Note 640 — VIII CONCLUSION
Reading edition
This point is dealt with more fully in connection with the parcel rate.
The whole question of subsidiary rates is dismissed by Bastable with the following:—
"One of the principal distinctions now turns on the character of the articles transmitted. Circulars and postcards would not bear the same charge as ordinary letters. The transmission of newspapers gives a yet smaller fund of utility on which to levy a tax, and is affected by the competition of carrying agencies. The result is seen in the lower halfpenny rate."—C. F. Bastable, Public Finance, London, 1903, p. 208.