F.—i.

TELEGRAPHS The total value of the telegraph and telephone business for the year ended the 31st March last, including miscellaneous telegraph receipts and Government telegrams, was £325,007 15s. 7|d., as compared with £298,079 17s. lid. for the previous year, an increase of £26,927 17s. Bd., or 9-03 per cent. The following is a comparison of the traffic in paid telegrams during the last ten years : — Number. Net Value. 1897-98 ... 2,469,415 ... ... ... £96,537 1898-99 ... 2,717,548 Increase. 10-05 per cent. ... 101,104 Increase, 4-73 per cent. 1899-00 ... 3,159,093 „ 16-25 114,383 „ 1813 1900-1 ... 3,534,444 „ 11-88 „ ... 126,382 „ 1049 1901-2 ... 3,850,391 „ 894 „ ... 141,581 „ 1203 1902-3 ... 4,271,218 „ 10-93 153,338 „ 830 1903-4 ... 4, 671,904 „ 9-38 162,498 „ 5-97 1904-5 ... 4,900,495 „ 489 167,581 „ 3-12 1905-6 ... 5,351,084 „ 919 180,474 „ 769 1906-7 ... 6,160,080 „ 15 12 ~ ... 202,301 „ 12-09 Table showing the number of telegrams forwarded, and the revenue derived therefrom, during the four quarters of the financial years 1905-6 and 1906-7 respectively : —

The telegraph receipts for the financial year, including telephone-exchange subscriptions, privatewire rents, &c, amounted to £307,520 15s. ll£d., compared with £273,911 7s. 7d. in 1905-6 — an increase of £33,609 Bs. 4Jd., or 12-27 per cent. The expenditure was £291,359 12s. 6d., as against £276,580 I2s. sd. for the previous year — an increase of £14,779 os. Id., or 5-35 per cent. There were 8,953 miles of line and 27,031 miles of wire at the close of the year —an increase of 598 and 1,915 miles respectively. The net expenditure out of Public Works Fund for telegraph-extension was £114,067 19s. 9d., as compared with £77,186 7s. 2d. in 1905-6. The number of private wires and subsidised lines was 351, compared with 335 in 1905-6. The amount received for rent, maintenance, &c, was £2,123 3s. Bd., as against £2,182 9s. 6d. in 1905-6. The total number of telegraph and telephone offices open at the close of the year was 1,446. Of these 270 were telegraph-offices and 1,176 were telephone-offices. The number of telegrams of all codes forwarded during the last financial year was 6,396,332 —an increase of 756,113, or 13-41 per cent., over 1905-6. The proportion of paid telegrams per head of population was 6-84, and 6-15 the previous year. The number of ordinary telegrams forwarded was 4,548,532, of the value of £148,659 ss. 3Jd., compared with 3,995,998, of the value of £135,203 12s. 9£d., in 1905-6—an increase of 552,534 and £13,455 12s. 6d. The urgent telegrams numbered 235,731, of the value of £14,339 18s. 4d. —an increase of 24,160 in number and £1,532 9s. sd. in amount. The average value of each ordinary telegram was 7 - 84 d., and of each urgent telegram Is. 2-6 d. 389,917 Press telegrams, of the value of £18,089 Is. 4d., were forwarded in 1906-7, as compared with 379,185, valued at £16,094 15s. 9|d., forwarded in 1905-6 — an increase of 10,732, or 2-83 per cent., in number, and an increase of 12-39 per cent, in value. The value of each Press telegram averaged 11-13 d., as against 10-19 d. in 1905-6. The bureau messages numbered 985,900, of the value of £21,212 15s. 6d., as compared with 764,330, of the value of £16,368 10s. 3d.—an increase of 221,570 in number and £4,844 ss. 3d. in amount. The average value of each bureau message was 5-16 d., as against 5-14 d. in 1905-6. Telegraph Messengers' Deliveries. Telegraph-messengers' deliveries (by departmental messenger) were established as follows : Auckland —Kaeo, Kohukohu ; Blenheim—Seddon ; Christchurch —Cust; Dunedin —Clinton, Waikaia ; Grisbome —Te Karaka ; Greymouth —Otira ; Invercargill—Edendale, Waimahaka ; Napier—Havelock North, Norsewood, Porangahau ; Timaru—Studholme Junction ; Wellington—Pongaroa.

XXII

Number of Telegrams Revenue forwarded. Quarter. Increase Year ended Year ended per Cent. 31st March, 31st March, „, Y ?J r ende ,<L, „ Year endeu 1906. 1907. 31sl ' Wi,rc,l > 1906. 31st March, 1907. J fp -w ! K c CO <D Is June quarter September quarter December quarter March quarter ... ... 1,255,080 il,388,546 j 10-63 42,296 7 0 47,078 0 2$ ... 1,226,811 1,338,072 9-07 41,658 16 6 44,976 12 1$ ... 1,414,598 1,616,765 14-29 47,762 5 10 51,908 18 lHi ... 1,454,595 1,816,697 24-89 48,756 18 5 58,337 9 2~ 5,351,084 6,160,080 15-12 180,474 7 9 i202,301 0 5| I |_ ! 11-31 7-96 i 8-68 19-65 12-09