Post and Telegraph Depart.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12595, 2 July 1904, Page 2

Post and Telegraph Depart.

♦ j ANNUAL KEPORT.

j Wellington. July 1. The annual report of the Po^L and Telegraph Department has boon presented to Parliament. > " The report shows that the business of the Department continues to expand beyond expectations. Th> Postal revenue for the year v,as £313,206. aiicTthe Telegra])h £237,561, or a total of £550,771. Owing to the deficiency on tho Pacific Cable having been charged to tho Telegraph account, the balance of telegraph e*:- | p«aditure over revenue was £18,298. The balance of postal revenue over expenditure was £72,323, leaving a credit balance of £5J,024 for the combined Departments. If credit were i:-,ken, however, for official correspondence and telegrams, the total profit jo/ij o/i the Department would be C 167, 13-i. Ninety thousand more postal notes were sold in the past year than in 1902. The amount payable to the Railway Department for tho conveyance of j mails was C 43,999, against which the \ sum of £30,127 was recovered for postage on railway correspondence. Private box rents, transmission of railway telegrams, telephone exchange subscriptions, and maintenance of railway telegraph lines (£10,059) was also paid towards the railway salaries of officers who act as postmasters and telegraphists or telephonists. The salaries paid to officers (permanent and non-permanent) absorbed 53 per cent, of the revenue. Tho, expenditure on all the services, including amounted to 91 per cent, of the leesipts. The money order business shows a fair percentage of increase ; 396,312 orders for £1,116,224 wei l e issued, and 304,106 for £1,224,842 were paid. The telegraph and telephono exchange branches of the service sKow a growth"" which would,- were it not overshadowed by the postal business, stand out more clearly. An increase of 405,893 in the number of telegrams forwarded produced over £9000 more revenue, and about an equal sum } was derived from 1472 additional exchange subscriptions. Tho total telecrams handled reached the record number of 4,965,197, for tho transmission of which £162,197 was the net amount received. Telephone exchange connections numbered _on the 31st March, 12.105, and the subscriptions totalled £71, 028. The Savings Bank figures show progress in keeping with the general prosperity. Over half a million pounds (including interest) have been added to ihe credit of depositors' accounts, which now stands at C~ ,* 3^8,681- an amount equal to £9 0s 2d per head of iho population. j The "insured pur<oV : feystem inaugurated some four years ago, has not j boir.g largely availed of. in all 5877 j parcels have been insured, the declared value ot which was C 81.691. The total number of officers on tho hlaff on the 31st 3larch was 4151. The conduct of the staff has been satisfactory, while efficiency has been svoll maintained, considering that the business complaints from tho public have been singularly few. On the subject of penny postage the report stutoj : " The near approach of the international Postal Union Congress, which should have met at iJomu in April last, but has been postponed until April next year, at the instqiß-u of the Italian Government, and the intention of one or more countries to support the proposed universal penny post, terminated for the time New Zealand's negotiations with individual administrations. It is impossible to forecast the result , of tho proposal to reduce the letter rates throughout the union from 2£d to Id. .Japan proposes a reduction from 2',d to 2d, and Germany, Austria, Oejunaik. Hungary, T,uxemburg, and Switzerland recommend that the weight allowed to pass for 2^d should be increased from 15 grammes (loz) .«, 2(5 grammes (2-30/). The ultimate hk-cosk of the penny post will probably depend on the decision arrived al in connection with tho land transit rates." An extract from tho report of tho PostmasterGeneral of tho United States of America for the yoar 1903, wniuh is given, indicate.", that the question i, now viewed favourably in that country. The increase of postage on all classes of correspondence posted in the colony KiiK-o I (W o-.'oi..k tho ostiinated loss following- the introduction of penny postage. Fifty million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nino hundred and thirty-six paid letters wore estimated to have been |)( ,sled in 1903. oh nfainst 31.758,791 in ]!)<IO. an increase of 1«>,2 11,141 in (lie tlirci- yvitVH. Penny postage was adopted on tho Ist July. 1001. A. huliisfaolory reply was rocoived from the London Post Oflico to tho repi (mentations o.i the subject of ..f.wspnpiT posture, referred to in the last report. The l»osin< aster-General in London agreed to deliver in the

' Lti'ted Kingdom, v> itKmt t-urcharge, ! no\' spapers posted in New Zealand j piepaid Id each, irrespective of weight, ; in ihe place of the late of Id for the [ liit-t four ounces and a id for each suc- • ii_cdin{r tv. o ounces. The reduced rate j was brought into operation on the f Ist -March, IWOI. The report states | thai til is reduction of postage is a j y.ieat work achieved. It confers an 5 almost incalculable advantage on the { newspaper press of the colony, and lj mils t inevitably lead to our country's | attractiveness becoming more widely | known as the result of tho largely mii creased foreign circulation of our ex- ■ cellcnt illustrated papecs, the post- | ago on which formerly amounted to j 3d or ki a copy, and in some cases « i.v en more. I With the prospect of the Universal ] !\>.-.ta! Union Congress ad&C'inbling in Home in April last, consideration ot ; several important matters was deferred. Unfortunately it has been found ; necessary to postpone the Congress [ for a year, but it is to be hoped | that nothing will intervene to prevent its being- held at the appointed time in April next. Among matters of importance to this colony to be discussed is tho proposed reduction of j land transit rates, which, if given elivct to, will rebult in a material sav- | ing in the cost of the transportation !of New Zealand mails across to America. Proposals arc also to be made for reducing the present high charges on newspapers to foreign countries. A strong effort will bo made to bring about a reduction of tho letter postage to countries not at present participating in the penny post scheme, and the Now Zealand delegates to ih<> Congress will also enquire closely into the postal and economic aspect of the value payable or cash on delivery parcel system, a question which apparently is becoming of increasing intere-t to tho mercantile community of New Zealand. Another matter of some importance will be a proposal on behalf of NewZealand to reduce the postage on printed matter from Jd for each 2oz to -Jjd for each 4oz. An attempt will be made to induce the Congress to affirm tfie desirability of altogether excluding gomblina and lottery circulars from the mails value payable or cash on delr. cry sv-stem. Tho question i lift her tho value ppyablc or cash on delivery system should be introduced in New Zealand has again been revived, and is dealt with at length in the report. Postmarking- machines of an improved design, invented and manufactured in New Zealand, have, 'icon installed in the offices at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Tho Dunedin office will be supplied as soon as the electric motors now under order eonio, to hand. The latest model of this machine is both fast and accurate, and is reported by tho Wellington office, where it lias boon longest in use, to be capable of stamping letters at the rate of 7<>o a minute. Within the last few years several kinds of ''penny in the" slot" stamping and stamp vending" machines have boon offered to tho Department. Quiterecently no loss tinui three "penny in the slot" stamping machines have boon ofi'ored i\>r trial. Only one of j those has so far boon sufficiently per- J fw ted to stand an actual working , test. The Department is, however, ! not at present prepared to say to j what extent the w ant of a device exists. It would bo impossible to do- j terrniue this without a trial of sever- 1 al months. Much consideration has been given to the introduction of motor cars for the purpose of overtaking the clearing of receivers and tho suoh like work in the principal cities, but it has been decided to await the' result of experiments now being undertaken by the British Post Office. The exchange o£ postal orders with the United" Kingdom, already announced, is fully dealt with. An increase in the maximum amount of j>o<t office- money orders is foreshadowed, and the question of the best method of identifying Post Office Savings Bank depositors is fully discussed. TiO progress has been made in the direction of introducing wireless tclo-o-ranhv into this eolonv. Negotiations which were commenced with tho Marconi Company havi \g fallen through, inquiries ru ;• now beingmade as to tho desirability of testing- anothor system ; but advancement in the direction of making- wireless telegraphy a commercial success appears to be slow. Plans have been prepared for new brick post and telegraph offices at Creymouth, Tan ranpa, Winton. Nelson, and Pnlmerston North, and new offices or enlargements are being- considered for several olhor places. Old ago pensions to ihc amount of £203,142 woropaid. Tho number of articles posted in tho colony and received from places ont- , side the colony during the yoar 190.1 wore :— "Letters and letter-card* and post-cards, 63,1-10,020, j»n increase of 121.122, as compared with ]'.»02 : oth -r articles, 30.591.597. an increase of, 2.156..Y27. The letters increased 6.71, lot tor-cards 11.57. postcard-* 11.62. books and patterns packed 5.05, news

j papers 0.7, and parcels 12.33 per j tent. The average number of letters ; and letter-cards posted per head of : the population was ,70.38. The work performed for other Departments is referred to in detail. The gros.> amount recovered by the Department during 1903 amounted to £16,934,377, of which £14,541,510 was Departmental and £2,392,867 on account of .other Departments. The gross amount paid out was £16,913,018, made up of £14,517,417 Departmental, and on behalf of other Departments : to individual £1,913,159 and to accounts £482,422. The total gross receipts and payments were therefore £33.847,396. Filty-thrce po^t offices were established and 16 closed. The number of post offices open at the end of the year was 1844. Two hundred and sixty-seven thousand rune hundred and seventy-four inland parcels were posted during the year, and 17,577 parcels were exchanged with the United Kingdom. The declared value of parcels received from places outside the colony in 1903 was £151,236. The Customs duty collected amounted to £32,739. The declared value of parcels despatched to places beyond the colony was £20,814 as against £16,313 in 1902. The number of regibterod articles dualt with in 1903 was 632,299, and the number of unclaimed articles 229,149. Three hundred and ninety-six thousand three hundred and twelve monej orders were issued for £1,416.224, as compared with 367,207 for £1,277,069 in 1902, an increase of 20,105 in number and £139,165 in amount. Three hundred and four thousand one hundred and six money orders, amounting to «C 1,224,512 wore paid, as trains,! 286,612 for £1,117,137 during IDO2 — an increase of 17,484 orders and £107,704. There wore 54,933 telegraph nioney orders issued fcr £187,172, as compared with 49.230 orders for £152,407 in 1902, an increase of 5703 in number and £30,065 in amount. Sixteen offices were opened during U»e year for the transaction of savings bank business, and four closed. iTheiv were 493 offices open at the end of 1903. Fifty - seven thousand and forty - 'seven accounts wcrtopencd and 49,837 closed. The number of depositors on the. 31st DccomI or \\as 2-1-3.675, and the proportion of accounts per head of population !was 1 in 3.12, as compared with lin 3.51 at the end of the previous year. Deposits numbered 444,510, representing £5,661,597, an average of £12 14.^ 9d per transaction. • The withdrawals numbered 301,076 for £5.343,828, a» average of £17 Jos for each withdrawal. The not amount added by the depositors to their savings during tho year was therefore £317.76-1, plus £187.130 interest earned and credited, making a total of £50-1,804. The total amount at credit of depositors increased from £6,?8'}.757 at the close* of the previous year to £7,358,681 on the 31st December last, representing c. \ sum equal to £9 Os 2d per head of the entire population and £30 6s 5d to each depositor. Last year the figures were £8 10s 5d and £30 5s 3d respectively. Cheques may now be accepted as deposits to Savings Bank accounts provided they do not exceed tho total amount of tho deposit. Cheques drawn by local bodies may also he cashed on the local body indemnifying the post office against loss tirising from forgery, fraudulent alteration, or any other cause. At isolated places whore no bank agency exists arrangements may be made whereby cheques aggregating to a fixed amount, if drawn by well-known firms and settlers, may be accepted by postmasters, provided tho bank on which the cheques iiro drawn guarantees to honour them up to an amount to bo determined between tho drawer, tho bank, and tho post ofner. Seven hundred and seven thousand and forty-four notes, of the value of C 220,(169. were sold, us airuii^t 616/261 for CHUHH sold durmi r the previous year. The postal notes paid numbered 70-J.Olji. of the value of £210,312, as compared with dW.liil. of the value of C 190,374, paid during 1903-3. Inland muMs.— Tho ffcnoml re-lotting, of contracts for 1901-6 took placo at tho end of 1903. The accepted tendors for the services under tho now oontracts totalled £50.525, «s against £«J6,030 for tho last year of the pre-ceding-trionnium. This being- the first occasion on which the services have been re-let since the passing of "The Workers' Compensation For Accidents Act, 1900," all contracts have been made subject to tho provisions of that Act. In the case of: coach services on the principal tourist routes, several additions have been made to tho conditions of contrnct. Tt is now required that thorough-brace coaches shall be used, that cushions covered with suitable water-proof material for each seu.t and water-proof rugs for outside passengers shall bo providod, and that luggage- up to at least 281 bin woioht for each passenger shall be carried froo. The maximum rates are !nlf-o! nlf-o fixed f"r ovophh hitrgo^o, and for passengers' fares and box scats.

The San Francisco mail service tern porary six months' agreement, men tioned in the previous year's report expired in November last, and the ser 5 a ice has been renewed for three years from the 10th November, 1903, in ac cordance with the resolutions passec by the House of Representatives on tlu 13 Lh idem. The service has been performed during- the year without not able incident. There were several late departures and arrivals, but the con tractors were not entirely responsible for these. Vancouver service negotiations are still pending. In respect to this service there is now a reasonable prospect of the Government being able to arrange for the service to embrace Now Zealand. Further correspondence has taken place with the Union Steamship Company re an inter-colonial service. The Company has made more reasonable proposals, but it has been deemed advisable not to enter into any .arrangement for a regular connection with the Federal service, in view of the prospect of the colony obtaining an alternative mail line via Vancouver. The total value of the telegraph and tol'ejxhone business fur the year ended the 31 at March last (including miscellaneous tcloqraph receipts and Government telegrams) was £261,9-11 6s G|d, as compared with £248,935 for the previous year, an increase of £13.006, or 5.22 per cent. The telegraph receipts for the financial year (including telephone exchange subscriptions, private wire rents, etc.) amounted to £237,5(31, compared with £222,494 in 1902-3, an increase of eiS,OG9, or G. 77 per cent. The expenditure was £255,863, as against £228,367 for the previous year, e.n increase of £27,497, or 12.04 per cent. The increase is largely due to the Pacific cable subsidy. The total number of telograph and telephone offices open at the close of the year was 1153. Of these 161 wore telegraph ofliees and 592 telephone offices. The number of telegrams of all codes forwarded during last financial year was 4,905,197, an increase of 405.893, or 8.00 per cent, over 1902-3. Three hundred and sixty-four thousand eight hundred and sixty press telegrams, of the value of £15,115, ' were forwarded in 3903-1, as compared with 374,045, valued at £11,750. forwarded in 19023, a decrease of 9185, or 2.46 per cent, in number and an increase of 2.48 per cent, in value. The bureau messages numbered 526,594, of the value of £12,148, as compared with 371,918, of the value of £10,772, an increase of 154,646 in number and £]376 in amount. The number of Government telegrams forwarded was 293,294, valued at £24,377, as compared with 288.086, of the value of £26,440, an increase of 5207 in number and a decrease of £2063 in amount. Fifty-four thousand nine hundred 1 , and thirty-three money' orders for £187,47*2 were transmitted by tele, graph, as against 49,230- for £rs2*4o?' in 1902-3, an increase of 5703 .telegrams. Fifty-eight telephone offices Were opened and eight closed, making the number open on the 31st March, 1904, 1153. ' The great improvement in the telegraph and cable services, coupled with the reduction in the cost of cabling, due to the inauguration of the Pacific cable, has materially popularised the] cable system, as may be gathered from the fact that the colony's cable busi-| ness increased 25 per cent during the. year. The average time of trans-, mission of cable messages generally; has further improved. Messages from the United. Kingdom via the Pacificfrequently reach the colony within thirty-seven minutes of the time of presentation, and from America and some of the Australian States well under fifteen and tan minutes respectively. New Zealand's proportion of the deficit of £90,518 4s 3d on line first year's working of the Pacific cable/ amounted to £10,057 11s 7d. Against this, the colony secured an improved over-sea cable service, and the users of the cables saved over £50,000 a year. The relatively large deficiency gave rise to comment, but the position is not serious, when it is remembered that* besides ordinary items of expenditure usually charged against the cable working expenses a terminable annuity payment of £77,545 a year is made, which not only provides for interest,; but also for sinking fund as well, which in fifty years will repay th^ whole of' the £2,000,000 sunk in the cable. In addition, there is a cable reserve fund of £25,000 a year for the purpose of replacing the- original, cable, if necessary, in forty years. A conference of delegates representing the Pacific cable partners to be held in London shortly in reference to the Commonwealth's agreement with the Eastern Extensiou Telegraph Company, and other important matters affecting the Pacific cable. Among, questions for consideration is one to be submitted by this Government— that local honorary boards should be appointed in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, to whom representatives of the Board would look for advice in the matter of canvassing and business, matters generally. Sir Snndford Fleming, formerly Engineor-in-Cliief of the Canadian Railways, who has taken a marked interest in "the Pacific cable will represent this Government at thiw conference. / Twelve new telephoue exchanges wore opened during the year and 1472 new subscribers were added to the exchanges throughout the colony, bringing the total connections to 12.105, an increase of 11 per cent, for the year. Of the total increase 701 were added at the four chief centres. In consequence of the errowtli of larger exchanges, and the introduction of electric tramways in the four principal centres, the installation of metallic circuits has I icon decided upon to eliminate the cross-talk and induction from the