police with a military organization. The police of an army commonly consists of steady intelligent soldiers, who act under the orders of the provost-marshal, and arrest all persons out of bounds, civilians not authorized lo pass the lines, disorderly soldiers, &c.; they also attend to sanitary arrangements. As in all military matters, the police of an army possess summary powers, and a sentence of the provost-marshal is carried out immediately after it is pronounced.

Of civil police with military organization may be instanced, as specimens, the Gendarmerie (q. v.) of France, the Sbirri of Italy, and, in an eminent degree, the Irish constabulary.

AMBA’SSADOR is a title by which the highest order of diplomatic ministers is distinguished, and the person holding such a high commission may be defined to be an officer sent by one sovereign power to another to treat on affairs of state. In a less restricted sense, writers on public law employ the term to denote every kind of diplomatic minister or agent. The credentials, or letters of credence, of an A. are addressed directly by his own sovereign to the sovereign to whom he is sent, and with whom he has the privilege of personal communication. In the performance of all his diplomatic duties, an A. is understood to represent, not only the affairs, but the dignity and the power of his master; and by the law of nations, he has many important rights and privileges, the chief of which is exemption from the control of the municipal laws of the nation wherein he is to exercise his functions, an exemption that is not confined to the A. himself, but is extended to all his suite, including not only the persons employed by him in diplomatic services, but his wife, chaplain, and household generally. But there is a dispute among legal writers whether this exemption extends to all crimes, or whether it is limited to such offences as are mala prohibita, as coining, and not to those that are mala in se, as murder. The law of England appears to have formerly allowed the exemption in the restricted sense only; and in the year 1654, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, the Portuguese A. was tried, convicted, and executed, for an atrocious murder. But, now, according to the general practice of this country, as well as that of the rest of Europe, it is considered that the security of an A. in conducting the intercourse of nations, is of more importance than the punishment of a particular crime, and therefore few examples have happened in modern times where an A. has been punished for any offence. In regard to civil suits, it was at one time held and laid down by Sir Edward Coke that an A. to the English court was answerable for any contract which was good according to the law of nations. The full exemption of an A. from legal process in civil cases was first recognized by 7 Anne, c. 12, a statute whose history is thus related by Blackstone. ‘ In the reign of Queen Anne, an A. from Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, was actually arrested, and taken out of his coach in London, for a debt of £50, which he had there contracted. Instead of applying to be discharged upon his privilege, he gave bail to the action, and the next day complained to the queen. The persons who were concerned in the arrest were examined before the privy council (of which the Lord Chief-justice Holt was at the same time sworn a member), and seventeen were committed to prison, most of whom were prosecuted by information in the Court of Queen’s Bench, at the suit of the Attorney-general; and at their trial before the Lord Chief-justice, were convicted of the facts by the jury; reserving the question of law, how far those facts were criminal, to be afterwards argued before the judges; which question was never determined. In the meantime, the Czar resented this affront very highly, and demanded that the sheriff of Middlesex, and all others concerned in the arrest, should be punished with instant death. But the queen (to the amazement of that despotic court) directed her secretary to inform him, that she could inflict no punishment upon any the meanest, of Her subjects, unless warranted by the law of the land; and therefore was persuaded that he would not insist upon impossibilities.

To satisfy, however the clamors of the foreign ministers, who made it a common cause, as well as to appease the wrath of Peter, a bill was brought into parliament, and afterwards passed into a law (the 7th Anne c. 12), to prevent and punish such outrageous insolence for the future; and with a copy of this act elegantly engrossed and illuminated, accompanied by a letter from the queen, an A. extraordinary was commissioned to appear at Moscow, who declared, that though her majesty could not inflict such a punishment as was required, because of the defect in that particular of the former established constitutions of her kingdom, yet, with the unanimous consent of the parliament, she had caused a new act to be passed, to serve as a law for the future. This humiliating step, says Blackstone, ‘ was accepted as a full satisfaction by the Czar; and the offenders, at his request, were discharged from all further prosecution.’

But although an A. is not amenable to any tribunal of the country he resides in, he cannot misconduct himself with impunity. He must respect the laws and customs of the country in which he is officially resident; and if he violates or offends these laws and customs, he may be complained of to the court or government which he represents; or if the offence is of a very serious nature, his recall may be demanded, or the sovereign to whom he has given such offence may dismiss him peremptorily, and further require that he be brought to trial in his own country. It hardly need be added, that if an A. is guilty of an offence which threatens the safety of the state, he ceases to enjoy the privileges of the exemption in question.

There are some other and inferior privileges which are very generally allowed to ambassadors: they are, for instance, permitted the free exercise of their religion; they are, in general, exempted from direct taxation, they have special letter-bags, and they are usually allowed to import their goods without paying any customhouse duties—a privilege, however, which, being liable to abuse, has sometimes been limited.

Ambassadors are of two kinds—first, those who reside regularly at the court to which they are accredited; and, secondly, those who are sent on special occasions, when they receive the designation of ambassadors extraordinary. The employment of permanent ambassadors originated in modern times. Her Majesty’s diplomatic corps includes only five ambassadors in the more restricted sense of the word, who are accredited to the courts of Vienna, Paris, St. Petersburg, Constantinople, and Berlin respectively. Inferior diplomatic agents receive the title of charge d’affaires, minister plenipotentiary, or envoy (q. v.).

POT-WALLERS, or POT-WALLOPERS (from pot, and Old English wall, to boil or bubble), the popular designation of a class of electors forming the constituency of various English boroughs —as Ilchester, Honiton Tregoney, Old Sarum— before the Reform Act of 1832, whose qualification as housekeepers was considered to be established by their boiling a pot within the limits of the borough over a fireplace erected in the open air. The doing so was regarded as evidence that the elector was in circumstances to provide for his own subsistence, and not necessitated to apply for parochial relief.

PATENT OFFICE LIBRARY, and MUSEUM. The present organization of these establishments arose mainly out of the act relating to Patents (q. v.) passed in 1852. Rooms were rented in Southampton Buildings, London, for the office as reorganized; a superintendent of specifications was appointed; and a plan was adopted for making the system as useful to the public as possible.

The Office.—All the specifications of patents from the earliest date were examined, and minutely classified according to their contents. The patents from 1711 to 1852 were found to amount to the large number of 12.977; and the specifications of the whole of these were printed between 1853 and 1858. There were a few of earlier date, between 1617 and 1711, but none in so complete a form as to render them worth printing. The whole fill many hundred quarto volumes, with the lithographed illustrations bound in separate folio volumes. The expense of the whole undertaking—for paper, printing, and lithographing—was £92.000; the number of copies printed was small; but any single specification can be reprinted if a demand for it should arise. The next work was to utilize this immense collection by a thorough system of indexing. Three indexes were prepared— Chronological, Alphabetical (according to the names of the inventors), and Subject-matter. Arrangements were at the same time made for printing and indexing the specifications of all patents obtained under the new law (1852); and this has been done year by year. (The total number of patents from 1617 to 1878 exceeded 100,000.) These specifications are sold to the public at the price of paper and print, varying from 1-Jd, to about 4s., averaging about 8d. each. The printing and publishing are completed within three weeks of the time when each final specification reaches the hands of the superintendent. Any copy of any of these, if stamped and certified, is received in any court of law or equity in the kingdom, in evidence of the patent to which it relates, without the necessity of producing the original document itself.

There are generally over 4000 petitions for new patents every year; about 800 of the petitioners usually fail to give notice of their intention to proceed, and 200 more fall away before the actual sealing of the patent; so that, roughly speaking, about 3000 specifications of patents are added to the list every year. Of this number, not more than 500 to 600 over-live three years. In 1878, 5343 applications for patents were made; but 1905 of these lapsed during the year, for various reasons. The old and new specifications from 1711 to 1878, amounting to 110,334, have all been printed and published. These works are acquiring ever-increasing value as standards of reference for intending patentees. To render the new specifications equally available with those of older date, three indexes are prepared for each year’s collection, of the kinds already described. There has also been prepared a reference index to the whole series. In 1871, a new plan was adopted, of publishing weekly abridgments of the specifications of new patents : dispensing with any further alphabetical and subject-matter indexes. Besides this, abridgments have been drawn up of most of the specifications, and will be eventually of all: setting forth, in a few words, the general nature of the invention. These abridgments are collected into 12mo volumes, one or more to each class of subjects; and the volumes are sold at 6d. to 10s. each, according to their bulk. At the end of 1878, there were 115 volumes of these useful works, relating to no less than 94 groups or classes of abridgments. By reference to one of these handy volumes, or to the Subject-matter index, an inventor can see whether any person lias preceded him in the particular subject for which he desires a patent.

The Library and Reading-room.—Special arrangements are made to render the specifications, and all that relates to them, as avail-able as possible to the public. Complete sets of the printed specifications, indexes, &c., have been presented to universities, government offices, provincial towns, colonies, and foreign governments; and partial sets to 300 mechanics’ institutes and scientific and literary societies. A complete set comprised in 1880 above 3600 volumes, from folio to 12mo, and cost no less than £3500 for paper, printing, and lithographing; about 160 of these complete sets have been presented. At the head office in Southampton Buildings, a Reading-room has been provided, open to such of the public as may wish to consult the specifications at their leisure. But besides this, the commissioners have gradually become possessed of a large and valuable collection of scientific and technical books and periodicals, to which additions are every year made by purchase. A new Library and Reading-room, occupying the upper part of the old building, has been constructed at a cost of £15,000, and was finished and opened in 1867. All the scientific and technical works of the Library of 80,000 volumes, as well as the specifications of the patents, may here be consulted.

The Museum.—The commissioners having come into possession, by gift and otherwise, of several models illustrating patented inventions, had no place of their own to deposit them for preservation and exhibition. But an arrangement was made with the authorities at South Kensington for the reception of these models; and. greatly augmented by specimens, drawings, diagrams, and portraits, the Patent Museum now occupies a site adjacent to the South Kensington Museum.

The commissioners have for many years sought permission to erect a large and handsome building to accommodate the whole of their departments—offices, Library, Reading-room, and Museum. They possess the pecuniary means, but lack the authority. Their receipts exceed £100,000 a year, in the form of fees from patentees; and after a very liberal expenditure for salaries, superannuation allowances, editing, compiling, printing, purchase of books and periodicals, &c., there is a considerable surplus. A clause in the act of 1852 prevents them from buying land and erecting buildings without the consent of the Treasury. One suggestion made by the commissioners is for permission to build a new street to be formed from the Horse Guards to the Thames Embankment; and another is, that the new building should be on the Embankment itself, a still more prominent site.

PATENT LAWS. Since the introduction of the amended Patent Law in 1852 (see PATENTS), many manufacturers have boldly advocated the abolition of the patent system altogether; on the plea, that the good results, whatever they may be, are overbalanced by the bad. The great majority of advisers, however, call for further reform, not abolition. The Economic Section of the British Association has discussed this matter during a long series of years. The Society of Arts, also, have had many discussions on the subject; and the arguments pro and eon. will be found at length in the Transactions of these bodies. The various Chambers of Commerce throughout the kingdom have likewise debated the subject at length. The actual operation of the system may be briefly illustrated. Mr. Bennett Woodcroft, in 1864, examined 100 patents out of those which had been applied for in 1855. Of the 100, he found 96 frivolous in character, of little or no value as to the merit of the inventions; 4 of moderate value; and not one of striking promise. Out of the 100 applications, 70 patents were granted, of which one became void at the end of six months, 51 more at the end of three years, and 15 more at the end of seven years—because the patentees declined to pay the successive instalments of fees. There were therefore, in 1863, only 3 patents left out of the 100 which had been applied for in 1855. Mr. Woodcroft finds that about the same ratio is exhibited in the whole of the 3000 or so applied for every year. In 100 of the average applications in 1858, he pronounced that there was not one invention of much value, 3 of some, and 97 of little or no value. In 1862, he found 1 of much, 1 of some, and 98 of little or no value. As to statistics of actual numbers, see patent office, library and museum.

In 1862, a royal commission was appointed to consider the whole subject of the patent laws, and to suggest alterations which might be useful. The commission collected evidence in that and the two following years, and made its Report in 1864. Other commissions and committees have made later inquiries, and offered suggestions founded on the evidence collected; but the opinions expressed, on almost every point, are most conflicting. The divided opinion of practical men has hitherto discouraged any attempt to legislate on their recommendations; and the act of 1852 remains still in force.

PATENT is an exclusive right granted by the crown (in letters patent or open, whence the name) to an individual to manufacture and sell a chattel or article of commerce of his own invention. The policy of the present law of patents has latterly been much canvassed, and it has been suggested that, instead of the present monopoly, with the drawback of litigation to which it uniformly gives rise, the use of all inventions should be dedicated to the public at once, and the inventor rewarded by a pension from the state, according to the merits and utility of the invention. The present law allows the inventor to have a monopoly of his invention for fourteen years, with a further privilege at the end of that time, provided he has not been sufficiently remunerated, to have the patent renewed for a further term of fourteen years. That some mode of rewarding the individual whose perseverance and ingenuity have enabled him to discover a new invention should be established, is universally admitted, but whether it should be at the expense of that part of the public who are purchasers, and therefore benefited by his discovery, or by the public at large in the shape of a pension, is a matter still undecided. The evils of the present law are that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the mode of ascertaining what is a new invention. Hence, when a patent has been granted, if it is of such a nature as to lead to competition, infringements are almost matters of course, and the only mode of discovering and checking the infringement is so tedious, costly, and ineffective, that inventors generally pass their lives in constant litigation, fighting in detail a succession of imitators who often have nothing to lose by defeat, and therefore entail all the greater burden on the legitimate manufacturer.

It has been said that not more than three patents per cent. are remunerative. A royal commission has latterly been engaged in inquiries as to the best mode of remunerating inventors, and improving the law in reference to infringements; but it is doubtful how far the subject is capable of being put on a better footing, so many difficulties being inherent in it. The crown seems always to have enjoyed the prerogative right to grant monopolies, and this had been so greatly perverted in the time of Elizabeth, that the popular clamor led to a statute in the following reign, having for its object to prevent the crown in future making any grants of that kind which should be prejudicial to the interests of trade. By that act an exception was expressly made in favor of new inventions. At first the judges construed grants of monopoly to inventors very strictly; but afterwards it was seen that they were for the benefit of trade, and were dealt with more liberally. An important modification of the law was introduced by a statute of Queen Anne, which required every inventor to describe in detail the nature of the invention in an instrument called a specification. Another statute of 5 and 6 Will. IV. c. 83, further altered the law by allowing parties who had a difficulty in separating what was new from what was old in their invention to enter an express disclaimer of that part which was not new. But the most important alteration was made in 1852, by the statute of 15 and 16 Vict. c. 83, which reduced the fees, and otherwise improved the practice attending the obtaining of patents for the United Kingdom. Before stating shortly the substance of this act, it may be observed that there lias always been a difficulty in defining what is an invention that is patentable—a difficulty which no act of parliament can get rid of, for it is inherent in the subject-matter. It lias been held that a patent must be not merely a discovery of a new substance or article of food, but it must be a combination of processes producing some new result, or an old result by different means. It is of the essence of the patent that it be entirely new, that is, that it should not have been described in a published book, or well known in the business of the world, nor publicly used before. The specification must give a full disclosure of the secret, and describe it so that an intelligent person could from the description make the article itself.

There is a patent office in London, in Edinburgh, and in Dublin, but the Scotch and Irish offices have long been used only as places for inspecting copies of patents, specifications. and documents. From 1852 till the new Act of 1883 came into force, the commissioners of patents were the Lord Chancellor, Master of the Rolls, Attorney and Solicitor General of England and Ireland, and the Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General of Scotland. The inventor first presented a petition for a grant of letters-patent, accompanied by a statement in writing of the specification, a copy of which was left at the patent-office. The application was referred, as a matter of course, to one of the law officers of the crown, who might call to his aid a scientific person to be paid by the applicant. A provisional patent might be applied for in the first instance, and the complete patent deferred for six months— the patent dating from the first application. After a patent was granted, and had been in existence for three years, a fee of £50 fell to be paid; and, at the end of the seven years, a fee of £100. The letters-patent extend to the whole of the United Kingdom. The practice with reference to patents, especially as to the drawing of the specification, was too minute to justify an inventor to attempt to take out a patent without professional aid; and a class of persons called patent agents (a business for which no qualifications were required by any constituted authority) devoted themselves to this branch of business—their charges (often exorbitant) being generally ascertained by estimate beforehand. The fees payable to the law officers were as follows : On leaving petition for grant of letters-patent, £5; on notice of intention to proceed with application, £5; on warrant of law officer for letters-patent, £5; on sealing of letters-patent, £5; on filing specifications, £5; at or before expiration of third year, £50; at or before expiration of seventh year, £100. Besides these fees, if opposition was entered to the grant, additional fees were incurred, both by the party applying and the party opposing.

At the date of the passing of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act of 1883, there were nine acts on patents more or less fully in force; and six others on copyright of designs. Now the management of this branch of the public service is put under the Science and Art Department, and the new responsible official, called the Comptroller of "Patents, is an officer of the Board of Trade—from whose decisions, however, there is in certain cases an appeal to a court comprising some of the chief law officers of the crown. There is a paid examiner of patents, to whom applications are first submitted. Heretofore, seven different applications were necessary; now one suffices, and that may be sent through the post. The formulas are simplified, with the hope of enabling the patentee to dispense with the services of patent agents. In contrast with the scale of fees given above, the charges under the new law are : £1 paid down at once, when the provisional specification is lodged at the Patent Office; £3 more after nine months, when the final specification is passed by the Comptroller, and sealed; £50 after the fourth year ; and £100 after the ninth. The latter two payments may be made in annual instalments. (The Board of Trade has power hereafter to reduce the fees, on obtaining the consent of the Treasury.) A register of patents is to he kept, and an Illustrated Journal of Patents officially published. Patents, as formerly, hold for 14 years, and extend to the whole of the United Kingdom.

A patent obtained in this country does not extend to the colonies, but several of the colonies have machinery for granting patents for a like period. In the United States, patents are granted for a term of 17 years. In France, the term is 5, 10. or 15 years, at the option of the applicant; in Prussia, for 15 years; in Russia, for 3, 5, or 10 years; in Spain, for 5, 10, or 15 years; in Belgium, for 20 years; in Holland, for 5, 10, or 15 years; in Austria, not more than 15 years; in Sardinia, 15 years. In all cases, fees are exigible from the patentee. See patent laws and patent office.

POOR, GENERAL laws as to. The fundamental rule as to the relief of the poor was, that each parish in England and Wales is bound to maintain its own poor. For the purpose of providing the requisite machinery, overseers are required to be appointed in each parish every year on the 25th March, or within a fortnight following; and these, along with the churchwardens, who are ex officio overseers, have the duty of providing the requisite funds. See overseers. This is done by means of a poor-rate, which the churchwardens and overseers may levy on all the occupiers of land in the parish, after such rate has been confirmed by the justices. The rate specifies a certain sum in the pound which is to be levied, and the annual value of the various lands is then specified, and the amount is thus easily computed. The rate is thus a local tax on the occupier of the land, and not on the owner, unless he himself is also occupier. In all cases, the duty of raising the funds attaches to the overseers; but the actual distribution and application of them are not always in their immediate control. Owing to the mischiefs arising from the officials of each parish distributing the funds at their discretion, without uniformity of plan, a central controlling power was created in 1834, in the shape of the Poor-law Board; and authority was given to combine various parishes into one poor-law union, for the purpose of greater uniformity as well as economy. When a union is formed, the control of the expenditure is chiefly vested in the guardians of this union, who are elected by each parish, and who supervise the management of the union workhouse. They order the overseers of each parish to raise their due proportion of funds, by a contribution order issued to such overseers, who are thereon bound to levy the amount by including it in the next poor-rate. The guardians are bound to contract for the provisions, clothing, fuel, &c., supplied to the workhouse, by means of sealed tenders, unless the quantity is less than a stated amount. All the controlling powers formerly vested in the Poor-law Board are now transferred to the Local Government Board.

The principle on which relief is administered to the poor is, that the condition of the pauper should not be so comfortable as that of the lowest independent laborer; otherwise, idleness and imposture would be encouraged to an indefinite extent. The guardians profess only to relieve destitution already existing, and not to enable persons to keep off impending destitution. Hence they only supply the bare necessaries of life. They cannot, for example, advance or lend money to set up a poor person in trade. Minute regulations are contained in the consolidated poor-law orders of the Board as to the classification of paupers in the workhouse, mode of admission, diet, discipline, and out-door relief. With regard to out-door relief and able-bodied paupers, it is provided, that every able-bodied person requiring relief from any parish, shall be relieved wholly in the workhouse, together with his wife and family, if any, and if not otherwise employed. But the relief may be given out of doors in cases of sudden and urgent necessity, of sickness, accident and a few other cases. In general, relief is confined to persons actually residing in some place within the union, except in case of casual destitution, or sickness and accident. Whenever out-door relief is given to an able-bodied person, half of it is to be in the form of articles of food or fuel. Relief is given only weekly, where the pauper is not required to be received into the workhouse. No relief is to be given to able-bodied persons while they are employed for wages or hire by any person; and every able-bodied male person, if relieved out of the workhouse, shall be set to work by the guardians, and kept so employed while he continues to receive such relief. The law with regard to the relief of the poor is so far qualified, that wherever a person applies for parochial relief, if he or she has a father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, or child, who is able to maintain such pauper, then the parish officers can obtain an order from justices to compel such relative to contribute a sum towards such maintenance. So husbands or fathers of paupers are bound to contribute to such maintenance. In all cases, the pauper is relieved either in the workhouse or out of the workhouse, according to the regulations of the poor-law orders.

In some cases, the guardians or overseers may employ the poor in public works; but this is seldom done, except on occasions like the Lancashire distress. The law as to the settlement of the poor is somewhat intricate, and gives rise to much ligitation. There are various grounds on which this settlement is acquired. Thus every person has, prima facie, a settlement in the parish where he was born, until, some other is proved; and there are so many other qualifications, that it is seldom a birth-settlement is resorted to. By marriage, a woman immediately acquires the settlement of her husband, if he has one, whether the husband be an Englishman or a foreigner. If the husband has no settlement, then the wife is thrown back on her maiden settlement. Formerly, a person acquired a settlement in a parish by hiring and service, and by residence for forty days under such hiring; but since 1834, no such settlement can be acquired. If any person shall be bound an apprentice by indenture, and reside forty days under such apprenticeship, he or she acquires a settlement thereby. So whoever shall rent a tenement in a parish, and actually occupy the same, and be rated to the poor for one whole year, the rent being not less than £10, and paid by the person so actually occupying the tenement, shall acquire a settlement. So a person acquires a settlement by acquiring an estate in land, however, small in value, and residing forty days in the parish. So. if a person buy an estate, and the consideration amount to £30 at least, he shall thereby acquire a settlement. Formerly, a settlement was acquired by serving a public annual office, such as that of constable, overseer, &c.; but no settlement is now acquired on that ground. Unless a pauper has acquired a settlement on one or other of the grounds before mentioned in the parish or union where he receives relief, he is liable to be removed compulsorily to the parish where he last acquired a settlement. Certain persons, however, cannot be removed, and these are called irremovable paupers. Such are those paupers who have resided for one whole year in the parish or union in which they became destitute.

The mode of computing this one year is, however, somewhat difficult in certain cases. The expense of maintaining the pool-generally is paid out of the common fund, and not by each parish in the union. When a pauper is sought to be removed, it is necessary to take him before two justices of the peace for examination; and on proper evidence of his settlement, the justices will make the order of removal, which is an authority to the overseers to take or send the pauper to the overseers of the parish of settlement. If, however, the pauper is too ill at the time to admit of removal without danger, the justices may suspend the order of removal till lie is recovered. Whenever a pauper is to be removed the removing union is bound to give notice to the union of settlement; and it is on these occasions that so many obstinate and costly litigations take place as to which is the union of settlement. Much litigation was avoided by substituting a union for a parish as the test. The union also may appeal to the Court of Quarter-sessions against the removal order; and the Quarter-sessions may state a case for the opinion of the Court of Queen’s Bench, if any nice point of law should arise, as frequently happens.

In Scotland, there was no systematic provision for the relief of the poor until 1845. when the statute of 8th and 9th Vict. c. 83 was passed. By this statute, a central board (called the Board of Supervision) was established, which controls the parochial board of each parish or union of parishes in a manner similar to the Poor-law Board in England. A settlement can be acquired in Scotland by residence of live years. Children follow the settlement of their parents, and wives that of their husbands; and if no other settlement be proved, then the settlement of birth is liable. In Scotland, the mode of assessment differs from that in England, where only the annual value of lands and tenements can be rated in the hands of the occupier.

The parochial board had the option of three modes of assessment: 1. One half to be paid by owners, and one half by the occupiers; 2. One half to be paid by owners of lands, and the other half to be paid by all the inhabitants, according to means and substance other than lands; 3. Assessing owners of lands and other inhabitants rateably according to their means and substance. But by a later act of 24th and 25th Vict. 37, the mode of assessing means and substance is abolished. It will thus be seen that in Scotland the poor-rate can never be imposed wholly on the occupier as it, always is in England.

In Ireland, a Poor-law Act was also, in 1838, passed, and numerous amending statutes have followed, the code of laws being substantially founded on the English acts.

There are special acts of parliament regulating the conditions on which paupers are removable between England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively.

POLI’CE (Lat. politia, Gr. politeia, civil government; from polis, a city), are constables or peace-officers appointed in all parts of town and country for the purpose of watching property and detecting crime, and arresting offenders and maintaining public order. Though the word policeman is now, especially in towns, a household word, the legal denomination is that of constable; but he is a paid constable, to distinguish him from unpaid constables and special constables. In each parish in England, the justices of the peace have power to appoint constables to act gratuitously and compulsorily; but the vestry has power to resolve that one or more paid constables shall be appointed, in which case the justices are to make the appointment, and these paid constables supersede the unpaid constables. The salary of these parish constables is paid out of the poor-rates of the parish by the overseers. The justices also appoint a superintendent constable for each petty sessional division, to settle the fees and allowances which are to be paid to the constables for the service of summonses, and for the execution of warrants incidental to the office of justices of the peace. In all boroughs in England, the corporation’ is empowered, by the Municipal Corporation Acts, to appoint a watch committee, who appoint a sufficient number of men to act as constables. The treasurer of the borough pays their salaries, wages and allowances, as well as extraordinary expenses incurred by them. By an act of parliament applicable to counties, the justices are empowered to establish a sufficient police force for each county, and a chief constable is appointed to govern the whole.

The duties of constables or police-officers are exceedingly multifarious, and they receive printed regulations to guide them in the proper discharge of such duties. They have important duties in reference to the apprehension of offenders, and their powers are necessarily larger than those of private individuals. Wherever a person is seen in the act of committing a felony, it is the duty of every one, not merely of constables, to apprehend him or her without any warrant, for no warrant is needed. Persons found offending in many misdemeanors may also be apprehended by anybody without a warrant; but in other cases, a constable only can make an arrest. In case of a riot, any body may arrest the rioter. Constables are bound to arrest hawkers trading without a license; and vagrants who are offending against the Vagrant Acts, such as telling fortunes, loitering about premises, &c. The powers of constables are much greater than those of individuals with reference to crimes after they are committed. Thus, where the constable has not seen the offence committed, but is merely told of the fact, and he has reason to believe it, he is entitled to arrest the party charged without any warrant; he must, however, in such cases act only on reasonable suspicion. He is not justified, for example, in apprehending a person as a receiver of stolen goods on the mere assertion of the principal felon; nor is a constable justified in taking a person into custody for a mere assault without a warrant, unless he himself was present at the time the assault was committed, or reasonably apprehends a renewal of it. If a constable have a reasonable suspicion that a man has committed a felony, he may apprehend him; and so a private individual may do so. The difference between the authority of the constable and the private person in this respect is, that the latter is justified only in case it turn out that a felony was in fact committed; but the constable may justify the arrest and detention whether a felony was committed or not.

It is the duty of a constable to raise a hue and cry in search of a felon, and all private individuals are bound to join in it, otherwise they may be indicted and fined. An arrest by a constable is usually made by laying hands on the party, and detaining him; but it is enough for the constable to touch him and say: ‘ I arrest you, in the Queen’s name.’ If the party arrested be in a house in hiding, the constable may demand admittance, and if he is refused, may then break open the doors; this is so in all cases where the party has committed treason or felony, or has dangerously wounded another. In cases where the constable is not authorized at common law or by some statute to arrest a party without a warrant, then he must produce a warrant signed by a justice of the peace, and show it to the party if it is demanded; and if the constable happens not to have the warrant in his pocket at the time, even though it is not asked for, it is an illegal arrest. When a party is arrested, it is the duty of the constable to take him without any unreasonable delay before a justice of the peace, and meanwhile lodge him in safe custody. The party arrested must not be treated with harshness beyond what is necessary for safe custody, and therefore it has been held that a constable has no right to handcuff a person whom he has apprehended on suspicion of felony, unless such person has attempted to escape, or it be necessary to prevent an escape. Nor has a constable in general a right to search a person apprehended, unless the latter conduct himself violently.

The conduct of constables in reference to public-houses is of some importance. It is an offence in publicans and beer-house keepers, and indeed the keepers of all places of public resort, to refuse to admit the constable into such house or place at any time. Thus, in the case of these places being open on Sundays at the times prohibited by statute, the constable, if he suspect that the act is being violated, may demand admittance, and thus satisfy himself as to the fact. It is owing also to this power of a constable to enter at all times, that he is enabled to detect other offences in public-houses, such as harboring prostitutes and disorderly characters. Constables, when suspecting that a betting-house is kept, must first get a warrant from a justice of the peace, which can be obtained without notice to the parties, and can then break into the house. So as to gaming-houses. While constables have summary power of entering public-houses, still this is not to be abused; and it is a distinct offence in the keepers of all public places where wine, spirits, beer, cider, or any fermented or distilled liquors are sold on the premises, to knowingly harbor, or entertain, or suffer to remain there such constables during the time they are on duty, except when quelling disturbances or restoring order. It is an offence punishable with more than usual severity to assault constables when in the execution of their duty. Though constables are paid in great part by each county and borough, and thus by the public at large, it is often requisite for individuals to require the services of extra constables, in which case such individuals must pay for them at their own expense, as is usual in theaters and large establishments. Of late years, considerable complaint had been made as to constables interfering in the protection of game-preserves and fisheries, it being considered that the owners of those properties ought to bear the extra charge, if required, of the constables’ giving more than the ordinary attention to poachers. But by the recent Act, extended powers of detecting poachers of game were given to constables, who are now entitled, whenever they suspect people on the highway of being engaged in poaching, to stop and search them, and then summon the poachers, if necessary, before justices. See poaching.

In 1880, the total police and constabulary in England and Wales amounted to 31,480 men. These are subdivided into chief constables of counties, 56; head constables of boroughs, 163; superintendents, 581; inspectors, 1311; sergeants, 3008; constables, 25,511; additional constables, 390; detectives, 520. The proportion of policemen to the population is about 1 to 811. In 1879-30. the total expenditure on the police force of England and Wales, including the city of London police, was £3,113,725, of which less than £600,000 was paid by Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Superannuation Fund, the major part coining from local sources. The public revenue pays nothing towards the city of London police; it pays all the cost of the dock-yard police; it pays nearly one-fifth of the other branches of the police. In 1881, the metropolitan police numbered 1 chief superintendent, 24 superintendents, 605 inspectors, 941 sergeants, and 9634 constables; the city police comprising 124 officers and 737 constables.

In Ireland, the first regular police force was established in 1814, which was improved in 1836 and 1839. Originally, the expense was defrayed partly out of the Consolidated Fund; but in 1846, the whole expense was borne by the Consolidated Fund, with trifling exceptions. In 1880, the total cost of the constabulary of Ireland amounted to £1,095,121. The number of constables in 1880 was 11,473, besides 1111 Dublin Metropolitan Police. In Ireland the police carry firearms.

In Scotland, the public police force was, in 1880, 3702 (1331 for counties, 2371 for burghs), including 84 detectives; and their cost for the year was £316,413. In addition to this number, the Tweed Commissioners pay for about 30 constables; 12 more are paid by other fishery commissioners, 20 employed by companies or private persons, and 160 by harbor boards.

VICTORIA I., Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, daughter and only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, 4th son of George III., was born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. Her mother, Victoria Mary Louisa, was 4th daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and sister of Leopold, late king of the Belgians. Her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen, died in 1814; and on the 11th July 1818. she married, at Kew, the Duke of Kent. The duke died January 23, 1820, leaving his widow in charge of an infant daughter only eight months old, who had been baptized with the names of Alexandria Victoria.

The Duchess of Kent fulfilled the important duties which devolved upon her with more than maternal solicitude, and with admirable care and prudence. The infant princess, as she grew up, was taught to seek health by exercise and temperance, to acquire fearlessness even from her amusements, such as riding and sailing, and to practise a wise economy united to a discriminating charity. After a few years, the Duchess of Northumberland was associated with her mother in her nurture and education. The Princess V. became accomplished in music, drawing, and the continental languages; and acquired a knowledge of some of the sciences, particularly botany. Her father having belonged to the Whigs, her political education was naturally derived from the members of that party; and to Viscount Melbourne (q. v.); belongs the credit of having thoroughly instructed her in the principles of the British constitution. She ascended the throne of the United Kingdom 011 the demise of her uncle, William IV. (q. v.), June 20, 1837; her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, becoming king of Hanover, in virtue of the law which excludes females from that throne. By this event, the connection which had lasted for 123 years between the crowns of England and Hanover was terminated. Victoria was proclaimed June, 1837, and crowned at Westminster, June 28,1838. She found on her accession Viscount Melbourne at the head of the government; and during his premiership, and with the cordial assent of her subjects, the young queen was married at St. James’s Palace (February 10, 1840) to Prince Albert (q. v.), Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and second son of the then reigning duke.

Her Majesty has had issue—four sons and five daughters; the Princess Royal, Victoria, born November 21. 1840, married. Jan. 35, 1858, to Frederick William, now Crown Prince of Prussia, and Prince Imperial of Germany; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom, born Nov. 9, 1841, married, March 10, 1863, Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of Christian IX., king of Denmark; Princess Alice, born April 25, 1843, married, in 1862, Prince Frederick William of Hesse (died Dec. 14, 1878); Prince Alfred, born August 6. 1844. created Duke of Edinburgh 1866, married, Jan. 23, 1874, Marie, only daughter of the Emperor of Russia; Princess Helena, born May 25, 1840, married in 1866 to Prince Christian of Denmark; Princess Louisa, born March 18, 1848, married in 1871 to the Marquis of Lorne; Prince Arthur, born May 1, 1850, created Duke of Connaught 1874, married in 1879 Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; Prince Leopold, born April 7, 1853, was created Duke of Albany in 1881, and married to Princess Helena of Waldeck in 1882; Princess Beatrice, born April 14,’1857.

The changes of administration in this reign maybe traced in the articles GREAT BRITAIN, MELBOURNE, PEEL, RUSSELL, derby, aberdeen, palmerston, gladstone, disraeli. The legislative measures of greatest importance were the establishment (1840) of the penny-postage (see post-office); the Amendment of the Poor Laws (q. v.) in Scotland (1845) and Ireland (1847); the Abolition (1846) of the Corn Laws (q. v.), and (1849) of the Navigation Laws,(q. v.); the Irish Encumbered Estates Act, (see TITLE, &c.); the transfer (1858) of the Indian possessions from the East India Company to the crown (see india); the admission (1858) of Jews into the House of Commons; the Reform Act of 1867; Disestablishment of the Irish Church (1869); the Irish Land Acts (1870 and 1881); the Abolition of Purchase in the Army (1871); the Elementary Education Act for England (1870), and the Scotch Education Act (1872). See NATIONAL EDUCATION. Other events which will signalize this period of British history were the formation of the Free Church (q. v.) of Scotland (1843); the discovery of the North-west Passage (q. v.) by Sir Robert M’Clure (1850); the Exhibitions (q. v.) of 1851 and 1862; the discovery of gold in Australia (q. v.) and in British Columbia; the war (1854—1856) with Russia (q. v.)iii defence of Turkey (q. v.), in which the siege of Sebastopol was the chief item; the Indian Mutiny in 1857 (see india); the Volunteer (q. v.) movement (1859); the establishment (1866) of telegraphic communication with America (see TELEGRAPH); the Abyssinian War, 1867(see theodore); the formation of the Dominion of Canada, 1867; the wars with Ashantees (1873), Zulus (1879), and Afghans (1878-80), the rising in the Transvaal; the agitations in connection with the Fenian Society (q. v.), Home Rule (q. v.), and the Land League; the passing of the Land Act (1881); and the war in Egypt (1882).

In 1848, the only disturbance in Britain was a Chartist demonstration (see chartism); while, during V.’s reign, France (q. v.) has been successively a constitutional monarchy, a republic, an empire, and again a republic. The great civil war in the United States of America (q. v.) has resulted in the extinction of slavery; the formation of the kingdom of Italy (q. v.) has been completed by the acquisition of Venetia and Rome; the unification of Germany, begun by the formation of the North German Confederation, as the result of the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866. has been consummated by the events of the Franco-Prussian War (1870—1871); and the ever formidable ‘ Eastern Question,’ raised again in 1876 by the insurrection in Herzegovina led in 1877 to war between Russia and Turkey, and to sweeping changes in the Balkan Peninsula (see turkey).

In 1876, ‘ Empress of India’ was added to the royal titles of Queen V. The premature death of the Prince-Consort (see albert) on December 14, 1861, caused the Queen to seclude herself for several years from public life. Queen V. has published two volumes—The Early Days of His Royal Highness the Prince-Consort; and Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands (1869).

‘In Queen Victoria,’ according to Macaulay, ‘her subjects have found a wiser, gentler, happier Elizabeth.’ No former monarch has so thoroughly comprehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means, and not the end of government. This enlightened policy has entitled her to the glorious distinction of having been the most constitutional monarch this country has ever seen. Not less important and beneficial has been the example set by her Majesty and her late Consort in the practice of every domestic virtue. Their stainless lives, their unobtrusive piety, and their careful education of the royal children, have borne rich fruit in the stability of the throne, and have obtained for the royal family of England the respect and admiration of the civilized world. See Theodore Martin’s Life of the Prince Consort (vols. i.-iv. 1873-79).

The progress made by the nation in the various elements of civilization, especially in that of material prosperity, has been unparalleled (see great britain); and perhaps during no reign has a greater measure of political contentment been enjoyed.

POST-OFFICE INSURANCE is a valuable addition to the many useful services which our postal establishments has been enabled to render within the last few years. Book-post, sample-post, money-orders, and postal savings-banks, all additions to the original letter-post, and newspaper-post, have been found to work so satisfactorily, that the legislature has been encouraged to intrust to the same organization a new system of insuring lives and granting annuities—specially intended to foster provident habits among persons whose savings can be but small.

In 1853, an act of parliament made an improvement in the then existing state of insurance law, by facilitating the purchase of government annuities through the medium of the savings-banks; and in 1864. another statute gave a great extension to those portions of the system which had been found to work well, effecting at the same time alterations in those which had exhibited certain defects during eleven years’ working. Great facilities are introduced by this act for securing annuities by small payments. Not only may the National Debt Commissioner’s employ the trustees of savings-banks to receive and pay the moneys, at a certain rate of remuneration; but the Postmaster-general joins in the arrangement, acting as a medium between the public on the one hand and the commissioners on the other. Ample tables and regulations have been printed, for the guidance of the Commissioners, the Postmaster-general, and the local postmasters throughout the kingdom. On the completion of these tables and regulations in 1865. the practical working of the system began. The tables of the premiums to be charged for life-insurances, for immediate annuities, for deferred annuities, and for deferred monthly allowances, are sold by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, the government printers, for 5 1/2 d. (the cost of the paper and printing); but similar tables are kept for inspection at the local post-offices without charge.

In regard to insurance, distinct from annuities, persons of either sex may insure through the medium of the post-office. The limited ages are from 16 to 60, and the limited sums from £20 to £100. In order to afford every possible facility in the payment of the premium, minute calculations have been made of the exact sum to be paid at each instalment, by yearly, quarterly, monthly, or fortnightly payments, and terminable or not at a particular age. In order that there may be some limit to the labor thus placed on the postal authorities, no periodical instalment is made smaller than two shillings. No one life can be insured for less than £20 in the whole; but when a life has been insured for £20, further insurances maybe effected on the same life from time to time, until the whole sum for which it is insured amounts to £100. The following is a tabulated example of nine different modes of paying the premium on one particular insurance, to suit the convenience of the insurer. A man in his 30th year may insure £100 to his survivors at his death :

If an insurer who has duly paid all instalments for five years, should desire, or be compelled by circumstances to withdraw from the engagement, a portion of the past premiums will be repaid to him—never less than one-third of the total amount.

In regard to immediate annuities, persons of either sex may purchase annuities of not more than £50, and for lives from 10 years old and upwards. The premiums necessarily vary with sex, age, and amount. Thus, a man aged 65 can purchase an immediate annuity of £10, paid half-yearly, for £88, 18s. 4d.; whereas, a woman of the same age would have to pay £103, 16s. 8d. Two or more small annuities may be purchased for the same life, provided the total amount does not exceed £50. Any two persons may purchase an annuity on their joint lives, with or without continuance of the annuity to the survivor.

Deferred annuities form another element in the scheme. These annuities are very varied iu kind, and the amount of premium depends on a great number of conditions—ainount of annuity; age and sex of the person; length of term for which the annuity is deferred (that is, the number of years which are to pass before the commencement of the annuity); mode in which the premium is to be paid; and the condition whether or not there is to be any return of purchase-money under certain contingencies. As examples, take the following : A man aged 30 may purchase a deferred annuity of £10. to commence on his reaching the age of 60, and due half-yearly, for one immediate payment of £21, 3s. 4d., or an annual payment of £1, 8s. 4d.; in the case of a woman, the immediate or total payment would be £32, 8s. 4d., and the annual payment £1, 17s. 6d. If the person on whose life the annuity is to depend should die before the annuity itself commences, all the premiums paid up to that date may be returned to his or her representatives provided a contract to this effect is made in the first instance. The premiums are necessarily higher for such a contract. The four sums just mentioned, where past premiums are not returnable, would be raised respectively to £40, 9s. 2d., £2, 0s. 10d., £47. 0s. 10d., and £2, 7s. 6d., with the returnable clause included.

Many persons in humble life would prefer that the annuities due to them should come more frequently than half-yearly. To suit this class, a system of deferred monthly allowances is established. A man aged 30 may purchase a deferred allowance of £2, 7s. 3d. per month, to commence when he reaches the age of 60, by a payment of 8s. per month, until he reaches that age; the same monthly payment by a woman would realize a monthly allowance of £1, 16s. 7d. If the returnable clause (above noticed) is included in the contract, the man’s monthly allowance would be £1, 14s. 2d., and the woman’s £1, 9s. 4d., for the like payment of 8s. per month. In regard to married couples, a husband and wife may each be insured to the full amount of £100, and may each purchase an annuity of £50, or a monthly allowance of £4, 3s. 4d.

Persons whose lives are insured, or to whom annuities are granted, through the post-office, have direct government security for the payment of the money at the proper time; and this is one of the many valuable features of the system. It is not necessary here to describe the exact routine of proceedings for making an insurance or purchasing an annuity; the postmasters whose post-offices have been raised to the rank of insurance offices, are fully instructed in the matter, and will give all requisite information to applicants- We may add, that the British Postal Guide, an authorized publication, issued quarterly at 6d., gives a considerable list of tables of premiums payable at various ages for various kinds of insurance and annuity.

POST-OFFICE, offences against. Owing to the conspicuous part which the post-office plays in modern civilization, a small code of laws belongs to it, the substance of which is as follows: Every person employed by the post-office who steals a post-letter, is guilty of felony; and if it contain money or a valuable chattel, the punishment is increased. So whenever letters are stolen by strangers out of the custody of the post-office or its officers. The moment a letter is put into the post-office or delivered to the postmaster, the protection of the statutes commences. Many nice questions have, however, arisen as to the application of the rule to special circumstances, and as to what constitutes an employment by the post-office. Whoever steals, secretes, or destroys printed papers or newspapers sent by post, commits a misdemeanor. So if a letter-carrier delay the delivery wilfully; or if an official messenger disclose or intercept a telegraphic message, or violate the rules on that point. Receivers of letters improperly taken or stolen from the post-office, are guilty of felony. By the 1st Vict. c. 33, s. 2, any person conveying otherwise than by post a letter not exempted from the exclusive privilege of the post-master-general, incurs a penalty of £5 for every letter. This exclusive privilege of carrying letters extends to letters only, and not to printed books or newspapers. There are also exceptions to the general rule, that letters can only be sent by the post-office. Thus, one may send a letter by a private Mend, and not by the post-office. So letters sent by messenger on purpose on the private affairs of the sender or receiver, commissions and legal writs, merchants’ letters sent by vessels or along with goods, are excepted. But no person is authorized to collect and send these excepted letters, though in the legal manner described, for this is doing the work of the post-office. Moreover, there are certain persons expressly prohibited from carrying letters even gratuitously, as common carriers, except the letters relate to goods in their carts or wagons; owners, masters, or commanders of ships, except such letters relate to goods on board; and passengers on board ships. Statutes and rules made thereunder secure the monopoly to the postmaster-general of sending telegraphic messages, and telegrams are put nearly on the footing of letters.

POST-OFFICE, a place for the reception of letters, and the management of the various departments connected with their dispatch and conveyance. The name originated in the posts (from Lat. position, placed, fixed) placed at intervals along the roads of the Roman empire, where couriers were kept in readiness to bear dispatches and intelligence; but the posts of ancient times were never used for the conveyance of private correspondence. The first letter-post seems to have been established in the Hanse Towns in the early part of the 13th century.

A line of letter-posts followed, connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the Emperor Maximilian, which are said to have been organized by the princes of Thurn and Taxis; and the representatives of the same house established another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, connecting the most distant parts of the dominions of Charles V. This family continue to the present day to hold certain rights with regard to the German postal system, their posts being entirely distinct from those established by the crown, and sometimes in rivalry to them.

In England, in early times, both public and private letters were sent by messengers, who, in the reign of Henry III., wore the royal livery. They had to provide themselves with horses until the reign of Edward I., when posts were established where horses were to be had for hire. Edward IV-, when engaged in war with Scotland, had dispatches conveyed to his camp with great speed by means of a system of relays of horses, which, however, fell into disuse on the restoration of peace. Camden mentions the office of ‘ Master of the Postes ‘ as existing in 1581, but the duties of that officer were probably connected exclusively with the supply of post-horses. The posts were meant for the conveyance of government dispatches alone, and it was only by degrees that permission was extended to private individuals to make use of them. A foreign post for the conveyance of letters between London and the continent seems to have been established by foreign merchants in the 15th c.; and certain disputes which arose between the Flemings and Italians, regarding the right of appointing a postmaster, and were referred to the privy-council, led to the institution of a ‘ chief-postmaster,’ who should have charge both of the English and the foreign post. Thomas Randolph was the first chief-postmaster of England. The first proper postal communication for private letters in England came into operation 100 years after the institution of the foreign post.

The increased intercourse between the English and Scottish capitals, brought about by King James’s accession, led to a great improvement in the system of horse-posts, but their services were still confined to the conveyance of government dispatches. That king, however, instituted a foreign post for letters going abroad from England, and conferred the office of postmaster of Eng-gland for foreign parts on ‘Mathewe de Quester the elder, and Mathewe de Quester the younger.’ This appointment was considered by Lord Stanhope, the English chief-postmaster, to interfere with his functions, and a dispute and law-plea between the heads of the two establishments was settled in 1632, after Charles I. had become king, by the retirement of Lord Stanhope, and an assignment of their office by the De Questers, under royal sanction’, to William Frizell and Thomas Witherings. In 1635, Witherings was authorized to run a post night and day between London and Edinburgh, ‘to go thither and back again in six days.’ Eight main postal lines throughout England were at the same time instituted, and the post was allowed to carry inland letters. Two years later, a monopoly of letter-carrying was established, which has been preserved in all the subsequent regulations of the post-office. The rates of postage were 2d. for a single letter for a distance less than 80 miles, 4d. up to 140 miles, 6d.. for any longer distance in England, and 8d. to any place in Scotland. An attempt, in 1649, by the Common Council of London to set up a rival post-office for inland letters, was suppressed by the House of Commons. A practice of farming the post-office revenues, which began in 1650, continued, as regards some of the by-posts, till the close of last century.

An important post-office statute was passed under the Protectorate in 1656, and re-enacted by 12 Car. II. c. 35. It ruled that there should be one general post-office and one postmaster-general for England, who was to have the horsing of all through posts and persons riding post. A tariff was established for letters, English, Scotch, Irish, and foreign, and the only non-governmental posts allowed to continue were those of the universities and the Cinque Ports.

In 1685, a penny-post was set up for the conveyance of letters and parcels between different parts of London and its suburbs. It was a private speculation, originating with one Robert Murray, an upholsterer, and assigned by him to Mr. William Docwray. When its success became apparent, it was complained of by the Duke of York, on whom the post-office revenues had been settled, 115 an encroachment on his rights; a decision of the Court of lung’s Bench adjudged it to be a part of the royal establishment, and it was thereupon annexed to the crown. In this way began the London district-post, which was improved and made a twopenny-post in 1801, and continued as a separate establishment from the general post down to 1854.

The first legislative enactment for a Scottish post-office was passed in 1695, prior to which time, the posts out of Edinburgh had been very few and irregular. About 1700, the posts between the capitals were so frequently robbed near the borders, that acts were passed both by the parliament of England and that of Scot-laud, making- robbery of the post punishable with death and confiscation. The post-office of Ireland is of later date than that of Scotland. In the time of Charles L, packets between Dublin and Chester, and between Mil ford-Haven and Waterford, conveyed government dispatches; and after the Restoration, the rate of letter-postage between London and Dublin, was fixed at 6d.

Act 3 Anne, c. 10, repealed the former post-office statutes, and put the establishment on a fresh basis. A general post-office was instituted in London for the whole British dominions, with chief offices in Edinburgh, Dublin, New York, and other places in the American colonies, and one in the Leeward Islands. The whole was placed under the control of an officer appointed under the Great Seal, called the Postmaster-general, who was empowered to appoint deputies for the chief offices. Rates higher than those formerly charged were settled for places in the British dominions, and also for letters to foreign parts. A survey of post-roads was ordered, for the ascertainment of distances. Letters brought from abroad by private ships were ordered to be handed over to the deputy-postmasters of the ports who were to pay the master a penny for each letter. A complete reconstruction of the cross-post system was effected in 1720, by Ralph Alien, postmaster of Bath, to whom the Lords of the Treasury granted a lease of the cross-posts for life : at his death, they came under the control of the postmaster-general. The rates of postage were farther raised by act 1 Geo. III. c. 25, which also gives permission for the establishment of penny-posts in other towns, as in London. The Edinburgh penny-post was instituted in 1766, by one Peter Williamson, a native of Aberdeen, whom the authorities induced to take a pension for the good-will of the concern, and merged it in the general establishment.

Mail-coaches owe their origin to Mr. John Palmer, manager of the Bath and Bristol theaters, who, in 1783, submitted to Mr. Pitt a scheme for the substitution of coaches, protected by armed guards, for the boys on horseback, who till then conveyed the mail. After much opposition from the post-office authorities his plan was adopted, and Mr. Palmer, installed at the post-office as controller-general, succeeded in perfecting his system, greatly increasing the punctuality, speed, and security of the post, and adding largely to the post-office revenue.

In 1837, a plan of post-office reform was suggested by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Rowland Hill, the adoption of which has not only immensely increased the utility of the post-office, but changed its whole administration. Its principal features were the adoption of a uniform and low rate of postage, a charge by weight, and prepayment. The change met with much opposition from the post-office authorities, but was eventually carried by a majority of 100 in the House of Commons, becoming law by 3 and 4 Vict. c. 96. The new system came into full operation on January 10, 1840. Previously to the change, members of parliament had the right of sending their letters free, but this privilege of franking was entirely abolished. A penny was adopted as the uniform rate for every inland letter not above half an ounce. Facilities for prepayment were afforded by the introduction of postage-stamps, and double postage was levied on letters not prepaid. Arrangements were made "for the registration of letters; and the money-order office, by a reduction of the commission charged for orders, became available to an extent which it had never bee;: before. As far back as 1792, a money-order office had been established as a medium for sailors and soldiers to transmit their savings, and its benefit had afterwards been extended to the general public; but the commission charged had been so high, that it was only employed to a very limited extent. The immediate result of the changes introduced in 1840 was an enormous increase in the amount of correspondence, arising in part from the cessation of the illicit traffic in letters, which had so largely prevailed before; but for some years there was a deficit in the post-office revenue. The reduction of postage-rates was, however, a reduction of taxation, and if the Exchequer lost revenue from one source, it gained it in other ways.

With the development of the railway system came the carriage of letters by train instead of by mail-coaches; and one novelty which arose out of this change was the adoption of traveling post-offices, forming part of the mail-train, where letters are arranged during transit, and which sometimes receive and drop the letter-bags while the train is going at full speed. The conveyance of the mails by railroad added greatly to the expenses of the post-office establishment; but, nevertheless, the former gross revenue of the post-office was exceeded in 1851, and the net revenue in 1863. According to the annual report of the postmaster-general for 1880-81, there are 912 head post-offices in the United Kingdom, 13,637 branch offices or receiving-houses, and about 13,160 road or pillar letter-boxes. Above 1176 millions of letters passed through the post-office in 1880-81—more than twice as many as in 1861, and thirteen times as many as in 1839, the last year of the dear postage. In 1880-81, the gross revenue of the post-office, exclusive of that yielded by the telegraphs was £6,733,427; the expenditure, also excluding the telegraphic service, £4,135,659; leaving a surplus of £2,597,768. The number of money orders transmitted within the United Kingdom, in the same year, was 16,329,476; the amount of money transmitted being £24,228,763. This is a decrease on previous years, probably caused by the introduction of postal orders. (See below, under Money Orders.)

The postal service of the three kingdoms is now under the immediate control of the postmaster-general, assisted by the general secretary of the post-office in London. There are also chief officers in Edinburgh and Dublin, with secretarial and other departmental staffs. The postmaster-general is a member of the privy council and sometimes a cabinet minister. He has a salary of £2500, and is the only officer connected with the department who leaves office on a change of government. The secretary is his responsible adviser, and has a salary of £2000. The receiver and accountant-general keeps account of the money received by each department, receiving remittances from branch and provincial offices, and taking charge of the payment of all salaries, pensions, and items of current expenditure.

The surveyors are the connecting link between the metropolitan and provincial offices, each postmaster, with some exceptions, being under the superintendence of the surveyor of his district. In 1881, the staff of officers employed in the post-office, including those engaged in telegraph work, was upwards of 47,000; of this number, about 12,000 were engaged solely in telegraph work, and about 11,000 were employed in Condon alone.

Act 24 Vict. c. 19 instituted a system of savings banks in connection with the post-office. The rate of interest payable to depositors is 2i per cent., calculated on complete pounds and complete months, being a halfpenny per pound month. The number of depositors at the end of 1880 was 2.184,972; the amount of their deposits in the year, £10,219,631; and the number of banks, 6233. A novel extension of this system took place in 1880. Blank forms, with twelve ruled spaces, are now issued to intending depositors, who may secure their penny savings by affixing ordinary postage-stamps to the form. When the twelve spaces are filled, the form is presented at the bank, and credit is given for a shilling.

The Savings-bank Act (1880) permits the investment of small sums in government stocks; in Consols, Reduced, or New 3 per Cents. The sums invested must not be less than £10, and must not exceed £100 in any one year; the total sum for any one investor is limited to £300. The postmaster-general is empowered to insure the lives of applicants for not less than £20 or more than £100, and also to grant immediate or deferred annuities. See post-office insurance.

Halfpenny post-cards were introduced in 1870, and in the first year 75 millions were used. The number in 1880-81 reached 122 millions. The ordinary penny stamp is now a ‘ Postage and Inland Revenue ‘ stamp, and may be used as a receipt stamp.

In 1869 the post-office acquired the existing electric telegraphs. About 30 millions of telegraphic messages were sent in the year ending March 31, 1881. Gross revenue, £1,633,884; working expenses, £1,189,425; net revenue, £444,459.

The home and foreign mail-packet service was, in the 17th and 18th centuries, in the hands of the post-office authorities, but was removed to the Board of Admiralty, under whose control it remained till 1860, when it was again restored to the post-office. Steam-vessels were first used for conveying the mail in 1821; and in 1833, mail-contracts were introduced, the first being with the Mona Steam Company to run steamers from Liverpool to Douglas in the Isle of Man. Of the home mail-packet contracts, the most important are those with the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company for conveying the Irish mails between Holyhead and Kingstown. The principal foreign contracts are for the Indian and Chinese mails, entered into with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam-navigation Company, the mails to North and South America, the West Indies, the Australian colonies, and the Cape.

The post-office statute of Queen Anne contains a prohibition repeated in subsequent acts, for any person employed in the post-office to open or detain a letter, except under a warrant from one of the principal secretaries of state. During last century, such warrants were often granted on very trivial pretences. In 1733, at Bishop Atterbury’s trial, copies of his letters, intercepted at the post-office, were produced in evidence against him; and in 1735, it appeared that an organization existed, at an immense expense, for the examination of home and foreign correspondence. In 1782, the correspondence of Lord Temple, when Lord-lieutenant of Ireland was subjected to a system of post-office espionage. In the beginning of the present century, an improvement took place in this matter, and Lord Spencer introduced the custom, in 1806, of recording the dates of all warrants granted for the opening of letters and the grounds on which they were issued.

Since 1822, the warrants have been preserved at the Home Office; and a House of Commons’ return in 1853 shows that, in the preceding ten years, only six letters were detained and opened —four in cases of felony, and two that they might be properly returned to those who claimed them. One of these cases of interference with the privacy of correspondence occurred in 1844, when Sir James Graham, as Home Secretary, issued a warrant for opening the letters of Mazzini, and caused certain information contained in them to be conveyed to the Austrian Minister, an act which involved the ministry of the day in considerable popular obloquy, and produced a wide-spread, though very groundless, distrust of the security of the ordinary correspondence of the country. See GRAHAM, SIR JAMES.

The following is a summary of the most important regulations of the British post-office, reference being made for the minute details to the British Postal Guide.

Inland Letters.—The rates of postage, prepaid, are1d. for a letter weighing not more than 1 oz.; 1 1/2 d. when the weight is 1 oz. and not above 2 oz.; 2d. 2 oz. and not above 4 oz.; 2 1/2 d. 4 oz. and not above 6 oz.; 3d. 6 oz. and not above 8 oz.; 3 1/2 d. 8 oz. and not above 10 oz.; 4 d. 10 oz. and not above 12 oz. A letter exceeding 12 oz. is charged 1d. per oz.; e.g., for a letter weighing 16 oz. the postage is 16d. A letter posted unpaid is charged double postage. Letters insufficiently stamped are charged double the deficiency on delivery. Redirected letters are charged additional postage at the prepaid rate; and this may either be prepaid, or charged on delivery. Letters for officers, soldiers, or seamen on actual service abroad, are redirected without charge, also with several restrictions, at home. By paying 1/2 d. extra postage, letters may now be posted in the boxes attached to mail trains, in which sorting is performed.

No inland letter can be conveyed by post which is more than one foot six inches in length, nine inches in width, and six inches in depth, unless sent to or from one of the government offices.

Registration.—The registration fee of 2d—in addition to the ordinary postage—prepaid in stamps, secures careful treatment to any letter, newspaper, or book-packet, and renders its transmission more secure, by enabling it to be traced from its receipt to its delivery. Letters may be registered for a fee of 2d. to any place in the British colonies, and for various rates of charge to different foreign countries. Letters containing coin, if not registered, are treated as if they were, and charged on delivery with a registration fee of eightpence; the same fee is charged on letters marked ‘Registered’ and posted in the usual way instead of being-given to a post-office servant. If lost, the contents are only made good to the extent of £2.

Foreign and Colonial Letters-—For the rates payable, reference is made to the British Postal Guide. Prepayment must be wholly in stamps. In some cases, prepayment is optional; in others, compulsory; and to some countries the whole postage cannot be prepaid. A letter posted unpaid or partially paid, directed to go by a route by which prepayment is compulsory, is returned to the writer, unless there be another route to send it by, by which prepayment is not required. Letters, however, for Australia and New Zealand, if prepaid as much as one rate, are forwarded, charged with the deficient postage and an additional rate. Letters for the Cape of Natal posted unpaid (wholly or in part), in addition to the deficient postage are charged 6d. each. Those for St. Helena and British West Indies, not included in the General Postal Union, are charged 1s. each in addition to the deficient postage. No letter for any foreign country may be above two feet in length or one feet in width or depth.

Letters to be sent by private ship must be so marked; their postage varies from 21/2 d. upwards for half an ounce, and prepayment is obligatory in some cases, and in others not.

Letters to passengers on board the American or Mediterranean packets must be registered, and must be addressed to the care of the commander of the packet.

The post-office monopoly is applicable to letters only; and it does not include letters sent specially by private messenger, or letters concerning goods or merchandize sent to be delivered along with the goods which they concern.

Newspapers.—In 1870, the impressed duty stamp was abolished; and now, any newspaper published at intervals not exceeding seven days, and on a sheet or sheets unstitched, and registered at the General Post-office, is transmissible by post within the United Kingdom at a postage of one halfpenny for each transmission. The postage must be prepaid, either by an adhesive stamp or by a stamped wrapper. A packet of newspapers is not chargeable at a higher rate than a book packet—namely, one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of 2 oz. The cover, if there is one, must be open at both ends, and such that the packet can be easily removed for examination. There must be no writing outside or inside, except the address of the person to whom the newspaper is sent. Registration for inland circulation includes registration for transmission abroad. Newspapers for foreign countries and the colonies are subject to the same general regulations as for inland circulation, except that they may be published at intervals of thirty-one days, and printed on sheets stitched together. They must be posted within eight days from the day of publication.

Parliamentary Proceedings.—The printed proceedings of parliament, with the words ‘Parliamentary Proceedings’ written or printed on the cover, may circulate throughout the United Kingdom at the rate of one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of 2 oz. Prepayment is optional. Parliamentary notices may be forwarded by post under certain regulations and restrictions, the postage chargeable, and a registration fee of 60!., being payable in stamps.

Book-post.—This branch of the post-office was first established in 1848, and further improved by regulations issued in 1855,1857, and 1870. The postage is now one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of that weight. A book-packet may contain books, paper, or parchment, whether plain, or written, or printed upon (provided there be nothing of the nature of a letter); maps, prints, &c. (but not in glass frames). Circulars, when wholly or in great part printed or lithographed, may also be sent by book-post, singly or in packets. The postage must be pre-paid by adhesive stamps, or by a stamped wrapper; if not prepaid, the packet is charged double the book-postage; if not sufficiently prepaid, it will be charged double the deficiency. If there is a cover, it must be open at the ends. No book-packet must exceed 5 lbs. in weight; it must not be over 1 foot 6 inches in length by 9 inches in width and 6 inches in depth; nor must it contain anything sealed against inspection. An entry on the first page of the book stating who sends it, or to whom it is given, is allowed. In order to secure the return of book-packets that cannot be delivered it is recommended to have the names and addresses of the senders written or printed outside. No writing in the way of a letter or communication is allowed; if any such communication be found within a packet, the whole will be charged the unpaid letter rate, and forwarded. The book-post has been extended to the colonies and to foreign countries at valuing rates.

Colonial and Foreign Pattern and Sample Post.—This post extends to most colonies and foreign countries, at rates corresponding with those for book-packets. It is restricted to bona-fide trade patterns or samples of merchandise. Goods sent for sale, or in execution of an order (however small the quantity may be), or any articles sent by one private party to another which are not actually patterns or samples, are not admissible. The patterns are to be sent in covers open at the ends or sides; but samples of articles which cannot be placed in open covers, may be inclosed in transparent bags. Such articles as knives, scissors, &c., may be sent to places abroad, except France and the French colonies, provided they are so packed as to do no damage.

Post-cards, bearing a halfpenny impressed stamp, are transmissible within the United Kingdom. On the stamped side, the address alone is to be written. On the other side, any communication may be written or printed. .Reply post-cards, which were introduced in 1882, allow the sender to prepay the reply. Foreign post-cards cost Id. and lid.

The Parcels Post Act, passed in 1882. provides for the carriage of small parcels within the United Kingdom at the following rates: For parcels not exceeding 1 lb.—3d.; 3 lbs.—6d.; 5 lbs. —9d.; 7 lbs.—1s.

Money Orders.—Inland money orders may be obtained at any of the post-offices of the United Kingdom, on payment of the following commission : For sums under 10s.—2d.; for 10s. and under £2—3d.; for £2 and under £3—4d.; for £3 and under £4— 5d.; and so on, up to £9 and under £10—11d.; £10—1s. Money orders may now be issued to the colonies, to most European countries, the United States, Egypt, &c., the commission being about three to four times the above rate. In applying for a money order, the surname and initial, at least, of one Christian name of the sender, and the name of the person to whom payable, must be given; but the designation of a firm will suffice, and the name of the person to whom the order is payable may be withheld, if it is to be paid through a bank.

A money order in the United Kingdom becomes void if not presented for payment before the end of the twelfth calendar month after that in which it was issued. Orders drawn on France or Italy must be paid within three months. The lower rates for inland money orders entail a loss on each transaction. Provision was further made for the issue of ten classes of ‘ postal notes ‘ for small fixed sums, under Mr. Fawcett’s Post-office (Money Orders) Bill of 1880.

Any person with a fixed residence may have a private box at the post-office on paying an appointed fee; but in no other case can a resident have his letters addressed to the post-office. See poste restante.

Letters containing anything liable to injure the contents of the mail-bag are not allowed to be sent by post. This comprehends glass in any form, vessels containing liquids, meat, fruit, explosives, sharp instruments, &c.

Telegrams.—The charge for the transmission of messages by telegraph throughout the United Kingdom is 1s. for the first twenty words, and 3d. for each additional five words, or part of five words. Press telegrams cost 1s. for 100 words by day, and for 75 by night.

The Universal Postal Union-—In October, 1874, a conference at Berne resulted in the establishment of the ‘ General Postal Union,’ embracing the European countries, with Egypt and the United Sates, and resulting in a great simplification of international postal arrangements. This was followed in June 1878 by the treaty of Paris, signed or subsequently adhered to by all the parties to the former treaty, with the addition of British India, the colonies of France, Spain, Holland, and Portugal, various British colonies, Persia, Japan, Liberia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, &c., the new convention receiving the name of the ‘ Universal Postal Union.’ Under this important treaty, all the consenting nations were declared to be ‘a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence.’ Equal rates, weights, and rules are established, and considera