POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR 1948-49

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1949 Session I, F-01

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1949 NEW ZEALAND ■

POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR 1948-49

Presented to Both Houses the General Assembly by Command of ' His Excellency

To His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Cyril Freybersr V.C., G.C.M.G., K.C.B, K.8.E., D.S.O. May it Please Your Excellency,— I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year ended the 31st March, 1949. I have the honour to be, Your Excellency's most obedient servant, F. HACKETT. General Post Office, Wellington C. 1, 18th July, 1949.

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FINANCIAL The revenue for the year ended the 31st March, 1949, was £9,519,652. Payments in respect of working-expenses (including interest on capital liability amounting to £659,045) totalled £9,877,525. The excess of payments over receipts was £357,873. But, as the payments included capital expenditure, as well as payments for renewals, it is expected that, after allowing for reserves, there will be a small profit on the year's operations. A detailed Statement of Receipts and Payments in respect of the working of the Post Office is shown in the Appendix (Table No. 1). STAFF STAFFING POSITION In common with other employers, the Post Office continued to. encounter difficulties during the year arising from labour shortage. While there does not seem to be any immediate prospect of appreciable improvement, there are signs of a gradual easing of the situation. There is no doubt that immigration is helping in a limited way to alleviate the position. Staff shortages are most acute at Auckland and Wellington and in a few other districts where major telephone extension works are being undertaken or are contemplated. An important factor in the Auckland and Wellington situation is the dearth of living-accommodation, especially for shift-workers, and this lack has necessitated the Post Office providing hostels for its staff. Approximately 650 officers are accommodated in departmental hostels, the majority at Wellington, where local recruitment efforts yield little or no results. While the rate of turnover of Post Office staff cannot be viewed with equanimity, there was, nevertheless, a net increase in total staff during the year. Although the Department's staff turnover is higher than in pre-war years, the latest figures, which represent 7 per cent, of the total, compare more than favourably with those in outside industry where much higher percentages can be noted from official surveys. PERSONNEL Comparative Return op Persons Employed in the Department ~ , , n, 31st March, 31st March, Permanent staff— :]94B> 7 1949. Administrative . . . . . . . 15 15 First Division . . . . . . 5,217 5,432 Second Division . . . . . . 5,710 6,298 10,942 ' 11,745 Temporary and casual staff • . • . 4,803 4,532 *15,745 f 16,277 Non-classified staff — Postmistresses and assistants .. .. 221 226 Non-permanent staff— Country postmasters and telephonists . . 1,199 1,187 Railway officers . . .. .. .. 75 72 17,240 17,762

* Includes 93 serving with Armed Forces. t Includes 4 serving with Armed Forces.

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Officers With Armed Services, or on Special Leave , at ' t Jj e 31st March there were only four Post Office employees still with the Armed Services. Five others have not yet resumed duty owing to injury or protracted illness contracted while serving with the Forces. There are also 18 returned servicemen absent on special leave without pay who are trying other forms of employment. POST AND TELEGRAPH STAFF TRIBUNAL General Increase in Salaries The Post and Telegraph Staff Tribunal sat in December, 1948, and again m February, 1949, under the chairmanship of Judge W. F. Stilwell, to consider wage and salary claims of Post Office employees. The Tribunal announced its decisions on the 9th March, 1949, and these provided, with some exceptions, for the following general wage increases for all departmental employees, permanent and temporary:— (1) £22 if paid on an annual basis, (2) 2|d. an hour if paid on an hourly basis. (3) Bs. 4d. a week if paid on a weekly basis. The exceptions were those employees to whom lesser increases were granted as follows: (a) Employees whose salaries did not exceed £lB5 per annum: an increase of £lO per annum. (b) Employees whose salaries exceeded £lB5 per annum but did not exceed £275 per annum: an increase of £l5 per annum. (c) Temporary employees receiving hourly or weekly rates of pay, which when computed on an annual basis fell within the salary ranges set out in (a) and (&) : an increase of either Id. or an hour or 3s. 4d. or ss. a week as the case might be. (d) Temporary female office cleaners: a pro rata weekly increase, based on a rate of 2|d. ah hour, in accordance with the number of hours worked of the full working-week of forty hours. The increased rates were approved by Government and operated from the Ist July, 1948. PROMOTIONS Further steps were taken during the year to implement more fully the Department's improved grading set-up, and arising from the action taken additional promotions were arranged. The Department has followed its traditional practice of obtaining, in the main, its First Division staff by promotion from the Second Division. During the year some 343 such promotions were made. In addition, some cadets were .recruited direct from secondary schools. APPEAL BOARD Two sittings of the Appeal Board were held during the year, one in AprilMay and the other in October-December. At the two sittings 802 appeals lodged by 226 appellants were adjudicated upon, and the following decisions made: allowed, 21; allowed by consent, 19; withdrawn, 220; did not lie 12 • disallowed, 530. In fourteen of the disallowed appeals the Board recommended that increased grading should be granted by the DeDartment.

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STAFF TRAINING During the year tuition was continued at the several departmental training schools. In all, about 594 employees passed through the schools during the year. All study courses for departmental examinations formerly issued to servicemen through the Army Education and Welfare Service have been revised, and these, together with eight new ones, are now available through the Post Office Correspondence School to all officers requiring them. Altogether sixteen technical and sixteen non-technical courses have been provided. The total enrolments for the year were 1,348 students for technical courses and 1,108 for non-technical courses. HEALTH OF STA^F The following table shows the average number of days on which employees were absent on sick-leave during the years ended the 31st March, 194S and 1949

Average Absences

The death during the year of 36 officers is recorded with regret. During the year an Industrial Nurse was appointed to the staff of the General Post Office. This forward step brings the Post Office into line with the best practice in the consideration of the health interests of large staffs of employees. The nurse will, in addition to her practical duties of attending to sick and injured officers, have the function of studying and reporting on the general hygienic conditions under which departmental officers work. STAFF WELFARE ORGANIZATION Functions of Staff Welfare Officers Staff Welfare Officers are now functioning in all offices and branches of the Department on a full-time or part-time basis, as the case warrants. Their function is largely to deal with problems affecting individual members of the staff which can best be dealt with on a personal basis rather than through official channels. They provide a measure of vocational guidance to junior officers; help in endeavours to solve accommodation problems of officers; take a personal interest in cases of sickness; and encourage social, recreational, and cultural activities amongst officers. Staff Welfare Fund The membership of the Staff Welfare Fund is now 11,500, an increase of approximately 1,500 during the year. The Fund is filling an important need in providing comforts and domestic help in cases of sickness, in giving financial aid in cases of illness or other misfortune, and in providing holiday cottages for the use of members. No fewer than 1,100 officers and their families have availed themselves of this holiday accommodation since the Fund was established in 1945.

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Year Ended 31st March, Each Sick Employee. Each Sick Employee, Excluding Long-term Absences of Over Eighty Days. Each Person Employed. Each Person Employed, Excluding Long-term Absences of Over Eighty Days. 1948 Days. Days. | Days. Days. Men .. 12-30 8-65 6-15 4-27 Women 13-23 9-72 7-85 5-70 1949 Men .. 11-87 8-25 6-21 4-26 Women 13-44 10-08 8-28 6-15 . : ,

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SUGGESTIONS BOARD The number of suggestions received during the year was 209, and 47 were adopted or partly adopted. The most meritorious suggestions were rewarded monetarily, a sum of £l6l 10s. being paid to 38 officers. POSTAL SERVICES Notwithstanding a shortage of trained personnel, mail and other postal services have been improved considerably during the past twelve months. At many places additional mail-exchanges have been introduced, both by air and surface means, and faster transmission of surface letter-mails has been arranged by making use of road motor services. In accordance with the policy of assisting in the development of rural areas, the Department has extended many rural mail-services and introduced a number of new ones. In addition, the frequency of some rural deliveries has been increased. It will not be possible for many years to achieve the ideal of postal service to the gate of every household; nevertheless, no opportunity is being lost in the meantime to extend rural deliveries where the need exists and reasonable arrangements can be made for their operation. In pursuance of the policy of providing as far as possible for a house-to-house delivery of correspondence, the Department has taken steps to establish postmen's deliveries at some of the smaller country places not hitherto provided with this Nine such deliveries have recently been established, and many extensions to existing deliveries, incorporating new housing areas, have been authorized. Unfortunately, shortage of staff has prevented the inauguration of some services that are justified—for example, the restoration of the night clearance of correspondence from street receiving-boxes in the Auckland metropolitan area. Every effort is being made to overcome these difficulties. For the number of letters and other articles posted during the year seeTable No. 3 in Appendix. INLAND AIR MAILS The total weight of letters carried by air within New Zealand during the twelve months ended the 31st March, 1949, was 338,568 lb. Of "this weight, approximately half consisted of outgoing or incoming overseas air-mail. In addition, 77,607 parcels were carried. Services generally were considerably improved during the year. Many were increased in frequency, and a new service connecting Rotorua and Hamilton with the Trunk service was inaugurated on the 27th September. The serviee to Greymouth, which was suspended on the Ist October, 1947, Qwing to lack of adequate aerodrome facilities, was restored on the 9th August, 1948, by using smaller aircraft. Calls at Gisborne, which were suspended on tlje 14th May, 1948, on account of flood damage at the aerodrome, were resumed on the 20th December. The National Airways Corporation plane " Kereru " which crashed near Waikanae on the 18th March while in flight between Whenuapai and Paraparaumu carried 70 lb. of mail (including 26 lb. of parcels) from Auckland for Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, and the West Coast. With the exception of 3 lb. of letters for Wellington and | lb. of letters for Hokitika, all the mail was destroyed by fire.

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INLAND SURFACE MAILS Extension of Facilities During the year arrangements were made for the restoration of the evening: clearance of posting-boxes in the Wellington city and suburban areas. The restored clearance covers a wider area "than formerly and now includes Lower Hutt, Petone, and Johnsonville. Auckland is the only centre where it has not yet been possible to restore the evening clearance. There, although every effort has been made to overcome the difficulty, a continued staff shortage has so far prevented the restoration of this service. As a measure of relief an additional mail, closing at 5 p.m., is made up at all post-offices in Auckland city and environs, but restoration of the evening clearance continues to be the Department's aim. The use of newspaper delivery cars for the conveyance of evening postings of letters has been considerably extended. By this means letters posted up to--8 p.m. at the chief office in each of the four main centres are delivered in district centres by the first postman's delivery the following morning. Such mailservices have been established between Auckland and Whangarei, Auckland and Tauranga, Auckland and Rotorua, Wellington and New Plymouth, Wellington, and Napier, Christchurch and Timaru, and Dunedin and Oamaru. New postmen's deliveries were" established during the year at Taupo, Brighton, Macandrew Bay, Broad Bay, Portobello, Nightcaps, Darfield, Waiau' and Wainuiomata. In addition, numerous extensions to existing deliveries, to serve new housing areas, were made. Mail-service Contracts The contracts covering the performance of inland mail-services in the Gisborne, Masterton, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wanganui, and Wellington postal districts expired on the 30th September, 1948, and were relet during the year for a further term of three years from the Ist October, 1948. Rural Boxholders The number of rural boxholders continues to increase at a high rate, and on the 31st December, 1948, totalled 47,230, an increase of 3,658 on the figures for the previous year. The increase in the number of boxholders has been brought about largely by the extension of existing services and the institution of new deliveries in furtherance of the more liberal policy now operating. Window-envelopes Addressed in Pencil: Prohibition in Post An amendment to the Postal Regulations made in December provides for the return to senders of window-enveloped articles posted for inland transmission when addressed in lead pencil or copying-ink pencil. Similar articles posted for overseas transmission have been prohibited for many years, in accordance with the regulations of the Universal Postal Union, because of the difficulty in deciphering addresses. The amendment to the New Zealand postal regulations; brings the inland post provisions relating to these articles into conformity with the international provisions.

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MISSING POSTAL PACKETS During the year 7,987 complaints regarding the non-delivery of postal packets of all kinds were investigated by the Department. In 4,174 cases, or 52-25 per cent, of the total number, the articles were traced or accounted for satisfactorily. These cases may be summarized as follows: Sender responsible for delay .. .. .. 1,233 Addressee responsible for delay . . .. . . 1,079 Post Office responsible for delay .. .. .. 468 No delay, or responsibility not fixed .. .. 1,394 In 3,813 cases, representing 0-00119 per cent, of the total number of articles posted, the manner of disposal of the postal packets could not be determined. POSTAGE-STAMPS A separate series of postage-stamps for the Tokelau Islands (a group of Islands about 200 miles north of Samoa and formerly known as the Union Islands) was placed on sale on the 22nd June, 1948. Prior to that date the Tokelau Islands had used the stamps of Western Samoa. The series comprised three denominations, |d., Id., and 2d., featuring, respectively, a village scene at Atafu, a hut at Nukunono, and a village scene at Fakaofo. The stamps were designed by Mr. J. Berry, of Wellington, and were printed in two colours by Messrs. Bradbury, Wilkinson, and Co., Ltd., New Maiden, England. Remaining stocks of the New Zealand Peace stamps were withdrawn from issue on the 30th June, 1948, as were the Peace stamps of the denominations Id., 2d., 6d., and Bd. overprinted for use in Niue, Cook Islands, and Western Samoa. The Otago Centennial stamps were withdrawn from sale on the 31st July, 1948. At many post-offices stocks had been exhausted before that date. The usual two denominations of Health stamps (2d. plus Id. and Id. plus -Jd.) were issued on the Ist October, 1948. The design was prepared by an artist employed by Messrs. Bradbury, Wilkinson, and Co., Ltd., New Maiden, England, and the stamps were printed by that firm. Sales amounted to £111,406, of which amount one-third, together with donations amounting to £l2B, collected by the Post Office, was paid to the New Zealand Federation of Health Camps. To commemorate the projected visit to New Zealand of Their Majesties the King and Queen and Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret it was proposed to issue early in 1949 a set of four postage-stamps of the denominations 2d., 3d., 5d., and 6d. The selected designs, which bore the lettering " Royal Visit 1949," were as under: — 2d. Treaty House at Waitangi. 3d. H.M.S. " Vanguard.' * sd. A group portrait of Their Majesties the King and Queen and H.R.H. Princess Margaret. 6d. The Crown and Royal Sceptre. The three first-mentioned designs were drawn by Mr. J. Berry, of ■Wellington, and the fourth by Mr. L. C. -Mitchell, also of Wellington. The stamps were printed by Messrs. Waterlow and Sons, London, by the intaglio process. In consequence of the postponement of the Royal tour, the issuance of these stamps was withheld. Their disposal will be a matter for decision at & later stage. The 6d. l< Express Delivery " stamp was withdrawn from sale on the 30th June, 1948. Stocks had become exhausted, and as the Express Delivery service had been abolished in December, 1941 (except for the transmission of urgent pathological specimens addressed to hospitals), further printings were considered unnecessary.

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The 6d. National Savings stamp was withdrawn from, sale on the 30th June, 1948. The only denomination of Thrift stamps (Id.) was withdrawn from sale on the 31st August, 1948. These stamps were issued in conjunction with the School Savings-bank scheme. OVERSEAS POSTAGE-RATES: REDUCTIONS AND ADJUSTMENTS Following upon Government's decision to bring the New Zealand exchangerate to parity with sterling, reductions were made, with effect from the 4th October, 1948, in certain overseas air-mail rates and in the rates charged on parcels for the United Kingdom. The main reductions were as follows: Air-mail letters for— United Kingdom and British countries Each half-ounce. in Europe and Africa . . . . Reduced from Is. 6d. to Is. 3d. Foreign countries in Europe, Africa, and Middle East . . . . .. Reduced from Is. 9d. to Is. 6d. India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Burma, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . Reduced from Is. 6d. to Is. Od. Indonesia, Malaya, Borneo . . . . Reduced from Is. 6d. to 9d. Canada and U.S.A. (by Pan-American service) . . . . . . Reduced from 2s. Od. to Is. 6d. Canada and U.S.A. (by B.C.P.A. service) Reduced from Is. 6d. to Is. 3d. Air letter-cards— For all destinations . . . . . . Reduced from Bd. to 6d. Parcels for United Kingdom— Weighing up to 3 lb. .. . . Reduced from 2s. Od. to Is. 9d. Exceeding 3 lb., but not exceeding 7 lb. Reduced from 3s. 4d. to 3s. Id. Exceeding 7 lb., but not exceeding 11 lb. Reduced from 4s. 6d. to 4s. 3d. Exceeding 11 lb., but not exceeding 22 lb. Reduced from 7s. Od. to 6s. 9d. The Universal Postal Union Convention fixes certain weight and postage rate scales for surface letters, printed papers, commercial papers, samples, and small packets transmitted in the international postal service. New Zealand is a member of the Universal Postal Union, and it was necessary during the year to bring New Zealand rates into conformity with the rates and scales fixed by the Paris Convention. This entailed making slight adjustments in some postagerates, and the necessary amendment to the Postal Regulations was made on the 7th July, 1948. In all cases the adjustments were concerned with weight modifications. A consequential adjustment entailed an alteration from a half"ounce to one ounce in the succeeding weight step for inland surface letters and surface letters for British countries. A further change made by the regulation was the application of the foreign rate to letters for Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan, and Burma, countries which up to that time had enjoyed the Empire rate. OVERSEAS AIR MAILS Trans-Tasman Service During the year the weight of mail despatched from New Zealand by the trans-Tasman service was 128,889 lb. In the reverse direction, the weight of mail was 210,510 lb.

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Except during the period February—June, when the operating company found it necessary to ground its flying-boats in order to make certain technical adjustments, a daily service was maintained. During the period February—June the service was maintained, on a restricted schedule, by land planes specially chartered by the company; and, even after the flying-boats resumed, the daily service was supplemented by additional trips performed by the land-plane charters. Mails received by the land planes normally arrived at Whenuapai in the morning and made close connection with planes engaged in the inland services plying to southern centres. Air mails for southern offices arriving at Auckland by flying-boat in the afternoon were given onward despatch either by the Limited express to .Wellington the same evening or by plane the following morning. Empire Service The thrice-weekly air service between Sydney and London operated regularly throughout the year. The Lancastrian planes which have figured prominently in the operation of this service in recent years have now been replaced by Constellation planes. The weight of air-mail correspondence from New Zealand despatched by the Empire air service during the year was 59,222 lb. The total weight of New Zealand inward mail was 94,514 lb. Trans-Pacific Services Full use was made during the year of the British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines service-operating between Sydney (and Auckland) and Vancouver, and of the Pan-American service plying between Auckland and San Francisco. Until February the British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines service maintained a fortnightly direct service from Auckland, but, by using the National Airways weekly service to Fiji and the Tasman service to Sydney, additional mail connections were made with B.C.P.A. planes departing from Sydney. In February, however, the direct service from Auckland was increased from fortnightly _ to weekly, and with this change the flying-time was eonsiderably reduced, with the result that mails closing in Auckland at 9 a.m. on Tuesday are now received in San Francisco on Wednesday at 9.40 a.m. (American time). Although under the existing time-table a connection with the planes from Sydney cannot now be made at Fiji, a mail closing on Thursday is being despatched each Friday morning by the Tasman service to connect with a B.C.P.A. plane leaving Sydney every Saturday and arriving at San Francisco on Sunday. Pan-American World Airways operated a scheduled weekly service until the end of January, but, commencing with the first flight in February, a new schedule, providing for two flights each week froiji Auckland, was introduced. At the same time,"the North American terminal of the service was changed from San Francisco to Seattle. Mails from New Zealand, however, are offloaded at Honolulu and forwarded without delay to San Francisco by a connecting service. At the request of the United States Post Office, the New Zealand Post Office agreed to receive by the Pan-American service United States air parcel-mails in addition to letter-mails. The first air parcel-mail was received in New Zealand on the 22nd September. The service is at present operating only in the direction U.S.A. to New Zealand, but the question of the conveyance as a general practice of post-parcels and <£ other articles " on overseas air-mail services is being investigated. The weight of air-mail letters despatched by the trans-Pacific services for the year ended the 31st March was 13,942 lb.

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Services to Pacific Islands The air services between Auckland and Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga, and Norfolk Island were operated regularly throughout the year by planes of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation. By these planes there are flights three times a fortnight to Fiji, weekly to Norfolk Island, and fortnightly to the other Island destinations. Air-mails for Fiji were also conveyed by the direct Auckland-Vancouver service of the British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines which calls at Nadi, Fiji, and on occasions also by Tasman flying-boats Auckland to Sydney to connect with services from Sydney to Fiji. The weights of air-mails to the places mentioned, despatched during the year ended the 31st March, were as follows: Fiji, 5,312 lb.; Samoa, 1,714 lb. - Cook Islands, 1,369 lb.; Tonga, 654 lb.; and Norfolk Island, 887 lb. OVERSEAS SURFACE MAILS Owing to the increasing preference shown by the public for the air-mail, the volume of overseas letter-mail forwarded by surface transport has continued to decline. Surface mails now consist chiefly of commercial papers, newspapers, &c., and parcels. With the resumption of the " Aorangi" in the Auckland-Vancouver service, and of the " Aorangi," the " Monowai," and the " Wanganella " in the New Zealand - Sydney service, the regularity of overseas mail despatches has been very considerably improved. To North America, however, in the intervals between sailings of the " Aorangi," it has been necessary to rely on cargo vessels plying at irregular intervals to North American Pacific and Atlantic coast ports, and even on occasions to arrange for the reshipment at the Panama Canal of mails from United-Kingdom-bound vessels. Sailings of passenger and cargo vessels to the United Kingdom have been frequent, and no difficulty has been experienced in disposing of all mails offering. Regular sea services have been maintained to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands, with frequent sailings to the French Settlements of Oceania (Papeete and Makatea) and to Nauru and Ocean Islands. Gift Parcels for United Kingdom and Europe The volume of gift parcels for the United Kingdom and Europe, which continued to increase until August last, has decreased since then. In the past few months the falling off in postings has been appreciable. The number of parcels posted for the year ended the 31st March, 1949, was 1,203,052, weighing 11,954,215 lb., compared with 1,290,195, weighing 12,266,363 lb., for the previous year. During the year the New Zealand Post Office agreed to a. proposal put forward by the British Post Office that food (and soap) parcels which could not be delivered at the original address, or at the alternative address if one was given, be held for three months, and then if not claimed handed over to charitable institutions and needy persons in the United Kingdom. This action is not taken, however, in cases in which the sender has directed that the parcel be returned in the event of non-delivery. Previously all food parcels unclaimed at the original address or at the alternative address if one was given were returned to the senders in New Zealand. TELEGRAPH SERVICES (INLAND) During the past year the telegraph service functioned smoothly, and, in general, the time taken in the transmission and delivery of messages showed a steady improvement. In the provincial centres particularly, where staff

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shortages are not so acute as in the metropolitan areas, a very satisfactory -delivery service was maintained. Increasing, use was made during the year of the telephone in disposing of messages. This service is very acceptable to telephone subscribers in that it reduces the delay appreciably. It is pleasing to note that the number of telegrams handled during the year showed a small increase compared with the previous year (see Table No. 4 in Appendix). MACHINE-PRINTING TELEGRAPHS The policy of the Post Office in the development of the telegraph service follows closely the world-wide trend towards the use of modern machine-printing telegraph systems and voice-frequency telegraph circuits. Wherever warranted, existing machine-printing facilities will be extended and new installations provided as soon as the necessary equipment now on order comes to hand from overseas. On the 27th November, 1948, a direct machine-printing press circuit was established between Wellington, Hamilton, and Whangarei. On the 21st September, 1948, Gisborne was converted from Murray Multiplex to Creed teleprinter working, resulting in greater flexibility in the machineprinting facilities at that office. CONVERSION TO MORSE WORKING AT SMALLER OFFICES The improvement of facilities for the handling of traffic at the smaller offices has been continued by the conversion to Morse working of thirty offices which formerly disposed of their telegraph traffic by telephone. FACSIMILE TELEGRAPH SYSTEM A facsimile telegraph circuit has been under trial between a Wellington suburban office and the Central Telegraph Office, primarily for the purpose of gaining practical experience in the operation of such apparatus. The equipment reproduces at the receiving end ©n specially-prepared paper a facsimile of the telegram handed in by the sender. PRIVATE PICTURE-TRANSMISSION SERVICE The Department has agreed to allow private picture-transmission services to be operated over toll circuits. The picture transmitting and receiving equipment, which will be privately owned, will be connected with toll circuits as required. The charges for the use of the Department's toll circuits will be in accordance with the ruling rate for toll calls, plus a small setting-up fee. TELEPHONE-EXCHANGE SERVICES The year 1948-49 has been one of very substantial progress in the telephone field despite the shortage of skilled labour and the many difficulties that continued to be encountered in obtaining supplies of equipment and line material. Never before were so many new subscribers connected in one year. Altogether 21,067 new subscribers were joined up. After allowing for relinquishments of service, the net increase in subscribers was 15,788, as compared with the previous year's •record achievement of 12,999. During the year particular attention was given to telephone development in rural areas. Six additional exchanges were opened providing service for some 695 subscribers, while the number of subscribers connected with existing exchanges serving country areas was greatly increased. The establishment of

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new exchanges in country areas consumes large quantities of poles and wire, and many thousands of man-hours of skilled labour are required. Each new exchange is a major undertaking and makes large inroads into the available supplies of material and labour. Shortage of poles continues to be the main difficulty so far as the development of the rural telephone service is concerned both for new exchanges and for new lines at existing exchanges. Australia supplies the bulk of the poles used by the Post Office, but all sources of supply are exploited. Every effort is made to obtain increasing quantities of poles from New Zealand sources. These are principally silver-pine poles, but include also treated softwoods and concrete poles. In city and town areas served by automatic exchanges large numbers of new subscribers have been given service, mainly as a consequence of improvization in the way of installing temporary manual exchanges. These improvizations, while permitting the connection of urgently-needed telephones, have had the effect of adding to the congestion of already over-loaded switching-equipment'. This results in delay in obtaining dialling and ringing tones at busy calling periods. However, it was thought better to accept some deterioration of the service rather than refuse altogether to connect any further new subscribers. The key to the problem is more automatic switching-equipment, and this matter continues to receive the closest attention. Already equipment for new exchanges and for extensions to existing exchanges is beginning to arrive in the country, but the task facing the Post Office is one of great magnitude. Before the work of installing the switching-equipment can commence many new buildings and extensions to existing premises will be required, while much labour and huge quantities of material will be absorbed in new reticulation work. It must be some years, therefore, before the growing waiting-list for telephone connections is completely liquidated. During the year new automatic exchanges were received from overseas for Lower Hutt, Nelson, and New Plymouth, and additions were made to the automatic exchanges at Dannevirke, Hawera, Marton, South Dunedin, and Stratford. The new Lower Hutt automatic exchange to leplace the present smaller system will be brought into operatioli about the end of August, 1949. The New Plymouth automatic exchange to replace the existing manual system is now being installed in rented premises and should be ready for operation in March, 1950. The building to house the Nelson automatic exchange is now being erected. NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS . During the year the number of telephone subscribers increased from 222,504 to 238,292, or 7-1 per cent., compared with the previous year's increase of 6-2 per cent. (See also Table No. 6in Appendix.) The following table shows the annual increase in subscribers since the Ist April, 1946, and the number of waiting applicants for telephone service at the end of each year during that period:—

Total net gain in subscribers since 31st March, 1945, 47,103.

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Year'TSnded 31st March. Number of Subscribers' Stations. Increase Over Previous Year. Percentage Increase. Number of Waiting Applicants.. 1945 .. 191,189 1946 .. 197,513 6 j 324 3-3 27]000 1947 209,505 11,992 6-7 34,800 1948 222,504 12,999 6-2 41,292 1949 .. 238,292 15,788 7-1 48,378

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Number of Applications for Telephone Service The number of people waiting for telephones continues to grow. At the 31st March, 1948, the number of waiting applicants was 41,292. This figure has now risen to 48,378, despite the fact that during the year 21,067 new subscribers were joined up. The demand for service to-day has no relation to the demand before the war. In the last decade the number of subscribers has increased by 80,687, or 51 per cent. The people of New Zealand have become particularly telephone conscious and are showing the same eagerness for telephone service as they are for electric power and other labour-saving amenities. There appears to be an almost inexhaustible field for telephone development in New Zealand. This unprecedented demand has necessitated a complete reorientation of ideas on future planning.

New and Pending Installations The following schedule indicates the new equipment installed during the year and that at present under installation to provide relief at the larger automatic exchanges:—

All the equipment for the new automatic exchange at Nelson is now on hand. The exchange building is in course of erection, and the work of installing the equipment will commence as soon as the building is ready. In the meantime a small extension is being made to the manual equipment to provide for urgent connections.

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Place. Capacity of Equipment Provided During Year. Capacity of Equipment Under Installation. Auckland Area— Subscribers. i Subscribers. *Ponsonby .. .. .. 900 *Tamaki .. .. .. 120 Three Kings 900 Christchureh area— *Lyttelton 150 *Riccarton 900 *Sumner 500 Dunedin Area— Andersons Bay 60 * Dunedin Central .. 1,500 * Ravensbourne 225 South Dunedin 440 Wellington Area— *Kilbirnie 1,125 f Lower Hutt .. 5,000 *Naenae 1,125 Other Centres — *Blenheim 600 Dannevirke 300 Gisborne 400 Hawera 300 Marton .. .. .. - .. 100 Napier 400 i'New Plymouth 4,800 *Oamaru .. 400 *Palmerston North 500 Stratford 300 Timaru 900 Whangarei 1,100 * This equipment is of a temporary nature and will later be replaced with new automatic switching equipment. f New exchange replacing existing exchange.

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New Exchanges Established During the year the undermentioned new telephone exchanges were opened:—

In addition, the Albany exchange in the Waitemata County was converted to rural automatic working giving service to 232 subscribers at the end of the year.

Proposed New Exchanges The following is a list of places at which it is proposed to install new telephone exchanges as the next phase of the development plan:—

It is also intended to convert the Orini exchange (Raglan County) and the "Waipahi exchange (Clutha County) to rural automatic working during the next twelve months. Although it is proposed that ultimately all the exchanges named in the foregoing list will be automatic, some will be established on a manual basis as a temporary measure until such time as automatic equipment comes to hand from overseas. The establishing of rural automatic exchanges is in accord with Government's policy of providing a twenty-four-hour telephone service throughout country areas. It is the intention to open automatic exchanges in many other country areas as soon as practicable, and the necessary preliminary surveys are now in hand. Altogether twenty-four rural automatic units have been received. Six have already been installed, five during the past twelve months and the remainder have been allocated to specific areas. Fifty more are on order and will begin coming to hand towards the end of the year. The housing and installation of these small automatic units presents few problems, but many hundreds of manhours and large quantities of line material are absorbed in reticulating a rural area by telephone cables and pole-lines to provide the circuits necessary to serve these relatively sparsely-populated districts, and the lack of staff and adequate supplies of poles are retarding factors.

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Place. County. Type of Exchange. Date Opened. Number of Subscribers as at 31st March, 1949. A h aura Becks Glen Murray Mangakino Oparau Tokoroa Grey Maniototo Raglan Taupo Kawhia Matamata Rural automatic Rural automatic Rural automatic Manual Rural automatic Manual 8th December, 1948 30th November, 1948 15th May, 1948 2nd August, 1948 .. 27th May, 1948 25th March, 1949 .. 91 57 96 115 88 248

Place. County. Place. County. Awhitu Donnellys Crossing .. Harihari Mount Maunganui .. Murupara Ohai Otira Franklin. Hobson. Westland. Tauranga. Whakatane. Wallace. Westland. Panetapu South. Hillend.. Te Pahu Wataroa Whitianga Whangamata .. Otorohanga. Southland Raglan. Westland. Coromandel. Thames.

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Extension of Existing Manual Exchanges Additional switchboard- equipment was installed at thirty-nine manuallyoperated exchanges to meet the demand for telephone service at the places concerned. It is interesting to note that since the war ended the number of subscribers at several manual exchanges has been doubled. Supplies of Equipment A great deal of automatic equipment is on order both for entirely new exchanges and for extending existing exchanges. The largest single order is for 26,000 lines of equipment for the Auckland metropolitan exchange area. Orders have also been placed for manual-exchange switchboards to provide for some 29,400 new lines. In addition, large quantities of both automatic and manual telephones, private branch exchange equipment, &c., are under order, and deliveries are coming to hand. The approximate value of equipment and material associated with the development of the telephone service on order is £6,000,000. Of this, £3,500,000 represent", expenditure for switching equipment and £2,500,000 for cable, wire, and poles. TOLLS Although the Department is to a great extent pre-occupied with plans for providing telephone connections for some 49,000 people who are waiting for telephones, improvements to the toll service are not being neglected. Since the war ended a great many new toll circuits have been provided, and toll-operating suites have been modernized and extended and new ones installed. This programme will be accelerated until the aim of universal '' on-demand '' service is achieved. Since 1939 toll traffic has increased greatly: in 1939 toll calls totalled 15,500,000 and in 1949 over 25,000,000. A big effort is required to provide sufficient circuits, operating positions, and personnel to keep pace with the increasing demand. On top of this, additional facilities must be provided to speed up the service and eliminate the delays that now. occur over busy routes. Toll-switching equipment is not easily obtained, and almost all of it must be manufactured abroad, and as a result some time must elapse between the placing of an order for equipment and final delivery. Although toll traffic has increased by 66 per cent, in ten years and is being handled with no greater delay than in 1939, the Post Office does not regard the present position with complacency, and there will be no avoidable delay in pressing on with the extension programme. Notwithstanding the difficulties, a quick toll service is at present provided on many routes even during peak traffic periods. On most circuits delay is largely confined to the mid-morning period, and to the beginning of the half-rate period at 6 p.m. It is interesting, as an indication of the growth of toll traffic since the war ended, to note that traffic during the year increased by 5,733,889 calls over the total number of calls (19,545,441) handled during the year ended 31st March, 1945. For detailed particulars of the number of toll calls handled during the year, and the revenue derived therefrom, see Table No. 7 in Appendix. Toll Equipment To meet the ever-increasing demand for toll service, additional toll-operating positions have been provided at Hamilton (eight positions) and Masterton (two positions). A new toll exchange of twenty-two positions is now being installed at Palmerston North, and extensions are being made at Dunedin (ten positions), Marton (two positions), and Whangarei (two positions). These will be brought into use during the coming year.

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Toll-dialling Equipment As a means of reducing the delay on toll traffic and of obtaining more efficient utilization of available toll lines, equipment has now been landed to provide long-distance toll dialling by the toll operators at the main centres. The method to be employed represents the most modern and efficient means of direct dialling over toll lines, and enables a toll operator at the originating exchange to dial the wanted number without the assistance of the operator at the distant exchange. Carrier-telephone Systems on Toll Routes During the year forty-six additional toll circuits were brought into use, principally on secondary routes. Twelve of these were provided by means of carrier-telephone systems superimposed on existing wires, and the remainder by utilizing'telegraph lines no longer required for telegraph purposes and by the erection of new wire. A further supply of twenty single-channel carrier systems has just been received from the manufacturers, and the installation of these is in hand. An order for a number of three-channel systems was placed early in the year for installation on some of the more-congested routes. The plans covering the full development of the toll system were advanced a further stage with the calling of tenders, in December, 1948, for the supply of twelve-channel systems for operation on main trunk routes connecting the more important cities, PUBLIC CALL OFFICES At the 31st March there were 1,594 public call offices (coin-in-slot telephones) installed in New Zealand. The total collections for the year amounted to £109,286. (See also Table No. 6in Appendix.) RADIO SERVICES (INLAND) Kadio communication is becoming an important factor in the life of the community, as is evidenced by the many applications received by the Department iuring the year for licences to operate public and private radio-communication '•ervices. In the main, these services have been established to enable mobile mits such as cars, trucks, ambulancs, heavy machinery transporters, yachts, aunches, &c., to communicate with their headquarters. POST OFFICE SERVICE FOR MOBILE VEHICLES Radio-telephone service for.mobile vehicles, as outlined in last year's report, has now been inaugurated at Auckland, "Wellington, and Dunedin. The establishment of a service at Christchurch has been delayed by land-purchase transactions. Investigations are also being made with a view to the early establishment of similar services at Napier, Wanganui. Palmerston North, and other towns, from several- of which applications for service have already been received. The base station or stations to serve the particular area are provided by the Post Office on a rental basis, while the equipment in the vehicles is provided and maintained by the subscriber. The service utilizes the amplitude-modulation method of transmission and operates on very-high-frequency waves in the frequency band 100-108 mc/s. The annual charges for service ona" party-line " (shared) basis are £25 plus £lO for each vehicle, while an exclusive channel serving an unlimited number of vehicles will be provided for £4OO per annum.

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The Department's policy is to offer service first to public utility bodies such as ambulances, fire brigades, &c., and later to cater for private users such as taxi-proprietors, &c. The first such system in New Zealand catering for public requirements was opened at Auckland on the 23rd August, 1948, with the Auckland City Council Traffic Department as the first subscriber. As no public utility bodies have applied for service at Wellington, a taxi firm has been admitted as the first subscriber. A second channel at present catering for four private organizations was opened at Auckland on the 18th December, 1948. At Auckland and Christchurch it has been found that coverage of the city and immediate environs can be provided by one base station located on an elevated site, but, due to the configuration of the cities of Wellington and Dunedin, it was necessary to establish in each city two stations which operate simultaneously. Although the number of subscribers participating is not yet large, several firms are taking a keen interest in the scheme, and a number of demonstrations have been given. Already it is apparent that a wider service area than is at present provided will be required, and tests are being carried out with a view to securing suitable sites for additional stations. The equipment installed in the existing base stations was adapted by the Post Office from surplus war equipment and is giving reasonably good service. The Post Office has, however, now designed entirely new equipment for the purpose, and is about to arrange with commercial manufacturers for the production of these sets. The basic technical arrangements being provided will be readily adaptable for the possible future provision of telephone service to vehicles in conjunction with the public telephone network. GROWTH OF PRIVATE RADIO-COMMUNICATION SERVICES Seven additional private radio-telephone stations have been licensed during the year in the names of associations representing owners of small marine craft, such as fishing and pleasure launches, to enable communication to be maintained with the vessels. Sixteen such stations are now in operation throughout New Zealand. Generally, the establishment of these stations is approved only in areas outside the range of the Post Office coast stations. A total of 103 private radio-communication services, including those operated by Government Departments other than the Post Office, is now in operation. AIR RADIO SERVICES Prior to 1947 most air radio services throughout New Zealand were conducted by the Post Office, but in 1947, by agreement with the Air Department, all such ■services were transferred to the control of that Department, except those performed at stations where Post Office radio-communication services were being provided. Further transfers-were effected during the year under review. On the 30th September the high-frequency direction-finding service conducted at Musick Radio (Auckland) was transferred to the Air Department's station at Waiuku, and between the 19th and 21st December various air radio services conducted at Wellington Radio were taken over by that Department. The Post Office still performs air radio services at Musick Radio and Awarua Radio for overseas aircraft.

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RADIO-RECEIVING LICENCES At the 31st March the total number of radio-receiving licences current was 432,175, representing an increase of 11,111, or 2-63 per cent., over the number in force a year ago. POST OFFICE RADIO-TELEPHONE SERVICE TO SHIPPING: CHANGE OF OPERATING FREQUENCIES As from the Ist March, 1949, the frequencies used in the radio-telephone service for New-Zealand-registered ships were changed to meet the requirements of the International Radio Regulations (Atlantic City, 1947). The new frequency arrangement facilitates the exchange of traffic between New Zealand coast stations and ships fitted with radio telephony. INSTALLATION OF EMERGENCY RADIO EQUIPMENT AT GLENORCHY As communication between Queenstown and settlements at the head of Lake Wakatipu depends upon a telephone-line which is subject to interruption in passing through rugged hill-country on the shores of the lake, emergency radio equipment has been installed at the Glenorchy Post-office. Surplus war equipment has been converted for the purpose, and enables communication to be effected with Awarua Radio by Morse telegraphy in the event of the failure of the land-line. MODERNIZATION OF RAROTONGA RADIO STATION The equipment at Rarotonga Radio has for some time been regarded as outmoded and has been giving an inferior service. In addition, the institution of regular aircraft services to the Islands has increased the importance of the station at Rarotonga. By arrangement with the Department of Island Territories, which controls the station, and the Air Department, which operates the radio aids to air navigation, a party of Post Office radio engineers and technicians has been despatched to Rarotonga to modernize the station. The work is one of considerable magnitude and will require several months to complete. An entirely separate receiving-station will be provided some three miles from the transmitting-station, and the whole station will, in general, be brought up to modern standards. Some of the technicians in the installing party will remain to take care of the maintenance of the station when the work is complete. TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES (OVERSEAS) The overseas cable and radio-telegraph services were maintained at a high degree of efficiency during the year, as was the radio-telephone service to Australia and to the United States. The lack of a high-powered radiotransmitting station with a sufficiency of aerial arrays has, however, prevented the maintenance of a fully reliable radio-telephone and radio photo-telegram service to the United Kingdom. The difficulties being experienced m this direction will not be overcome until the Department's proposed new transmittingstation at Himatangi is constructed. It has been possible during the year to extend the radio-telephone service to several additional countries in Europe and in the Pacific. The radio phototelegram service was also extended during the year to include the United States of America, the terminal equipment there being located at San Francisco.

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The cables serving New Zealand were subject to interruptions on three •occasions, but the use of alternative cable and radio-telegraph outlets enabled traffic to be dealt with expeditiously while repairs were being effected. The charges for cablegrams from New Zealand to certain European countries were reduced to bring them into line with those for messages from Australia, and appropriate reductions were also made to certain cablegram and radio photo-telegram rates following on the alteration to the New Zealand exchange-rate in August, 1948. With the return of the Occupation Forces from Japan, the remaining wartime concessions for cablegrams to and from members of the Armed Forces were abolished. Further progress has been made in the nationalization of the British •Commonwealth telecommunication system, and it is expected that the full scheme will be in operation by the Ist April, 1950. Statistics of overseas messages handled during the year are shown in the Appendix, as follows: cablegrams, Table No. 4; radio telegrams, Table No. 5; radio-telephone calls, Table No. 7. TRANSMITTING-STATION FOR OVERSEAS SERVICES As mentioned in last year's report, arrangements are in hand for the provision of a new high-power radio-transmitting station at Himatangi, near Foxton. Until this station is in operation the existing overseas telephone service to the United Kingdom and European countries via Sydney, and the phototelegram service to the United Kingdom via Melbourne, will have to continue to be operated from Wellington Radio, where the available land is insufficient and unsuitable for the deployment of effective aerial systems. When the new station is in operation it will be possible to work with the United Kingdom direct and thus provide an improved service over extended hours. It is hoped to commence the erection of the buildings, &c., at Himatangi before the end of 1949. EXTENSIONS OF RADIO-TELEPHONE SERVICE Extensions of the radio-telephone service both in respect of the number of countries served and the hours of service were arranged at various times during the year. Service is now available to the United Kingdom and many countries in Europe, to the United States and all other North American countries; to Hawaii; and to Australia, Port Moresby, Rabaul, and Nauru Island. Radio-telephone service to Australia is now available at any time between 9 a.m. and midnight on week-days and between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sundays. On the 18th July a special " conference " call service, whereby more than one party at either end may take part in a conversation, was introduced with both Australia and the United States of America. A radio-telephone service was opened with the passenger-ship " Monowai " upon her resuming the Australia - New Zealand run on the 28th January, INTERRUPTION AND REPAIR OF OVERSEAS CABLES Early in February, 1948, the Department was approached by Cable and Wireless, Ltd., to undertake the repair of the Auckland - Doubtless Bay section of the Auckland - Norfolk Island submarine telegraph cable which had developed an insulation fault near Cape Brett. Before the work was commenced the Norfolk Island - Suva cable was also interrupted close to Norfolk Island, necessitating urgent repairs.

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The New Zealand Government steamer " Matai " was chartered 011 behalf of Cable and Wireless, Ltd., and, after being suitably fitted up, left "Wellington on the 23rd March. After initial delay due to weather conditions, the fault off Cape Brett was repaired on the 4th April. In the meantime it had been ascertained by tests that another break had occurred three and a half miles out from Doubtless Bay in the Norfolk Island - Doubtless Bay section. The '' Matai '' thereupon proceeded to Doubtless Bay, where it was decided to pick up both the Auckland and Norfolk Island ends and to splice the two cables a few miles out from the shore, thus eliminating the Doubtless Bay landing point with its rocky reefs. This operation was successfully completed by the Bth April. After loading further cable at Auckland, the '' Matai '' proceeded to Norfolk Island to lay a new shore end at Anson Bay for the Norfolk Island - Suva cable. The ship arrived at Norfolk Island on the 16th April. The Suva end of the cable was raised on the 21st, but subsequent operations were delayed by bad weather, and the repairs were not finally completed until the Ist May. The " Matai " returned to Wellington on the 10th May. As on previous occasions, the " Matai " proved to be very suitable for this class of work, and the use of the ship undoubtedly enabled repairs to be made much more promptly than would have been the case had it been necessary to adopt the qnly other alternative of obtaining the services of a regular cable ship from overseas. The ready co-operation of the Marine Department in making the ship and experienced officers available materially assisted with the successful undertaking of the work. REDUCTION IN TELEGRAPH CHARGES As from the Ist September the charges for cablegrams to European countries were reduced, where necessary, to the level applicable to messages from Australia to those countries. In many cases no adjustment was necessary as the rates were already identical, but in other cases the reductions varied from |d. to as much as B|d. a full-rate word. Following upon the alteration to the New Zealand exchange-rate appropriate reductions were effected in the rates for telegrams to the United States of America and its possessions, The Netherlands, and Indonesia. Reductions were also applied to the charges for photo-telegrams to the United Kingdom and the United States of America and to radio-telephone calls to those countries and also other countries for which calls with New Zealand a,re switched through London or San Francisco. Some slight reductions in charges for telegrams between Chatham Islands and Raoul Island on the one hand and Australia and Fiji on the other were also arranged during the year. ABOLITION OF CONCESSIONS IN RESPECT OF TELEGRAMS TO AND FROM MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES The special standard-text (EFM) service for telegrams to and from members of the Armed Forces, which was introduced throughout the British Empire and the United States of America during the war, was abolished as from the Ist January, 1949. The special address concession operating in respect of telegrams to members of J Force was withdrawn at the same time.

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NATIONALIZATION OF THE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND EMPIRE Mention was made in last year's report of legislation'which was to be brought down in the United Kingdom to provide for the consummation of the scheme envisaged at a conference of representatives of the British Commonwealth and Empire in 1945 for the nationalization of the telecommunication systems of the Commonwealth. This legislation was presented to the United Kingdom Parliament on the Ist February and makes provision for the establishment of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Board and for the transfer of the assets of Cable and Wireless, Ltd., in the United Kingdom to the British Post Office on the Ist April, 1950. In so far as New Zealand is concerned, the present interim arrangements under which the Post Office is managing the activities of Cable and Wireless, Ltd., in this country will continue until the Ist April, 1950. From that date full control, financial and otherwise, will be assumed by the Post Office, and all matters affecting the external Commonwealth telecommunications will be dealt with through governmental channels in conjunction with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Board. INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION CONFERENCES During the year delegates from New Zealand attended several conferences abroad in connection with various telecommunication matters. The conferences were as follows: (1) A conference held at Melbourne of representatives of Australia and New Zealand for the purpose of assigning radio frequencies for use by broad-casting-stations in Australia and New Zealand so that, as far as possible, listeners in each country will receive a service reasonably free from interference from stations in the other country. The New Zealand representatives were Mr. E. H. R. Green, Chief Engineer of the Post Office, and Mr. W. L. Harrison, Chief Engineer of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service. (2) An International High-frequency Broadcasting Conference at Mexico which devoted itself to the drawing-up of a plan for the allocation of all shortwave broadcasting frequencies throughout the world. The conference, which was held under the aegis of the International Telecommunication Union, was attended by representatives of most countries of the Union. Mr. Green and Mr. Harrison again represented New Zealand. (3) An International Administrative Aeronautical Radio Conference held at Geneva and concerned with the making of a plan for the world-wide allocation of radio frequencies for stations of the aeronautical service. The conference was successful iii so far as a plan for frequencies for use by '' off-route '' and military aircraft is concerned, but for various reasons could not reach agreement on the allocation of frequencies for use by civil aircraft flying defined routes and consequently adjourned in order that the problem could be reconsidered by the Administrations concerned. However, a great deal of useful work was accomplished in connection with the allocation of frequencies for civil aviation. The New Zealand representatives at the conference, which adjourned *in September, 1948, and is to reconvene at Geneva in July, 1949, were Mr. G. Searle, Radio Engineer, Post Office, and Squadron-Leader A. F. Partelow, a member of the New Zealand Joint Services Liaison Staff, London. At the same time, Mr. Searle represented New Zealand at the two meetings mentioned in (4) and (5) following. (4) A meeting at Geneva of a Preparatory Committee for a Region 3 Administrative Radio Conference, which is to commence at that city in May, 1949, to deal with the use of frequencies between 150 and 3,900 kilocycles, which are to be shared between various services.

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The world has been subdivided into three regions for the allocation of radio frequencies, and the Preparatory Committee was concerned with effecting a co-ordination of frequency requirements, assembling such data as was available, and drawing up a suggested agenda for the conference of Region 3 countries—i.e., countries in South and East Asia and the Pacific areas—including Australia and New Zealand. (5) A meeting of the International Radio Consultative Committee, which was held at Stockholm from the 12th to the 31st July, and was the first plenary meeting of the Committee since the war. The Committee is one of the permanent organs of the International Telecommunication Union, and its duty is to study technical radio questions and certain operating questions and to issue recommendations on them to the members of the Union. The meeting at Stockholm was attended by representatives of twenty-eight countries, and six other countries were represented by proxy. MONEY-ORDER AND SAVINGS-BANK SERVICES SAVINGS-BANK FACILITIES The Post Office Savings-bank continued to cater for the savings needs of the people through the 957 offices at which savings-bank business can be transacted. The policy of extending savings-bank facilities to the public has been further pursued by the opening of an additional 43 savings-bank ledger offices. There are now 148 ledger offices at which depositors whose accounts are kept at those offices can make withdrawals on demand. About 96 per cent, of all depositors are thus provided with a no-delay withdrawal service, while the remaining 4 per cent, can obtain withdrawals by free telegram with a minimum of delay. It is felt that better facilities for withdrawal encourage thrift in that when depositors know they can withdraw the money easily they are likely to increase their deposits and thus eventually leave a greater residue in the bank than would otherwise be the case. Machine Accounting The policy of installing ledger-posting machines was extended during the year, machines being installed at the Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch savings-bank offices. There are now twenty-four offices operating with mechanized ledgers, and it is intended during the coming year to install machines at several of the remaining larger ledger offices. Where these machines have been installed overtime has been practically eliminated. Withdrawals by Telegraph The system of providing telegraphic withdrawals from savings-bank accounts was extended during the year, provision being made for depositors' applications to be telegraphed from any office in New Zealand and for free telegraph withdrawals within a postal district. Previously telegraphic withdrawals were available only when the application was made at an office within the same postal district as the ledger office, and depositors had to pay a fee for each withdrawal. The free service within a postal district enables those depositors who reside outside the areas served by ledger offices to be given almost the equivalent of a demand withdrawal service. The country-wide telegraphic withdrawal service is proving most convenient for persons travelling.

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War Gratuity Accounts All war gratuity savings-bank accounts which had dates of entitlement as at the 31st March, 1946, and which were still open on the 31st March, 1949, were credited with the third and final bonus of 5 per cent, on the latter date. Prior to the 31st March the 107,663 holders of these accounts were communicated with by letter and asked to say whether they desired the amount at credit or any portion of it to be invested in national savings on fixed deposit at a higher rate of interest or transferred to an ordinary savings-bank account. In the result, about 17-27 per cent., or £1,853,000, was invested in national savings, approximately 64-18 per cent., or £6,885,503, transferred to the Post Office Savings-bank, and 18-55 per cent., or £1,990,000, withdrawn in cash. Of the latter, a considerable amount was separately invested in national savings or deposited in the savings-bank. School Savings-bank Accounts During 1948 the school savings-bank ledgers, which previously were domiciled at the Accounts Branch of the General Post Office, were decentralized. The accounts are now located at the ledger office nearest to the depositor 's school. An organizer is now engaged on a tour of schools to encourage the opening of new accounts. The fostering of the habit of thrift among the children is regarded as of prime importance. The following table giving statistics as at the 31st December, 1948, indicates the popularity of the scheme:— Number of accounts open . . . . .. 161,858 Number of schools operating scheme . . . . 1,233 Number of deposits for the year 1948 . . . . 485,806 Amount of deposits for the year 1948 ... . . £84,325 Number of withdrawals for the year 1948 . . 11,876 Amount of withdrawals for the year 1948 . . £71,785 Excess of deposits over withdrawals . . . . £12,540 Total amount of all accounts . . . . . . £267,211 Army Allotment Accounts Approximately 1,000 of the 30,000 army allotment accounts opened during the war remain current. An investigation of records during the year resulted in the closing of approximately 5,000 accounts containing small balances which had been overlooked by the depositors. It is expected that most of the remaining accounts will be closed during the coming year. Deposits, Withdrawals, and Interest Deposits lodged in the Post Office Savings-bank during the year amounted to £70,690,640, and withdrawals to £67,722,724, an excess of deposits over withdrawals of £2,967,916. The amount at the credit of depositors at the close of the year was £154,849,010, the interest accruing to depositors being £3,438,790. (See also Tables Nos. 8 and 9 in Appendix.)

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MONEY-ORDERS, POSTAL NOTES, AND BRITISH POSTAL ORDERS In the following table the number and value of money-orders issued, postal notes sold, and British postal orders sold and paid during the year is shown: — Value. Number. £ Money-orders . . . . 942,654 10,842,866 Postal notes . . . . 2,483,929 1,106,479 British postal orders sold . . 39,573 15,241 British postal orders paid .. 40,986 31,861 NATIONAL SAYINGS Investments in national savings accounts through the Post Office during the year amounted to £6,133,241, compared with £6,280,060 for the previous year. In addition, £898,878 was saved through trustee savings-banks, against £1,005,363 in 1948. The investments for. the year, including £434,687 from the sale of national savings bonds, totalled £7,466,806.

New accounts were opened as follows: —

There were 434 new savings groups established during the year. (Tables showing (a) the extent of deposits to and withdrawals from national savings accounts for the years 1948 and 1949, and (b) the value of national savings bonds issued and redeemed, appear in the Appendix, Tables Nos. .10 and 11.) TOTAL SAYINGS IN CUSTODY OF POST OFFICE The total savings in the custody of the Post Office at the 31st March, 1949, amounted to £205,805,808, summarized as follows: — Post-office savings-bank accounts (including school savings-bank accounts) . . . . 155,112,945 War gratuity savings-bank accounts . . • .. 11,447,755 National savings investments . . • • 34,696,563 National savings bonds . . . . • • 4,467,294 Post Office Investment Certificates . . . . 81,251 £205,805,808 MISCELLANEOUS BUILDINGS AND LAND The continuing shortage of materials and labour has retarded progress on the Department's building programme. Many of the projected buildings are urgently required to provide for the extension of telephone services and to meet the requirements of expanding post-office business. The only major work

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With the Post Office. With the Trustee Savings-bank. Total of New Accounts. Individual Accounts. Group Accounts. Individual Accounts. Group Accounts. 6,028 13,136 1,552 2,311 23,027

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brought to completion during the year was the Te Kuiti post-office building, and the only large buildings under construction at the end of the year were the post-offices at Feilding and Balclutha. The Feilding building is nearing completion, but the Balclutha one is not expected to be finished until .after the end of the next financial year. Although progress 011 major works was not great, a number of small buildings were provided, some in new materials and others by adapting surplus Armv-type buildings. The manifest impracticability of erecting new buildings 011 a large scale rendered necessary in some cases the securing and adapting of existing premises to meet requirements for the time being. This was successfully exemplified in the opening of a post-office in an old building in Manners Street, Wellington. The provision of transit housing for departmental officers was on a smaller scale than in the previous year, due principally to the most pressing cases having already been dealt with and also to ex-service buildings being not so readily obtainable. The work of providing permanent residences for Postmasters was steadily maintained by the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works. The following summary gives the results of the year's activities:— New buildings completed: post-offices, 1; telephone exchanges, 5; for radio purposes, 2; line depot and workshops, 2; Postmasters' residences, 21. Major additions and alterations carried out: post-offices, 9; other buildings, 3. Provided from surplus buildings: temporary post-offices, 6; auxiliary postoffice accommodation, 2; telephone exchanges, 3; transit flats, 19. Most of these undertakings were arranged and supervised by the Department 's own staffs, while in several cases the actual construction work as well was carried out by Post Office workmen. Details of the Department's building and land transactions during the year are as follows: New buildings completed: rural automatic telephone-exchange buildings at Albany, Becks, and South Hillend; an emergency power-generator building at Awarua Radio ; a temporary carpenters' and body-building workshop at Christchurch; a radio-station building at Mount Eden; an automatic telephoneexchange building at Riccarton; a store-garage building at Taihape; a postoffice at Te Kuiti; a building for money-order and savings-bank purposes at Upper Hutt; a temporary telephone-exchange building at Waipukurau; Postmasters' residences at Addington, Brightwater, Carterton, Fairlie, Forbury, Glen Eden, Grey Lynn, Karori, Moray Place, New Lynn, Northcote, Onehunga, Sydenham,- St. Albans, St. Heliers, Taihape, Te Aroha, Te Papapa, Tirau, Tuakau, and Whitianga. Additions and alterations were made to the post-office buildings at Russell, Silverdale, and Wakefield, and to the line depot at Christchurch; alterations were made to the post-office buildings at Picton, Port Chalmers, Taneatua, and Waikouaiti; to the old line depot at Kaikohe; to an old departmental building at Palmerston North to provide accommodation for the Telegraph Engineer's office staff; and to residences at Greymouth and Oamaru to provide transit flats (four). The premises in Manners Street, Wellington (formerly known as the " Waldorf Building "), which were purchased by the Department in 1944 as the site for a future building, were converted during the year into a commodious post-office in order to provide mid-city post-office facilities for the public and also to relieve congestion in the chief post-office.

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The rear portion of the upper floor of the Masterton chief post-office building was removed, and the corresponding lower portion strengthened and repaired, in order to overcome damage caused by earthquake in 1942. The Trentham Military Camp post-office building was converted into a smaller office to serve the transit housing and hostels now established in the area. Surplus defence and other buildings were used for departmental purposes as follows: post-offices at French Pass, Lake Road (Auckland), Mauriceville, W ash dyke, Westown, and Whakatu; auxiliary post-office accommodation at Ashburton and Takapuna; additional workshops accommodation at Dunedin and Newmarket; additional garage and workshops accommodation at Gisborne; additional line-depot accommodation at Hastings; additional accommodation for the National Broadcasting Service at Makara Radio; temporary telephoneexchange buildings at Opunake, Tamaki, and Three Kings (Auckland) ; additions to living-quarters at Waituna West; bachelor accommodation at Lincoln (two-man) and Waimiha (two-man) ; and a hostel (twenty-man) at Wellington Radio. Surplus defence buildings were converted into transit flats for departmental employees as follows: Christchureli (six flats), Morrinsville (one flat), Musick Radio (three flats), Omakau (one flat), Palmerston North (two flats), Takapau (one flat), Whangarei (five flats). Land was acquired at—Ashburton (for automatic-telephone exchange) ; Becks (for rural-automatic exchange) ; Blockhouse Bay (for post-office) ; 0 aver sham (for post-office) ; Claudelands (for automatic-telephone exchange) ; Clyde (with residence—for line foreman) ; Dominion Road South (for residence) ; Dunedin North (for post-office) ; Ellerslie (for automatictelephone exchange) ; Epuni (for post-office) ; Fendalton and Fitzroy (for automatic-telephone exchanges) ; Grey mouth (for line depot) ; Greymouth (with residence —for transit housing) ; Hamilton East (for automatic-telephone exchange) ; Hororata (for residence) ; Invercargill East (for automatictelephone exchange) ; Kaiapoi (for post-office) ; Kilbirnie (for automatictelephone exchange) ; Maori Hill (for post-office) ; Masterton (for automatictelephone exchange) ; Moerewa (with building—for post-office) ; Morrinsville (for transit housing) ; Oamaru (with residence —for transit housing) ; Oamaru North (for post-office) ; Ohura (for transit housing) ; Opotiki (extension of post-office site) ; Opotiki (for line depot) ; Palmerston North (for extension of line-depot site) ; Parakao (for post-office) ; Picton (for residence) ; Putaruru (for transit housing) ; Putaruru (for bachelor accommodation) ; Ruatoki North (for post-office) ; Russell (for post-office and quarters) ; Sawyers Bay and South Invercargill (for post-offices) ; Timaru (for transit housing) ; Te Kuiti (extension of line depot) ; Upper Hutt (for residence) ; Upper Hutt (for automatic-telephone exchange) ; Waipawa (for post-office) ; Wanganui (for addition to line depot) ; Washdyke and Waterloo (for post-offices); and Wellington South (for automatic-telephone exchange). A residence with section adjoining was acquired at Whangarei North. An automatic-telephone exchange will be erected on the section. Residences at Taradale, Orepuki, and Waitahuna were purchased for occupation by the respective Postmasters. In addition, the premises in Oriental Bay, Wellington, known as Berkeley House, which the Department has conducted for several years as a hostel for female officers, were acquired. Properties disposed of during the year were the old post-office site at Denniston, the cable hut at Doubtless Bay, the old post-office and site at Kuaotunu, and redundant post-office sites at Mohaka and Ngawha. The Opotiki line-store site was exchanged for land owned by the Police Department at the rear of the post-office site.

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At the end of the year the following works were .in progress: Auckland East and Auckland West (erection of Postmasters' residences); Awarua Radio (erection of six staff residences) ; Balclutha (erection of post-office building) ; Cheviot (erection of new carrier-telephone building) ; Dunedin (erection of armboring depot) ; Feilding (erection of post-office building) ; Greymouth (conversion of residence into transit flats) ; Greytown (erection of Postmaster's residence) ; Kaitaia (alterations to store-garage building) ; Karamea (erection of Postmaster's residence) ; Kilbirnie (erection of automatic-telephone-exchange building) ; Moray Place (erection of Postmaster's residence) ; Musick Radio (erection of four additional transit flats by utilizing the old post'-office building from Papakura Military Camp) ; Naenae and Nelson (erection of automatic-telephone-exchange buildings) ; Oamaru (conversion of existing residence to provide two transit flats) ; Opunake, Ponsonby, Remuera, South Dunedin, and Wellesley Street (erection of Postmasters'residences) ; and "Whangarei (erection of Chief Postmaster's residence). A contract was let early in 1949 for the erection of a new post-office building at Hokitika. STORES The value of stores and equipment ordered during the year was as follows, the figures for the previous year being given for comparative purposes 1947-48. 1948-49. For Post and Telegraph Department— £ £ From suppliers in New Zealand . . 943,039 1,322,870 Ordered for supply from overseas .. 2,469,697 . 4,106,358 For other Departments— From suppliers in New Zealand .. 519,578 627,476 Ordered for supply from overseas .. 119,956 62,204 The above amounts represent actual or estimated costs, including freight, Customs duty, and sales tax, where applicable The value of the stocks, including stores on-cost, held in the Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington storekeeping districts at the end of the year, as compared with that of the stocks held on the 31st March, 1948, was as follows: 31st March, 31st March, District. 1948. 1949. £ £ Auckland . . . . .. 482,113 828,426 Christchurch . . . . 236,520 398,600 Dunedin . . . . .. 188,706 240,273 Wellington . . .. . . 1,747,063 2,310,360 £2,654,402 £3,777,659 DEPARTMENTAL MOTOR-VEHICLES Strength op Fleet The fleets of the Public Service Garages, which are administered by the Post Office, total 1,405 vehicles—9o6 trucks and vans and 499 cars. The mileage travelled last year was 10,865,000. Cars averaged 9,650 miles each, and trucks and vans 6,550 miles each, for the year.

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Post Office engineering works absorb 788 vehicles, the remaining 617 being employed on mail work, telegram delivery, and on hire to other Government Departments. . Because of the age of many of the vehicles and the need for strengthening the fleet to meet urgent extensions of telephone and postal services, and also to provide for the increased requirements of other Government Departments, 150 cars and 250 trucks and truck chassis were authorized for purchase during the year. Of these, 125 cars and all the trucks and truck chassis have now been delivered. These cars'and many of the trucks are now in service. The. building of bodies for the remainder is under urgent action, and all of the vehicles should be on the road by the end of October. 'Even so, there will still be 339 vehicles over ten years old, while there are a number of other units that have been run for many miles beyond their normal economical life. It is the aim to replace these vehicles as soon as the supply position permits. Special Cars for Proposed Royal Tour Six large Daimler cars were purchased for use during the Royal tour. These vehicles are being held pending a decision as to their disposal. In addition to these cars, it was proposed to use six large Ilumber cars made available on loan by courtesy of Messrs. Rootes Limited, and six small Daimlers loaned by the Daimler Company. These twelve vehicles were released to the local agents for disposal in New Zealand. WORKSHOPS Departmental workshops are established at seventeen of the larger centres of New Zealand, the total staff employed being 685. The primary functions of the establishments are the maintenance of the Department's telecommunication apparatus, and the servicing of its fleet of motor-vehicles, as well as the vehicles of most other Departments of State. In recent years, however, the workshops have undertaken the manufacture of bodies for motor-vehicles and of communication equipment and parts which are not readily obtainable from outside sources of supply. As far as workshops resources permit, departmental requirements of office furniture and fittings are also manufactured. Workshops activities are expanding so rapidly that additional accommodation is necessary. To meet this need temporary accommodation has, and is, being provided, but the larger extensions in permanent construction must await the freer availability of men and material. The total value' of the work performed in the various workshops during the year amounted to £570,333, of which £128,313 represents the value of services rendered to other Government Departments. DRAUGHTING OFFICES To meet the many requirements for draughting and allied work, the Post Office - maintains 13 draughting offices with a total staff of 90. Extensive recording of underground and aerial cable reticulation is undertaken, including design, surveying, and mechanical and electrical drawing. Draughting facilities include up-to-date photo-copying machines and reflex copying processes. All modern methods are used in the reproduction of plans and illustrations. PUBLIC RELATIONS The Post Office recognizes that, while fundamentally, its relations with its users rests on the standard of service given, there exists in a Service with such wide ramifications the need for promoting a better understanding of the various

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, aC + iv 1< f S J 0 ? 1 tlie P ubllc an d by officers themselves. To this end there was established m the General Post Office in August, 1947 a Public Relations Division. This brought within one organizational unit the general CoXeS Brarf h Division and the activities Tthe Ssralti"' PrOV ed a ba " S for P-blic-Film-projectors have been introduced for staff training and instruction SeTto P good effS adYertlSmg and posters of an informative nature have been Due to war conditions, the commercial and sales organization was o-reatlv reduced m scope m 1941 and turned to the development of the national Savings movement and to assisting to raise various war loans. With the return of normal conditions commercial activities are being resumed, particularly in the Sfp°+ atl - 0n of 11 e 5 ,mmereml advertisements in telephone directories. By 1950 all directories will be carrying advertisements direetorfad^Sn™ 116 * °' ™"<* *° m REGISTRATION OP MOTOR-VEHICLES AND ASSOCIATED WORK the 31st March, 1949, licensed motor-vehicles in New Zealand numbered ooo,Zoo. New registrations during the year totalled 35,269. Motor-registration fees collected amounted to £708,083. The premiums collected on behalf of the thirty-seven insurance companies authorized to underwrite business in terms of the Motor-vehicles Insurance (Third-party Risks) Act, 1928, totalled £493,797. Mileage-tax amounting to £39,926 was collected in respect of 563 vehicles. During the year 97,798 claims for refunds of duty on motor-spirits were authorized for payment, the total amount of tax refunded being £811,007. The period within which an application for a refund of duty may be lodged has been extended from two to four months following the close of the prescribed quarterly periods. This extension became effective as from the September < 1948) quarter. ' ;

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APPENDIX FINANCIAL Table No. I —Statement of Receipts and Payments (Post Office Account) fok the Year Ended 31st March, 1949 Receipts Payments £ A Postages .. •• •• 3,133,205 Salaries .. •• •• 4,178,843 Money-order and postal-note com- Conveyance ot mails mission .. •• 71,996 Overseas — LLLlfeblUII • • • • • 7 . . Of>q QAO Private box and bag rents and rural Air .. • - delivery fees 89,937 Surface .. .. 268,408 Telegrams 653,382 492,210 Tolls .. .. •• •• 1,854,111 Inland— Telephone-exchange rentals .. 2,270,213 Air .. • - ' m Miscellaneous receipts .. •• 1,446,808 Ship .. .. 911 ' 101 Excess of payments over receipts .. 357,873 .. •• £44 834 ° a " " 1 511,247" Maintenance and renewal of telecommunication system .. •• 844,331 Motor services and workshops .. . • 542,769 Post-office buildings .. 350,652 Miscellaneous .. 2,108,673 Interest on capital liability .. .. 659,045 Sick Benefit Fund .. 11,816 Government Superannuation Fund subsidy 177,937 4,695,223 £9,877,525 £9,877,525 Table No. 2 —Statement of Payments on Account of Telegraph Extension for the Year Ended 31st March, 1949 £ Materials .. • • Freight .. • • Travelling .. • • Camp allowances • • 9,036 Labour .. .. • • 497,842 £1,670,987

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POSTAL SERVICES Table No. 3 —Postings

TELEGRAPH SERVICES Table No. 4 —Telegrams and Cablegrams

Table No. 5—Radio Telegrams

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Number posted. Year Ended 31st March, Letters, Letter-cards, Post-cards. Accounts, Packets, Newspapers. Parcels. Total Articles posted. 1948 1949 159,778,000 162,131,000 133,555,000 148,959,000 7,734,000 8,139,000 301,067,000 319,229,000

Year Ended 31st March, Inland Telegrams. Cablegrams. Ordinary. Press. Forwarded. Received. Number. Revenue. Number. Revenue. Number. Revenue (New Zealand Portion). Number. Revenue (New Zealand Portion.) £ 26,963 25,256 1948.. 1949.. 6,738,644 6,741,087 \ £ 475,494 472,490 456,783 497,262 £ 96,002 98,119 387,272 411,856 £ 28,553 27,324 360,909 386,675

Year Ended 31st March, Forwarded. Received. Number. Revenue (New Zealand Portion). Number, j | Revenue (New Zealand Portion). £ £ 1948 26,717 10,020 65,797 19,163 1949 25,644 7,106 61,634 14,309

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TELEPHONE SERVICES Table No. 6.—Number of Telephones, and Revenue.

Table No. 7 —Toll Calls

SAVINGS-BANK SERVICES Table No. 8—Deposits and Withdrawals

Table No. 9 —Accounts Opened and Closed, etc.

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Year Ended 31st March, Subscribers' Main Stations (a). Service Main Stations (6). Extension Stations, all Classes (c). Public Call Offices (d). Revenue from (a), (c), and (d). Privately Owned Phones connected with Public Telephoneoffices. Toll Stations. Total Telephonestations. Telephones per 1,000 of Population. 1948 1949 219,185 234,874 1 3,319 3,418 70,662 76,832 1,550* 1,640f £ 2,118,169 2,270,213 4 j 000 4,166 1,836 1,827 1 300,552 j 322,757 i 163-9 172-3 * Includes 36 multi-coin telephones for effecting toll calls, t Includes 46 multi-coin telephones for effecting toll calls.

Year Ended 31st March, Inland Toll Service. Radio-telephone Service. Number of Calls. 1 Revenue from 1 Paid Tolls, j Forwarded. Received. Number of Calls. Revenue (New Zealand Portion). Number of Calls. Revenue (New Zealand Portion). 1948 1949 23,872,673* 25,279,330-f £ 1,722,584 1,854,111 4,699 5,086 £ 5,280 4,795 4,974 5,290 £ 4,167 3,983 * Includes 4,699 forwarded overseas calls. _ f Includes 5,p86 forwarded overseas calls.

Year Ended 31st March, Number of Deposits. Total Amount of Deposits. Average Amount of Each Deposit. Number of Withdrawals. Total Amount of Withdrawals. Average Amount of each Withdrawal. Excess of Deposits over Withdrawals. Interest Credited. £ £ £ £ £ £ 1948.. 3,292,887 72,553,414 22 2,353,442 68,660,458 29 3,892,956 3,307,081 1949.. 3,310,543 70*690,640 21 2,392,027 67,722,724 28 2,967,916 3,438,790

Year Ended 31st March, Number of Accounts Opened. Number of Accounts Closed. Number of Open Accounts as at 31st March. Total Amount of all Accounts, Inclusive of Interest, as at 31st March. Average Amount of Each Account as at 31st March. Number of Branches of the Post Office Savings-bank Open at the Close of the Year. £ £ 1948 165,588 128,271 1,277,265 148,442,304 116 936 1949 149,789 115,762 1,311,292 154,849,010 118 957

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NATIONAL SAVINGS Table No. 10—Deposits, etc., Years Ended 31st March, 1948 and 1949

NATIONAL SAVINGS BONDS Table No. 11—Bonds Sold and Redeemed, Years Ended 31st March, 1948 and 1949

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (1,743 copies), £95.

By Authority: R. E. Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.— 1949. Price ls.\

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Year Ended 31st March, Post Office. Trustee Savings-banks. Total Amount at Credit of Post Office and Trustee Savings-banks. Deposits. Withdrawals. Interest to 30th- June, Previous Year. Amount at Credit of Depositors. Deposits. Withdrawals. Interest to 30th June, Previous Year. Amount at Credit of Depositors. £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 1948 6,280,060 3,069,198 773,496 30,962,352 1,005,363 611,252 131,943 5,107,905 36,070,257 1949 6,133,241 3,289,640 890,610 34,696,563 898,878 653,439 147,311 5,500,655 40,197,218

Year Ended 31st March, Value of Bonds Sold. Value of Bonds Redeemed.* 1948 1949 £ 492,697 434,687 £ 2,936,265 3,169,870 * Redeemable five years from date of issue.