Copy.
13485
APR 1986
Inclo.fin Str 3. Satow's No. 87 of February 28th, 1906.
H.M. Consul Foochow to Sir R. Satow.
Public Accounts No. 3.
289
Foochow, 10 February 1906.
Sir,
I have the honour to report as follows in reply to your Circular, Separate, of this Series, of the 10th ultimo, in regard to the British Postal Agency at this Port.
The Agency is established in H.M.'s Consulate and is in charge of Mr. C.D. Smith, Senior Assistant, who was appointed by the Postmaster General of Hongkong in succession to Dr. G.W. Pearson when the latter left Foochow for Pakhoi, in the summer of 1904. Since his appointment, the salary of the office has been increased from Sixty ($60) to Seventy-Five ($75) Dollars per mensem, at which figure it now stands.
The Agent has under him a staff of five (5) Chinese, all of whom are paid by the Hongkong Government, and whose duty it is to assist in the sorting and despatch of the Mails, the issuing of postal orders, the registration of letters, the sale of stamps, and keeping of accounts. It is Mr. Smith's duty to supervise this work and to attend to complaints, as well as to carry on any correspondence there may be with the Head office in Hongkong.
A Mail is made up for each steamer leaving this port unless more than one is advertised to sail, when a regular liner is generally chosen.
An officer from the Audit Office in Hongkong visits Foochow periodically to audit the accounts and report; he has just left after completing this duty, and as I have heard nothing to the contrary, I presume he found everything in order.