Enclosure.
COPY
882
21463
RECO
Ref 14 AUG 19
General Post Office,
Hong Kong 20th June, 1899.
Sir,
I enclose herewith a letter to myself from the Superintendent of the Registration Branch dated 29th ultimo, a petition from the clerks in the Registration Branch dated 13th instant, two memos from the Superintendent of the Registration Branch dated respectively 14th and 15th idem, and a letter of even date, also a list of the hours the clerks in the Registration Branch have worked during the last two weeks.
2. These papers, not originally intended for your perusal, are enclosed as the simplest way of showing the inadequacy of the staff.
3. An average of upwards of 1,800 registered letters a day for delivery in the Colony pass through the Registration Branch, besides four to five hundred forwarded letters. It is no unusual thing for 2,000 letters to be dealt with in one day, besides parcels.
4. It is not proposed to enter into details beyond the enclosures, though they can be supplied if necessary; suffice it, the business is in arrears and the clerks have been worked until they are addle-pated.
5. Three of the senior clerks have been transferred from the Registration Branch on claiming their right to promotion as Marine Sorters, and one of the seniors (who waived his claim) has been sent from the General Post Office to the Registration Branch.
The Honourable,
The Colonial Secretary.
&c.
80.
&c.
6.