NEW RECORDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 180, 31 July 1936, Page 3

NEW RECORDS

SAVINGS BANK AND , TELEPHONES i i POST OFFICE RECOVERS LOST s BUSINESS. f ■ ELLINGTON, July 29. “Resi-orauon of business activity j and confidence after the recenc . years of depression has been demonj strated in a marked degree in two of the most important branches of j the Post Office, its savings bank de- , posits and the volume of its teie- . phone business,” stated the Post-master-General (Hon. F. Jones), in ■ an interview to-day. "Practically the ! whole course of the last economic depression,” he continued, "can be t traced in the fluctuations of the telei phone branch of the department. Im- - mediately business activity began to 1 be retarded there was a curtailment - of t dephone toll calls, as this was an i expenditure which could be control- . led by the department’s customers i from day to day. Telephone exchange - connections could not be so quickly : reduced, but in due course the down- ’ ward movement was felt. Here the : department had reached a peak in : the number of telephone subscribers : in December, 1930, with a total of i 132,855 connections, but from that ’ date month by month the total de- ' clined until in July, 1933, the lowest ■ point was reached of 121,061 sub--1 scribers. An improvement commenced to show itself in 1934 with a net ■ gain of 2237 subscribers in the year, and this healty movement has con- ' tinued at an accelerating rate ever since, with the result that in a telephone sense the Post Office expects to I completely recover its former position within a few months at the most, as will be seer, from the following comparison of the total number of telephone subscribers at the highest point (December, 1930) and the total on June 30 last. The highest point in 1930 was 132,855, and on. June 30, 19u6, 131,165. “It is only necessary to obtain 1691 subscribers to reach a total in excess of the highest in the department's experience, and as the net gains of subscribers in the past three months total 1963, there is a reasonable expectation that the old pea peak will be passed in September at the latest. “I have referred so far to the position covering the whole Dominion, but when the details of it are examined it is found that in a large number of centres there has already been complete recovery of the lost position. A return showing the number of connections at the 33 principal exchanges in the Dominion on June 30, 1936, compared with the previous peak point of December, 1930, discloses the highly reassuring information that 16 of these have passed their previous highest point in the number of subscribers and that a | satisfactory proportion of the remainder are nearly in the same position, "The exchanges which have alreadyachieved complete recovery from depression losses are as follow: Auckland, subscribers December, 1930, 15,831, subscribers June, 1936, 16,901; Christchurch, 9316, 9443; Dunedin, 6581, 6610; Hamilton, 2639, 2668; Invercargill, 2261, 2381; New Plymouth, 1794, 1868; Nelson, 1466, 1539; Whangarei, 1275, 1284; Oamaru, 1019, . 1079; Stratford, 783, 830; Gore, 716, 810; Te Awamutu, 884, 898; Morrins- , ville, 727, 746; Greymouth, 666, 775; ; Tauranga, 544, 639; Thames, 427, 433. Savings Bank Deposits. j "The recovery of the Post Office 1 Savings Bank deposits is equally re- . markable,” continued the Postmaster. General. The experiences of this 1 branch during the depression showed how thoroughly it was utilised by ■ thrifty New Zealanders in making provision for a rainy day. Although there was a large volume of deposit ' business throughout the worst period of economic stress, withdrawals were ■ higher until in the year ended March, : 1932, they reached the highest point i of excess over deposits to the extent : of just over £6 000,000. A slight improvement was shown in the position > in 1933 and the balance swung com-

pletely over to excess of deposits in 1934 and 1935, while tne experience of the past financial year was a very satisfactory one, the total deposits to credit of all open accounts (inclusive of added interest) to March 31 being £53,830,240.