BIG MAIL FIGURES

Evening Star, Issue 23123, 24 November 1938, Page 19

BIG MAIL FIGURES

OVERSEAS FOR CHRISTMAS SHORT PAYMENT STILL HEAVY It is estimated by the Post Office that the overseas despatches by air mail to England during the Christmas period will not be less than 900,000 letters. The best despatch to make sure of delivery in good time before Christmas is on November 30 from Auckland by the Awatea. This mail is due in London on December 10. Subsequent postings are December 6, from Wellington, due London December 19; and December 8, from Auckland, due London December 22. The normal volume of business from New Zealand on the Empire air route does not, of course, reach the proportions .of the Christmas estimate, but the figures for August, September, and October show that the average monthly despatch has been about 375,000 letters. The value of the Empire air service is not only that of the great saving of time, but the more frequent despatches which are possible. _ There were 12 cross-Tasman mails in August to connect with the planes in Australia; 14 in September, and 12 in October. This month the mails begin to show signs of the oncoming of_ the Christmas rush, the Awatea, which left Wellington on November 14 . taking no fewer than 140,000 letters for the Empire air route. , The Post Office is still concerned over the large amount of short-paid correspondence posted, not only to countries served by the Empire air mail on the basis of IJtl per half-ounce, but to foreign countries to which the rate is 24d per ounce. Recent checks have been made in Auckland and Wellington, where the bulk of the overseas mails are collected for despatch. One of the Auckland chocks was made when there was a large proportion of private correspondence, and 29 per cent, was found to be deficient in Empire postage. Another check a fortnight later, when business correspondence predominated, showed G.IG per cent, or the letters deficient in Empire postage. Two Wellington,.cheeks disclosed deficiencies of 10 and' 8 per cent in respect to Empire correspondence, and one point overlooked by manv who posted, letters to Tonga is that this is a British protectorate, which comes within the scope of the Empire rate of lid per halfounce. . , The most striking, feature in shortpostage at present is the large number of Christmas cards being posted, to England in sealed envelopes carrying a penny stamp instead of IJd, this involving a minimum penalty on the recipient of Id or more if the letter exceeds half an mince in weight. It is also difficult to impress upon all sections of the public that the foreign letter rate is now 2)d per ounce, and that the United States of America is included. Auckland checks of foreign correspondence showed deficiencies in postage to the extent of 21 and 27 per cent., and,the Wellington examination showed 15 iper cent, of deficient postages on two occasions.* Where it is possible to, ascertain the senders, und there is time, tho mailroom officials telephone to business firms regarding the deficient postage, in order to reduce to the minimum the payment by recipients of double the rate of the deficiency as a penalty for the sender’s carelessness or ignorance. _____________