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117,999 orders for £428,673 were issued during the year, against 101,017 orders for £368,254 16s. lOd. in 1878, an increase of 16,982 orders and £60,418 3s. 2d. 88,791 money orders for £319,200 ss. 6d. were paid, against 74,937 orders for £270,915 Is. lOd. paid in 1878, the increase being 13,854 orders for £48,285 3s. Bd. The number of money orders issued for payment in the United Kingdom and the Australian Colonies was 34,520 for £131,382 6s. 4d., and 5,466 orders for £22,968 9s. 3d. were issued in those countries for payment in New Zealand. A balance of upwards of £108,000 was, therefore, remitted out of the colony by means of money orders. In 1878 the balance against the colony was £96,000, in 1877 £80,000, and in 1876 £77,000. The telegraph was used for the transmission of 15,054 orders, amounting to £63,734 4s. 7d. In 1878 13,228 orders, for £54,807 10s. 6d., were sent by wire. The increase was, therefore, 1,826 orders for £8,926 14s. Id. The revenue derived from the issue of money orders was £7,285 Is. 6d., against £6,288 135,, for the year 1878, the increase being £996 Bs. 6d. The average number of money orders issued for every 100 persons in New Zealand was 255. The average was 594 for England and Wales, 404 for Scotland, and 22 for Ireland, and the average for the United Kingdom was 514. The average for Victoria was 148, and for New South Wales 193.