D -No. 1

thority. The establishment of the Seat of Government at Wellington, the centre of the Colony, han materially assisted the efforts of the department towards consolidating these Provincial branches, and thus giving all the benefits derivable from a central power, easily accessible, without destroying that reasonable freedom of action which is so essential to efficiency. The visits of the Inspector and Sub-Inspector, and their minute examinations of the requirements of the different Provinces, and the capabilities and efficiency of the Provincial officers, havu tended to give vigor to the department and control all unnecessary expenditure. Now that the system of inspection has been established, it can very well be carried on by the Inspector alone, ami the valuable services of the Sub-Inspector transferred to an office which will embrace the control of the money order, the stamps, and dead letter branches of the department. The conduct of all the officers of the department, with one or two exceptions, has been ot such a character as to afford much satisfaction, and there is every reason to believe that the department will increase in efficiency from the conviction that the merits and qualifications of every officer in it are known, and that their services are not restricted to the bounds of a Province, nor confined within the limits of a system of promotion by mere seniority. The practice of permitting the different Provincial Chief Offices to have the various forms used in their departments printed at some local printing office, has gradually led to a want of uniformity and an unnecessary multiplicity of forms, which in one office reached the number of 132. These have now been reduced to 86, and to secure future uniformity and economy it has been decided to have them printed and issued from the central office. A saving will thus be obtained cf at least £1000 per annum, while other important objects will be sewed. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF LETTERS AND NEWSPAPERS RECEIVED AND DESPATCHED, AND THE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEARS 1863 AND 1564. The Letters despatched have been 2,120,849 in 1864, against 1,715,435 in 1863, being 23.6 per cent, increase. The Letters received have been 2,112,771 in 1864, against 1,689,945 in 1863, being 2fi per cent, increase. The Newspapers despatched have been 2,546,846 in 1864, against 1,923,544 in 1863, being 32.4 per cent, increase. The Newspapers received have been 1,781,482 in 1864, against 1,474,125 in 1863, being 24.24 per cent, increase. The Postal Revenue has been £39,198 9s. lOd. in 18C4, against £33,383 6s. lid. in 1863, being 17.42 per cent, increase. The Postal Expenditure has been £147,577 3s. 6d. in 1864, against £96,219 16s. 4d. in 1863, being 53.37 per cent, increase. During the-year under report there have been 15 new offices opened and 2 offices closed, shewing an increase of 13. Many of these offices, however, are of a character which involve merely a nominal outlay for salaries, havingbeen established to accommodate small groups of miners and military outposts ; but, though productive of comparatively little expense, so far as the offices are concerned, they afford very great advantages to the population in sparsely occupied districts. The total length of inland postal routes is 3615 miles, against 3092 miles on the 30th of December, 1863, exhibiting an increase of 523 miles. There have been 5 new routes established and 2 discontinued. It is not easy to calculate with any useful approximation to correctness, the number of mile* traversed by the mail during the year 1863, owing to the uncertain nature of the information respecting the interior of the country in some of the Provinces, and the varying aspect of mining operations; these causes have been in operation during the past year, and are still operating, as may be illustrated by the rush of miners to the West Coast gold-fields of the Province of Canterbury and the military operations on the Northern shores of Cook's Straits; but, still, in stating that during the year 1863 about 676,280 miles, and 676,507, during 1864, have been travelled in the conveyance of inland mails, a reasonable approximation will, at least, be arrived at. It will be seen that the difference of mileage is very insignificant, arising from the fact that one of the routes in the Northern Island was closed during and since the latter part of 1863. The increased work has necessitated an increase in the Postal Staff, as will appear from an examination of the following return . —

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PAPERS RELATING TO THE

Chief Offices. Accounti: ig Offices. Sub-' 'ffices. • 1863 1864 1863 1864 1863 1864 Postmasters 9 0 10 13 257 274 Clerks, &c. 78 77 7 7