F.—l

VIII

Parcel-post. The following table shows the total number and the weight of inland, intercolonial, United Kingdom, and foreign parcels posted during the years 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1892: —

The postage collected amounted to £8,165 12s. Id., compared with £8,267 3s. lid. collected in 1891. The number of inland parcels posted was 143,513, compared with 157,465 in 1891. The decrease in the number of inland parcels posted against the number posted in 1891 was 13,952, or 8-86 per cent., compared with an increase of 33'88 per cent, in 1891 over 1890. This decrease is due to the diversion of lighter parcels to the packet-post, owing to the decrease of postage by the packet-post from 8d. to 4d. per lb. The following table shows the number of parcels exchanged with the United Kingdom and foreign countries via London, and the Australian Colonies during the years 1891 and 1892 : —

The declared value of the parcels received from places outside the colony was £25,299 os. sd. The Customs duty collected amounted to £4,928 13s. Bd. In 1891 the declared value was £23,385 13s. 7d., and the duty collected £3,835 3s. lid. The declared value of parcels despatched to places beyond the colony was £4,296 7s. 3i-d., as against £4,193 9s. lid. in 1891.

Free Official Correspondence. The estimated value of official or free correspondence for the year is given in the statement underneath:—

The estimated weight was over 240 tons. The estimated value of the free correspondence for 1891 was £63,579 16s. 4d.

Postal Districts. 18f Number. 1889. 389. Weight. 1800. 1891. 1892. Numbe Weight. Number. Weight. Number. Weight. Auckland .. Thames New Plymouth Gisbome .. Napier Wanganui Wellington Nelson Westport .. Greymouth Hokitika .. Blenheim .. Christchurch Timaru Oamai'u .. Dunedin .. Inveroargill 19,468 1,199 878 770 5,354 3,344 20,856 3,767 868 1,630 1,182 1,785 17,370 1,760 854 20,3G3 3,138 lb. oz. 53,351 11 3,053 ljj 2,341 14 1,969 0 13,802 2 7,862 8 55,910 9 11,013 13 J 1,859 14 4,024 11J 3,394 5" 4,008 15 48,403 14 3,807 1 1,873 14 57,366 11 7,722 12J 21,882 1,491 1,007 938 6,265 4,035 25,893 4,723 1,077 2,509 1,413 1,846 19,383 2,013 859 22,500 3,458 lb. oz. 57,912 10 3,661 8 2,674 3 2,570 0 17,075 14 9,563 8 74,544 2 13,370 7 2,332 4 6,243 13 3,924 5 4,357 11 58,708 4 4,774 8 2,123 3 65,329 13 7,477 5 lb. OZ. 30,120 74,503 8 1,756 4,269 12 1,630 3,745 13 1,149 2,990 10 7,707 20,917 7 5,497 12,528 12 35,427 106,175 0 5,892 15,366 2 1,464 3,268 6 2,998 , 7,252 12 1,776 4,622 7 " 2,058 5,128 15 26,312 74,162 2 2,634 5,431 6 1,224 2,577 11 29,995 79,783 0 4,637 ! 9,911 8 31,699 1,769 1,463 1,103 6,675 4,892 32,677 4,574 1,276 2,634 1,705 2,108 23,804 2,329 872 24,813 3,656 lb. oz. 86,125 10 4,385 11 4,903 12 3,310 6 20,779 2 13,352 15 111,365 13 14,282 5 3,086 13 6,710 10 4,593 12 5,151 1 76,804 0 5,665 6 2,239 0 76,774 3 9,356 8 J 144.8,886 15£ Totals 162,282 '432,635 3 148,049 104,586 281,766 13 121,292 336,643 12

JNumbe Received. Number of Parcels. 3r of P Parcels. Despa Country. iohed. United Kingdom and Foreign Offices, via London ... Victoria South Australia Tasmania Queensland ... Western Australia .:. Totals 1891. 1892. ... 17,115 13,988 1,649 j 2,252 113 ! 156 76 120 125 • 14 13 ... 18,967 ! 16,654 1891. 3,253 1,176 107 250 1892. 2,961 1,111 94 278 47* 45 31 4,817 4,536 * From August, 1892.

Postal Districts. Lottors. Books. Yaluo. Postal Districts. Letters. Books. Value. Auckland Thames New Plymouth .. Gisborne Napier Wanganui Wellington Nelson Westport Greymouth lb. oz. 25,039 9 2,269 6 4.460 14 1,587 S 4,106 6 6,955 0 126,513 13 3,002 0 1,492 0 1.461 0 lb. oz. 17,330 10 2,406 15 7,000 0 16,320 0 11,648 0 8,324 0 213,300 0 1,320 0 906 0 8,132 0 £ s. d. 6,991 7 3 645 11 7 1,306 5 1 695 6 8 1,289 3 4 1,994 9 4 37,664 5 5 822 13 4 412 19 4 525 2 8 Hokitika Blenheim Christehurch Timaru Oamaru Dunedin Invercargill lb. oz. 1,496 0 2,934 12 12,558 4 6,026 8 1,169 13 10,063 1 3,263 0 lb. oz. 430 0 9,876 0 11,136 2 3,624 0 1,676 0 6,903 0 4,970 8 £ s. d. 406 2 0 947 10 8 3,534 9 4 1,667 12 8 339 17 8 2,798 13 5 .954 G 2 Totals 214,398 14 325,303 3 62,996 1 11