F.—l

MONEY-OEDEBS. Eighteen money-order offices were opened during the year —viz., Lincoln, Campbelltown, Kelso, Makikihi, Pahiatua, Bealey, Cape Foul wind, Richardson, Ashurst, Macrae's Flat, Makatoka, Mauku, Alford Forest, Hanmer Plains, Omapere, Waharoa, Hyde, and Maungakaramea. Two money-order offices —Matainata and Barry town —were closed. The total number of money-order offices open at the end of the year was 293. There were issued 159,597 money-orders, for £555,744 13s. 5d., against 155,680, for £547,755 2s. 9d., in 1886, and 188,622, for £581,395 Bs. 9d., in 1885. As explained in the last report the falling off in 1886 was mainly due to the increased use made of postal notes. 133,910 orders, for £482,437 17s. 4d. were paid, against 129,242 orders, for £471,185 75., paid in 1886. The number of money-orders issued for payment in the United Kingdom, the Australian Colonies, the United States, Canada, &c, as well as on the Continent of Europe, and other foreign places through the London Post Office was 40,488, for £129,549 19s. Bd. There were 15,297 orders, for £56,677 18s. 5d., received from places outside the colony for payment iirNew Zealand. The balance against the colony on Money-order Account was therefore £72,872 Is. 3d. In 1886 the balance against the colony was £76,316. There were 16,899 telegraph money-orders issued for £61,389 15s. Id., against 16,568 orders for £62,048 7s. 10d., in 1886. The revenue derived from money-order commission was £8,532 10s. sd. The exchange of money-orders with foreign countries through the medium of the London Post Office resulted in an increase of 221 orders for the year. Postal Notes. The business in postal notes continues to expand in a marked degree. Of these notes 114,526, of the value of £45,950 17s. 7d., were sold, compared with 83,389, for £34,980 6s. 9d., in 1886. There were 113,607 postal notes, for £44,835 17s. 6d., paid. The commission derived from the sale of postal notes amounted to £856 4s. 3d., an increase of £216 os. Bd. over that for 1886. Savings-banks. The number of offices open at the end of the year for the transaction of savings-bank business was 283. Fourteen offices were established and two were closed. 20,368 new accounts were opened, against 21,671 in 1886 ; and 15,515 accounts were closed, against 16,757 the previous year. The following table gives the total number of open savings-bank accounts on the 31st December, 1887, classified according to the balances; and the number of such accounts compared_with the number at the end of 1886 :—

The open accounts with balances up to £200 increased by no less than 4,620, while there was a decrease of 233 in the number of accounts with larger balances. 136,197 deposits, amounting to £1,312,151 Is. 5d., were received during the year, the average amount of each deposit being £9 12s. Bd. In 1886 the average was £9 os. lid. 89,962 withdrawals for £1,182,409 7s. 6d. were made, the average of each being £13 2s. lOd. The average in 1886 was £14 19s. Bd. The deposits exceeded the withdrawals by £129,741 13s. lid., while for the previous year the withdrawals were in excess of the deposits by £87,881 19s. sd. This satisfactory state of the Post Office Savings Bank business is being maintained. For the five months ended 31st ultimo the deposits exceeded the withdrawals by no less than

XII

Postal District. Not Exceeding exceeding £20 and £20. up to £50. Exceeding £50 and up to £100. Exceeding; Exceeding £100 and .£200 and up to £200. up to £300. Exceeding £300 and up to £400. Exceeding £400 and up to £500. H3 3 W SO H.9 Total. Auckland Slenheim Jkristchurch .. 3unodin jisborne Jreymouth rlokitika !nvcrcargill Napier Sfclson STew Plymouth.. )amaru Charaes Cimaru iVanganui Wellington vVestport 7,349 1,257 12,985 10,086 501 1,445 716 2,229 2,603 2,189 1,175 1,053 1,880 1,820 2,472 9,502 781 1,013 178 1,754 1,607 79 240 109 375 455 249 187 204 237 327 341 1,624 131 624 108 1,155 967 41 149 90 207 211 177 118 125 159 188 186 807 69 446 66 783 660 23 104 39 118 164 116 64 104 100 110 104 583 47 141 11 225 167 6 32 23 39 37 27 26 25 28 28 33 154 19 31 3 63 41 2 7 1 13 6 13 6 5 9 3 11 44 5 15 1 28 21 2 7 0 4 5 4 6 5 2 3 2 32 3 21 23 14 1 4 1 3 1 0 6 9,673 1,624 17,016 13,563 655 1,988 979 2,988 3,482 2,775 1,588 1,521 2,416 2,483 3,157 12,760 1,056 1 4 8 14 1 Total 60,043 9,140 5,381 3,631 1,021 266 140 102 79,724 Totals for 1886 57,368 8,243 4,852 3,112 883 219 117 77 74,871