THE POST OFFICE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1817, 1 August 1913, Page 5

THE POST OFFICE.

REPORT FOR THE YEAR

FACTS & FIGURES. : \ Tho annual report of the Post and Telegraph Department was presented to tho Iloiiso of Representatives yesterday by tlio lion. R. 11. Rhodes, PostmnsterGeneral. •• Following is -a general summary of tlio work for tlio year:— "Tlio business of the Department has been satisfactory, tho excess of receipts over expenditure being 110 less than JC98.5.M. Tlio most outstanding feature of the year's work lias been tho extension ■ ■of itlio raidid-tele,graphic system. Two' low-power stations at Wellington and' Auckland respectively are in successful operation, ami have proved of great convenience, particularly in conucction with* . the shipping. Ouo high-powor station at Awanui and another at Awarua aro com-' ploted, and a low-power station at Chatham Islands is approaching completion.' It is confidently anticipated that theso statioijs will meet (lie requirements of navigation. A tender for automatic telephone exchanges lias just been accepted. l l'ho expenditure will be considerable, but tho ultimate savins iu working-expends and the increased convenienco to (lie public should compensate for the ndditional outlay. A trunk telephone wire for bureau communications between Wellington and Auckland has bson erected,' witlu 't'lio most satisfactory results. There lias been a marked increase in' tlio number of paid telegrams, whilst, the number of bureau messages has increased by ovey- 1G per cent. The system of deferred cable' messages, introduced at the beginning 0f,1912, i IjuSs been largely availed of, as wo liava also week-end cable messages to tho Unit-' ed Kingdom. Each of t'lioso innovations seems to have met a. public want.

Receipts and Payments. 1 The receipts and payments of tho Do* partmont for the financial year 1912-13 are shown in the following table:— ' > RECEIPTS. / £ 6. d/ Stamps for postage 591,921 11 8 v Honey-order and postal-note | commission 25,833 C 11 Money-order commission rc- ! ceived from foreign offices 811 1G .1 ' Private box and bag fees ~ 13,73 c 0 1 ■ Miscellaneous receipts ... 20,325 13 8J Paid telegrams 313,880 S 1 ; Telephone exchanges 201,237 7 3 j Total: 1,107,820 0 9J PAYMENTS. £ s. & Salaries (classified officers) 591,378 0 0 1 Salaries (country postmasters and telephonists, and contributions to Railway Department) 52,922 0 0 Conveyance of mails by sea 85,787 11 5 Conveyance of inland mails 72,552 4 G Conveyance of mails by railway 02,677 3 2 Money-order commission credited to foreign offices 2,500 3 10 Maintenance of telegraph ; and telephone lines 61,011 3 9 . Miscellaneous 137,143 12 3 j 1,009,272 7 11 I Balance of receipts over ■; payments 98,553 12 10$! Total 1,167,820 0 9jr' Interesting Facts. j Tho total receipts exceeded those of 1911-'' 12 by JCSO.IIG 9s. 9!d. Postal matter delivered in New Zealand, including that received from abroad, during tlie year reached a total of . 1U8,143,255 letters, j 0,058,902 post cards, 54,065,19G other articles, and 1,735,567 parcels. 666,425 > money-orders for £3,231,349 14s, Od. were' issued, and 536,130, lor £2,870,523 Is. 8(1., paid. The increase in the number of orders issued as compared with last year was 55,661. Burin,® the year 1,970,643 postal notes, of the value of £636,473 Of. Sd., were sold, being an increase of 8.18 per cent, in number and 10.69 in amount as compared with the preceding year. Tho number of British postal orders sold increased from 85.528, valued at £45,687 10s. 6d„ to 100,G61, for £,51,651 19s. 7it., and 24,405 orders, for £15,031 Is. 6d., wero paid, as against 23,420, for £15,458 18s. Gd., paid during t.!io previous year. Tho savings-bank deposits (£11,725,182 16s. 5d.) exceeded the withdrawals (£11,449,711 3s. 7<1.) by £275,471 12s. lOd. There has been added £511,598 18s. 8d„ as interest, making a total increase of £787,070 lls.'Od., and bringing the whole amount at credit up to '£16,,'130,257 Bs. 2c1., a sum which equals £14 lGs. 3d. per head of tho population. Tho total number of telegram# forwarded was 9,914,272, an increase of 851,139, or 9.72 per cent., over the business of tiho previous year. The , number of bureau 'communications continues to show a marked increase, being 2,935,912, as against 2,360,914. The amount expended on telegraph extension was £251,375, with liabilities amounting to £171,297 on account of works for which the authority of Parliament was granted' too late fori the necessary expenditure to bo brought within tile financial year. On March '31/ 1913, there were 12,50s miles of telegraph line and 41,892 miles of wire. The lengthj of submarine cables within tho Dominion' was 374 knots. The number of telephono -exchange connections still continues to rapidly increase.