F.-l.

The excess of deposits over withdrawals during the year constituted a record, amounting to £1,000,050 14s. 10d., a sum most nearly approached in the year 1905, when the figures were £641,559 Bs. Bd. Postal Notes. The following were created postal-note offices during the year 1906-7 : Aratiatia, Broken River, Brunswick, Cross Creek, Exhibition (Christchurch), Fitzroy, Flaxboiirne, Frankton Junction, Georgetown, Hawarden, Heathdale, Hoanga, Kaiaua, Kanieri, Limehills, Mangaia, Mangapehi, Matiere, Meremere, Mokai, Motu, Oio, Ohakune, Okau, Opua, Patutahi, Petane (H. 8.), Rewa, Runanga, Stoke, Taoroa, Tokomaru, Waharoa, Waiho Gorge, Waikumete, Wendonside, Whatawhata —a total of 37. Three offices were closed —namely, Golden Cross, Miranda, and Oio. The number of offices at which postal notes were sold at the end of the year was 688, as compared with 654 on the 31st March, 1906. 981,642 notes, of the value of £314,053 65., were sold, as against 875,324 for £276,279 7s. 6d. sold during the previous year, an increase of 12-15 per cent, in number and 13-67 per cent, in value. The postal notes paid numbered 975,898, of the value of £312,411 9s. 6d., as compared with 869,392, of the value of £274,678 16s. 6d., paid during 1905-6. The postal-note commission amounted to £6,729 15s. lljd., as against £5,979 4s. l|d. British Postal Orders. The Imperial postal-order scheme has during the past year been extended to include British East Africa, Federated Malay States, Fiji, Southern Rhodesia, and Uganda Protectorate. 31,698 orders have been sold, valued at £16,229 15s. 6d., and 9,461, for £6,426 45., paid. An extended table of the transactions is printed elsewhere. The 20s. order is the most popular, sales having reached 28 per cent, of the total. Following in order of popularity are the 10s., 55., Is., 2s. 6d., with a percentage of 12, 9, 6, and 6 respectively. Inland Mails. The general reletting of contracts for 1907-1909 took place at the end of 1906. The accepted tenders for the services under the new contracts totalled £55,522. The cost of the services on the 31st December, 1906, was £50,560. < f the increase of £4,962, about one-fourth is on account of improved services and new services. The railway service having been extended from Springfield to Broken River on the 29th ( ctober, 1906, the coach service was rearranged to provide for a through journey in one day being made thrice weekly between Christchurch and Greymouth or Hokitika. The following were among the changes made during the reletting of mail-services :— A twice-weekly service by buggy was established between Rotorua, Te Teko, Whakatane, and Opotiki. The coach service between Stratford and Whangamomona was increased from twice to thrice weekly. Material improvement was made in the rural delivery services in the bush settlements beyond Mataroa in the Wanganui district. The launch service between Havelock and post-offices in Pelorus Sound was extended to include Picton. The mails between Okarito and settlements southward are conveyed by way of the inland road in place of the sea-beach as formerly. A thrice-weekly service by coach between Cheviot and Kaikoura was established. The coach service between Little River and Akaroa was increased from thrice weekly to daily. This rendered unnecessary the steamer service on alternate days between Lyttelton and Pigeon Bay, and the connecting land service between Pigeon Bay and Akaroa, which were therefore abolished. Communication between Fairlie and the Hermitage was greatly improved. The service last year was performed by coach twice weekly in summer and once weekly in winter, and occupied two days. It is now carried out thrice weekly in summer and twice weekly in winter by motor-car (and coach where necessary) in one day, the time being ten hours. As the amount of traffic did not warrant the continuance of the coach service between Omarama and Pembroke, it was discontinued. Following on the extension of the railway to Alexandra South, the coach service between that place and Omakau was abolished. Under the terms and conditions of inland-mail contracts, the mail-contractor is bound to insure himself and His Majesty the King against liability under " The Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act, 1900," and himself against liability under the Employers' Liability Acts and as far as practicable the common law, in respect to a mail-carrying employee. With the object of simplifying the work entailed by such insurance, the Post Office has arranged with the Government Insurance Department to issue a globo policy under which contractors may be covered for an annual premium at the rate of £1 per £100 of mail-subsidy. Many contractors have elected to be insured under the globo cover. By the wreck of the s.s. " Kapanui " in the Auckland Harbour a bag of mail and a private mailbag were lost. Two bags of mail were lost by the wreck of the s.s. " Kia Ora," on the voyage from Waitara to Kawhia, of the 13th June this year. Mail-services in the Thames district were interrupted by floods and wash-outs in January of this year. The Tauranga-Waihi coach met with an accident while crossing the Aongatete River in flood.

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