5

P.—l

The following return of officers of the Postal Department for the years 1877 and 1878 shows to what extent the staff was increased during the year:— Officers. 1878. 1877. Officers. 1878. 1877. Postmaster-General ... ... 1 1 Postmasters ... ... ... 14 14 Secretary ... ... ... 1 1 Clerks ... ... ... 101 91 Inspector of Post Offices ... 1 1 Sub-Postmasters ... ... 786 730 Accountant, Money Order and Letter-carriers ... ... ... 42 38 Savings Bank Department ... 1 1 Messengers ... ... ... 12 11 Clerks in General Post Office ... 6 5 Mail-cart drivers ... ... 2 2 Clerks in Money Order and Savings Shipping Officers ... ... 2 2 Bank Department ... ... 4 4 Chief Postmasters ... ... 14 14 Totals ... ... 987 915 An additional iron pillar has been erected and eight receiving houses established during the year. The pillar was substituted for a receiving house at the Thames, and the additional receiving houses were distributed as follows : 2 at Kumara, 3 at Christchurch, 2 at Featherston, and 1 at Invercargill. 21 iron pillar receivers and 59 receiving houses were open at the close of the year. 200,416 newspaper wrappers were sold between the Ist April and the 31st December, 1878 ; and 121,232 wrappers were disposed of to the public for the six months ended 30th June ultimo. Letter carriers' deliveries have been established at Eeefton, Lawrence, Featherstou, and Ashburton. Suburban letter-carriers' deliveries have also been established at Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and the principal suburbs brought within the free delivery. At Napier, Wellington, Wanganui, and Invercargill the letter-carriers' deliveries have been extended. The Government Insurance business at Wellington was transferred from the charge of the Chief Postmaster on the Ist of July,<lB7B. Government Insurance Offices have been opened at the post offices at Newmarket, Ohinemutu, Manutahi, Amberley, Caversham, Hyde, Waihola, Bennett's, Aratapu, and Halcombe. The money order and savings bank office has been removed from Switzer's to Waikaia. The post offices at Bennett's, Waihola, and Waipahi have been removed to the railway stations. The post office, Mohaka, has been transferred to the telegraph station. The following changes of names of post offices have been made : Waiwera (Dunedin) to Waiwera South; White Cliffs Junction to Horndon Junction; Carleton to Bennett's ; Ashburton South to Tinwald ; Manutahi North to Lepperton ; Taueru (Upper) to Bideford ; Newcastle to Ngaruawahia ; Otamatea to Batley; Southbridge Junction to Hornby ; Lake Waipori to Berwick ; Teaneraki to Enfield ; and Coldstream to Ealing. Dead Lettebs. The regulations governing the return of unclaimed letters have been amended in the following important respect—viz., that letters posted within the colony, with the names and addresses of the senders printed on the address side of the envelopes, if not claimed within one month, are returned to the writers or senders by Chief Postmasters, instead of being retained for two months at the office of destination, and then forwarded to the Dead Letter Office to be opened and returned to the writers. Letters posted within the colony, having the names and addresses of the senders printed on the address side of the envelopes, together with a request that the letters be returned if not claimed within a stated period, are also similarly returned, provided the letters shall have remained in the post office to which they may be addressed at least ten days. This amended regulation should be of considerable advantage to business houses. 67,473 unclaimed or dead letters were disposed of during the year. The table underneath enumerates the number of this class of letters disposed of, year by year, since 1874 :—

The proportion of letters received in the Dead Letter Office, out of the total number transmitted' was as Ito 230. In the United Kingdom the proportion is Ito 217. The following particulars show the number and articles of value enclosed in letters which had been received at the Dead Letter Office:— £ s. d. 107 money orders for ... ... ... ... ... 344 9 1 58 bank drafts ... ... ... ... 2,332 18 0 97 cheques ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,190 15 7 2 promissory notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 58 10 8 Postage and stamps... ... ... ... ... ... 5 11 2 Banknotes ... ... ... ... ... ... 119 0 0 Gold ... - ... ... 11 0 0 Silver and copper ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 6 0£ Eepresenting a total of ... ... ... £4,063 10 6| The following articles were also received in the Dead Letter Office: 1 gold ring, 4 pairs gold earrings, 1 gold chain, 1 gold locket, 3 gold pins, 6 gold studs, 1 silver watch, 1 set silver studs, and 3 silver coins.

Manner of Disposal. 1874. 1875. 187G. 1877. 1878. •pened and returned to the writers Returned unopened to other countries leissued lestroyed 26,153 6,828 105 4,227 39,051 10,321 78 6,081 44,067 9,703 83 5,217 52,607 9,835 94 3,417 53,483 8,733 117 5,140 Totals 37,313 55,531 59,070 65,953 67,473