TASMAN MAILS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 January 1941, Page 9

TASMAN MAILS

NO PUBLICATION OF CLOSING TIMES. DIFFICULTIES FACING CONCERN, i I ißy Telegraph—Press Association i AUCKLAND. January 8. j The information that it has been de-• creed that notification of the closing lime of mails for Australia is no long- 1 er to be published is contained in a; letter from the chief postmaster at 1 .Auckland. Mr. R. G. May. received by; the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Mr. May added this information in the! course of a reply to a letter from the | chamber in which he explained why i the closing times of Tasman air mails i are also not now published. Mr. May said the department took j seriously its duty to the public to ad- . vertise mail closing times. Its policy was never to advertise unless it could guarantee a connection for correspondence posted prior to the time announced. In this it had been given the full co-operation of the censorship authorities, but with the introduction

cf the air mail rate of 9d. to soldiers overseas the volume of air mail for Tasman dispatch had increased to such an extent that the censorship authorities found it necessary to ask the Post Office to cease advertising a closing time.

It was found in practice that at least half the total volume of airmail letters was being posted on the day of the closing of the mail, and it was no longer possible to guarantee that, correspondent would make the connections advertised. The difficulties faced by the censor could be appreciated from the fact that in a recent week 5(1,000 letters were dispatched by Tasman air mail.