104
22. As it appeared doubtful whether the direct route viâ Aden for correspondence for the South African Colonies was working as satisfactorily as formerly, experiments were made by the despatch of test covers, as to the real time occupied in transit. The result was as follows:-
To Cape Colony, To Natal,
Via London. 50 days. 57 days.
Viâ Aden. 76 days.
69 days.
Correspondence for these Colonies is therefore now forwarded exclusively by way of London. 23. In view of the inconvenience caused by the departures of the steamers of the Pacific Mail Company and Occidental and Oriental Steam-ship Company on the same days as the Mails for Europe, the two Companies promised that they would, in arranging their Schedule for the present year, do all in their power consistently with the rules they have found it necessary to observe, to avoid a repetition of this conflict of dates. The good offices of the Companies have been so far successful that, in their Time Table for the first half of this year, there are only two coincidences.
24. It would be very desirable if the occasional despatch of the German Packet on the same day as the French Packet could also be avoided. It deprives the public of much of the advantage of a supplemental opportunity to be obliged to make use of it within a few hours or not at all.
*
25. The outward French packets now remain here only twenty-four hours, an arrangement causing a severe strain on the strength of this office, which has only a few hours of daylight to get the whole mail for Shanghai sorted and packed, amidst the numerous distractions always arising from the recent arrival of a contract mail. On one occasion the newspaper portion of the Shanghai mail was unavoidably sent up unsorted. That was on August 4th, a day on which three Contract Mail Packets left this Colony, and two were expected to arrive. Fortunately one arrival did not take place till the following morning.
26. It is feared that, under the new P. and O. contract, the stay of the outward Packet here will also be only twenty-four hours.
27. If the sorting of mails for Shanghai is to be continued under these circumstances, some re- inforcement of the staff will be inevitable, but this is a subject which can be well considered when the question of the surrender or otherwise of our Post Offices in China to the Chinese Government is settled. No decision on this point has yet been arrived at by the Imperial Government.
28. It will be necessary to make provision for a re-organisation of the Amoy Post Office in case we retain the control of it. It is impossible to continue working it much longer in its present under- manned condition. The duties of the Postal Agent at Amoy depend upon the incessant and constantly increasing steamer traffic of that Port, and have been much added to by the establishment of direct steam communication between Amoy and Manila, and between Amoy and Batavia. For Manila alone steamers leave Amoy on the average every three days. The Postal Agent has, during the past year, collected and accounted for Revenue to the amount of $9,403,60. He has sold $7,837 worth of stamps. He has despatched 5,353 Registered Letters and received 4,831, making a total of 10,184 Registered articles, every one of which needed individual attention and necessitated several entries in books, &c. This gives an average of 28 Registries each day, including Sundays, but sometimes as many as 125 Registered Articles will be despatched to Manila by one steamer. The Agent has dealt with 325 parcels, and has sold Postal Notes to the amount of $1,312. He has dealt, without any assistance except that of two Chinese who cannot read English, with over 200,000 articles of ordinary correspondence, say 550 per day, Sundays included. His Office is the point of distribution for Tamsui, Kelung, Taiwanfoo, and Takao, the service of which places involves much correspondence and attention to detail. It can scarcely be thought that $40 a month is a sufficient salary to pay a gentleman, who has other duties to attend to, for the amount of work, responsibility, watchfulness, and care, involved in keeping up such an Office as is described above All through the year, we have been continually on the verge
of a deadlock at Amoy caused by the not unnatural reluctance of officers of the Consular service to undertake a post the work of which is out of proportion to the pay. Only by the good offices of H. M. Consul in prevailing on members of his staff to take the duties as a personal favour to himself has such a deadlock been prevented. If the Amoy Office continues to be worked from Hongkong it is hoped that its complete reorganisation will be allowed.
29. Arrangements were made, during the year under report, to induce a more general prepayment of the correspondence which it is the custom to send here by steamers outside the mails.
The measures taken were necessarily of a stringent kind, but it was intended to relax them as soon as the end in view was attained. This was accomplished before the setting in of the inevitable outcry, which had been all along foreseen by this Department; and the sending of unpaid letters on board steamers was practically put a stop to, and less stringent rules introduced, before any complaint was made. This Office, at any rate, is no longer periodically flooded with unpaid correspondence, nor will the wholesale transmission of such unpaid correspondence through the Post be allowed to be resumed.
I have the honour to be,
The Hon. FREDERICK STEWART,
Colonial Secretary,
&c.,
&C.,
&c.
Sir, Your obedient Servant,
A. LISTER, Postmaster General.
* On Christmas day the clerks in charge of the Shanghai mail were at work from 2 P.M. till midnight, and were required at 7 the next morning for the ordinary work of the Office,