SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21707, 14 February 1936, Page 12

SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED

Air MaUs WlhM Dominion -

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

The announcement that an air mall service within the Dominion would shortly be begun was made last night by the Postmaster-Gen-eral, the Hon, F. Jones, replying to a deputation from the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce ■ which met him at the Christchurch railway station. In his reply to the deputation, Mr tones said, amidst applause, that if the service was introduced, and he thought it safe to say that it would be, the Government wanted the full co-operation of the public. The service also would only last a period. The Government waS at present going into the establishment of a trans-Tasman service, and any service that might now be established .in the Dominion would have to be considered again in the light of what possibilities of linking with this service would be worked out. The Minister stated in his reply that he hoped within the weeks to make a statement about the whole position. He was * as anxious as anyone that postal facilities should be improved, ..and realised as much as anyone the advantages of receiving letters a day earlier. The Government had to be assured, he said, that there was a demand for such a service. He had been pleased while in Dun-edin-to receive the assurance of the Chamber of Commerce there . that there was such a demand and that the service, once begun, would be supported. If such a service was established the people must use it It had to be Remembered, he' continued, that the Government had ( ,to find ; the money to pay the companies concerned for mail 'transport by air, and had also to pay the cost of collecting the mail, taking it to and from aerodromes—often at some distance from the city—and to pay the cost of the speedy delivery of mail that had arrived by air. ‘ The Postal Convention Mr Jones also said that the greatdifficulty that existed in the path of sending overseas mail to New Zealand - through the Dominion by air was that no extra charge could be' made on that mail. Under the postal convention, to which New Zealand was a party, the Post and Telegraph Department had to deliver, these mails without surcharge, and if this was to be done by air it would cost a very big sum .of money. , ' 'While the case: whs being put; the Minister interrupted to ask if in its investigations the Chamber of Commerce had come to any conclusion about a surcharge that might be made on air mail- within to e minion. Ope of the spokesman,,Mr T. N. Gibbs, said that lacking- facilities for knowing what the department based charges on, the postal committee had not advanced any suggestion on the matter." His pergqpa}. .-opinion;* was that there should be. a surcharge of 3d on each letter 1 . - 'Ty . t At a later stage the Minister ' said that the department tyaS at present investigating the whole toejstiPnyfidf the delivery by air of overseas mail coming to New . Zealand, but it had to be remembered that the Post Of-; flee had to be run on business lines. Mr Jones assured .the deputation that, he was in accord with its views, and that when the department satisfied the demand for the service it would make it pay somfefhipg nearfex* penses, ■ *,j T hope that when 'the' decision is made within ( a few weeks’ time it will’ meet with your requests,” concluded Mr Jones. ’ The Deputation’s Case The spokesmen for the deputation ware the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr, F. W. Hobbs, apd the chairman! of its postal committee, Mr T. N. Gibbs. The deputation was introduced by Mr S. G,. Holland, MJP., and the Manufacturers’ Association was represented by Mr H. B, Duckworth. The deputation’s case, which was set out in a typed letter to the Minister, as Mr Jones had requested, was briefly that inward overseas mqil, first class, arriving at Auckland should be takein from' Palmerston North to southern Gentries by-air, and that overseas mail arriving at Wellington' in the, early morning be sent by air service-to the south, the saving of time in each case being a day to Christchurch and two days to Dunedin. - It was urged that this, service be provided without- surcharge or additional cost.’ The second clause of the request concerned overseas outward mail, and stated that if urgent correspondence could be sent by air mail it ’could catch outgoing steamers with replies td overseas correspondence just received, obviating a delay that sometimes was 10 days or a fortnight It was stated that a surcharge might be placed on this. The third request was- -for facilities for the carrying of inland mail by air, and gave details of benefits that would accrue in the saving of time. An: Axiom The deputation’s request was headed by this paragraph:-—“lt has been an axiom from the earliest development of postal services' that the speediest method of transport available' should always be used for his Majesty’s mails.” ..Mr Hobbs, in his address, said that the Chamber of Commerce was representative of all business interests in Canterbury. New Zealand must progress with the rest of the world, he said, and it Was recognised that 'when passenger services were , available, the carriage of air mails by such services was an absolute necessity.’ ,Mr Gibbs said that he understood tnat there was a big sum allocated for the development of ’ the English-Aus-tralian mail, and he thought that alongside this expenditure another sum should be spent in developing inland air mails, sb that tiWty *&puld be no delay in mail delivery in the Dominion itselt After the Minister had spoken; he was thanked by Mr Holland on- the deputation's behalf. * ; y