XI

F.—l

The following table shows the number and weight of parcels exchanged with the United Kingdom, and foreign countries viâ London, the Australian Colonies and the South Sea Islands, during the years 1898 and 1899: —

The declared value of parcels received from places outside the colony in 1899 was £70,094. The Customs duty collected amounted to £15,849 18s. 2d. The declared value of parcels despatched to places beyond the colony was £10,806, as against £9,245 in 1898. A scheme for the transmission of duty-paid parcels was inaugurated on the Ist October last. Under this arrangement persons in the United Kingdom can forward parcels to New Zealand for delivery, free of all charge, the sender paying all Customs duties, redirection-fees, &c, to the Post Office in the United Kingdom. As this scheme has only been in force for a limited period, it cannot be stated at present to what extent the franked-parcel system is likely to be taken advantage of. The insurance of parcels to and from the United Kingdom appears to be appreciated by the public, and is largely used, especially in connection with valuable parcels forwarded from the United Kingdom for delivery in the colony. The inland and Australian insurance system has not so far, however, been made use of to any great extent. On the Ist instant a parcel-post system was established with the United States of America. Although the question of this exchange was mooted as far back as 1890, the authorities of the United States Post Office have only now been able to agree to the exchange. It is understood that New Zealand is the first of the Australasian Colonies which is in the position of being able to send and receive parcels by post to and from America.

Official Correspondence. The estimated volume and value of official and other free correspondence posted during 1899 is given in the statement below:—

Rec< jived. Despatched. Country. 1898. 1899. 1898. 1899. Number. Weight. Number. Weight. Number. Weight. Number. Weight. United Kingdom and foreign offices (via London) Victoria .. New South Wales South Australia Queensland Tasmania.. Western Australia Samoa Rarotonga Fiji Hawaii Ceylon Uruguay Vancouver 17,823 lb. oz. 58,865 0 19,719 lb. oz. 68,628 0 4,023 lb. oz. 9,705 8 4,524 lb. oz. 10,128 5 3,292 4,614 235 343 143 190 17 5 14 42 326 10,682 8 13,384 3 688 2 704 0 382 0 459 11 65 11 18 5 53 12 97 8 701 12 3,235 5,691 258 327 152 244 14 10 29 56 340 11,076 0 16,097 8 779 15 712 12 434 11 538 0 62 11 15 0 60 13 115 i§ 739 15 1,311 1,779 190 267 308 236 123 62 27 IS 145 15 37 2,792 3 4,601 15 517 13 686 15 747 4 543 2 382 4 218 4 112 ■ 3 55 9 249 0 18 13 101 8 1,346 1,975 194 293 315 266 213 70 109 24 166 14 67 2,771 13 5,714 1 527 13 748 0 712 3 739 13 667 3 220 5 324 11 62 3 379 1 54 0 139 0 132 178 0 Totals .. 27,044 86,102 8 30,207 99,438 9J 8,541 20,732 5 9,576 23,188 7

District. Letters. Packets. Registered Articles. Newspapers. Postage Value of Official Correspondence. Auckland Thames New Plymouth Gisborne Napier Wanganui Wellington Nelson Westport.. Greymouth Hokitika Blenheim Christchurch Timaru Oamaru Dunedin Invercargill 269,653 47,599 107,677 22,615 116,966 198,629 928,060 77,808 24,572 73,681 21,208 56,905 285,015 70,655 41,405 328,572 187,608 16,518 3,097 10,794 901 10,148 16,420 152,135 5,110 208 3,148 2,500 2,500 18,075 3,000 1,378 39,280 18,237 15,437 1,602 1,727 863 2,386 4,030 28,011 4,965 1,200 2,264 1,800 550 12,285 1,579 1,528 5,244 3,665 41,357 20,995 33,225 10,024 38,685 87,042 176,897 39,344 20,956 40,124 10,621 21,000 109,002 30,000 31,411 173,712 75,456 £ 6,189 1,324 2,775 622 3,026 5,540 23,281 2,302 848 2,157 653 1,464 7,689 1,904 1,370 9,895 5,156 Totals 2,858 628 303,449 89 136 959,851 76 195