PROPOSED REMOVAL OF POST OFFICE.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 412, 14 July 1849, Page 3

PROPOSED REMOVAL OF POST OFFICE.

Yesterday' a Deputation consisting ,of Messrs. Hickson, Moore, Bethune, and othera gentlemen,' waited upon his Excellency the Lieutenantr-Governor for the purpose of-presenting the following memorial against the removal of the Post Office from Te Aro: —

To His Excellency the Lieutenant* Governor, &c.', &c. We, the undersigned .merchants, shippingagents, importers, and others, chiefly interested in the mercantile affairs of this port, and consequently the most engaged in foreign correspondence having learned that it is the intention of Government to remove the Postoffice,, which has been several years established at the head of the Bay, to,, a distance so remote from the principal seat of business, as the late Barrett's'Hotel, beg to address your Excellency on«the subject.' ' , „ We beg to express our conviction that such a step will, instead of offering increased 1 facilities,- prove^ serious obstacle > in the way of business fo^iheJ6j^^jaglttpspn9';rr::^' \

Ist, That the Post-office could not be better situated than at present, if the receipt and despatch of mails alone were considered, being on the beach in that part of the town immediately opposite where all foreign vessels anchor, apart from the notorious fact that a very great majority of those for whose convenience it exists are located in' its immediate neighbourhood, and that it is surrounded by a great number of public business establishments, as the bank, custom-house, commissariat, ordnance, and engineers' offices, a circumstance which causes numbers o.f those residing in the Thorndon district of Wellington, as well military as others, daily to pass within a short distance of it. 2nd, That, in our opinion, at least twothirds of the letters received and posted are so received and posted by persons either residing, or whose place of business is, in the immediate vicinity of the present office. 3rd, That the masters of all vessels inwards from foreign parts are bound to make declaration at the Post-office twenty-four hours before clearance, and the removal of the office to so great a distance as that contemplated would therefore entail great inconvenience and much loss, of" time to the masters or agents of vessels entering or clearing. It sometimes happens, moreover, that second, third, and even fourth mails, are put on board t vessels (in addition to the one first announced) up to the moment of their getting under weigh, a convenience which must be denied, but for the proximity of the Post-office to the Harbour-master's. 4th, That an inconvenience, which might possibly in some instances be attended wiih serious consequences, must be endured by persons having to remit to England or the neighbouring colonies in Union Bank drafts, which, although obtainable now that the Postoffice is within one hundred yards of that establishment up to within a few minutes of the mail closing, cannot be issued when the office is situated a mile distant, so near to its closing by an hour or upwards, the Banker having necessarily to advise all drafts by the same mail ; and this hour is frequently found of great importance by those having to remit. sth, That a loss to the Post-office revenue would, in our opinion, follow the removal referred to, as all who could legally do so (as consignees of goods, &c.) would be compelled to resort to the practice of forwarding their correspondence through the ships' bags, that would in such a case. .be. kept by agents for the convenience of their neighbours, and it may, easily be foreseen thaf, such a practice once established, .others to whom the favour could not be refused would avail themselves of it. We therefore respectfully solicit your Excellency's attention to the foregoing. We cannot perceive any benefits likely to accrue from the removal of the establishment at all to counterbalance the great and general inconvenience which must result from it ; in fact, very few to whom time, in* a business point of, view, is an object, would be gainers by it, while nearly all, so circumstanced, woulJ suffer ; and we cannot but feel it our duty to protest against the injustice which such removal would inflict on the mercantile portion of this community ; while we trust that a consideration of the reasons above urged against it will induce your Excellency to abandon the intention and allow the Postoffice to be continued, if not in the present building, at least in its immediate neighbourhood. (Signed) Wm. Hickson & Co.; Hervey, Johnston, & Co. ; Bethune & Hunter; Robert Waitt, Thos. Waters, John Varnham, J. M. Taylor, W. S. Loxley, Geo. Crawford, William Lyon, W. E. Vincent, A. M'Donald, James Smith & Co.; Jos. Rhodes, John M'Beth; Langdon & Spinks; pro W. Fitzherbert, J. H. Gillard, James Wilson, Wm. Inglis, A. Horf, sen., by his attorney N. Levin j W. B. Rhodes & Co. ; W. M. Bannatynefc Co.; W. F. Christian, J. Blyth, James Tame, t Levin & Co., William Allen, Robert Jenkins, W. Rowlands, Charles Mills, Sam. Robinson, Geo. Waters, W. Waring Taylor, Wm. Donald, D. M Laurie, R. J4J 4 Duncan, Samuel & Joseph, R. Davis, J. Curtis, R. Stokes, J. Woodward, Morgan Evans, E. Hargreaves. Te Aro, Wellington, 10th July, 1849. To which his Excellency returned the the following reply : — Government-house, Wellington, 13th July, 1849. Gentlemen, — In replying to the address which you have just presented to me on the subject of the contemplated removal of the Post-office from its present position to the neighbourhood of the public -offices at the buildings formeily known as Barrett's Hotel, it is right that I should first state the reasons which led the Government to form that intention. These were, first, on the ground, of eqonomy, as the Government' having .now spare room on their own premises would have j saved the rent of another building; secondly, the advantage a,nd convenience of harjng.all the, public departments, with, the exception of those, of, the customs and harbour, as near to-;; gether as.ggsjibje; and, tyir&y % >, the increased ,

facility which the intended site would have offered for landing the foreign mails with the least delay. I may state, also, that this position is in the immediate vicinity of all the public offices of Government (except the two above named,) of the establishments of the Ne?i Zealand Company, and of the offices of the chief military authority in the Province ; when to these considerations was added the further one, that the present Post-office is nearly at one extreme end of the town, and that the intended site would have been a much more central one for the public generally, there certainly did appear to me strong and sufficient grounds for making the change, unless some good and counterbalancing reasons could be adduced against it. Such reasons, I consider your memorial does, in the present state and circumstances of the colony, supply; and as the Government have no ether object than that of endeavouring to make arrangements which will prove the mo3t beneficial to the community generally, I shall have great pleasure in meeting your wishes, by continuing the Post-office in its present position, or as nearly so as it may be practicable to obtain a suitable building, should a change of building become necessary. At the same time, however, that I have no hesitation, under the existing circumstances of the Province, in at once acceding to your wishes, upon the grounds and for the reasons urged in your memorial, I mus4 distinctly guard myself from pledging the Government to continue the Post-office in its present neighbourhood, should the altered circumstances of the town hereafter lead them to suppose that the general welfare would be best consulted by its removal. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble servant, E. Eyre. To the Merchants, Shipping-Agents, Importers, and others, chiefly interested in the mercantile affairs of Wellington signing the Memorial, dated 10th July, 1849, on the subject of the Post-office. The deputation returned highly gratified with the success of their application, and with the readiness exhibited by his Excellency in complying with their request.