F.—l

II

Arrangements for establishing within the colony a parcels post are under consideration ; and, if the Bill now before Parliament be passed, it is intended to have everything in readiness for introducing the scheme before the end of the year. The cash receipts of the department for the financial year amounted to £297,375 10s. 10d., an increase of £13,130 Bs. Id., or 4-62 per cent. The revenue and expenditure for the year are given in the following statement:—

The revenue was £7,603 16s. sd. in excess of the expenditure; and it may be stated that the Post Office and Telegraph expenditure has been considerably less than the receipts for the past five years. This highly satisfactory position, however, is not generally known. The value of work performed gratuitously for other departments of the Government service was no less than £95,075 4s. Bd., and, taking credit for this sum, the gross earnings of the department will be found to have amounted to £392,450 15s. 6d. for the year. £29,452 Is. 3d. was expended on account of telegraph extension, and £7,569 4s. sd. on buildings, repairs, &c, out of Public Works Votes. 35,829,855 letters were dealt with. 1,774,273 telegrams of all codes were transmitted. 58 additional offices were opened, and the total number open at the end of 1885 was 1,049. 20 new mail services were established, and the total number maintained for the year was 553. The number of miles of telegraph lines increased by 190, and the total number of miles at the end of the year was 4,463. The number of miles of wire increased from 10,474 to 10,931. The telephone-exchange system was very largely extended during the year. Excluding the free connections, there was an increase of 506 subscribers for the twelve months. The total number of connections on the several exchanges on the 30th April last was 1,755. 3 new exchanges were established, namely, at Napier, Wanganui, and Timaru. £1,341,001 3s. 2d. was deposited by Savings-Bank depositors during the calendar year ; and the sum at the credit of depositors on the 31st December was £1,638,035 19s. sd. 38 officers on the permanent staff were appointed, 26 resigned, 8 were dispensed with, 4 dismissed, 1 disrated, and 4 died. Departmental changes involved 193 transfers. 65 telegraph message-boys were appointed, 24 resigned, and 12 dismissed. The following table and return give the number of offices and officers of all classes on the 31st December last: —

Revenue. Stamps used for postage tfoney-order commission collected in the colony iloney-order commission received from foreign offices Private box and bag fees Postage from foreign offices Miscellaneous receipts (postal) Ordinary and press telegrams telephone exchange Miscellaneous receipts (telegraph) £ s. d. 141,500 0 0 9,271 15 3 455 0 4 4,051 10 0 30,853 5 7 9,264 9 8 88,013 15 3 12,294 1 2 1,671 13 7 Expenditure. £ s. d. Salaries .. .. .. .. 126,190 12 2 Conveyance of mails by sea .. .. 84,357 17 3 Conveyance of inland mails .. .. 28,925 19 9 Conveyance of mails by rail .. .. 739 10 0 Money-order commission credited to foreign offices .. .. .. 1,335 5 10 Maintenance and repairs to telegraph lines, and miscellaneous .. .. 42,872 9 5 Cable subsidies .. .. .. 5,350 0 0 £289,771 14 5 Balance of revenue over expenditure .. 7,603 16 5 £297,375 10 10 £297,375 10 10

Postal Distriota. DD B Q e o ~ £ s 4 r■o <3 IO O P. en 8 i o 0 Pn t» M fl o o o to Q 2 | o o Q M P 5 GJ H pq o Clerks and Postal Cadets. Operators (including Cadets). O cri ah .23 S « S m a g gj 55 I to o d B o Letter-carriers. o i O O Telegraph Message Boys. o .5 Town. Country. Town. Country. Town. Country. to a o m 9 r3 Town. Country. tuckland Thames >Tew Plymouth .. xisborno Napier iVanganui Wellington 31enheim kelson. iVesport greymouth Hokitika Christchurch Pimaru Damaru Dunedin invercargill 45 11 6 1 17 13 19 0 11 5 4 3 50 16 9 37 20 177 27 14 17 32 19 60 17 32 18 21 26 101 25 12 105 07 1 10 35 1 2 1 12 8 40 3 5 21 7 5 3 22 11 87 82 9 2 7 4 27 6 6 21 7 8 7 1 40 11 6 1 18 13 21 6 11 5 4 3 61 16 9 38 20 177 27 14 17 32 19 60 17 32 18 21 26 101 25 12 105 67 u o 2 1 3 2 7 1 2 1 1 1 14 2 2 14 2 4 1 2 15 4 3 3 6 4 33 2 5 2 3 2 16 3 3 14 3 11 4 2 1 1 1 i 2 1 3 30 5 4 35 8 2 5 4 9 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 6 3 i 3 i 4 8 6 2 2 2 3 1 15 2 1 16 6 1 4 1 6 2 l l l l l 'i 2 i ■i i 2 2 ii l 1 8 6 3 1 273 770 10 25 193 230 65 279 770 71 20 14 121 85