F.—l

XVIII

TELEGEAPHS. The total value of the telegraph and telephone business for the year ended the 31st March last, including miscellaneous telegraph receipts and Government telegrams, was £270,660 13s. as compared with £261,941 6s. for the previous year—an increase of £8,719 6s. 7d., or 3-33 per cent. The following is a comparison of the traffic in paid telegrams during the last ten yeara : — Number. Value. 1895-96 ... 1,899,632 ... ... ... £92,289 1896-97 ... 2,285,001 Increase, 2029 percent. ... 97,453 Increase, 5-60 per cent 1897-98 ... 2,469,415 „ 8-07 „ ... 96,537 Decrease, 0-94 1898-99 ... 2,717,548 „ 1005 „ ... 101,104 Increase, -473 1899-00 ... 3,159,093 „ 16-25 „ ... 114,383 „ 1313 1900-1 ... 3,534,444 „ 11-88 „ ... 126,382 „ 1049 1901-2 ... 3,850,391 „ 894 141,581 „ 1203 1902-3 ... 4,271,218 „ 10-93 153,338 „ 830 1903-4 ... 4,671,904 „ 9-38 162,498 „ 597 1904-5 ... 4,900,495 „ 4-89 167,581 „ 312

Telegraph Business. Table showing the number of telegrams forwarded, and the revenue derived therefrom, during the four quarters of the financial years 1903-4 and 1904-5 respectively:—

The telegraph receipts for the financial year, including telephone-exchange subscriptions, private-wire rents, &c, amounted to £250,063 Is. 3-J-d., compared with £237,564 4s. 11-J-d. in 1903-4—an increase of £12,498 16s. 4d., or 5-26 per cent. The expenditure was £258,977 10s. 9d., as against £255,863 Is. 2d. for the previous year—an increase of £3,114 9s. 7d., or 1-22 per cent. There were 7,943-J miles of line and 23,704 miles of wire at the close of the year —an increase of 165 and 773 miles respectively. The net expenditure out of Public Works Fund for telegraph extension was £79,297 15s. Id., as compared with £47,226 19s. 7d. in 1903-4. The number of private wires and subsidised lines was 350, compared with 364 in 1903-4. The amount received for rent, maintenance, &c, was £1,973 19s. 5d., as against £2,018 7s. in 1903-4. The total number of telegraph and telephone offices open at the close of the year was 1,200. Of these, 262 were telegraph-offices, and 938 telephone-offices. The number of telegrams of all codes forwarded during last financial year was 5,159,745 —an increase of 194,548, or 391 per cent., over 1903-4. The proportion of paid telegrams per head of population was 5-75, and 5-65 the-previous year. The number of ordinary telegrams forwarded was 3,720,114, of the value of £126,578 7s. 10§d., compared with 3,603,674, for £123,782 6s. B£d., in 1903-4—an increase of 116,440 and £2,796 Is. 2d. The urgent telegrams numbered 187,027, of the value of £11,894 Bs. 3d.—an increase of 10,251 in number, and £443 17s. 9d. in amount. The average value of each ordinary telegram was BT6d., and of each urgent telegram Is. 3-26 d. 367,066 Press telegrams, of the value of £15,274 19s. 0-Jd., were forwarded in 1904-5, as compared with 364,860, valued at £15,115 19s. Bd., forwarded in 1903-4—an increase of 2,206, or 06 per cent., in number, and an increase of 105 per cent, in value. The value of each Press telegram averaged 9'98d., as against 9-94 d. in 1903-4. The bureau messages numbered 626,288, of the value of £13,833 18s. s|d., as compared with 526,594, of the value of £12,148 16s. 9d.—an increase of 99,694 in number, and £1,685 Is. B£d. in amount. The average value of each bureau message was 53d., as against 5-54 d. in 1903-4. The following figures show the growth of the traffic in bureau messages as compared with ordinary telegrams : — Average Value. Year Year 1904-5. 1903-4. The total number of ordinary tele-) 116,440,0r\ /£2,796, or) „ ..„, qoai grams increased by I 3-23% 226% r' ibd ' B '^ d - relative receipts byThe total number of bureau com-) 99.694,0r| £1,685, [, „, „ ~., munications increased by f 18-93 % j lor 13-87 % I M - o ' o4d '

Number of Telegrams forwarded. E levenue Revenue. Quarter. Year ended Year ended 31st March, 31st March, 1904. 1905. Increase per Cent. 1903-4. 1904-5. SI -w m a S3 o go June quarter September quarter December quarter March quarter ... ... 1,086,890 ,.. 1,069,311 ... 1,215,959 ... 1,299,744 11,142,677 1,134,318 1,280,432 1,343,068 5-13 6'07 5-30 333 £ s. 38,072 6 37,350 18 42,233 3 44,841 5 d. ■ £ s. d. 0 ' 39,262 19 11 7 38,760 4 3 6 43,777 7 10 6£ 45,781 1 7i 312 3-77 3-65 209 4,671,904 4,900,495 4-89 162,497 13 7| ! 167,581 13 7 3-12