POST AND TELEGRAPH

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 79, 3 April 1901, Page 5

POST AND TELEGRAPH

ANOTHER YEAR'S RECORD,

GREAT AND SIGNIFICANT SPEECH BY THE HON. J. G. WARD.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, this day.

During1 the course of a speech at a banquet given by himself to the Post and Telegraph Association, the Hon. .T. G. Ward said everything pointed to the success of universal penny postage. The increase in the volume of post and telegraph business during the past year had been great and significant. Eoughly, the revenue would amount to about £508,000, an iucrease of between £19,000 and £20,000 over the previous year. '. This was in face of the fact that the penny post had been in operation during the last three months of the financial year. As yet, it was of course impossible to give any definite approximation of, the effect of the penny post. Telegraph receipts would probably exceed those of last year by £13 000. The number of paid telegrams would probably be found to have been 3,454,628, as compared with 2,997,746 on the previous year, an increase of 15.24 per cent, Since the introduction of sixpenny telegrams there had been an increase of 83 95 per cent, in paid telegrams. The number of letters, letter cards, and post cards posted was about 39,269,----292 an increase of over a million and a half. Savings bank . business also showed a marked "increase. The sum of £4,170,000 was deposited, as against £3,645,000 in the previous year £3,827,000 was withdrawn, against £3,470,000 in the previous year. The sum at credit of depositors on the 31st December last was £5,809,552, as compared with £5 320,321" in December of the previous year—an addition of £ 489.000 £ the Glances »at credit of 197,408 depositors. It could not be considered wonderful, in the face of the savings 'bank results, that the Government, had decided to borrow half a million locally. He predicted that the money would be readily subSCMr ftWard also stated that of 85 countries agreeing to allow New. Zealand to send letters to their territories, only 12 had not agreed to allow letters-to be sent back at the same rate. He looked forward to the time when cable messages would be sent to and from England and elsewhere at the same price.as messages sent In the colony. H the cable companies stood in the way they, would have to give way to the State, or to State competition,