PUBLIC AND POST OFFICE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 76, 26 September 1924, Page 6

PUBLIC AND POST OFFICE

" A serious offence " was a mild description by the Magistrate (Mr. Poynton) of the charge against an Auckland letter carrier of opening registered letters. " The public confidence in the Post Office," said the Magistrate, " must not be shaken." It is not likely that the ease, with which he admittedly dealt with leniently, will greatly weaken the trust • reposed by the public in this highly, efficient Department. At the same time, the gravity of this and similar offences cannot be ignored. Who can tell what careers may be wrecked, what opportunities lost, what bitterness or suffering caused through failure to deliver correspondence, or unduly delaying delivery. The Postal Department of New Zealand has justly been, the pride of the Dominion, and if holds a high place among those of the most advanced countries in the world. But there will always be an occasional failure of some weak human link in the chain, as in the case of the Auckland letter carrier. In this case, according to the report of the Police Court proceedings, the corre-spondence-was unwarrantably tampered with before delivery. It will be learned with general satisfaction, and do much to consolidate the confidence reposed by the public in the Post Office, that prosecutions ' will follow in every case of this kind. They are of far too serious a nature to be otherwise dealt with.