POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12852, 10 July 1907, Page 7

POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

. c * ANNUAL REPORT. (SPECIAL TO "THE TRESS.") WELLINGTON, July 9. •'The year has been one of uninterrupted prosperity, ,, so runs the opening sentence of the annual report of the Poet and Telegraph Department, I which was presented to Parliament this afternoon. The revenue of the Department, and the excess of revenue over expenditure, were tho highest yet Attained. For the first time tho revenue of tho telegraph branch exceeded the expenditure, and this by the substantial sum of £16,161. 'J his is mainly due to the rapid ex]-«ii.t.ion of telephone exchange revenue, and tho reduction of telegraph rates. The results from the reductions in postage and telegram rates, which were made as from November Ist, had beon most gratifying, while the reductions in the parcel post rotes resulted in an increaso which will probably reach 100 per cent, within tho next few months. Ihe expansion of business necessitated large .additions to the staff, and the report says it is a matter for serious consideration whether additional avenues for promotion should not be made by improving tho position of nany of tho postal and telegraph officers. The total revenue exceeded that of 1905-6 by £61,371, and the expenditure by £40,394. If tho balance of revenue over expenditure is to bo added, tho value of free postal correspondence (£04,872) and official telegrams (£17,486) dealt with during tho first 'nine months of the financial year, the net balance on the yeor's transactions is found to be £209,487. The money order business still shows a reletively small rate of increase. Tho increase in the number of orders issued compared with last year was 21,579, of which 14,256 (or 06 per cent.) were duo to orders issued for payment within the colony of Now Zealand. The postal note business continues to increase. During the year 981,642 postal notos, for £314,053, were sold—an increase of 12.16 per cent, in number, and 13.67 per cent, in amount. An increase was also recorded in British postal orders. Deposits in the Savings Bank (£7,907,154) exceeded tho withdrawals (£6,907,103) by £1,000,051. If interest is added, the total increase is £1,291,242, and the. whole amount of savings reaches the enormous total ot £9,953,265, or £10 19s per head of tlu population. The total number of telegrams forwarded was 6,396,332 —an increase, o! 756,113, or 13.41 per cent. DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE. The value of the change made in rogard to the abolition of franking official correspondence is shown in the i-oport, which states that the eyetem of franking had grown to extravagant dimensions. In the telegraph branch, for instance, it had been well known for many years that the free transmission of telegrams by Government Departments was conducive neither to brevity nor to a restriction of the number of messages. Moreover, tho wir-ss ware very frequently occupied by official messages, •which contained mattor that might easily have been dealt with by poet. The result of the new order of things, which necessitates the ii 36 of " official " stamps, ie that for the quarter ended 31et March, 1907, it :s estimated that the postage on official letters was £5706, or, cay, a total for the year of £22,824, aa against £56,893 for tne year ended 31st December, 190 G. Tho value of official telegrams "was C 2217, or, say (allowing for increase.! •vwrk during the session of Parliament). Nt tho rate of £10,000 a year, as against £24,168 for the previous year a difference of about £14,000. The great decrease in the value of letter postage ie greatly accounted for by tho fact that official letters ax© frequently bulky, and gain the full advantage of the reduced postage rates. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. The report states that negotiations have been proceeding with the Commonwealth towards establishing wire !<*» telegraphy between Australia and Xew Zealand, and some of the outlying ielande, but no decision to prosecute the work was arrived at. The representative of the Marconi Oomnany was in the colony for a time, and consideration -was given to proposals for " wireless " installations, and to open communication by that .method with outlying islands, and -with ships, but hero again nothing oVfinite was arrived at. "It will," adds tho Minister, "probably be found the boat Poliej to withhold any considerable out lay in connection with the new system until something more definite is known as to what is likely to result from scientific research now proceeding."