The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1883.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 4124, 22 September 1883, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1883.

For the caiee that lacks assistance, For tho wrong tliat noeda resistance, For tho future in the distance, And tie good that we can do.

Tub pcoplo of Now Zealand Hatter themselves that they are very much moro enterprising than the inhabitants of the Old Country; tho.t their institutions are more j liberal, enlightened, and advanced ; but if j our law* and institutions were critically examined by tho persons who entertain these views, they would be rather astonished at the measure in which wo are indebted to the Mother Country for the initiation of reforms of overy kind. In tho Postal Department, England has recently let the world know that tho country which inaugurated the "penny post" is able to maintain the lead in matters of postal reform. The new Parcels Post, established under the direction of the j present Postmaster - General, Professor Fawcett, is one of the most gigantic undor- ' takings ever inaugurated on a single day. i The London " Daily Telegraph," in desorib- ; ing the mammoth organisation, cays :— "Most things in this world are growths, bnt tho Parcels Post springs, Minerva-like, from tho head of Jupiter, full-grown and equipped—the Jovian brain in this caso being that of the Postmaster - General. I Never before did any commercial houso i leap all at once into so gigantic a concern, j with 15,000 agoncies, and thirty - fiyo j million possible customers in these three kingdoms; never beforo, it is thought, ! was a GoTernment department put to so i severe a test as that which, twolvo days hence, will await the one over which Professor Faweett presides. Few persons presumably have any adequate idea of the magnitude of the change which will bo introduced—gradually, we may hope, but yet surely—into our social and economical system by tho peaceful revolution of August 1. From that date it will be possible, from any post-office in the j i/nite<} Kingdom, to forward to any adl dress within £he postal delivery in these islands parcels of ft pertain size and weight as easily, as securely, and as expeditiously as we now send » Letter. They must not weigh more than 71b. nor bj) over 3ft 6in in length, and the tariff is 3d for lib, 6d for 31b, M for 51b, and Is for 71b ; within these limits of weight and size j Ahoy may bo transmuted irrespective of dis--1 tance for the same fee. T.o take the last ! point first, it will cost no more to despatch i ,an umbrella oraboiof pocket-handkerchiefs I froija London to Cork than to Croyddn. It i has been thought that the maximum of I weight was fixed to.o low, but socioty has I yet to learn what a vast world there is of j merchandise that comes within these limits lof length and weight—and precisely | that class of goods tho traffic in which is jat present njpst seriously restricted by i rates of carriage. It is the world, to mon!tion only a few naraee, of ifyo jeweller, tho stationer, the dealer in articles of partu, the haberdasher, the clothier, the embroiderer, the maker of lace, and all such as traffic in textile fabrics and materials, tho I toymaker, the optician, tho analyst, the chemist, and tho chemical manufacturer, the physician and purveyor of medicines, tho painter and the maker of pjqture frames, I thedealerin oil colours and artists' materials, the florist, tho seedsman, and hundreds 'of other handicrafts and professions. | For the purchase of small articles it will ( bring the country to town and town to the I country. The bride in Blankshiro may j feve her bonnet from Bond-street and her ..wedding dress from Regent-street. The j country gentleman may order a new hat from tho WestEndy pr his wife the last novelty lin sunshades from )Vood-strect; the travel- ! ler may get a whole outfit for India done I into Bmall parcels and sent $0 hjs address in the Channel Islands ; the schoolboy, the athlete, the cricketer, i:. the remotest corner iof the kingdom may receive their cricketi bate, balls, and stumps, their footballs, or lawn-tennis sets from favourite | makers; the machinist his models, tho scholar his books, the doctor his drugs, the scientist his instruments, the trader his i samples, the naturalist his specimens, an,d , all of us an infinite number of useful things, j delivered with tho trustworthiness and the 1 convenience that distinguish the most sue- ' cessful working department of the State, I for a few ponce.' The sckoolboy's I cricket bat will not cost him more than sixpence carriage from London to the Isle of Man ; a new hat may bo done up to go for 3d, half a dozen v#sts for Is. The very last thing in headdresses for the county ball may be sent for 3d, while the sportsman who forgets his flask or % lady nor parasol may have it forwarded to them in Dublin or in the Highlands fay return of post. It will be a special feature in the British Parcels Post, distinguishing it from somo others, that bottles mutably packed may be sent, and it is anticipated that a vast.business will be done in mineral waters, wines, scente, spirits, preserved fruits, essences, and the like." The organisation had been jnade so peiv ifect in every minuto detail that when tjie machinery was get In motion it worked with amazing smoothness and xuecess, and tho

enormous business done proved how large a space the scheme tilled in the unsatisfied wants of the nation. This easy and safe system of interchange of articles between all parts of the kingdom accomplishes as great a revolution as the famous reform which will carry Rowland Hill's name down to an admiring posterity. Two or three years ago we published an article very strongly urging the Government to consider the question of a cheap otlicial parcels delivery, but the portfolio of PostmasterGeneral lias fallen into weak hands, and some measure of genius is needed to elaborate a scheme like that established by Professor Faweett. The New Zealand postal system has, however, been fortunate in its permanent oiliciul heads, and has earned the happy distinction of being one of few colonial postal systems that pay their way. WecannotsupposethattheDepartment is so devoid of enterprise as to leave the large centres of population in New Zealand ; without a service which is now enjoyed by i the poorest village in Great Britain. Witli the experience of England to aid them, tho work of organisation should bo comparatively easy. But if otiieial sloth and Ministerial incapacity conspire to deprive the jieople of this colony of these advantages, we still trust that our representatives in Parliament will spare sufficient time from petty party warfare to call the delinquents to account, and compel attention to a question of so i much national importance.