F.—l

Postal Stationery. Newspaper wrappers impressed with fd. postage from new stereos were issued in July. New-Zealand-made paper without a watermark was used. New stereos, which were prepared at the Government Printing Office, Wellington, have been used for impressing letter-cards and registered-letter envelopes. A cameo die of the |d. denomination, which was prepared by Messrs. Waterlow and Sons, Ltd., England, was altered to 2d. by Messrs. W. R. Bock and Son, Ltd., Wellington, and used for embossing envelopes. Particulars of the new stationery issued are as follows : —

Stamp Booklets. When the present stocks of booklets of the King George VI and Id. and lfd. stamps are exhausted, they will not be replenished in the meantime. REGULATIONS UNDER ADHESIVE STAMPS ACT, 1939. Regulations under the Adhesive Stamps Act, 1939, which vests in the Post Office the authority for the creation, custody, and disposition of adhesive stamps, were issued in September. Among the matters covered by the regulations are the custody of dies and printing instruments, the custody and issue of stamp paper, the distribution of stamps, and licenses to deal in stamps. DEAD-LETTER OFFICE. Particulars of the correspondence dealt with in the Dead-letter Office during the year, in comparison with that handled in the previous year, are as follows : — 1940. 1939. Letters returned to senders in New Zealand .. .. 4-70,308* 518,852f Other articles returned to senders in New Zealand .. 375,513 378,294 Letters returned to other Administrations .. .. 39,315{ 52,052§ Other articles returned to other Administrations .. 45,193 50,211 Letters destroyed (senders unknown and contents of no value).. .. .. .. .. .. 26,548 31,635 Letters intercepted addressed to persons and firms on prohibited list .. .. .. .. .. 35 103 The proportion of undelivered letters to the total number of letters delivered was 0-37 per cent.

* Including 25,261 registered. f Including 19,084 registered. { Including 550 registered. § Including 646 registered.

MONEY-ORDERS. Money-orders issued during the year numbered 812,667, of a value of £4,435,007. This represents a decrease compared with the previous year of 98,817 in number and £659,357 in value. POSTAL NOTES. Postal-note business decreased, the sales being 2,558,916 notes, of a value of £1,020,630, compared with 3,374,852 notes, of a value of £1,323,397, during the previous year. The commission totalled £35,047 os. 10d., a decrease of £2,868 4s. lid. on the commission earned in 1939-40. BRITISH POSTAL ORDERS. Sales of British postal orders decreased in number and amount, 55,844 orders, of a value of £17,748 6s. 3d., being sold, as against 93,415, of a value of £37,931 3s. 9d., during the previous year. There was a decrease also in the number and amount of British postal orders paid, 12,389 orders, of a value of £6,034 Is., being cashed. In the previous year, 18,754 orders, of a value of £8,227 Is. 6d., were paid. SAVINGS-BANK. Deposits lodged in the Post Office Savings-bank during the year amounted to £28,607,222 and the withdrawals to £25,319,146, an excess of deposits of £3,288,076. The interest credited to depositors was £1,666,709 13s. 4d., and the amount at the credit of depositors at the end of the year was £62,956,787.

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Type. Stamp; Colour. Date of Issue. Letter-card . . King George VI, 2d. stereo Orange . . December, 1940. Embossed envelope .. King George VI, 2d. cameo.. Orange .. January, 1941. Registered envelope .. King George VI, 6d. stereo Red .. .. January, 1941.