PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 337, 10 December 1864, Page 7

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

Fifth Report oh iEr; Post ax, Skkvice of New Zealand. 11Y THE rOSTMASTUII-GENEBAL. General Post Office, Auckland, Qtn T , New Zealand, 21st November, 1864. l 0 i lonor t0 prosont to vour Excellent:} the tifth report on tho Postal Servico of New Zealand. 1 have, &c., Thomas B. Gillies,tj. „ Postmaster-General. His Excellrncy Sir Georgo Grey, K.C.8.. Governor of New Zealand, &e. &c. ItEI'OET. .. Tho general progress of tho colony during the past year lias been fully shared by tho Post Office Dj partment. Io meet tho public requirements 89 n w offices havo been opened, and 25 closed, leaving an increase of G4 post offices, being about 25 per cent, on the total number. The correspondence, has, however, increased in a much larger ratio, 3,405 3S& letters having passed through the various post offices o"ion g i st I,ccombcr ' 1863, against 2,120,183 ior tho year ended 31st December, 1862, being an increase of about CO per cent. The number of newspapers conveyed by post has also increased during the tame period from 2,064,123 10 3 397 169 bring an increase of 64 per cent. The revenue' has £22,710 14s 3d in 1862, to Is lid in 18(3, being an increase of 42 per ccnt. , Iho increased amount of correspondence has however, caused more than a corresponding increase in the departmental expenditure, exclusive of conveyance of mails, tho departmental oxpen lituro liaving been £25,001 12s Id in ISG3, ngtiinst £15 217 14s Id. in 1802, being an increase of 64 per cent. The current year will, however, show a cons'd Table increrse ot revenue without a corresponding increaso of expenditure. The cost of tho conveyance ol' mails has greatly increased, both as regards the cost of inland com ej anco and steam services) although in both respects tho cost per milo has ben reduced. Tho expenditure for. inland cirriago for 1803 has boen £19,133 0s 9d, againsf. i:6\SG4 5s Id for the year ISG2. The expenditure for steam services for tho year 1803 has been. £47,050 17s 4d, against £32,040 Is 3d for tho j ear 1562, whilst for the current year the expenditure under this head will amount to about £60,000. INLAND COMMUNICATION. Tho mail contracts at present existing in tho various provinces aro given in the Appendix hereto.

I>i:I'AI!TMENTAI, AKIiANGEMENTS. In accordance with the recommendation of the late P6stnia'ster-G enoral, and tho resolution of the House of XiopvcsesentativQs last session, an Inspector of Tost-officcs has been appointed, tl'io lion. .T. C. Crawford, Esq., who has been engaged travelling through the several Provinces, inspecting tho various offices, siuco sth January last, with the exception of three months, during which >he was detached as Resident Magistrate at the Pil.rus Gold-fields. Sufllcient time has not yet elapsed to enable the beneficial results of such inspections to become marked, but thero is no doubt that the periodical visits of that officer will tend to promote increased efficiency in tl.O various offices. It having been found that the advantages connected with the appointment of a Secretary in the Dunedin ollice, and also in tho Auckland office were by no means equivalent to tho expenditure, these secretinyships have been abolished. The Secretary of the D.m din office, Mr. Gray, a gentleman of long experience in the Post-office department of the home country, as well as in the colony, has been appointed Sub-Inspocf&r. Ho has been removed at present to the Auckland office, to assist in getting that office into a thorough state of efficiency, a duty for which his intimate" knowledge of the "practical working and details ot the Post-oflico system peculiarly qualities him. The Secretary of the Auckland office has been appointed Chief Postmaster at Tarariaki. on tho lesnnitiou of the late efficient Postmaster, Mr. S. Smith. During the past y 'Ur considerable additional postal facilities have been allbrded to the public by t c placing, in ditt'enn parts of the principal towns, iron pillar boxes lor the receipt of letters, which re regularly cleared by the letter carriers. The hours during which the offices are open to the public have been extended, being now from 9 to 5, instead of from 10 to 4 as formerly. J.ato letters are also received at the chief offices until 20 minutes before the hour for despatch of tho mails, on payment of an extra fee of Gd. for inter-provincial and Is. for foreign letters. Letter boxes have also been placed on board each of the intcrprovincial subsidized steamers, into which letters can be at any time posted, tlie late letter fee, in postage stamps, being affixed to the letters posted. This has been found to be a great convenience to the public, although some complaints have been made of the late fee being too high. An endeavour has been made to increase the efficiency of the department by instituting an examination of officers entering the Post-oflico fervice as to their geographical knowledge—with what leaults remains yet to bo seen. BUILDINGS. The want of proper buildings in the two principal towns, Dunedin and Auckland, has been grievously feli, causing much inconvenience to the public and discomfort to the officers, and necessitating a larger number of officers than would be nccssury in properly arranged and commodious buildings. A new Postottiie is now in course of erection in Dunedin, and it ia hoped that the labours of tho Public Building Commissioners in Auckland will soon give to that city a suitable Post-office. Until that is done it is in possible to expect anything like efficiency even from tho ablest officers. In the other provinces the Postoffice buildings aro tolerably well suited for present requirements. MONEY OltDEIt SYSTEM. The annexed tables will show to what extent tho public avail themselves of this mode of transmitting money. lu the Province of Otago especially it is very largely made use of by the mining population, no less than £ 16,7'J-O having been remitted to the colony of Victoria alone by this means during the past jcar. TOST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK. The introduction of the Post Ollice Savings Bank system, which has been so successful in Britain, has been a matter which received much consideration from the Postmaster General. Tho English system would require to be considerably modified in order to meet the peculiar condition ot the colony, but there are insuperable difficulties in the way of its successful operation. That it would bo a great, boon to the public there cannot be a doubt, whilst it would be a useful adjunct to the other financial departments of the Government. It is hoped that an Act will be passed at the next session of the Assembly, enabling the system to be brought into operation in the colony. FINANCIAL. For some years past the sums provided by the' estimate for payment of the proportion of postagebecoming duo to Great Britain on the home cor respondeuce have been insu'licient, leaving a constantly increasing balance due to tho Imperial Government. This balance at 30th September, ISfi-l, amounts to about £31,000, which ought to be provided for ill addition to tho probable amount, required for the ensuing year. hates or rosTAGE. Early in the current year the Imperial Government intimated its intention of increasing the rate of postage from England to Now Zealand and tho Australian colonies, and invited the colonics to adopt a similar procejding in reference to tho rate from tho colonics to England. New Zealand, in common with the Australian colonies, except New South Wales, remonstrated against the increase, and declined to accept tho proposal, so far as they were concerned. Strong remonstrances wore also made by the people of England on the subject, and it is satisfactory to find that tho Imperial Government have for the present deferred carrying their proposal into effect. From the annexed Table it will bo seen that the Post Office expenditure in New Zealand is very far in excess of the revenue, an excess mainly caused by the very heavy cost of transmission of mails. The inland conveyance of mails is an especially heavy item, and this is to a very large extent caused by the great bulk of newspapers transmitted by post. At present newspapers are in New Zealand transmitted free, I although such a course is not adopted, as far as can be asccrtuincd, in any other colony. There seems no good reason why tho finances of the colony should be burdened with the cost of carriage of newspapers, and it is a matter which should receive tho consideration of the next General Assembly whether all newspapers transmitted by post should not be subject to a small postage rate. THE FRANKING SYSTEM. abolished in England, and the other Colonies, ba3 been This system, which has been almost entirely gradually extending itself in New Zealand. Nu-

of thin rW f vln S been brought under tho notice tn «Tir> m P a . ment - A careful consideration has led , nc usion that the system ought to be almost ab™ Jot '* ot ° n] y is "T liable to oxperienco has everywhere shewn, but it dpnai tmen^'p' ledg ° of the rost of t,le various nn?oil nf °f Government. It is therefore prowithin vcn- Ca v° to conflne tlle right of franking within i en narrow limits

TAIfAJLS. CONTRACT. < 01 .' ri ' s P° lu l pl "-'i! on this subject having been i,pJT> t QU r wiJely circulated, it is unneces- •' 3-ii f make further remarks on it, especially as °f- m a B ''^j ect °' iniportant consideration for next meeting of tho General Assembly. BTEAM POSTAL SEBVICES. rri • ■ o-Austrntian Service. ~„'Y 3 has been performed dmilig the past V tiieleninsulnr and Oriental Company -witii gi eater punctuality than formerly the mails having «11" one or two exceptions arrived in Australia at or l ore t leir duo date. There is every reason to expect an increasing punctuality, and proposals have been made for the establishment, by the Peninsular ana Unental Company, at a very small increase on the present subsidy, of a fortnightly instead of the present monthly service. Were this'proposal carried AT V, ,' 4,10 course of post bfitween England and iNew Zealand would be reduced to 4j months, whilst by the progressive extension of telegraphic communication with England, important intelligence may always be received by that route up to within about M days of its arrival in New Zealand. • , rr ons °f J0 determination of the Itnpenal Ufcniment to continue convict transportation to Western Australia, it has been proposed by the colony of Victoria to cut off communication with that colony by the mail steamers, and threats have been made that if that course be not agreed to, the colony of * ictoria.will withdraw its contribution to tho present main line of rfra'il service. However objectionable the system of transportation to the colonies may be, tho mode thus tlirentened to be adopted cannot b.? considered a wise one. nor one likely, upon mature c moderation, to be adopted. Proposals have been made by thee olony of Queensland for the co-operation of this colony in the establishment of a postal line via Singapore and Torres Straits, but these proposals have been declined until it be shown what advantage New Zealand could derive from such a line.

The contribution of New Zealand to tire existing Ango-Alistrali ail lino for tho current year amounts," as will bo seen from the annexed pa pers, to £10,771 12s. INTER-COLONIAL SERVICES. The Melbourne and Ot.igo Service has, since tho lltli January, ISG4, been most efficiently performed by the contractors at a subsidy of £17,000 per annum. It terminates in January, IS(>5, and as tho decision of the Assembly on the Panama contract might seriously fleet the necessity for this line, it is propose ed to call for fresh tenders for, six months only. It is b.lievcd that the service will be tendered for at a rate much lower than tho present ono. Ihe service between Sydney and Auckland has also been efficiently performed by the Inter-colonial Company during tho past year. Proposals, however, liavo been made by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and by tho Government of Victoria, for tho change of the Australian port from Sydney to Melbourne. This would certainly give tn Auckland an earlier arrival and later departure of its English mails, and would, to a small extent, reduce tho contribution payable by New Zealand to tho Suez line. As, however, notice has, in accordance with the resolutions of the Assembly, been given to the Inter-colonial Royal Mail Company of the termination of their contract in November 1565, it has not been thought advisable to make any alteration of port until tho General Assembly jhill have had an opportunity of dealing with the v hole question.

Tho sonic? bet wen .Sydney and Nelson has, daring j the past yt ar,|bcen officii n'ly pirTorcned. The subsidy of CIGOO per annum fur the continuation of this lino from Nelsi n to Otago lias been discontinued, as tho new arrangements for tho Inter-provincial services rendered that lino unnecessary. At the request of the company the date of departure from Sydney was altered, so as to provide for tho rrrival of tho English mail at Nilson several days earlier than under the former arJangements. I.NTEK-I'nOTTNCrAL SERVICES. In accordance with the resolutions of tho House of Representatives last session, the Postmaster General, on the termination of the then subsisting contracts, called for lenders for bi-weekly inter-provincial service. Siiflicicnt tenders for the service were not received, and the Inter-Colonial Company linving pointed out the injustice to which such a servico would subject them, and declined to co-operate in it, tho Postmaster General determined to obtain as efficient a service as possible for the amount voted by the Geueral Assembly. After considerable negotiation with the Inter-Colonial Royal Mail Company and the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company, ho succeeded in arranging tho present service, by which a steamer leaves and arrives at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Otago, every fifth clay, and »t each of tho other ports every tenth day. Punctuality of arrival and departure has been rigorously insisted upon, and tho services has been performed most satisfactorily by both companies. TJie subsidy paid to the Intercolonial Royal Mail Company is about ss. per mile, whilst that paid to the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company is about 3s. lid. per mile. The boats of the latter company are not so largo as. those of the former, but it is hoped that the rapidly increasing passenger trade of the colony will soon justify tho placing of larger and more powerful vessels on the coast. No wreck of any of the subsidized steamers has occurred during the past year. Reports from the Telegraphic Engineer, Mr. Sheath, as to the progress of tho telegraph, and from the Marine Board as to tho progress of lighthouses, are hereto annexed. Thomas B. Gillies. General Post Office, Auckland, November ISO 4.