OUR MAIL AND TELEGRAPH SERVICES.

Evening Post, Volume LXII, Issue 58, 5 September 1901, Page 6

OUR MAIL AND TELEGRAPH SERVICES.

REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT. UREAT EXPANSIONS OP ITS BUSINESS. , THE SUCCESS OF PENNY POSTAGE Tho report of tho Post and Telegraph Department won presented to- the House this afternoon. It opens by declaring that tho year will bo a memorable one in the Department on account of tho introduction by Now Zealand of the universal penny post — the first universal penny" postage to be introduced by why country in the world — and tho continuance of tho expansion of the telegraph business, which, has increased in volume of paid telegrams in four years by 54.68 per cent. In that period the value of paid telegrams rose by 29,68 per cent., <v suro indication of the success of tho sixpenny telegrdm. THE YEAR'S BUSINESS. . Tho balunce of expenditure ovor revenue on the telegraph side, whioh two years ago was nearly £30,000, has fallen to £8036 for last year, a fact which the ; Postmaster- General considers indicates a ■roost gratifying result. The postal work continues to show a steady and satisfactory increase. The total revenue of the postal branch for the last financial year was £316,857, and the expenditure £223,256, leaving a balance in favour of the Post Offico of £93,601. On the telegraph side the revenue was £186,978, and the expenditure £195,015, leaving £8036 to be made up. The balance ■of revenue over expenditure 1 for the comfcined Department was £85,564, while the revenue of the combined Department exceeded half a million by £5835. The credit balance above mentioned docs not, however, include the value of free official correspondence and Government telegrams, which, being added, leaves £203,129 as tho net earnings of the Department. Over 36,000,000 letters were posted, equal to 47.39 lettera per head of the population. The number of forwarded tolegrams of all codes was in round numbers 3,900,000. Money orders t6 the value of £1,214,852 were issued. Over £4,000,000 was deposited in the. Post Office Savings Bank and £3,827,416 withdrawn. The total amount to credit of depositors on the 31st December was £5,809,552. PENNY POSTAGE. The introduction of universal penny postage is dealt with very fully. After alluding to the festivities . with wh.ich the reform was, inaugurated at Wellington, the report goes on to say that reciprocal recognition of tho penny post throughout the British. Empire, with the exception of Australia, >has already been secured, the replies being highly appreciative and complimentary. Although few foreign countries have been, able' to adopt a reciprocal penny rate, a large number have agreed to accept and deliver our penny letters without surcharge, and only wait the noxt gathering of the Postal Union at Rome in 1902 or 1903 in the hope that an agreement may be fome to us to the general adoption of penny postage. The adoption of tho penny post by tho colony was estimated to involve a loss of £80,000; and although, the 'countings" and other checks show that the loss will bo much less, tho fact is not to be accepted as implying that the loss was originally over-estimated. ' Several "collatings" have been taken, but each showed considerable variations. The original "countings" wore probably madetoo early, as the public had then scarcely realised that a penny stump would carry a letter to any part of the colony,- to Oieat Britain, and to nearly every part of the Empire. Some allowance must, also, bo made in respect to the of the now stump for philatelic purposes, und of tho old peiuyy stamp in anticipation of its early withdrawal. While there was a xeryv marked increase in the number of. letters posted at tho large centres, thave was for a time no appreciable spring hi. tho posting at country unices. This i * now changed, and the increase in thfi number of posted letters is general throughout the colony. The loss, howev? r, is not to be determined solely by t'ue actual postage faco value of the letters, as the introduction of the penny rate has also brought about an increase .'.a printed matter, especially commercial pupers. The latest "counting" indicator tttat the yearly increase of letters jKo^ed was at the rate of about ten mlllious over the number posted last year, and the postage loss about £43,691. Thiu is a surprising result, and tho fact, may bo accepted as additional proof of the popularity of the reform and the unexampled and sustained prosperity o$ the colony, while it affords good reason to .believe that the total loss will very soon be made up. THE NEW SERVICES. The express delivery and special messenger services seem to have Deen a <Jisappointment from a Departmental point of view. The reason' is stated to be difficult to assign, but no doubt the. very large proportion of telephone exchange connections with private houses, the great numbsr of private boxes tat at the principal post offices, tho existing facilities for telegraphing, and tho conveniences for bureau communications, combine to render the express service of less value than would otherwise be the o&se. Tho special messenger service established principally for the benefit of telephone exchange subscribers, is being more, freely / made use of. OLD - AGE PENSIONS.. The Post Office duties connected with old-age pensions have been satisfactorily overtaken. The consideration shown to pensioners by the paying officers and others has been most commendable, and las done much to minivuise inconveniences which would appear to have been .unavoidable in carrying on the system,

We Dad thiit 138,114 payments, 'amounting to £197,727, were paid during the hint financial year, ns against 110,449 payments for £157,333 for the previous year. CABLES, EXISTING AND FUTURE. With reference to the construction of tho Pacific cable, the total cost is to be £1,975,000. Plans have been propared for tho necessary buildings for of- • Bees and staff quarters nt Doubtless Bay, aud everything should bo ready for tho landing of the cable in Now Zealand by April next. Tho cable is expected to be working towards the end of next year. Tho business over existing cables increasod by 2218 messages and £6646 in value, the total for the year, not including press, being £56,219. Press messages over the cable fell from 1570 to 1034 in number, and from £1800 to £1457 in value. A table is given showing that tho earnings of the New Zealand Sydnoy cablo amounted to £19,309. OCEAN MAIL SERVICES. Undor tho head of ocean mail services full reference is made to the withdrawal of tho Union Steam Ship Company as contractors from the Sau Francisco service. Tho Government relieved the company of its contract with considerable regret, and complimented tho contractors on the admirable manner in which they had carried out the service for 1 the past fifteen years. Tho n,ow service via San Francisco has nob attained any great reputation for punctuality, and business people in Great Britain have repeatedly complained of the inconvenience they suffer through tfye irregular delivery of' the colonial mails. As a consequence of this, tho Federal service, instoad of carrying less New Zealand matter than would have been expected to be the case under a threes-weekly San Franoisco service, has actually conveyed more than before. Mr. Spreckels, it is stated, now believes that all trouble with the vessels' machinery has been overcome, and that the irregularities in running may be regarded as at an end. He has submitted proposals for a five years' contract, which are under consideration. Tho co-. lony, it is mentioned, is now^paying at the rate of £17,000 a year for tho service for its outward mails. Up to the present there is no indication, that Australia will subsidise the service. New South Wales, which formorly paid £4000 a year, for the four-weekly service, is paying minimum poundage rates of 2s per lb for lettora and 4s 6d rer cwt. for other matter. MISCELLANEOUS. The direct exchange of parcels with the United "States of America has already assumed considerable proportions. The value of Government telegrams amounted to £29,432, and the official and other free correspondence posted during the year £82,238— 0r a. total of £111,670. The substantial sum of £4174 was/ found in letters opened iiv the Dead Letter Office arid returned to the senders where practicable. In addition, miscellaneous articles from gold watches to tram tickets were discovered in dead lettors. The registered letters dealt with in the year showed a fair but not remarkable increase. Steps for providing better accommodation for the larger Chief Post Offices have been taken. The alterations in Wellington will serve until Government acquires and makes additions on the block adjoining thaft on which the General Post Office stands. Tho n^cessai^p notice in this direction has been given under the Public Works Act. The .telephone exchange business appears to,, increase by leaps and bouojds, 8210 connections being recorded at the end of the year as against 7150 for the previous year. This branch of the service is now being worked at a small profit, instead of the loss which has been shown for a few years. ' Tho construction of telegraph and telephone lines and their maintenance has been busily proceeding during the year, 339 additional miles of line nnd' 1454 additional miles of wire ha\?jg been' erected.