15
[2]
[3]
Canton.
Swator,
Amoy
6. At Shanghai and Yokohama where the British Contract Mail Packets touch, the public, as a rule, prefer the security which the Post Office affords, and except in special cases, with the exception of one firm or possibly two, they send but few letters otherwise than through the Department.
7. Having thus far alluded generally to the chief objects of my mission, I will proceed to report upon each Agency seriation.
8. At Canton, Post Office Agent Byrou Brenan, Esq., the work, which is not arduous, although a mail is sent to and received from Hongkong every day (Sundays and Holidays excepted), is well performed, and, with the exception of an accumulation of Dead Newspapers, I found the Office and the Accounts of the Agent, &c., in good order in all respects.
9. The salary of the Agent is £60 per annum which is paid by the Imperial Post Office, and a Coolie at $7 per month is maintained by the Colony. The annual profit of this Agency to the Colonial Government is estimated at $358.92.
10. The estimated foreign population of Canton is rather under 200, and like Macao, the correspondence to and from Hongkong is exempt from the exclusive privilege of the Post Office under Clause 3 of Ordinance No. 8 of 1862.
11. At Swatow, Post Office Agent B. C. George Scott, Esq., the Consulate, in which, as in all cases, except Shanghai and Yokohama, the Post Office business is conducted, is inconveniently situated, the plot of land on which it stands being divided from the Mercantile quarter by about a mile of sca; I do not, however, consider that it would be expedient to remove the Agency and place it in private hands, because I am satisfied that, the community would still, to a great extent, continue the practice of sending their letters on board; neither is the present revenue, nor the additional revenue which might be derived from the Office if it were removed, such as to justify the expense of an Establishment independent of the Consulate, and further the inhabitants, who number only about sixty, raise no objection to sending to the Consulate for and with their Mail letters.
12. The salary of the Agent is £40 per Annum, which is paid by the Imperial Post Office, and a small boat is provided and the wages of two boatmen at $5 a month each paid by the Colony. The annual profit from this Agency to the Colonial Government is estimated at $777.68.
13. At Amoy, Post Office Agent George Phillips, Esq., the Consulate is situ- ated in the heart of the business locality. I found the Post Office in very good order and more free from an accumulation of undelivered letters than at some of the Agencies where Officers of shorter experience than Mr. Phillips are stationed.
14. In addition to the receipt and dispatch of the Mails for the Contract Packets arriving at and departing from Hongkong, the Agent here makes up and receives Mails for and from Takow and Taiwan in the South of Formosa.
15. The salary of the Agent is £100 per annum paid by the Imperial Post Office and the Colonial Government maintains 2 Boatmen and 2 Coolies, at $4 a month each. The annual profit from this Agency to the Colony is estimated at. $1,719.82 whilst the actual receipts of the Office in 1868 amounted to $3,463.45. Judging from the sum already realized by the sale of Postage Stamps at Amoy during the present year, I consider myself justified in the belief that the postel prospects of the place are increasing.
16. It was suggested to me that the extension of the Money Order system between the United Kingdom and Amoy would be a great advantage to the
Foochow
́numerous Customs' employés and others; but I pointed out the difficulties in the way of this being done inasmuch as there is no Bank at Amoy through which the rate of exchange of the day could be ascertained and covering bills of exchange obtained; there was, however, a willingness evinced to accept Money Orders at 4/2.
17. For the above reason, and because of the frequent changing of the Postal Agents and the unremunerative prospects of the system in a community numbering only about 120 persous, I am not disposed to advise that Amoy be placed upon the List of Money Order Offices yet; but I assured inquirers that the Post Office Agent there would be kept supplied with correct Lists of the Money Order Offices in the United Kingdom, and forms for making requisitions for Money Orders, and that all requests would be invariably attended to in this Office upon receipt of the Money, any excess in their remittances to Hongkong being returned to them in Postage Stamps.
18. At Foochow, Post Office Agent Pelham L. Warren, Esq., the Consulate is situated quite away from the river Min (on the banks of which the Merchants' Offices and Godowns are built,) and the Post Office is consequently but little availed of except for the letters received from or to be dispatched by the Contract Packets leaving Hongkong. The Agent here makes up and receives Mails for and from Keelung and Tamsui in the North of Formosa.
19. At this Port each of the large Mercantile houses keeps a kind of covered house boat in which is conveyed the correspondence of the house to and from Pagoda Anchorage, a distance of about 14 miles, where the Steamers to and from Hongkong as well as the Tea loading and other ships lie. This anchorage has grown in importance so rapidly that, at the request of the Vice-Consul, a separate Mail containing all letters, &c. addressed to residents or for the vessels lying there, is made up at this Office, and a further separate Mail is made up for the residents at the French Arsenal which is also situated there.
20. I found that the duties of the Post Office at Foochow, owing, possibly, to the Agent having been change:1 in July last, are but indifferently performed; no complaints were, however, made to me by the residents.
21. The salary of the Agent is £100 per annum, paid by the Imperial Post Office, and the Colonial Government maintains two Coolies at a cost of $5 a month cach. The annual profit of the Agency to the Colony is estimated at $1,497.04, and the actual receipt of the Office for last year amounted to $4,100.40.
22. The foreign population of Foochow is about 100 persons.
23. In addition to the Steamers plying between Hongkong and Foochow, viâ Swatow and Amoy, there are at present 4 Steamers running regularly between Foochow and Shanghai. The distance from Hongkong being 480 miles whilst that to Shanghai being only 380 miles, a good deal of the business in exchange, &c., which would otherwise be transacted with this place is now done at Shanghai; in fact I was assured on reliable authority that by one Mail, 10 lacs of Dollars were settled at Shanghai by means of these Steamers and that only 34 laes were settled here for the same Mail during the present Tea Season, and, that on other occasions, similar but smaller transactions have been effected at Shanghai for want of more regular Mail communication with Hongkong. It is, however, known that the rates of exchange ruling at Shanghai have been somewhat more favourable to the Foochow Merchants during this Tea Season than those obtainable here, and this has partly been the cause of their taking the risk of the loss of a fortnight incurred by going to Shanghai to do business.
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