Appendix D.
REPORT OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
STAFF.
1. Of the higher Officers Mr. L. A. M. Johnston, the late Postmaster General, returned from leave on 3rd April and died on 30th September. Mr. E. C. Lewis, the Assistant Postmaster General, acted as Postmaster General from 1st October until my appointment as Postmaster General on the 18th November.
2. Mr. T. H. Martin, Superintendent, Registration and Parcel Branch, returned from 9 months leave on 21st April and Mr. R. A. J. Savage, Superintendent of Mails, was granted 12 months leave from March 28th which leave has since been extended for a further period of three months.
3. Mr. S. Moosa, Deputy Superintendent Money Order Office, invalided and pensioned on the 30th April, died on the 30th May.
4. Among the remainder of the Staff there were nine resignations and 3 new appointments. In Shanghai, there were 4 resignations and two new appointments. Mr. W. J. Solly, Postmaster, Shanghai, was granted 12 months leave from 7th June and his leave has since been extended for a further period of six months. During his absence Mr. J. C. Kaye acted as Postmaster and Mr. Sirdar Khan, Senior Marine Officer, Hongkong, was temporarily transferred to the Shanghai Office.
MAILS.
5. The number of mail bags and packets dealt with in the General Post Office, Hongkong, amounted to 204,289 an increase of 39,148 compared with the previous year. Further details are given in Table I.
REGISTRATION AND PARCEL BRANCH.
6. Registered articles and parcels handled in Hongkong amounted to 805,503 a decrease of 50,912, compared with the previous year. Further details are given in Table II.
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE.
7. A statement of Revenue and Expenditure is given in Table III. Revenue amounted to $412,431.60 showing a decrease of $32,989.32 due largely to the decreased rates of postage brought in by the Rome Postal Convention.
8. Table IV shows a comparative statement of the sale of postage stamps at the various British Postal Agencies in China for the years 1907 and 1908. Table V shows the number of stamps of different denominations issued for sale during the years 1907 and 1908. Table VI shows a statement of Revenue and Expenditure for the last nine years.
MONEY ORDERS.
9. Consequent on the depression in trade throughout last year the Money Order business has been correspondingly diminished in nearly all countries except that from the German Possession in Oceana which was double that of 1907. There was a falling off of about £5,000 in the issue of sterling orders and a decrease of £7,000 in the inward orders. The latter is accounted for by the reduction of Japanese Colonists in Queensland and thereby reducing the amount drawn on Japan by 50,000 Yens and on the other hand, sterling Postal Orders have remained stationary with the sales of 1907. The paid orders have greatly increased by 67%, and local postal orders have also increased by 32%. Further details are given in Table VII.
DEAD LETTERS.
10. The total number of all articles sent to the Dead Letter Office at Hongkong and despatched from that office during the year 1908 amounted to 99,241, viz., 48,924 of the former and 50,317 of the latter showing an increase of 20,019 on the total of the previous year. Of the letters etc. returned from abroad it was possible to return to senders 15,567 and of the locally addressed, 2,821. The increase is chiefly owing to the large amount of lottery circulars which are prohibited to pass through the Post. Further details are shown in Table VIII.
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