NEW ZEALAND POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 880, 11 January 1889, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.

ro THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MML Sir,—l have the pleasure to enclose herewith copy of a letter addressed to the Secretary, General Post-office, Sydney, which may perhaps be of interest to persons in New Zealand having correspondence with China and (Japan ; and shall feel obliged by your kindly giving it publicity in your journal.—l am, &c., A. S. Aldrich. “ Yokohama, November 13th, 1888. “Sir,—l beg to enclose herewith two envelopes bearing the stamp of the Sydney Post-office, * August 28 ’ and ‘ August 30 ’ respectively, which one received here on the 3rd instant, and inasmuch as I had a week before received two letters dated more than a month later (the envelopes of which have been destroyed), it ia apparent that the letters to which enclosed envelopes refer, had been by some neglect or inadvertence, detained at the Sydney office, for you will see that there was no delay caused at the only intervening office of Hong Kong. I shall be greatly obliged if you will take such steps as you deem advisable to obviate the recurrence of such delay in future. You may possibly recognise the enclosed covers as two of those you frequently receive under cover from New Zealand, and as the reasons for adopting the course of sending them under cover to the Sydney office may not have become apparent to you, I beg to take this opportunity to explain. “Ist. I have always had a difficulty in inducing the New Zealand Post-office to send ths letters via Sydney, although always marked to go that way; inasmuch as they persisted In sending them via Melbourne and Colombo, or via Brisbane, Batavia, and Colombo, thus causing great delay. “2nd. The postage from Japan to New

Zealand ia ten cents (10c) per 15 grammes, but from New Zealand to Japan it is one shilling (Is), more than three times as much, although the letters are carried all the way by steamers not in receipt of any subsidy, except perhaps between New Zealand and Australia. Now the postage from Sydney to Japan is sixpence, and from New Zealand to Sydney, twopence ; together, eightpence ; so that by sending the letters to you with a twopenny stamp and using a New South Wales stamp on the enclosure, I save fourpence, and I deprive the Conservative and out-of-date New Zealand Post-office of tenpence. When people allow themselves to be outstripped in the race of human progress, something generally proves to be out of joint. “lam, Sir, “ Your obedient Servant, “A. S. Aldrich.”