MAIL SERVICES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1934, Page 5

MAIL SERVICES

UNNECESSARY DELAYS. PROTEST IN THE HOUSE. A protest against unnecessary delays in the mail services in the King Country was made by Mr. W. J. Broadfoot, M.P. for Waitomo, when speaking on the Post and Telegraph Estimates in the House of Representatives. Mr. Broadfcot criticised the operations of the Transport Board in this respect, and said that as a result of the present arrangements, people in the back country were suffering inconvenience. Mr. Broadfoot said that since the Transport Board had operated, several of the mail services in his district had been - altered, and great inconvenience had been experienced by the settlers. Formerly, it was possible to reply to letters the day they were received. Consider, for instance, the Te Kuiti-New Plymouth service. Tire mail now left Te Kuiti at 10 o’clock in the morning, reached Mokau at 1 p.m., and remained there for some hours. “The service car proceeds on its way, while the mail sleeps peacefully at Mokau for hours,” he said, “whereas it could be taken on to New Plymouth right away, and could be distributed in the afternoon, instead of being delayed till next morning. Mr. Broadfoot said that the main objective of the Transport Board seemed to be to cater for through passengers, instead of catering for the people in the back districts. Again, the mail was held at Waitara till the train’s departure, where it could be carried on to New Plymouth by car, and more time again be saved. The mail from Te Angq-Waitomo-Te Kuiti was another example of unnecessary and unwarranted delay. There, again, mail was held up at Waitomo Caves, instead of going on to the terminal point known as Te Kuiti. The Tangitu-Waimiha service was another example of unnecessary interference with an existing service. There, again, great inconvenience had been suffered by the settlers. Mr. Broadfoot submitted that the cases he had quoted indicated a lack of coordination between the Transport Department and the Post and Telegraph Department to the detriment of the people in the back country. He would like

an assurance that matters would be improved. , Mr. Broadfoob said that the differential telegram rates did not work out well for the country districts. Moreover, they would entail a loss of revenue to the department. He expressed the opinion that they should certainly be reviewed immediately.