POSTAL TURNOVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1935, Page 11

POSTAL TURNOVER.

BIG INCREASES IN 1934. THIRTEEN MILLION MOEE LETTERS Figures relating to the postal work of tbe Post and Telegraph Department for the year 1934 disclose increases, some of them particularly large, in every section, and probably can be taken as a very reassuring indication of greater vigour in the pulse of commerce. The outstanding advance during the year was the number of letters and letter cards posted and delivered in the Dominion. The Department made its contribution to lowered costs of business in June*, 1932, when it reverted to penny postage, so that the stimulating effect of that reduction may be said to have worked itself out, leaving the recent variation to stand as a plain indication of greater letter-writing activity. Thirteen millions represent the net increase in this business for 1934, compared with the previous year, and the gross figures make an impressive total of 275,063,943. The extent of the letterwriting habit in different centres is shown by the following figures, in millions, from postal districts: —Auckland , r )C. Wellington 45.5, Christchureh 35, Dunediu 23, Hamilton 18.75, Napier 13, Invercargill 12.8, Palmerston North 12. Last year's total of 3.400.719 parcels posted and delivered shows an improvement of 174,53 i over the total for the previous year. Book packages and commercial papers increased in number by over 12 millions, reaching a total in excess of 167 millions. The cash value of the postage side ot the Department's business for 1934 was approximately L £lfiop,ooo,