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inadequacy of the postal services rendered to them. The emphasis therefore in the coming year will be on re-organisation and reconstruction.
on
Much work has been done in reaffirming agreements made by this administration with others for the carriage of parcel and air mail, and there are now few places in the world which cannot be reached by satisfactory services.
Great interest was aroused in philatelic circles throughout the world in Hong Kong peace stamps which were designed in Stanley by Mr. Wynne-Jones and Mr. W. E. Jones, and were issued to the public in August, 1946. It is estimated that this design brought at least an additional half million dollars to revenue due to purchases by collectors. A short note on these stamps by Mr. Wynne-Jones is given as an Appendix.
The Money Order Office under Mr. Feroz Ali is operating satis- factorily, but due to the effect of exchange control it has not been possible to re-open services to countries outside the sterling area through this medium. In view of the little interest displayed by the public no attempt has as yet been made to re-organise the Trade Charge Money Order system.
The position of Postmaster General was held during the first part of 1946 by Mr. H. J. Harris, a member of the Colonial Postal Service from Malaya. The former P.M.G., Mr. E. I. Wynne-Jones, returned in May, and was shortly after followed by Mr. Randle, Controller of Posts, Mr. Hynes and Mr. Fitches, Superintendents of Mail. The other superintendents had been Mr. Marriott, Mr. Hogarth, Mr. Lo Pak Wai, Mr. Ribeiro and Mr. Feroz Ali. Mr. Stokes was transferred from the Treasury at the beginning of 1947 as Chief Accountant.
With regard to revenue, a decision was reached by the Govern- ment at the beginning of this year that all Forces mail should be carried for 10 cts. an oz, and that all other expenses incurred in its transmission should be borne by this administration. This gesture is a magnanimous one in that the charge for carriage of mail homewards by air is over 30/- a pound, which will mean that receipts may be expected to show a downward trend during the coming year.
Statistics.
It is regretted that the statistics shown as an Appendix are not as comprehensive as in former years, as it has been impossible, due to loss of records, to give comparative figures for 1940/41 and 1946/47.
Broadcasting.
The Studio was utilized by the Japanese to a very small extent and a legacy of misuse has remained. The beautiful Steinway concert grand has for instance deteriorated especially in the higher registers,