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The balance against the colony on foreign money-order account was therefore £53,243 19s. sd. In 1889, the balance against the colony was £47,786 Bs. Id. 18,468 telegraph money-orders, for £60,869 9s. 3d., were issued, compared with 16,784 orders, for £56,527 17s. lid., issued in 1889. The money-order commission received for the year amounted to £8,823 10s., against £8,696 13s. sd. for 1889. Postal Notes. 184,599 postal-notes, of the value of £69,461 19s. 7d., were sold during the year, compared with 170,886 notes, for £65,213 13s. Bd., sold in 1889—an increase of 13,713 notes, of the value of £4,248 ss. lid. 184,041 postal-notes, for £67,977 45., were paid. The commission derived from the sale of postal-notes amounted to £1,327 os. 7d.—an increase of £87 4s. sd. over the commission for 1889. Savings-banks. Eight savings-bank offices were established and five closed. The number of post-offices open for the transaction of savings-bank business at the end of the year was 298. 23,719 new accounts were opened, compared with 21,778 opened in 1889—an increase of 1,941. 17,256 accounts were closed, as against 15,521 closed during 1889 —an increase of 1,735. The total number of post-office savings-bank accounts open on the 31st December, 1890, with classified balances, and the number open at the end of 1889, are given in the table below: —

The number of accounts with balances not exceeding £20 increased by 3,774; with balances not exceeding £200 increased by 6,097; and with balances over £200, by 267. There were 97,109 open accounts at the end of the year. The proportion of accounts to the population was as lis to every 6-44. The proportion in 1889 was Ito 6-84. 162,938 deposits for £1,658,543 3s. sd. were made during the year—an increase of 9,018 for £143,261 12s. 2d. on the deposits of 1889. The average amount of each deposit was £10 3s. 7d., compared with £9 16s. lOd. in 1889. There were 106,868 withdrawals for £1,500,437 9s. 5d., or 7,683 withdrawals for £43,356 4s. sd. more than in 1889. The average amount of each withdrawal was £14 os. 9d., compared with £14 13s. 9d. in 1889. The amount of deposits for the year exceeded the amount of withdrawals by £158,105 14s. In 1889 the excess of deposits was £58,200 6s. 3d. The interest credited depositors during the year was £92,319 os. 6d., compared with £84,809 17s. Id. in 1889. The total interest paid and credited depositors since the Post Office Savings Bank svstem was established in 1867 was £939,715 os. Bd. The total sum at the credit of depositors on the 31st December last was £2,441,876 Bs. 7d., against £2,191,451 14s. Id. at the close of 1889—an increase of £250,424 14s. sd. The total amount of deposits in the Post Office Savings Banks at the end of the year was equal to £3 17s. lid. per head of the population. For 1889 the proportion in the United Kingdom was £1 13s. 2d.; in Canada, 18s. 4d.; in New South Wales, £1 10s. 6d.; in Victoria, £1 lis. 5d.; and in Tasmania, 7s. Bd. The average cost of each savings-bank transaction, deposit or withdrawal, for the year was 4JI-d. and for the period of the existence of the Post Office Savings Banks, sd. The number of accounts opened during 1890 by means of stamps affixed to cards, the total number of such accounts open, and the amount at credit, on the 31st December last, may be gathered from the following table : —

Postal District. Not Exceeding exceeding £20 and £20. up to £50. Exceeding £50 and up to £100. Exceeding! £100 and .up to £200.! Exceeding £200 and up to £300. Exceeding £300 and up to £400. Xa Exceeding sg £400 and j g=0 up to £500.1 B Jo | H.S Total. Auckland Blenheim 3hristchurch Dunedin jrisborne areymouth Bokitika [nvercargill Napier STelson New Plymouth.. Damaru rhames rimaru Wanganui Wellington Westport .. .. i 8,387 1,728 14,754 11,768 668 1,578 703 2,757 3,194 2,432 1,578 1,271 2,211 2,250 3,153 11,723 862 1,234 236 2,524 1,S26 114 244 110 462 526 309 275 228 306 346 442 2,826 152 775 139 1,456 1,042 58 163 80 287 321 219 148 162 160 232 235 1,282 80 658 102 962 783 46 118 59 215 229 143 81 108 149 152 158 723 64 220 38 287 270 10 36 13 55 54 45 35 28 46 42 56 247 20 65 12 101 73 3 6 5 12 15 13 11 12 7 14 10 86 10 34 3 38 32 5 1 4 10 9 9 7 6 6 10 40 4 36 2 33 20 1 1 6 4 1 2 11,409 2,260 20,155 15,814 900 2,151 971 3,798 4,353 3,171 2,139 1,816 2,892 3,048 4,087 16,950 1,195 7 6 17 23 3 Totals, 1890 .. I 71,017 12,160 6,839 4,750 1,502 461 218 102 97,109 Totals^lSSO ._. i 67^243 10,880 6,084 j 4,462 1,319 403 219 135 90,745