F.—l

VIII

The estimated net cost for 1881 was £4,706 3s. 4d. 100,777 letters, 67,438 books, and 313,655 newspapers were received from the United Kingdom, &c, by the Colombo-Brindisi Service; and 25,791 letters, 991 books, and 2,115 newspapers despatched. The payments made for the year for the transmission of correspondence by the Torres Straits mail service amounted to £7 Bs. lOd. 18,209 letters were despatched in mails to London, intended to be conveyed to Naples by the Orient steamers; and 4,672 letters from London were received by the same line of steamers. Savings Banks. During the year 18 additional savings-banks offices were opened, and 1 office closed. The total number of savings-banks offices open at the close of the year was 205. 21,014 new accounts were opened, against 25,059 in 1881; and 14,505 accounts closed, against 12,718 the preceding year. The number of open accounts on the 31st December last was 57,517, against 51,008 at the close of 1881. Of these, 41,724 had balances at credit of under £20, 7,112 of from £20 to £50, 4,333 of from £50 to £100, 3,008 of from £100 to £200, 886 of from £200 to £300, 237 of from £300 to £400, 121 of from £400 to £500, and 96 of over £500. 129,952 deposits, amounting to £1,325,852 2s. lid., were received; each deposit averaged £10 45., against £9 Bs. lid. for 1881. 69,308 withdrawals for £1,142,599 os. Id. were made, the average of each being £16 9s. Bd. ; the average in 1881 was £15 os. Id. The total amount at the credit of depositors on the 31st December last was £1,470,950 13s. 6d., against £1,232,787 16s. 9d. at the close of 1881, an increase of £238,162 16s. 9d. for the year 1882. The deposits exceeded the withdrawals by £183,253 2s. lOd. In 1881 the excess of deposits over withdrawals was £286,817 os. lid. Interest amounting to £54,909 13s. lid. was credited depositors, against £42,204 19s. in 1881. The rate of interest was not altered during the year. The average cost of each Post-Office Savings Bank transaction, deposit or withdrawal, for the year was 4|d., and for the whole period of the existence of the Post-Office Savings Banks in the colony 6^d. The total amount of interest placed to the credit of depositors since the establishing of the Post-Office Savings Banks on the Ist February, 1867, has been £375,659 17s. 7d. The number of shilling accounts opened by school-children by means of stamps affixed to cards in the several postal districts during the year was as follows :—

The scheme for the fostering of thrift among school-children was inaugurated in February, 1881, and 8,656 shilling accounts were opened by the end of that year. The number of accounts of this description opened last year therefore show a marked falling-off. There are, it is estimated, 90,000 children attending the public schools, in addition to about 8,600 taught privately; and of this number only about one in ten embraced the facilities offered for saving pence. There is encouragement, however, to those who take an interest in inculcating habits of thrift among the young, in the fact that, of the 9,508 penny accounts opened by school-children, over 8,000 still appear in the ledgers as open accounts. Money Oedbbs. Money-order business was extended to 18 new offices, namely, Brunnerton, Exhibition (Christchurch), Kaitaia, Kohukohu, Maheno, Manaia, Mangawai, Martinborough, Paeroa, Papanui, Parihaka, Pahautanui, Sterling, Stratford, Te Aroha, Waipahi, Whakatane, and Whitiangi. The money-order office at Exhibition Buildings, Christchurch, was closed during the year. The total number of money-order offices open at the end of the year was 207. 148,162 orders for £499,368 9s. lid. were issued during the year, against 135,556 orders for £452,182 7s. Bd. in 1881, an increase of 12,606 orders for £47,186 2s. 3d. 117,021 orders for £393,945 3s. lOd. were paid, against 107,406 orders for £353,330 16s. lid. paid in 1881, the increase being 9,615 orders and £40,614 6s. lid. The number of money orders issued for payment in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and the Australian Colonies was 39,246 for £139,172 ss. 2d., and 8,497 orders for £34,506 6s. 7d. were issued in those countries for payment in New Zealand; a balance of £104,665 18s. 7d. against the colony. In 1881 the balance against the colony was £97,605 ; in 1880, £114,000; and in 1879, £108,000. The telegraph was used for the transmission of 15,133 orders for £60,263 7s. Bd., against 14,241 telegraph orders for £55,516 2s. lOd. in 1881, an increase of 892 orders for £4,747 4s. lOd.

Postal District. No. of Accounts Opened. Postal District. No. of Accounts Opened. Auckland Blenheim Christchurch Dunedin Gisborne Hokitika Invercargill Napier .. Nelson .. 114 1 180 174 2 7 ■ 28 12 63 Oamaru Thames Timaru Wanganui Wellington Westport 20 42 41 39 128 1 Total 852