F.—l.

INSPECTION. During the year 1,671 visits of inspection to post-offices were made by departmental Inspectors. An audit of the values was undertaken 011 1,227 occasions, and in only one instance was a serious discrepancy disclosed. BURGLARIES. Losses as a result of burglaries at post-offices during the year were higher than usual, but as the Department ensures that only a minimum amount of money is retained at offices overnight the average amount stolen was small. The majority of the offices concerned were non-permanent ones, and in most instances it was necessary for the intruder to force a safe to gain access to the values. DEAD-LETTER OFFICE. 1937. 1936. Letters returned to senders in New Zealand .. .. 451,846* 430,268f Other articles returned to senders in New Zealand .. 465,271 393,255 Letters returned to other Administrations .. .. 47,815$ 52,432§ Other articles returned to other Administrations .. 49,202 66,427 Letters destroyed (senders unknown and contents of no value) .. .. .. .. .. . • 28,828 23,383 Letters intercepted addressed to persons and firms on prohibited list .. .. .. .. .. 289 532 * Including 16,463 registered. f Including 15,153 registered. J Including 492 registered. § Including 423 registered. The proportion of undelivered letters to the total number of letters delivered was 0-34 per cent. POSTAL PACKETS REPORTED MISSING. In 1937, 7,297 inquiries were received by the Department concerning the non-delivery of postal packets. In 3,969 cases, or more than half of the total, the articles were traced or accounted for satisfactorily as follows : — Sender responsible for delay .. . . .. .. • • 1,367 Addressee responsible for delay . . .. .. . • ■ ■ 1, 451 Post Office responsible for delay .. .. .. • • • • 401 No delay or responsibility not fixed . . . . .. .. . • 750 The manner of disposal of 3,328 articles, representing o'ool2 per cent, of the total number of articles posted during the year, could not be determined. MONEY-ORDERS. Money-order business, which fell off considerably during the period 1931-33, has increased cach year since 1934. Last year 784,495 orders, of a value of £4,312,629, were issued. This represents an increase compared with the previous year of 50,529 in number and £517,981 in value. POSTAL NOTES. The value of postal-note business increased during the year, although the number of postal notes sold showed a decrease. The sales were 3,746,560 postal notes of a value of £1,454,793, compared with 3,833,288, of a value of £1,378,387, during the previous year. The commission totalled £35,257 12s. 10d., an increase of £931 19s. Bd. on the commission earned in 1936-37. BRITISH POSTAL ORDERS. British postal-order transactions also increased, 95,391 orders of a value of £44,577 16s. 4d. being sold, as against 86,778, of a value of £40,212 2s. lid. during the previous year. The number of orders paid was 32,293, of a value of £15,791 12s. 6d., while the previous year's figures were 29,761 orders of a value of £15,091 6s. © SAYINGS-BANK. Deposits lodged in the Post Office Savings-bank during the year amounted to £33,041,082, and the withdrawals to £29,629,074, an excess of deposits of £3,412,008. The interest credited to depositors was £1,669,384, and the amount at the credit of depositors at the end of the year reached the record total of £63,146,930. Savings-bank ledger offices were established during the year as follows : — Dominion Road .. .. . ■ • • • • • • Ist November. Dunedin North .. .. .. .. . • Bth December. Epsom .. .. • • ■ • • • • ■ • • 16th October. Huntly .. .. • • • • • • • • Ist September. Kingsland . . .. .. • • ■ ■ .. 16th October. Motueka .. .. . ■ • • • • .. 16th September. Mount Eden .. .. .. .. .. . ■ 16th August. Newton . . . . .. • • • ■ • • • • Ist May. Otahuhu . . .. .. . • • • .. 16th February. Remuera .. .. . ■ • ■ • • ■ • Ist May. Waihi .. .. .. •. • ■ • ■ • • 24th August.

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