SAVING £3000 A YEAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2468, 22 May 1915, Page 11

SAVING £3000 A YEAR

AS THE RESULT OF A GOOD IDEA.' Just five years ago Mr. Donald Robertson, then Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department, and now Public Service Commissioner, first put into practice in tho Telegraph Department an idea which has since resulted in a saving' to the # Dominion of £3000 a year, in a saving to the public of several minutes in the delivery of every telegram transmitted throughout the country, and in ensuring tho maximum of secrecy in all messages. These results were achieved by the abolition of tho old envelope system of delivering telegrams, and the introduction of that neat and compact telegraph form which is now so well and favourably known. It was at Duuedin, on May 23, 1910, that the new form was first issued to the public. Under the old system all messages were sent loose into the dispatch room, where envelopes were addressed and the messages dispatched. Under that system the messages could be ready by any one of a dozen officers, they might be placed in the wrong envelope, and unnecessary fcinio was taken up in addressing the envelopes. The advantages effected by the new form, simply folded and sealed, were:— (1) Absolute secrecy, silica practically only tho operator read the message; (2) expedition in delivery by eliminating unnecessary writing; (3) avoidance of error by placing a message in the wrong envelope.

As is so often tho caso with good ideas, it was found by tho Department, after Mr. Robertson's scheme bad been put into operation, that a distinct saving in cost of administration was being effected in addition to tho benefits conferred upon tho public. Theso advantages are well put by tho following extract from the 1910-11 report of tho Department:— "The new telegram form and envelope combined has now been introduced at practically every permanent office in the Dominion, and continues to givo satisfaction to the public. The estimated saving was £3000 per annum, which has practically been realised. A check taken at Wellington on two days showed that compared with the old system .there was an average saving of two minutes per message in dispatch from the office." Experience since then has shown the Department that the saving per annum in salaries, etc., is, if anything, above £3000, apart iron* the saving in stationery, etc., so that Mr. Robertson's idea has already savod tho country upwards of £15,000. After fivo years' of tho new form, both the Department and the public have pronounced overwhelmingly in its favour—a result which must be gratifying indeed to Mr. Robertson. It may be mentioned that tho Department is still, as over, on tho look-out for bright ideas, and deals annually with a number made by its officers.