F.—l

X

Cr. £ s. d. £ s. d. Postages from London Post Office ... ... 9,777 13 5 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 16,984 16 11 Eeceipts from non-contracting colonies... ... 13,947 17 1 — 40,710 7 5 Net profit to the colony ... ... ... £422 12 4 The estimated net cost of the service for 1884 was £7,736 10s. 7d. 324,682 letters, 193,284 books, and 715,964 newspapers were received from, and 365,439 letters, 39,143 books, and 388,134 newspapers despatched to, the United Kingdom, &c, by the San Francisco service. Direct Steam Service, New Zealand Shipping Company. Dr. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments on weight of correspondence ... 12,760 14 8 Bonus paid contractors ... ... ... 7,850 0 0 Light-dues (charged on Estimates) ... ... 936 0 0 Interprovincial service ... ... ... 3,500 0 0 ■ 25,046 14 8 Cb. Postages from London Post Office ... ... 11,210 14 4 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 7,283 6 7 18,494 0 11 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... £6,552 13 9 260,597 letters, 151,986 books, and 614,821 newspapers were received from the United Kingdom, &£., by the direct service; and 166,181 letters, 19,759 books, and 126,378 newspapers despatched. Colombo-Briudisi, Victorian Packet Service. Dr. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments to Victoria ... ... ... 1,756 11 9 Intercolonial service ... ... ... 160 1 9 1,916 13 6 Cb. Postages from London Post Office ... ... 727 3 11 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 413 17 3 1,141 1 2 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... £775 12 4 The following shows the number of letters, books, and newspapers conveyed by the Victorian packets: Eeceived, 31,306 letters, 11,893 books, 50,904 newspapers; despatched, 1,755 letters, 60 books, 237 newspapers. Suez-Brindisi, New South Wales Packet Service. Dr. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments to New South Wales ... ... 557 5 9 Intercolonial service... ... ... ... 92 5 1 ■ 649 10 10 Cr. • Postages received from London ... ... 234 14 8 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 139 18 4 374 13 0 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... ...£274 17 10 38,563 letters, 23,404 books, and 73,147 newspapers were received from the United Kingdom, &.c, by the Suez-Brindisi service; and 2,279 letters, 101 books, and 235 newspapers despatched. The payments made for the year for the transmission of correspondence by the Torres Strait mail service amounted to £8 9s. 2d. 5,959 letters, 544 books, and 7,316 newspapers were received from, and 11,061 letters, 806 books, and 2,454 newspapers were despatched to, the United Kingdom by direct non-contracting steamers.