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1929. NEW ZEALAND.

POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR 1928-29.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

To His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Charles Fergusson, Baronet; General on the Retired List and in the Reserve of Officers of His Majesty's Army ; Doctor of Laws ; Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George; Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath ; Companion of the Distinguished Service Order ; Member of the Royal Victorian Order. May it please Your Excellency,— I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year ended 31st March, 1929. RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS. On the Ist April, 1928, the Post Office Account was separated from the Treasury, and under the new arrangement the working-expenses are met out of the revenue of the Department, instead of being taken from the Consolidated Fund. Under this method a slight change has taken place in the accounts, and receipts which are considered as legitimate trading returns are now treated as revenue instead of credits in aid to the vote Post Office Account. The amount of revenue collected during the year was £3,445,545, and the working-expenses amounted to £2,921,736,- leaving a balance of receipts over payments of £523,809. This balance has been invested to provide the necessary reserves, for depreciation and other purposes, in accordance with statutory authority. The sum of £428,000 being interest on capital liability which was previously paid out of Consolidated Fund, is included in the working-expenses. STAFF. The numerical strength of the staff remains much as it was last year, and I am glad to be able to state that the high standard of efficiency referred to in previous reports has been maintained. When one reflects upon the huge volume of business transacted by the Department throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion (the cash value of all transactions for the year amounted to £219,425,000) one cannot help but appreciate how essential it is that the staff entrusted with the handling of such a volume of business should be highly trained and extremely capable. The Department could not carry on efficiently and without loss if there were drones in the hive. Happily the Service is one in which restriction of output is not known. The spirit of the Service is such that each individual officer —from the lowest to the highest —gives of his best, whether his immediate duty be the delivering of a telegram, the selling of a postage-stamp, the registering of

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