POSTAL REVENUE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 410, 20 January 1909, Page 7

POSTAL REVENUE.

'■■ INCREASES FOP (JUARTEB. ■ THE PRIME MINISTER'S OPTIMISM. , ' (nt TELSdßArii'-'PRESs Ass'oQiATjgji.). Christohurch, Januaryl9.. " At the social' to Mv. H;.-G. Ell, M.P., to< night,'the ; Prime Mipister (Sir Joseph..Ward) dealt at Bom: the'present pros-' porous, condition pJ; the Dominion. ■.;, Thci Prime;. Minister; m§ that they in New Zea4 land wore .subjeotod .from' time. to. .tinio. to ■strong criticism fts to;wjiore the country woe progressing. The: ywTv; Bonie was that thq cQuntry h(id reached fts apes;,' and .was likely : to go.down on:the other side-; It.ira? sometimes a.good,tfeing to take a glapeo st.what lie would call ono of the broad-and-huttor dopartrnejite of the Dominion) and to study its baroraotrical indicatipne as-to whether the- country .was going, ahead or going: backward. /That afterhooni-hfl .had.received a tologram givingi'.the results of ..the: operations of the.postal and tolegraph'Eervice) a ; sorvipo widely.used by all cljissos'of.the community. That' tologram.'from the present head-'.of Mho was IT f'ias3ur)n'g:!to: hioi, 'and , he oonfidontly. anticipatcd.-'thati'it I ?WoftW , ) W eb ■ to. : pth'er»i-'.'■ ■!■.(■!."•;".'■.'■■;■■';.''.v; ■ ■',V?_■--■ -,-V■_■■-:"-".-. r :;^.-■.-.

■ Quarter's Postal Revemio,: £260,833. [J '.-. Sjr Joseph..then ..road' ,the. 'telegram - , which was to tho effect that th<s 'postal arid telegraphio revonuo Ipr tho December, quarter of. 1008 showed, a wy , satisfactory inoroase upon tjio ; corresponding ■ quarter -or- the -previous year,, ! ';Tho : oxoqss. of postal rovqnuo was £15,000.and ;of tsloßTaph' , revenue £10,000, the' .total ,jnoreas6:bo;ng '£25,000, Tho .total royomfp. for the Quartor wae :£250,833,' or just over .fcHo quarter-million;; Tho business -.in-all branolios'showed a steadyj "increase. (Applause,):' Sir Joseph, continuing, said that whon,:'lt 'devolved uppii- him to' take ohargo ot.tbo Department mentioned- the total revenue was not-a'quarter of a million piSr annum, and. 1 when,he predicted that jtwoujd attain' to';. ono>million "of .revenue some bad boon sceptical' regarding' , 'tho possibility Qf. such a -result;, and;looked upon it as an exoessivoly; ' sariguiue ostimato.- ;At the end of : the_ present year, he ventured : to express Itho opinion that the-revenue would not be far off. 2000,000;; »t' least it would he £800,000.; 'Not. very lopg ago people interested'in the development of the, country expressed tho opinion, tbit: sorao.day the revenue from the State Railways' would reach £1,000,000, but hero was a Department, not oonsidered; to be so large as', the. Railway Dopartmfentj-thiit'hed eftTJicd 0ver.£250,000 in ''-a,: quarter.. Surely that was indicative of the activity, of the •development,and the prog»BS■ of •tnpir country.; (Applaußc.) ■...■.: .

/;•'.■.■ tsntl:Sottlom'ent Figures. ,/ Tho dovolonmont of jand pettloment was a quoS)tioix of vital' importance, and the figures lie 'would quote wriuld show that the great work of land settlement, of closer land settlement, and of- Bmnllor land: settlement wa's progressing. in a jway that jnUPtbe regarded by the most sceptical as satisfactory in tho extrerao.'At ; th(| present moment there wore some- 80-' surveyors employed preparing lands for settlement. The total area 'of.unEurvoyod : land'wp ocros. During; January, Fobruar.y, and March, 133,241 aoKis would bo opon I for. selection; ■ 104,553 acres,■ were'ordinary (Jrown lands; and 28,688, wore' Jftnds'j'for' settleineht lands', '•' Th? territorial-■ revenue for tbo nine' months ending Deceftiber 31, '1908, jhad been £144,099; ; to that amount hapVto pe addec) £41i581, being rental froni : - national endowment lands', which was formerly: included in territorial reydnue; ..This made the -total-for the nine itiontlis £185,680. For tho'eigljt.months from -Aprjll, 1908, fo November 1,1908, the number of hew"selectors under ordinary 1 set-' tlemeiit' conditions numbered 1187, they had'eelegt<icl a tiatal area of acrcsV Qf the'.tota] number of tejectorev 091 had seleot«4 ordinary Crown lan.<Js totalling 185,824 acres, .'Under,the I/'a.nds for Settlement systom/(including Cheviot),, there' wcro-165 'new soleC' tors, '.wjio:. took up 75,177 acre?; and 341 ■ selcotors of.' national'■■ endownieiit lands had taken up-149,037 a|ores. '': ; . .' . . i'. ' These , figures, Sir Joseph said, indicated the :4eyeloprnent of 'a polioy.' whibh 'he was certain' wa's in thf hjgnost interests of', the. country, and ,ono which would,be vigorously' prosecuted , by the Gbvorn'mont, ; Tho policy '.was,'one : :.tha't ha<j: materially; helped in tho prosperity of, Neyr Zealand, and had. wonderfully .assisted-j individuals . in diiferont parts ofitho.'Doni'inion, and had ad<lod to'the earnings '■■'■of'-' vorfous Govornmonf ' Departmonts;: Thatpolfcy was going qn, and .must be satisfactory to tho country generally," ; ■