In his report on the
Postal Department for 1886,
Mr. Lister again remarked. "The time has perhaps arrived when something should be done to bring the Chinese correspondence from this Colony to and from ... more under control. There can be no doubt that the revenue suffers serious loss from the smuggling of thousands of Chinese letters not to Chinese ports where there is no national Post office to receive them, but to San Francisco, Australia, the Straits settlements and other places where efficient Post Offices exist. The subject is surrounded with difficulties and the sweeping measures often advocated, besides being ruinously expensive, would make the Postal Department here a nuisance and a hindrance to trade, which would not be tolerated.