The Mail Service.

Manawatu Herald, 12 September 1896, Page 2

The Mail Service.

-» « As we suggested a petition to the Postmaster-General is now being extensively signed to obtain a reversal of the way the coach runs which bring in the morning mail from Wellington into Foxton. Some agitation is being raised in Shannon about the matter, but one glance at the Shannon view is sufficient to show the absurdity of it. The Department can easily satisfy themselves on this point, for the number of letters between Shannon and j Foxton is of the smallest number, and cannot in anyway interfere with ' the trade of that town. What might be a matter of importance to it is

the question of feeding the three coach horses and the driver, and we can only suppose that; is the real, difficulty with them. The mail service was originated to take the mails from Foxton to Kereru, and two years ago was changed, in a most arbitary manner by the Secretary of the Post Office from Shannon to Foxton. We understand the Postmaster-General declares the matter was thoroughly ventilated two years ago, but we can prove it was not so, as the supporters of the Shannon service imposed upon the Department by asserting the agitation was a purely personal one which would die out if the question was decided by the officials. Now that two years have passed it is evident that the purely personal question was a myth and that a morning service is the one the settlers earnestly desire, and this is proved by the settlers paying £50 a year to Mr Stansell to supply this much needed convenienca. This being so it seems peculiar reasoning on the part of the Post Office officials to doubt the want and to assert the matter was, two yeara ago, thoroughly ventilated, as the last two years proves exictly the reverse. The Department, if they look up the correspondence of the period referred to will see that it was pointed out the morning service was the one the business people and bankers wanted, as well as the travelling public, for under the present train arrangements, two days in the week, an afternoon mail can be sent by train and travellers can also go that way, so that subsidising the present mail service only gives the business people four afternoon mails in the week and debars them, unless they individually pay for it, a morning mail every day the week. Why the Department should hesitate to act according to the wishes of the settlers in the matter affecting their mail is hard to understand. We would very much like the Postmaster-General to look into this matter himself when he would at once see the reasonableness of the request made him. We trust he will do so before any tenders are accepted as the service is for three year?, and it would be unfair to accept any tender until the question has been properly inquired into.