HONGKONG.
THE POSTMASTER GENERAL'S REPORT FOR 1887.
Presented to the Legislative Council, by Command of His Excellency the Governor.
No.
1
88.
1887.
GENERAL POST OFFICE. HONGKONG, January 3rd, 1888.
SIR,-I have the honour to report on the British Postal Service in Hongkong and China during
2. There is not much to record, nor indeed, as far as Hongkong is concerned, can there be much in the way of progress to record until the Department ceases to be cramped by a wholly inadequate building. The limits of development of the service in the existing structure have been fully reached, nor can any marked improvement of organisation be expected until room is provided for a larger staff and more extended operations. Economy of space has been carried so far in the Hongkong Post Office that any modification of detail which necessitates a shelf, a small table, or indeed any place to put anything, has become all but impossible. If the space required is more than a few feet, such a modification is quite impossible.
3. How little the staff of the Post Office has grown with the growing necessities of the service may be seen from the following statement of the Hongkong portion of the staff of this Department, in 1875 when the present writer took charge of it, and in 1887, respectively ;---
Hongkong Staff only.
1875.
1 Postmaster General.
1 Assistant do.
1 Accountant.
1 Money Order Clerk.
2 Marine Officers.
6 Clerks.
3 Senior Chinese.
Chinese Assistants for Marine Officers.
6 Postmen.
8 Coolies.
4 Boatmen.
1887. Hongkong Staff only.
1 Postmaster General.
1 Assistant do.
1 Accountant.
2 Money Order Clerks.
3 Marine Officers.
2 Chinese Assistants for Marine Officers.
7 Clerks.
3 Senior Chinese.
7 Postmen.
6 Coolies.
4 Boatmen.
35.
Total salaries $20,400.
37.
Total salaries $22,740.
4. It appears from the above that during twelve years there has been an increase in the Staff of two persons, and in the annual expenditure of $2,340, or not quite $200 a month. This increase is more than accounted for by the extra money order clerk, by a clerk for parcels, and by the additional Marine Officer. This latter appointment was necessitated, not by an increase in the work, but because it was found to be, in conjunction with the travelling and constant change of climate, too severe for only two officers. Two Marine Officers died at their posts. Even with three, one of whom is always doing three months shore duty, the strain on health is very perceptible.
5. This slight increase in the personnel of the Department, obtained, as is always the case, with the greatest difficulty, has been nothing like sufficient to keep pace with the growing wants of the community. Nearly stagnant from 1865 to 1875, this Colony in the latter year took a fresh departure, and has been increasing steadily ever since. Steamer traffic grows every year, new Ports have been opened in our neighbourhood, new mail lines have been established. The French Packets, which in 1875 brought ten or twelve half-empty bags of correspondence, now bring from ninety to a hundred full ones, our largest inward mail in fact, which, unfortunately, necessarily arrives unsorted. In 1875 we had Money Order relations only with the United Kingdom, and the duties were attended to by a clerk who was expected to perform his full share of ordinary Postal work as well. Now we exchange Money Orders with nearly all the world, and the duties are discharged, with daily increasing difficulty, only by the continuous attention of two clerks, who have to be detached from all other duties. Parcel Post has been introduced within the last two years, and, whilst it is most useful and successful, it forms a serious addition to the general work of the Office, and to the daily demand for more space. The total number of letters, papers, &c. passing through the Hongkong Post Office in 1875 probably fell short of 900,000. The total for 1887 is estimated at 2,200,000. The work of the Department is