p. & T. DEPARTMENT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4723, 11 July 1924, Page 2

p. & T. DEPARTMENT.

DRIVING AWAY BUSINESS. INSTANCES ON THE PLAINS. It cannot at any time be said that State departments go out pf their way to induce business. Rather is it that, protected by the State-granted monopoly, they conduct such business as comes to them in the most roundabout way without regard to the public and in such a manner that the tendency is. to drive business away. The Post : and Telegraph Department is in this category, and the Hauraki Plains offers some glaring examples. It is well-known that it is often as quick to travel from one township io another as to wait for a connection by telephone. Nevertheless, applications for connection to exchanges are still being made, but in the case of the Ngatea exchange these cannot be granted as there are no available numbers on the switchboard, and apparently np room in the present post office for a larger switchboard. 9 Jn the postal branch some peculiarities are noticeable. Pipiroa and Waitakaruru are about five and a quarter miles apart, yet a letter from Pipiroa travels about forty miles, through Turua, Paeroa, and Ngatea, to Waitakaruru, taking two ■whole days on the journey. Kaihere and Torehape are about four miles apart, but a letter has to travel via Ohinewai, Hamilton, Paeroa, Ngatea, and Waitakaruru, covering in all about 120 miles and spending either two or four days in various mailbags. From Kaihere to Patetonga the distance by direct road is about five miles, yet a letter takes two or four days to cover the forty-odd miles by the mail route. Under these circumstances it is not unreasonable for settlers to complain and to send messages by users of the roads rather than by the post office. At Ngatea the mail arrives about 5.30 p.m., yet no counter delivery is made until the following morning. Several applications have been made for private letter-boxes, but these cannot be granted because none are available ; nor is there room in the present building for another nest of boxes. Under these conditions it is not unreasonable to expect the office to be opened for a quarter of an hour after the mail is sorted, as in other offices where there are no private letter boxes.