F.—l

Compaeative Eetuen of Officers of the Postal Department for the Years 1881 and 1882. Officers. 1882. 1881. I Officers. 1882. 1881. Postmaster-General .. .. 1 1 Chief Postmasters .. 17 17 Secretary .. .. .. 1 1 Postmasters .. .. .. 13 13 Inspector of Post Offices .. .. 1 1 Clerks and Cadets .. .. 106 111 Accountant, Money Order and Savings Sub-Postmasters.. .. .. 870 838 Bank Department .. .. 1 1 Letter-carriers .. .. 67 57 Clerks in General Post Office 6 G Messengers ~ ~ 12 11 Clerks in Money Order and Savings Shipping Officers .. ~ ... 2 2 Bank Department .. .. 7 5 — - — Mail Agents .. .. 2 3 Totals .. .. .. 1,106 1,067 The sum paid for the carriage of interprovincial and intercolonial mails by unsubsidized vessels was £3,839 16s. 9d. 3,713 private boxes were let, which, together with the fees on 243 private bags, produced a revenue of £3,660 lis. 2d. The total number of miles travelled in connection with the conveyance of the inland mails was 2,902,594. The total cost of the inland services was £24,808 18s. 6d., and the cost per mile 2-05 d, In 1881 the expenditure on the inland mail services was £23,334 18s., and in 1880 £35,062 Is. Id. The net'cost of the San Francisco and Brindisi services was £4,176 ss. 9d. and £4,715 3s, respectively. The value of work performed for other Government Departments, and for which no payment was made, is shown by the following statement: —

Free Official Correspondence.

The estimated value of this class of correspondence for 1881 was £58,584 13s. Bd.

Dead Letters. The number of unclaimed letters received and disposed of in the Dead Letter Office during the under-mentioned years is shown in the following table: —

The unclaimed letters dealt with show an increase of 5-51 per cent, compared with the number disposed of in the previous year. There were also 1,556 book-packets and circulars returned to foreign countries, 5,905 returned to the senders through the Dead Letter Office, and 6,280 returned by Chief Postmasters; a total of 13,741 book-packets and circulars, against 8,223 in 1881. The under-mentioned articles of value were found enclosed in letters opened in the Dead Letter Office, and returned to the senders where practicable :— £ s. d. 156 money orders ... ... ... ... ... 528 2 2 57 bank drafts ... ... ... ... ... 5,34110 3 86 cheques ... ... ... ... ... ... 799 19 0 Promissory note ... ... ... ... ... 52 8 0 Postage stamps ... ... ... ... ... 7 3 8 Banknotes ..." ... ... ... ... ... 148 0 0 Gold .j • ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 10 0 Silver and copper ... ... ... ... ... 2 3 11 Eepresenting a total of ~. ~, £6,892 17 0

IV

Postal District. Letters. Books. Value. Postal District. Letters. Books. Value. Auckland Thames .. New Plymouth Gisborne Napier .. Wanganui Wellington Nelson .. Wcstport Greymouth lb. 15,512 585 3,003 334 1,443 4,008 141,614 2,910 1,-163 7,327 lb. 14,701 1,365 206 623 2,710 3,210 46,079 J 4,310 881 3,100 £ s. d. 4,702 12 1J 202 8 7 822 7 11 111 11 5 475 0 8 1,177 18 8 42,551 17 6 922 8 7 339 9 2A 2,057 11 2 Hokitika Blenheim Christchui'oh Timaru Oamaru Dunedin Invefcargill lb. 3,588 736 8,750 2,871 1,250 13,450 1,763 lb. 3,660 2,202 J 26,373 2,353 1,000 7,971 1,742 £ s. d. 1,078 15 10 270 19 10 3,265 14 0 845 17 10 366 13 4 4,031 16 8 529 13 1 Totals 63,752 16 5

Manner of Disposal. 1865. 1870. 1875. 1880. 1881. 1882. Opened and returned to the writers Returned unopened to other countries Reissued Destroyed Returned unopened by Chief Postmasters 22,750 14,367 55 9,000 17,516 6,688 63 2,960 39,051 60,977 10,321 10,503 78 240 6,081 5,135 11,160 52,038 9,372 159 3,969 12,810 53,507 8,539 54 6,189 14,378 Totals 46,172 27,227 55,531 88,015 78,348 82,667