7

D-No. 3

There appear only two ways of meeting sudden emergencies of this kind. Ist. By increasing the ordinary staff" maintained in constant pay to such an extent as to be equal, not only to the ordinary work, but also to this extra work. Or, 2ndly. To employ persons hired for the occasion. Both plans are open to objection. The first would necessitate the maintenance of a permanent staff, altogether out of proportion to the requirements of the case. The second, by making it necessary to employ persons immediately available without affording any opportunity for selection as to fitness, would frequently involve the employment of inexperienced, or otherwise untrustworthy persons. These considerations make it difficult to devise a satisfactory plan for the immediate delivery of every mail, until the number of letters to be delivered each day becomes in some degree equalised so as to prevent any excessive and abnormal pressure at irregular intervale, and the only mode of dealing with the question seems to be to diminish as much as possible the acknowledged evils of a large window •delivery, by adopting, as opportunity offers and as circumstances allow, those measures which may appear calculated to do away with practical inconvenience. With this view, various arrangements have been made for superseding the window-delivery. Ist. By means of the house-to-house delivery, so far as it is already in operation. 2nd. By means of private boxes, so constructed as to allow the persons to whom they have been allotted of taking out their own letters without enquiring at the window. The town deliveries would be much facilitated if the system of compulsory pre-payment of all letters were introduced. '1 he time consumed by the letter-carrier in waiting for the postage of unpaid letters would cause him a sensible delay in the performance of his rounds. On the other hand, there are in the present circumstances of the colony difficulties to the immediate adoption of this plan as regards the case of inland letters. The salaries of the country Postmasters being almost nominal, as a general rule it would be impossible to insist on their attendance at their office for any stated time. Correspondents, therefore, from these parts could never make sure of being able to prepay their letters in money, as it would always be doubtful whether they could find the Postmaster to whom to pay it. r lhe ordinary resource therefore would probably be, to prepay such letters by stamps and drop them into the Post-office. Here, however, the uncertainty as to the weight of the letters to be posted, would be continually causing confusion, as there would seldom be any means of rectifying any errors in this respect in distant places. With a view to the convenience of persons residing at a distance from the chief Office, receiving houses have been established in various parts of the City of Auckland, provided with letter-boxes for posting of letters which are cleared daily at stated times. A similar benefit might perhaps be extended to country districts by the erection of pillar-boxes of metal, such as have been found of great use in England. The return furnished in the Appendix B shews the number and value of postage stamps issued during the year 1859 as compared with those so!d in 1858, from which it will be perceived that their use has very largely increased. An arrangement has been made with the person employed in printing stamps, whereby the printer is to receive a salary after the rate of JEGO per annum for printing any number up to 200,000, and 4s. for every additional thousand. The convenience of the public litis been much promoted, and the sale of stamps largely increased by the appointment of private persons licensed to sell stamps. This plan has the advantage of enabling persons to purchase stamps and prepay letters after the closing of the Post Offices. The commission allowed to the Licensees is after the rate of 2 h per cent. The want of some facilities for transmitting small sums of money from one part of the Colony to another is beginning to make itself felt, and it will soon be necessary to consider whether some inexpensive system could not be established analogous to the money-order system in England, but carried out by means of a less complicated machinery than there exists. So far as the experience of the system in the United Kingdom can be relied upon as any guide for this Colony, it appears that as a matter of finance, money-orders did not pay expenses at first, but in subsequent years have been gradually becoming a source of considerable revenue. The number of money-orders issued in the United Kingdom as compared with the numbers of the population, gives a proportion of 1 money-order to every 4 persons. This proportion, however, varies very greatly in the different parts of the kingdom. In England and Wales it is as 1 to .'> Ireland 1 to 1;! Scotland 1 to 6 The average revenue derivable from each order is 4d. on the whole number. Applying these data to New Zealand, the European population computed at 7(1,000 would give, taking the proportion of 1 to 4 as above, 19,000 orders, which, at an average of 4d. each, would make the revenue to be derived from this source £316 13s. 4d. It is not, however, to be expected that this mode of transmitting money would come into very general use at first ; indeed the probability is that the number of orders issued would at first he

Pre-payraent of Letters.

■• Receiving ' Houses. I

I l Sale of StampsP

) Money Orders.