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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XII, Issue 506, 5 September 1867, Page 2

The Postmasxer-Gexekat/s Repout. —VTc take the following analysis of the above from the Wellington Independent;— ) bo eighth report ou the Postal tiervice of N*ew Zealand (for the year 186'')i by t!)e lion. J. Hall, gives some valuable information respecting the working of the postal system in the Colony. Haring the. year 1866, 2,353.50 d letters were des-| j},itched, against 2,235,188 in 1865; 2,101.783 were received, against 2,208,285 in 1805 ; the newspapers despatched were 2,4-13,511, against 1,923,54-1. in 1855; the newspapers received were 1,959,528,again5t 1,471,134 in 1865. Ihe postal revenue (exclusive of money order commissions) of the year 1866 was £47.830 10s fid, compared with £46,475 9s 3d received during the preceding year; the expenditure (exclusive of steam subsidies), £62,927 4s Gd — including £7.300 expended! in new build' ings compared with £55,641 6s 3d in ISGS. Twelve new offices were opened last year, and four offices closed. The number of officers employed in the various post offices of the Colony in 1866 was 412. Mr Hall states that it has hitherto been found

impossible to devise a plan which would act as an elllcient substitute for the system of franking now in operation ; and the >e on uicndation of the Postal Committee of 18'6, to abolish the franking system has not therefore been acted upon. During sbe year 46,172 letters, including 521 registered letters, were received at llio Dead Letter Oilice. Of these 37,117, including 51H registered, were despatched Ir an the

jollies JNearly 100 loiters tvnro delivered ito personal applicants, and about 9,000 I were destroyed, as neither the writers nor ■Dio persons to whom they were addressed, 1 could be found. 'Che property found in | the dead letters was worth £7,822 12s lOd, and consi-ted of bills of exchange, bank notes, money orders, acceptances, promissory notes, cheques, coin, postage stamps, orders, bank rcceii ts, warrants, gold dust, and gold rings. A considerable increase in the number of registered letters took place during the year—the returns being —ISGS, 27,985 ; 1866, 35,328. Money ord-rs to the value of £108,779 Is 9d were T-sued at the various oiilccs in the Colony ; while order to the value of £52,547 9s 4d were paid ; showing an increase of 20 per cent, over the transactions of of the previous year. Thoßost Office Savings’ Dank system has, it is satisfactory to find, proved very successful. Although the system was only initiated in February last, by the end of May, 830 accounts had been opened, and there remained in the Banks £20,971 8s 7dt o the credit of the depositors. Three tables appended to the report, show the comparative extent to which the Suez and Panama routes are used for the transmission of correspondence. Bet ween July, 1866, and June, 1837,134,983 j letters, 3,253 book packets, and 271,800 newspapers were despatched from New Zealand to Europe by the former route ; and 191,147 letters, 10,494 book packets, and 373, 413 newspapers received from Kuropo. Between the 24th June, 1866, and Bth June, 1867, there were 207,032 letters, 2,338 book packets, and 67,523 newspapers despatched to Europe from Now Zealand by way of Panama; while during the same period, 118,757 letters, 15,444 book packets, and 182,936 newspapers were received from Europe by that mail. The amount accruing to New Zealand for carriage of mails via Suez was £3,009 2s lOd ; via Panama, £8,61] 5s 3d, inclusive of mails to and from different parts of America and the West Indies. A comparative table shows that in 1865, the average number of letters to each person in the United Kingdom was 24; of book packets, 3.25 ; to each person in Victoria, 12 letters, and 9.45 new spapers and book packets; to each person in New South Wales, 14 letters and 10.25 newspapers ; while in 1866, the average number of letters and newspapers to each person in Now Zealand was 22.9 letters, and 21 newspapers. A note to the return informs us that, as the liguros for the United Kingdom only represent the letters and newspapers delivered, while those for the Colonies, represent also those despatched, it is nece.-s .ry to make a fair comparison, that the Uniie.l Kingdom should ho doubled. Another return snows, that the itch for scribbling is more irritating in Hawke’s Day than any other piovince. The average number of 1. tiers and newspapers to erch person in the respective provinces stand thus : Auckland, 18.53 IS 73 ; Taranaki, 19-18.9; Hawke’s Bay, 30-32; W eliington, 24.4-23 ; Nelson, 16-19; Manborough,22-lG; Canterbury,2s 27-20; Lingo, 24.8-21 ; fcouthland, 22.5-23.