21. Mr. JEFFERY also explained to the Committee that stolen letters in which nothing remunerative is found (handfuls of 20 or so being taken on speculation as stated above) are generally destroyed, and that, in 1876, 7,000 letters containing Money Orders were stolen. Although the thieves only realised 120 of these, and were traced and convicted in 40 cases, the payees of the remaining 6,880 Orders must have been subjected to an amount of inconvenience, delay, and correspondence, from which Registration would have effectively saved them. Had the 7,000 sums of money been in Stamps or Bank notes, every one would have been lost; in the forty cases which were detected the forged signature to the Order would probably form the sole clue.
22. Table 4 gives a return of the Revenue, &c. of this Department for the year. It had been hoped that the gross sum collected would still have been a little above $100,000, but such is not the Case. It must be remembered that we have closed one of our main offices, that, namely, in Yokohama. The balance accruing to the Colony is, however, more than double what it was last year.
I have the honour to be,
The Honourable F. STEWART,
Acting Colonial Secretary,
fc.,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant.
ALFRED LISTER,
Postmaster General,
gc.
* Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Money Order System of the Post Office, &c., 1877. Minutes of Evidence.
APPENDIX.
(A.)—COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE, 1880 & 1879.
1880.
$33,430.74
Conveyance of Mails and Contribution towards P. & 0. Subsidy, Imperial and Foreign Share,
20,501.87
Expenditure,
Balance,
Gross Revenue,.......
1879.
$40,293.96
Decrease.........
$6,863.22
20,285.13
Increase,
216.74
33,084.87
36,663.78
Decrease,..
3,578.91
9,186.09
4,594.16
Increase,
4,591.99
$96,508.67
$101,787.03
Decrease,.
$5,278.36
(B.)—SALE OF POSTAGE STAMPS.
1880.
1879.
INCREASE.
DENOMINATION.
DECREASE.
Number.
Amount.
Number.
Amount.
Number.
Amount.
Number.
Amount.
1 Cent (Cards).
19,562
195.62
19,562
195.62
2 Cents.
419,718
8,394.36
213,203
4,264.06
206,515
4,130.30
(Cards).
6,429
128.58
8,394
167.88
1,965
39.30
2 Cents.
278,908
5,578.16
213,883
4,277.66
65,025
1,300.50
3 Cents.
140,810
4,224.30
107,252
3,217.56
33,558
1,006.74
4 Cents.
52
2.08
2,845
113.80
2,793
111.72
6 Cents.
162,503
9,750.18
6,500.12
1,721
103.26
8 Cents.
17,338
1,387.04
57,600
4,608.00
219,796
17,583.68
10 Cents.
211,572
21,157.20
1,040.28
10,578.60
10,909
654.48
12 Cents.
162,196
19,463.52
12,975.68
10
1.20
16 Cents.
333,498
53,359.68
333,498
53,359.68
18 Cents.
1,000
180.00
24 Cents.
9,310
2,234.40
4,717
1,132.08
35,413
8,499.12
26 Cents.
2,817
732.42
507.06
8,199
2,131.74
28 Cents.
120
33.60
30
8.40
17,963
5,029.64
98
27.44
3,751
1,050.28
30 Cents.
14,212
4,263.60
22
6.60
43 Cents.
8,505
3,657.15
12,313
5,294.59
3,808
1,637.44
48 Cents.
5,192
2,492.16
6,353
3,049.44
1,161
557.28
96 Cents.
1,020
979.20
1,037
995.52
17
16.32
2 Dollars.
500
1,000.00
408
816.00
92
184.00
3 Dollars.
47
141.00
26
78.00
21
63.00
Za
94
282.00
210.00
Total,.......
$85,139.98
$79,887.89
$51,787.33
$46,535.26
Deduct Decrease,...
46,535.26
Total Increase,..
$5,252.09
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