The Globe. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 996, 4 September 1877, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1877.

The Report of the Post Office Department for the year ended June 30th, presented to Parliament, contains a large amount of interesting information regarding the work of the department. During the year the business transacted by the Post Office has been considerably extended, and the revenue increased. The total receipts for the year amounted to £86,5-17 14s, being an increase of £5891 13s 3d on the previous year. But the gross revenue is stated at £102,174 10s lid, as a sum of £15,920 16s lid for postages from the Imperial Post Office and certain of the Australian colonies, was clue at the close of the financial year, although not received into the Treasury. The expenditure was as follows: —Payments on account of salaries, £37,585 6s (3d; conveyance of mails by sea, £64,919 9s lOd; carriage of inland mails, £27,743 5s 9d ; contingencies, £3812 2s 0d ; estimated liabilities, £6186 ; leaving a balance of expenditure over revenue of £37,236 4s 7d. But if we take into account the sum estimated for " franked correspondence" —£51,816 6s —the earnings of the department for the year will have exceeded the expenditure by £14,054 12s 4d. This item of £51,816 6s for "franked correspondence" is one deserving of notice. By it we are to some extent able to gauge the enormous amount of red tape which characterises the management of our affairs. The whole of the inhabitants of New Zealand conducted their private and commercial correspondence last year at a cost of £86,547 14s, while that connected with the public service, in the form of official correspondence, represented no less a sum than £51,810 6s. Considering the population of the colony, it is evident that we are exceedingly luxurious in the matter of mail services. Frequent attempts have been made to reduce the cost of our Inland Services, but Avitliout effect. Honorable members are quite willing to vote for a resolution affirming the necessity of economy, but when it proposed to reduce any particular service, the gentleman representing the district is immediately up in arms. When we take into account the fact that many services are performed by the railways free of charge, £27,797 is surely a large sum to pay for the carriage of mails throughout

New Zealand. The Mail Steam services cost £64,919 9s lOd. Of course, the San Francisco service absorbs the largest amount of this sum. Last year, £19,129 0s Id was paid, made up as follows : —Subsidy to main line, £43,939 Is 3d; bonus, £2559 5s 8d; luterprovincial services, mail agents, &c, £2630 10s 2d. The G-alle and Suez service cost us £l-1,225 5s Id, consisting of payments to A r ictoria, £9121 5s Id ; luterprovincial service, £slOl. If we take credit for the postages, &c., the account stands thus :—San Francisco service cost £19,129 0s Id; revenue from postages, and recoveries from noncontracting colonies, £25,387 6s 6d ; leaving the net cost of the service to the colony at £23,711 13s 7d. Taking credit in a similar manner for postages, the Suez line costs us £6096 2s lid. Attached to the report are a number of tables. One of them shows the days occupied in the delivery of mails between London and various ports in New Zealand by the two routes during the last twelve months. The average time by the San Francisco route to Auckland, was '11.93 days ; to Wellington, 47.86 days ; to Dundin, •19.61 days. By the Suez route the average time was, to Auckland, 51.93 days ; to Wellington, 52.21 days ; to Dunedin, 50 days. It will thus be seen that as far as the conveyance of our inward mails is concerned, the people in Auckland received their correspondence by the San Francisco service ten days quicker than by the Suez service, and that eveu in Dunedin the people are gainers by nearly half a day. Let us now turn to the outward service. The outward mails via San Francisco were delivered in London, on an average, of 43.33 days from Auckland; of 46.73 from Wellington; of 48.8 from Dunedin. Via Suez the average was, from Auckland, (50 36: from AVellington, 57.0 ; from Dunedin, 53.57. Thus, both in respect to the outward and inward service, that via San Francisco has been most advantageous to the colony. It is a question well worth consideration whether the subsidy paid to the Suez route ought longer to be continued. At any rate the line ought to be made self-supporting, and such a rate of postage charged as to pay the demands of A 7 ictoria, and the cost of the intercolonial service in connection with it. AVe must leave to another article the discussion of several other matters referred to in the report.