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Behind the Bull’s Eye:

Brazilian postal reforms in the mid-nineteenth century

Pérola Maria Goldfeder e Castro

PhD. Student - Graduate Program for Economic History

University of São Paulo – USP – Brazil

Contact: perolagold@yahoo.com.br

Abstract:

The construction of the Brazilian State in the nineteenth century led to the build of an

administrative machine capable of expanding government authority all over the

territory. Given the importance of public services for the consolidation of National

States, the research that I am about to present seeks to contribute to Postal History

studies by analyzing some institutional and financial aspects that characterized Brazilian

postal reforms. Therefore, in the construction of the Brazilian postal system, there were

in competition not only different experiences of public administration, but also different

conceptions of Monarchy and State building.

Introduction

The institutionalization of the Brazilian postal system occurred simultaneously

with European and north American experiences, even getting ahead to other countries in

the world. Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, Brazilian postal

administration has undergone various institutional reforms, among which was the

creation of the Diretoria Geral dos Correios (General Post Office) in 1829.

Brazil was also the third country to follow Britain´s lead in adopting postage

stamps, being preceded only by the British Empire itself and by the Canton of Zurich. In

March 1842, the Brazilian government fixed a 60 réis1 postage for letters hose weight

did not exceed 4 oitavas (ounces),2 being added 30 réis to this amount, for every two

exceeded ounces. This payment should be identified by a stamp, which had being issued

and offered for sale in 1843 and became popularly known as Olho de Boi (Bull's Eye).

Given the importance of postal services for the consolidation of National States,

importance that is not already properly scaled by Brazilian historiography,3 this paper

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seeks to contribute to Postal History studies, by analyzing some political, institutional

and financial aspects that characterized Brazilian postal reform between 1829 and 1844.

Therefore, in the establishment of Brazilian postal system, there were in competition not

only different experiences of public administration, but also different conceptions of

Monarchy, territorial arrangements and State Building.

Brazil regarding the world: postal expansion in early Nineteenth Century

Concerns about communication flows between the pieces that made up the

Portuguese Empire were on the agenda of the Enlighten reformers since the late

eighteenth century. In 1798, a Royal Act created an organ subordinate to the

Department of Royal Treasury that would be responsible for mail delivery between

Brazil lands and the Court based in Lisbon.4 This document also forbade land mail

delivery by private carriers – the popular called estafetas5 or caminheiros (postmen)

(see Figures 1 and 2) – and subjected post office´s employees to a strict jurisdiction,

providing prison for those who committed the crime of open letters.

Figures 1 and 2. Brazilian estafeta and caminheiro representation, c. 1888.

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With the transfer of the Portuguese Royal Family to Rio de Janeiro in 1808,6 the

imperial postal system had to be adapted to a new reality: in the same year of his arrival,

Dom João VI creates the Administração Geral dos Correios da Corte (Court´s General

Postal Administration), increased post offices’ staff and improved communications in

Brazilian hinterland.

The postal policy pursued during Dom João´s reign continued after the Brazilian

Independence,7 gaining new features under the aegis of the Nation State: in March 5th,

1829, the Emperor Dom Pedro 1st established the Diretoria Geral dos Correios

(General Post Office), based in the Court of Rio de Janeiro (see Figures 3 and 4) with

branch offices all over the country.

Figures 3 and 4. Building constructed in the 1870s at Primeiro de Maio St. in Rio de

Janeiro - Brazil, to house the General Post Office. It opened in 1877. Source:

Brazilian National Archive, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. O2.0.FOT.444 RIO 13.

This governamental organization had the duty to supervise, direct and promote

the improvement of the current postal practices in the country, in addition to managing

the finances of the Court´s post offices. Its staff was headed by the Diretor Geral dos

Correios (Postmaster General), which was in charge to "monitor, promote and direct

the General Administration of all the Post Office; and propose to the Government by

the Ministry of Empire Affairs all means, that the practice show suitable for improving

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the same management" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1830, p. 208). This source shows the

existence of an institutionalized channel between the General Post Office and the

Executive power, channel which would have been used by many Ministers and State

councilors to propose communication policies all over the nineteenth century.

Alike the 1792 American Post Office Act, the 1829 Brazilian Postal Law granted

franking privileges to congressmen and government members, under the condition that

they separated their mail in two categories – Private Interest and Public Service – the

latter postage free. This measure may seek to curb one of the major flaws of postal

systems at that time: the abuse of the franking postage for political regimentation,

defamation of opponents and manipulating information during the election period.

The 1829 Postal Law also established that in each province capital, there would

be a postal officer who would serve at the same time as bookkepper and department

boss. Moreover, it was decided that all the cities and towns should have necessarily a

postal clerk, and the municipal councils would have been responsible for the provision

of material and human resources for the local offices.

These internal improvements represent the efforts of the Brazilian government to

expand its rationally authority and remain institutionally equivalent to what was most

modern in terms of postal system in the world, without, however, neglecting the

demands of regional elites for participation in the State building.

Postal Law amendments during the Liberal Regency

After being promulgated on March 5th, the 1829 Postal Law had to pass through

Parliament for the approval of matters relating to postmen payrolls. As this process

coincided with the conjuncture of Dom Pedro´s reign crisis,8 its conduction in the

Legislative House had been problably delayed, occurring only in the presence of the

Second Legislature (1831-1834).

The partial adoption of the 1829 Postal Law was made by Decree in June 7th,

1831, and his execution fell to Manoel José de Souza França, Minister of State for

Affairs of Justice at that time. In many ways listed below, these amendments reveals

how some fundamental points of Don Pedro´s administration were incompatible with

the institutional reform project carried out during the Liberal Regency period.9

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The first objection of the Parliament about that postal law concerned to the Post

Office´s hierarchy which, as seen, was headed by the Postmaster General, who was

submitted only to the Ministry of Empire. The provincial post officers, by its turn, had

to respond administratively to the Postmaster General and financially to Provincial

Presidents.10

Local postal clerks were, at least, subject to all these spheres of power,

including the Municipal Councils, which sponsored their service.

The Parliament changed the top of this hierarchical organization dramatically,

restructuring it as follows: “It is abolished the use of the Postmaster General, and its

powers transferred to the Minister of Empire, in the case of the Court, as well as to the

Provincial Presidents in the country” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1831, p. 9).11

Another topic of 1829 Postal Law which underwent substantial changes in 1831

was that one related to the circulation of newspapers:

Among liberal regimes, it was consensus that news gathering played an

important role in shaping public opinion, and freedom of the press was considered one

of the foundations of a representative government. Therefore, in order to have a free

circulation of newspapers throughout the country it was necessary to develop specific

postage policies for this type of printed material.

The US was the first nation to include newspapers in the postal system, by the

afore mentioned 1792 Post Office Act. Subsequently, the 1794 Supplementary

Law added a provisional tax of 1 cent postage to all newspapers that were printed in

the American States, whatever the distance traveled by the mail.

To Richard John, this measure was based on the republican belief that the postal

system played a prominent role in the political life, by disseminating news, customs,

habits and opinions. It thus contributing to the realization of the ideal of “informed

citizenry”, so dear to the founding fathers of the American Nation (JOHN, 1997, p.

371). In addition, notes Arthur Hecht that “the importance of wide and efficient

distribution of mail, and specially newspapers, was early recognized as a potent factor

in the maintenance and spread of the democratic way of life” (HECHT, 1962, p. 442).

In other countries, this issue also acquired political overtones: in England of the

1830s, for example, newspaper owners which were excluded from mail delivery service

presented their complaints and demands to Parliament, in an incident that became

known as the “War of the Unstamped”. This parliamentary debate coincided somewhat

with the campaign for cheap postage initiated by segments of British society, under the

leadership of Rowland Hill, and carried out by Parliament in 1839.

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In 1827, Brazilian government have had already franked periodicals which were

sent to public libraries. This arrangement was confirmed by the 1829 Postal Law, which

specified, however, that only gazettes, journals and periodicals printed on Brazilian

boundaries would not pay the postage. Foreign newspapers, however, were ought to pay

a single-sized rate.

Private newspapers were, thus, supposed to pay a middle-sized rate and must be

put "no cover, bound with strips of paper so that you can know that within will not

letters" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1830, p. 226). For those ones which were printed in a

foreign country, the 1829 Post Law established the same postage of the mail carried by

British ships, a value that was initiated in 330 réis for up to 2 oitavas and can gradually

increase according to the weight.

In attempting to subserve news flow over the Brazilian Empire, the 1831 Postal

Decree has franked all national newspapers, whether they were addressed to individuals

or destined to libraries, archives and other public branches. Only foreign newspapers,

when not addressed to such institutions, should pay postage.

One can suppose that this measure was inspired by the American postage policy,

as were all reforms of this kind occurred in other countries. However, while in US this

measure were aimed to solidify the republican and democratic principles, in Brazil,

government members perhaps saw in the dissemination of news a way of exercising

their authority and reaffirm national unity.

What all these provisions suggest is the monarchical effort to shape postal

policies with liberal principles and practices prevailing in civilized nations of that time.

In this effort, some administrative procedures – such as the extinguishment of the

postmaster generalship, in 1831 – was invested with strong political connotations,

revealing many discrepancies and contradictions in the projects of its founders. To sum

up, the amendments to the 1829 Postal Law should therefore be seen as a key element in

the insertion of postal system in the Brazilian State apparatus.

From Penny Black to the Bull´s Eye

The diversification and improvement of postal services over the world were

some consequences of transport modernization which occurred in US and in Europe

from the first half of the nineteenth century. According to Eric Hobsbawm:

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“the carriage system instituted in the second half of the Eighteenth

Century, expanded considerably between the end of the Napoleonic

wars and the advent of the railroad, providing not only a relative speed - the postal service from Paris to Strasbourg took 36 hours

in 1836 - but also regularly” (HOBSBAWN, 2005, p. 26).

Technological innovations were not, however, sufficient to increase mail. This

was partly because the majority of the population could not afford the high postages

which in most of the countries were distance based.

England was the first country to adopt low postage: in 1839, the English

Parliament passed a Bill presented by Rowland Hill, which established a unified rate of

1 penny for every single letter, regardless of the distance traveled by the mail. This rate

should be paid in advance by the sender, and the prepayment was identified by a stamp

– the famous Penny Black – put in sale in 1840.

In a Report published in the same year of Queen Victoria´s coronation, 1837,

Hill had already exposed the arguments that informed his proposal. As he said, the high

cost of postage was the result of a complex and inefficient administrative arrangement

which favored governamental revenues in detriment of the quality of the service

provided to the population. Therefore, cheap postage and prepayment were

indispensable conditions for achieving not only the reduction of distribution costs, but

also an increase in mail flows, which can generate profits for the posts offices. In the

author's words:

“When it is considered how much the religious, moral, and

intellectual progress of the people, would be accelerated by the unobstructed circulation of letters and of the many cheap and

excellent non-political publications of the present day, the Post

Office assumes the new and important character of a powerful engine of civilization; capable of performing a distinguished part

in the great work of National education, but rendered feeble and

inefficient by erroneous financial arrangements” (HILL, 1837,

p.8).

Hill´s project divided opinions both in Parliament and press: on one side, the

Whig flank showed itself favorable to cheap postage arguments for believing that this

would contribute not only to the increase in trade relations, but also for moralization of

society and progress of civilization. On the other hand, Tories congressmen, followed

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by many postmasters, rallied against the measure, predicting, not without a certain

amount of exaggeration, that this would bring financial ruin to the British postal system.

Controversial and closely linked to the social environment of the Victorian Age,

Hill´s Postal Reform had contradictory effects on the finances of British Royal Mail. If

the volume of mail has increased considerably, from 92.000 to 327.000 items in 1850 –

in which resulted further diversification of income from the sale of stamps and other

postal ephemera – it is also correct to say that there was a significant drop in profits of

this department in the years following the adoption of low postage: in 1841, that figure

dropped by half compared to previous year, registering only 500,789 £. These

phenomena represent a change from the previous financial situation because, according

to Richard John, "the British post office was expected to generate annual large surplus -

Which, invariably, it did - which the treasury used to cover the costs of running the

government" (JOHN, 2010, p. 4).12

Brazil was the third country to follow Britain´s lead in adopting unified low

postage, being preceded only by England itself and by the Canton of Zurich, whose

postal reform took place in 1840. In 1842, the Decree No. 254 fixed at 60 réis the value

of the postage of letters conducted by land mail whose weight did not exceed 4 oitavas

(ounces), and added 30 réis to this value, for every two exceeded ounces (see Table 1).

This document also listed the mail that should be franked or receive special rate. In that

same year, a supplementary document of No. 255, established the prepayment of such

postages, which should be identified by a stamp. The first Brazilian stamp became

popularly known as Olho de Boi (Bull's Eye) (see Figure 5).

Table 1. Brazilian Postal Rates (1842)

Land Mail Maritime Mail

Less than 4 oitavas 60 Réis 120 Réis

Between 4 and 6 oitavas 90 Réis 180 Réis

Between 6 and 8 oitavas 120 Réis 240 Réis

And so gradually, adding 30 Réis for each 2 oitavas exceeded in Land Mail

and 60 réis for the same in Maritime Mail.

Source: Decree nº 254, November 29, 1842. Displayed on:

http://www.planalto.gov.br. Accessed on: 11/14/2015.

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Figure 5. Stamps of 30, 60 and 90 Réis. 1843 Olho de Boi Series. Source:

Brazilian National Historical Museum. Displayed on:

http://www.museuhistoriconacional.com.br. Accessed on: 11/14/2015.

Several measures were taken to prevent fraud in stamp production and trade. The

government stipulated, for example, that those postal items should be "printed on very

thin paper, and set the letters and more papers with glutinous substance which makes

difficult their separation without that seal" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, Decree No. 399, art.

192, 12/21/1844). This document also provided a fine of 100$000 and three months in

prison for those who falsified stamps and 10 to 20$000 for those who sell them without

permission from the government.

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Like the US which in 1792 had instituted a reduced postal rate for books and

newspapers, the Brazilian government provided a single postage of 20 réis to all printed

materials. However, these benefits could only be valid if the papers were sealed and

subscribed. This measure aims to increase the control of news flow and reduce fraud

such as the inclusion of personal letters and objects between newspaper sheets.

Low postage benefits were also extended to "the letters sent by settlers to their

relatives that still reside in the country that they have emigrated" (EMPIRE OF

BRAZIL, Decree No. 254, art. 13, 29/11/1842). It can be estimate how much that

measure satisfies not only the claims of foreign settlers (mostly European immigrants)

but also the interests of their employers who, eager to attract more arms for their crops,

saw in this postal policy an incentive for their enterprises.

Postal finances described by Ministerial Reports

Financial and statistical data contained in the reports of the Ministry of State and

Empire Business13

allows one to analyze the status of public finances in the context of

Brazilian postal reforms during the nineteenth century. This source also reveals how the

Imperial government regarded postal services in the whole State apparatus.

Concerns about the revision of postal laws appeared in several ministerial

reports since the Regencial period. In 1837, Minister Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcellos

noted that “since the main administrations of our Post Offices are passably organized,

it is however known that they cannot meet the needs of our larger towns” (EMPIRE OF

BRAZIL, 1838, p. 42).

At that time, one of the main challenges faced by the Brazilian postal service

was regarding to retained letters, which ended incinerated, for not having someone who

claimed for them. In Minister Joaquim Vieira da Silva e Souza´s opinion, this problem

was due to the current delivery method which was "improper to a so vast city" as Rio de

Janeiro and caused "considerable damage of public finances" since the burnings were

paid by the government” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1835, p. 32).

Searching for solutions to this and other postal issues, Brazilian ministers

recurrently returned their eyes to Europe. In a 1835 Report, Minister José Ignacio

Borges affirms the need of a delivery system similar to French one, but recognizes that

"To carry out such a reform, beyond the difficulties to overcome the effect of our habits,

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we would have to get the Regulations there [France] following in this regard, and apply

them judiciously to the state of our civilization, which cannot be the work of moment"

(EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1836, p. 16). Under the pretext of underdevelopment, the

Brazilian government postponed, thus, important improvements in postal system.

News about Rowland Hill´s Cheap Postage campaign soon came to the attention

of Brazilian government. In 1840, Minister Cândido José de Araújo Viana reported that

a British diplomatist had proposed to some Brazilian authorities "the adoption of certain

measures" that were designed to "greatly reduce the price of the letters". In that

occasion, the diplomatist also had said that His Royal Highness, Queen Victoria, wished

that such measures were "extensive, for through reciprocal arrangements with foreign

countries" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1841, p. 42).

It did not take long for low rate project took the form of legislation in Brazil: in

the following year, the 1842 Budget Law (No. 243 of November 30, 1841) authorized

the Imperial government to spend 180:000$000 on postal improvements. That would be

the first step towards Postal Reforms undertaken in the 1840s.

In his second term, Araújo Viana led to the attention of Parliament a full report

about the situation of the General Post Office. According to the Minister, this branch of

the public service totaled a deficit that amounted to more than five times of its revenue,

being evaluated at 380:000$000. Several were the causes for this state of affairs:

First, it highlights the low profitability of maritime mail. Prior to the 1842 Postal

Reform, which set the minimum value of 120 réis for this kind of mail, a simple letter

from Rio de Janeiro to the province of Pará would cost only 20 réis. This price

contrasted with the high costs that characterized this delivery system, which were in the

house of the 200:000$000, according to the Minister. It was necessary, therefore, to

raise postage because, in Minister’s words: "It is reasonable that the General Post

Office´s cost is at the expense of the correspondents, to whom they more direct, and

mostly serve" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1842, p. 48).

Poor surveillance was another issue highlighted in Viana´s Report: according to

him, it was acknowledged to be impossible to verify exactly the number of letters

received and distributed, no matter how great was the attention placed by postal officers

in this task. This system limitation gave rise to fraud and loss, as observed the counter

responsible for reviewing postal finances in Rio de Janeiro:

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“If in a branch as the Court´s Post Office a similar operation

[postal surveillance] is subject to the faith of those who practice it,

what is the concept, which should merit the same operation developed in a management or agency where one individual meets

the qualities Administrator, Accountant, and Treasurer! By an

account of such a nature no resource has the official in charge of it, if it is not so present to him, because all the researches will be

frustrated in view of the nature of income” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL,

1842, p. 48).

The disparity in the budgets of provincial postal agencies was also subject that

drew the attention of Minister Araújo Viana, which exemplified his statement with the

following case: "Compares Postal expenses in Piauí with the same in Ceará: in Piauí,

province which sends to the Parliament just one congressman, mails costs 3:198$000

when in Ceará, which is represented by eight congressmen does not exceed this expense

to 2:254$000" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1842, p. 48).

Given these issues, Viana´s Report suggests the adoption of some measures,

starting with the home delivery and the prepayment of postage on stamped paper. These

innovations were justified by the following arguments:

“The prepayment does not harm taxpayers but also prevent abuses,

and makes faster work hours at Post Office; Furthermore, the

home delivery offers any more likely to get them to their destination, and will save time and labor lost in delay in its receipt

in the mail Administrations. Both matter early rate as upon receipt

of correspondence. Will no longer idle, and evil, the power to fine any driving them useless and insulting papers by post, nor will

spend time, while delivering the letters, the investigation, and

exchange currency. Just get the bags to administrations, postmen

will leave to deliver the correspondence, not lingering in every household, but the time required to hand the letter, and notify the

person, who will deliver; this operation, which, according to the

experiments made, it would cost twenty-five times longer, if it were not prepaid the postage; and that much to recommend is that, by

this means, will not any curious or malicious receive other´s

correspondence, and penetrate family secrets, honor and fortune.

Finally the new prepayment and sealed paper system not just make the inspection possible in this maze of Public Service, but also

make it easy in order to convert to days a task that, according to

the current system, it would take months to be accomplished, and unsatisfactory way” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1842, p. 51).

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With this Reform, the Brazilian Minister estimated to raise the income earned by

the General Post Office from 60:000$000 to more than 300:000$000 without having to

increase the costs fixed by the 1842 Budget Law.

From 1840, most of the Ministerial Reports began to provide financial and

statistical data about the mail, through which it can be checked the progress on postal

rents over approximately two decades. Unfortunatelly, budget data stoped being showed

in Reports after 1848 (see Table 2).14

Table 2. Revenue and expenditure of the Brazilian Post Office (1840 - 1860)

Year Budget Revenue Collected Revenue Budget Expenditure Effective Expenditure

1840 62.869.000 63.727.000 180.000.000 136.910.000

1841 63.578.000 66.205.907 131.000.000 123.220.808

1842 64.445.000 63.947.573 139.000.000 123.567.699

1843 68.700.000 85.507.833 150.000.000 146.086.581

1844 60.200.000 115.816.731 180.000.000

1845 74.000.000 114.103.957 180.000.000

1846 74.000.000 146.049.866 190.000.000 170.422.824

1847 120.000.000 142.586.002 190.000.000 186.070.371

1848 152.085.000 148.679.873 189.002.000 204.529.000

1849 143.016.974 211.617.244

1850 143.249.116 204.245.484

1851 168.244.133 236.848.627

1852 183.322.195 246.021.408

1853 204.823.352 249.845.612

1854 218.599.604 252.171.193

1855 236.192.971 265.410.536

1856 258.191.076 297.712.514

1857 278.289.034 373.139.090

1858 304.839.723 437.770.773

1859 317.526.004 491.579.638

1860 355.938.837 512.606.255

Source: Ministerial Reports from the Secretary of State and Empire Business (1821 – 1860).

Displayed on: http://www-apps.crl.edu/brazil/ministerial. Accessed on: 11/14/15.

At first glance, the data from the years following the 1842 postal reform seem to

confirm part of the statement made by Minister Joaquim Marcelino de Brito in 1846,

that "has greatly improved the Post Office service, both in respect to its regularity, as to

its taxation" (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1847, p. 64). However, when analyzed with more

accuracy, they reveal a more complex fiscal reality than the Minister does try to believe.

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First, one can observe that the budgeted revenue was almost always smaller than

the actually earned, reaching a positive difference of 72:049$866 in 1846 (see Graphic

1). However, the budget expenditure invariably went beyond the real one, the exception

of the year 1848 when the difference between these two values was -15:527$000 (see

Graphic 2).15

How to explain these discrepancies?

15

In an article about the financial life of some Brazilian municipalities in the first

half of the Nineteenth Century, Anne Hanley and Luciana Suarez Lopes warn about the

risks of using budgetary sources for the period in question. According to the authors, the

values contained in the budgets were often overestimated, which affected the provision

of public goods to the population. They conclude that “the published budgets reflected

an idealized projection of municipal financial health that had little to do with the reality

of fiscal management of local government” (HANLEY; LOPES, 2012, p. 5).

The difference between the municipal budgets and postal ones is that while those

reflected in most of the time, an optimistic view of the aldermen about public accounts,

these outweighed by prudence, underestimating, even, the fiscal capacity of the postal

system. A still empirical lacking hypothesis is that the positive differences that resulted

from both the revenue and the budgeted expenditure were used to balance the accounts

of post offices, reducing at least fictionally, the chronic deficit produced by them.

Another observation can be made based on annual accounts: the 1842 Postal

Reform probably provide a considerable rise in income of Post, which comes to

148:679$873 in 1848. However, this amount was not enough to cover the costs of this

public service which are evaluated in the same year, at 176:126$941. The result is a

deficit of 55:849$127.16

The early 1850s witnessed a significant increase in Brazilian Post´s storage

capacity, which earned the sum of 236:192$971 in 1855. Among the sources of income,

stands out the sale of black and blue stamps popularly named Olho de Cabra (Goat´s

Eye) and Olho de Gato (Cat´s Eye) respectively (see Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9), the first one

valued at 143:915$809 or 55.73% of total revenues of the year 1855 (see Graphic 3).

16

Figure 6. Blue Stamp of 10 réis. 1850 Olho de Gato Serie. Source:

http://www.stampsbrazil.com Accessed on: 11/14/15.

Figures 7, 8 and 9. Stamps of 180, 300, 600 réis. 1850 Olho de Cabra Serie.

Source: http://www.stampsbrazil.com Accessed on: 11/14/15.

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Some changes, however, occurred from the second half of the decade: in this

context, the amount of expenses increased 7.78% compared to the previous year,

reaching 373:139$090 in 1857. Not even with a huge percentage growth (25.34%), the

revenue was enough to put forward spending, which generated a deficit of 94:850$056.

In 1857 Report, Postmaster General Thomaz José Pinto Serqueira exposed in

detail the financial and organizational situation of his department. According to him, the

large increase in expenditure for the year in question was motivated by several factors

such as: the creation of lines and agencies; rental properties to the local and provincial

branches; setting the salary of postmen and finally, increase in the percentage granted to

agents (see Graphic 4).

Based on the analysis of these data, one can distinguish two expenditure

categories: the administrative and the infrastructure ones. The first includes expenses

such as wages, bonuses and participation of stakeholders in the profits of offices under

management. In the year 1857, these expenses totaled 424:667$801, representing 86%

of the General Post Office´s total expenditure.

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The balance of spending on estafetas and other categories of postal carriers

requires special attention: according to Decree No. 303 of 1843, the hiring of these

employees was responsibility of provincial post officers, who should report to

Postmaster General and Presidents of Province on his decisions. This document set,

moreover, the daily rate to be paid to these employees: 800 réis for postmen; 1$280 réis

for estafetas, when in service and 640 réis for the same, being retired.

The importance of delivery services is evident in the emphasis given to public

spending on these employees: between 1855 and 1858, they increased by 55%,

accounting, in the last year, by 52.32% of the total debt of the Post. Perhaps this

phenomenon has already been provided by the Ministers of the previous decade, as José

Carlos Pereira de Almeida Torres who, in 1847, suggested the adoption of a

commission system as a way to discharge public administration of such service.

The second category of expenditure, in turn, comprises the creation and

maintenance of postal routes and purchase of materials necessary for the expedient such

as stamps, glue, paint, letterhead, etc. Despite the diversity of these expenses, they

accounted for only 23.87% of annual expenditure totalizing 117:829$310, in 1857.

In these financial circumstances, it is presumed that the Ministerial Reports

show problems in postal infrastructure, particularly with regard to the inadequacy of

some public places to postal service. In 1850, the Minister José da Costa Carvalho thus

expressed on this subject:

“In almost all provinces are Postal Administrations

accommodated in houses so skimpy, barely lend themselves to work in them must be made; but above all in the Court, it seems

impossible that in a house where there is only runners 25 feet wide,

to make time, without fuss and disorder, the very heavy service

depart, check and return in a few hours five and six thousand letters, entering at once, while at the same time preparing various

bags for many different points” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1851, p.

40).

The financial gap seen above allows the formation of some hypotheses about

how postal administrators organized and distributed the income of postal rates.

In a study about the provision of public goods in some Brazilian municipalities

during the nineteenth century, Anne Hanley reveals the inadequacy of municipal

revenues to cover the basic expenses of the population. According to the author, the

municipalities in the state of financial stringency tended to prioritize the payroll, as it is

19

the main source of political patronage they had. This implied, often cutting investments

in infrastructure, as these were not fixed because they are not specified in the provincial

budget law (HANLEY, 2012, p. 520).

Just as in the municipalities studied by Hanley, it is estimated that the

expenditure pattern adopted by Brazilian General Post Office in the nineteenth century

give preference to payrolls instead of infrastructure demands. The reason was probably

political, because, as noted Richard John about the US Post Office case:

“The existence of such a rich source of potential political patronage, mostly in the form of mail contracts and

postmasterships, made the postal system an obvious target for

ambitious public figures intent on building a political organization

that would have a life of its own” (JOHN, 1997, p. 373).

The demand of regional elites for participation in the National State building

process may explain, therefore, the option of the Executive for the conservation of

postal services in all provinces of the Brazilian Empire, in spite of the financial burden

that this division represented the imperial public coffers. It was necessary to provide the

elite of an institutionalized channel as the post offices through which its members could

maintain relations of patronage and frequent contact with the central government.

Conclusions

"Nothing has His Imperial Majesty so hard in mind as to do away

with the distances that isolate Him from his vassals, and even, if possible were, gather them all around His throne, and this

proposed measure is not a small step to achieve this August

commitment” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1842, p. 49).

With these words, Minister Cândido José de Araújo Viana had justified, in 1841,

the low postage project based on the weight of mail. He said it was not fair to "require

higher rates of taxpayers only because they reside farther away". Added to this the fact

that, for many, uniform postage would not bring major matters because in the Minister's

logic, “what others pay the near coming letters, will be offset by that less will pay the

sent remote places” (EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, 1842, p. 49).

Reflecting about the spatial dimension of postal reforms, Léonard Laborie

suggests that the uniform postage was adopted in some National States "to strengthen

20

national territorial dimension related to the Mail" (LABORIE, 2007, p. 17). According

to the author, this type of reform would have been seen by contemporaries as a measure

of "territorial justice", since it provides the most remote communities a direct

communication channel with the central government. In this sense, this author asks:

"Should we therefore conclude that "despatialization" of the postal universe from that

date?" (LABORIE, 2007, p. 19).

Adapted to the Brazilian case, this issue gets other features, which this paper just

seeks to summarize: first, it is necessary to assess the real impact of the 1842 postal

reform in the financial structure of the Brazilian postal system, since the Empire had a

territory of colossal dimensions. Then one must inquire the role of this reform in the

transformation of ordinary postal practices, since Brazil´s slaveholding society

displayed high rates of illiteracy and educational outcomes far below the European and

American standards.

Thus, one can summarize that by investing in the improvement of transport

connections and simultaneously reducing the costs of this service to the consumer (even

if it meant deficits in the postal finances), the Imperial government sought to fine-tune

their policies with the main European countries, promoting regional integration of the

Brazilian Empire through the expansion of postal system.

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge financial support from Fundação de Amparo à

Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP (Brazil). This article is based upon research

supported by this agency under grant agreement N. 2015/11209-3. I would also like to

thank the American Philatelic Society, the American Philatelic Research Library and the

Smithsonian National Postal Museum for promoting a stimulating academic discussion

environment by the occasion of the Ninth Postal History Symposium (New York City,

June 2, 2016).

Endnotes:

[1] The Réis currency was effective in Brazil since the beginning of Portuguese

colonization, in the Sixteenth century, having been confirmed by law on October 8,

21

1833 with the unification of Brazilian Monetary System. This reform established a

milesimal based system, in which Mil Réis designated the currency and the Réis

divisional values. Example: $500 = five hundred réis; 5$000 = five thousand réis;

5:000$000 = five million réis. Source: http://www.ipeadata.gov.br/. Accessed on March

6, 2016.

[2] Oitava was the unit of measure used in Brazilian Imperial Post Office to check the

weight of mail in general. It was equivalent to: 8 oz, 128 pounds; 18 carats; 4 grams.

Source: http://www.ipeadata.gov.br/. Accessed on March 6, 2016.

[3] The study of the Post Office as an administrative system that integrates the State

apparatus is, in effect, a promising prospect that, to date, found few supporters among

Brazilian historians. Despite this gap, some relevant studies on the subject are:

BARATA, Mario. Aspectos históricos dos Correios do Brasil. In: Revista do Instituto

Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro, v. 259, p.134-154. 1963; ROSARIO,

Oliveira Iraci. Três séculos e meio da historia postal brasileira: 1500- 1843. Rio de

Janeiro: Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos, 1993; BARROS NETO, João

Pinheiro. Administração pública no Brasil: uma breve história dos correios. São Paulo:

Annablume, 2004.

[4] Between 1796 and 1801, the Ministry of the Navy and Overseas Domains has been

under the administration of Dom Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho (Count of Linhares), one

of the most notable representatives of Portuguese Enlightment. To him were attributed

several rationalization measures of administrative practices, including the establishment

of communications between the colony Brazil and the Portuguese metropolis.

[5] The word estafeta came from the Lombard “staffa” wich means estribo (stirrup). A

very tired person claims to have "perso la estafa del cervello" (have lost the stirrup of

reason in that it relied). It also generated the function name in which the individual was

using horses to deliver the mail. Source: www.origemdapalavra.com.br. Accessed on:

April 10, 2016.

[6] The transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil in 1808, triggered a series of changes

in Portuguese America and signaled the end of the Colonial period, with the

establishment of several key institutions in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in a process that is

called by some scholars "internalization of the metropolis" (DIAS, 2005, p. 32).

[7] The political separation between Brazil and Portugal is part of the constitutionalist

movement that spread across the European continent in the 1820s, after the defeat of

22

Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1821, Porto leaders have determined the return of Dom João VI

to Portugal in order to swear the Constitution and hold the power vacuum established in

the country after his move to Brazil. Before leaving, the king appointed his eldest son,

Dom Pedro, as Regent, leaving him the task of representing the royal interests in Brazil.

Disagreements between the Constituent Assembly in Lisbon and the Prince Regent in

Brazil led to the deepening of the political crisis of the Portuguese Empire and the

consequent emancipation of Brazilian Kingdom, a process that culminates in the

Proclamation of Independence on the 7th of September, 1822.

[8] Dom Pedro's Reign in Brazil lasted from 1822 to 1831, when he abdicated the throne

in favor of his son, Pedro de Alcântara (Dom Pedro II), who at the time was only 5

years old. The main factors that led to the crisis of his government and its consequent

abdication were conflicts with liberal sectors of Brazilian society, intensified by the

contentions with his brother, Dom Miguel, for the Portuguese throne left vacant after

the death of their father, Dom João VI, on 1826.

[9] Key moment in the consolidation of the monarchy in Brazil, the Regencial period

was between the abdication of Dom Pedro I (April 7th 1831) and the majority of Dom

Pedro II (July 23rd

1840), when moderate sectors of liberal elite had emerged on the

national political scene to defend the autonomy of Brazilian provinces under the aegis

of a liberal and unitary political arrangement. It was also in this context that several

slave revolts and urban uprisings had spread throughout the Empire, showing the

political and racial contradictions that characterized Brazilian society during the

nineteenth century.

[10

] The Presidency of Province was created by law on October 20th 1823 as a regional

branch of the Executive power. His appointment led directly by the Empire Ministry,

which confirmed the role of central government in administration issues, such as

provincial income, security and communication networks.

[11

] The Postmaster General was later restored by Decree No. 399 of December 21,

1844, which also laid the foundation for the new regulation of Brazilian postal services.

This document also provides on working procedures, receipt and delivery of mail,

luggage handling and trading stamps, determining rules for bookkeeping and accounting

of postal establishments.

23

[12

] Only from the 1870s, the British Post Office would restore their standard of pre-

retirement earnings, reaching 1,836,387 £ in 1874. The introduction of telegraph

services in the calculation of the postal administration contributed decisively to this.

[13

] Brazilian Ministerial Reports from 1821 to 1960 are digitalized and made available

through the virtual page of the Center for Research Libraries of the University of

Chicago. Electronic Address: http://www-apps.crl.edu/brazil/ministerial. Accessed on

November 14, 2015.

[14

] We chose to restrict the analysis to the decades from 1840 to 1860, to assess the

impact of 1842 postal reform in postal service accounts. However, revenue and

expenditure balance of this public branch permeates the entire second half of the

nineteenth century, reaching the year 1889, when the monarchy is abolished in Brazil,

starting the republican phase of that country.

[15

] There is also a gap in the balance of the costs for the years 1844 and 1845, which

obviously could not be listed in this analysis.

[16

] The chronic deficit was not, however, an exclusivity of the Brazilian case. In a

classic study on the development of postal rates in the United States between the years

1845 and 1955, Jane Kennedy identifies the factors that have made the US Post a

characteristically institution deficit. According to the author, “In the 1850’s and 1860’s,

the combination of large reductions in postage and the rapid westward expansion of the

postal service brought the first large postal deficits into being, and also the beginning of

a debate that continues today: whether the Post Office should be managed on a

‘business’ basis, or whether its deficit should be regarded as the price of its

contribution to national welfare” (KENNEDY, 1957, p. 107).

Primary Sources:

Brazilian Empire´s Collected Laws and Regulations, vs. 1/2, 1829; 1831; 1842;

1844. Displayed on: http://www.planalto.gov.br. Access on: 07/20/2015.

Annual Reports from Ministry of State and Empire Affairs (1821 – 1860).

Displayed on: http://www-apps.crl.edu/brazil/ministerial. Access on:

11/14/2015.

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