F.—l

VII

Statement of the International Traffic on the Eastern Extension Company's Lines in respect of the South Australian Guarantee Fund, for the Year ended 30th April, 1895. £ Amount guaranteed for the year .. 37,552 Actual revenue 36,427 Loss . .. . £1,125 Of which New Zealand's proportion is £204 lis. 8d. New Zealand's total liabilities for the year are therefore— £ s. d. £ b. d. Intercolonial cable 10,977 0 0 International messages Nil. South Australian land-line 204 11 8 11,181 11 8 Less recoveries— From other colonies (intercolonial cable) 5,987 4 4 Net liability . .. .. £5,194 7 4 The colony's net liability for the previous year was £6,234 8s. 5d. New Zealand's outward international and intercolonial cable traffic, not including Press, for the years 1893 and 1894 was as follows: — International, — Messages. Value. Number. £ s. d. 1893 6,114 20,934 0 10 1894 5,963 21,431 6 4 Decrease .. 151 Increase 497 5 6 or 2-47 per cent. or 2-37 per cent. Intercolonial, — Messages. Value. Number. £ s. d. 1893 28,293 .-. 7,753 11 2 1894 28,750 7,534 3 2 Increase 457 Decrease 219 8 0 or 1-62 per cent. or 2-82 per cent. A net increase in 1894 of 306 messages and £277 17s. 6d. in value. The cable Press business forwarded and received for the past four years has been: —

Note.—The intercolonial-cable Press rate was reduced from 3d. to Id, per word on the Ist April, 1893. POST OFFICE. The number of letters, post-cards, books and pattern-packets, and newspapers delivered and posted during the year, compared with the number dealt with in 1893, was as under: — 1894. 1893. Increase. Letters—Delivered 27,344,369 26,340,704 Posted .. .. 25,823,967 25,744,745 53,168,336 52,085,449 1,082,887 Post-cards—Delivered 1,297,894 1,309,568 Posted . 1,248,819 1 387,542 2,546,713 2,697 110 150,397 Books and pattern-packets—Delivered 6,682,936 7,611,279 Posted .-. 6,900,049 6,548,789 13,582,985 14,160,068 577,083 Newspapers—Delivered 10,483,655 10,699,299 Posted 8,787,935 8,856,731 19,271,590 19,556,030 284,440 The letters increased 2'oB per cent., the post-cards decreased 5 - 58, the books and patternpackets 4'oB, and the newspapers l - 45 per cent. The decrease in the last-mentioned items is attributed to the fact that the returns for 1893 were exceptionally favourable.

Forwarded. Received. Year. Number of Number of Value. Value. Messages. Words. Messages. Words. 1891 1892 1893 1894 837 791 796 994 45,285 44,263 57,390 103,366 £ s. 932 15 898 3 504 9 899 4 d. 8 9 9 9 2,828 2,884 2,883 3,033 198,935 197,477 202,170 203,326 £ s. d. 2,739 6 0 2,796 9 4 1,540 17 10 1,179 13 7