229
24. Should the proposal of the Chinese Government not be accepted, it will be absolutely necessary to improve our Postal Agencies. They cannot be left as they are. On the other hand, no suggestion to open additional agencies at the expense of this Government should be entertained.
25. The time has perhaps arrived when something should be done to bring the Chinese correspondence transmitted to and from this Colony 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 so often advocated, besides being ruinously expensive, would make the Postal Department here a nuisance and a hindrance to trade which would not be tolerated for a week. The function of a Post Office is to facilitate, not to hinder business. Proposals of a practical nature have, as you are aware, been submitted to the Government in this matter, and they are at present under consideration.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
5. As to the contribution of Hongkong, the Colonial Office has already raised the question whether, if the Imperial Government effects a saving, the Colonies should not share it. The Imperial Treasury replies, Ceylon, yes; Singapore and Hongkong, no. Hongkong's equitable share of the loss was assessed at £12,000 odd, and the Colony has been allowed to pay only £6,000. Unless the saving to the Imperial Government amounted to lowering the expenditure by more than half, this sum could not be reduced. This appears to be a fair way of regarding the matter, and I think this Colony should be content to stipulate that it is not to be asked for more than £6,000.
8. As to the Canadian route, the Imperial Post Office confirms what I have held since first I looked into the proposal. The service would be slower by three days than that via Suez, and unless fortnightly, and timed to alternate regularly with the French packets, could not possibly replace those of the P. & O. As an alternative route it might be of some service, but unless the homeward packet left here within three days of the departure of the English and French Mails, even this small advantage would be lost.
7. The question of the hour of departure may seem a small one, but it is not so in reality, for it must be remembered that any inconvenience caused by an unsuitable hour will recur fortnightly till it is removed. It is better therefore to attend to the point now than to have discontent and memorialising by and by. It is very desirable that the P. & O. packets, like those of the Messageries line, should leave at noon. The hour of departure of the French packets cannot be altered, on account of saving daylight at the mouth of the Saigon river. Having consulted with Mr. McEwen, the only member of the Chamber of Commerce I can get hold of this morning, I consider that a uniform noon departure of both mails would meet the wishes of the business and general community, and would do away with the long and fatiguing day now caused fortnightly by the later hour fixed for the departure of the English Mail,
I have &c.,
The Honourable F. STEWART.
Acting Colonial Secretary,
&c.
&...
&c.
APPENDIX,
A. LISTER, Postmaster General.
The Honourable F. STEWART,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
(C)
A. LISTER, Postmaster General,
(4.)—APPROXIMATE STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR 1886. Supplied to the International Bureau of the Postal Union, Berne.
DESCRIPTION OF CORRESPONDENCE TOTAL Despatched Received Total in 1885 Increase Decrease Ordinary paid letters 638,500 403,700 Unpaid and short paid Articles 61,100 72,000 1,055,000 1,095,000 39,100 Letters on Postal Business 600 Post Cards 2,500 Do. with prepaid reply 22,300 2,400 15,800 Newspapers and Periodicals 118,700 243,200 35,100 412,000 10,000 Books, Circulars, Prices Current, &c. 197,800 82,000 14,000 304,100 105,900 Patterns 4,800 2,900 300 8,000 8,160 Commercial Papers 16,160 Registered Articles 21,700 30,800 8,400 58,900 1,026 Letters with value declared 3,500 57,874 Registered Articles with Return Receipt Parcels 20 3,136 4,200 8,506 1,570 6,936* The figures in the above table are obtained by multiplying the amount of correspondence forwarded during 28 days by 13. The results are very fortuitous and these decreases are probably more apparent than real. The sale of postage stamps, a much more satisfactory test, shows a steady increase.
No. 38.
(B.)
GENERAL POST OFFICE, HONGKONG, June 16th, 1886,
SIR,-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 939 of yesterday's date, referring to me for an early report the Secretary of State's Despatch No. 57 of May 14, with its enclosures respecting the proposed new contract for the Eastern Mail Service.
2. This subject has been so long under discussion, and is presented by the London Post Office in so clear a light, that there appears to be no doubt as to the course the Colony should pursue. In recommending that the Telegram enclosed in draft should be forwarded without delay, I have the pleasure of knowing that I am in accord with the views of the Legislative Council and of the Chamber of Commerce.
3. That draft Telegram deals with four points.
(1.) The best tender to accept.
(2.) The contribution of Hongkong.
(3.) The Canadian route.
(4.) The hour of departure from Hongkong.
4. As to the best tender to accept, Ford WOLVERTON's lucid report leaves no question open. I am very glad to see that no experiments are to be tried in the way of leaving the mails to be conveyed, on any portion of the route, by chance steamers.
No. 29.
GENERAL POST OFFICE, HONGKONG, May 26th, 1886.
SIR,-I have the honour to enclose a copy of a letter addressed to me by Mr. H. Kopsch, one of the Commissioners of Customs under the Chinese Government, and a special Commissioner for Postal purposes in China. Mr. Kopsch enquires whether, in view of an extension to all the Treaty Ports of the Customs Postal Service which has been for some years in existence in China, and the intended establishment of a Chinese national Post Office, this Department will withdraw its Postal Agencies from the Ports of Hoihow, Canton, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Hankow, and its Post Office from Shanghai.
2. I enclose a copy of the reply I forwarded to Mr. Kopsch, pointing out that these Agencies are in reality Agencies of the Imperial Post Office.
3. As His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government will probably think it necessary to refer this matter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the consideration of the Imperial Post Office, I permit myself to offer a few words on this proposal.
4. It seems to me that one main consideration should be kept in view, namely the convenience and welfare of the communities at the various Treaty Ports, which perhaps include more of our fellow-countrymen than of any other nation, the convenience and welfare of their correspondents in other parts of the world, and the interests of trade. The experience of more than eleven years in dealing with the only organised Post Offices in the Far East (until the Japanese Offices were established) convinces me that it is desirable in these interests to accept the proposal of the Chinese Government if possible.
5. Extra-territorial Post Offices may be described as necessary evils, and evils which should be got rid of as soon as the necessity for their continuance is removed. The objections to them must be so well known to H. M. Government that I need not here recapitulate them. In China they have certainly been free from one disadvantage attaching to them elsewhere they have not, hitherto, wounded national susceptibility. But it is quite possible they may eventually do so, and that before very long.
6. The Hongkong Government maintains, under very great disadvantages, eight Post Offices in China. They are worked (except at Shanghai) by Consular Officers, whose Consular duties naturally have to take precedence. Able and diligent as most of these gentlemen are, their frequent removals, and the pressure of other duties inevitably stand in the way of the attainment of any very high degree of efficiency. By the time a Postal Agent has learnt his duties he is due for transfer to another port.
7. The Post Offices at most of the Ports, being in the Consulates, are too far removed from the business parts of the Settlements to be really efficient. Only this morning, in looking into a question relative to Swatow, I am reminded that a letter cannot be registered there without sending a messenger across a (frequently tempestuous) stretch of sea which under the most favourable circumstances it takes an hour to cross and re-cross.
8. Another great disadvantage is that the Hongkong Government of course cannot enforce any Postal Regulations in Chinese Ports. The residents send their letters by the mail if they think fit to do so; if not, and more generally, they send them on board the steamers. Too often the chief function of the Post Office seems to be to take the blame if anything goes wrong.
9. The Customs Authorities propose to replace this very inadequate service with Post Offices at 23 ports (including all those at which this Office maintains Agencies). At most if not all of these Ports all the facilities this office can offer would be given to the public, and I cannot doubt that those facilities would eventually be much extended.
10. The Customs would bring to the task very much larger staffs, officers on duty night and day, buildings in the heart of the business quarters, steam-launches, facilities for boarding steamers both on arrival and departure, the power of search, and, most important of all, the sanction of the national authority, which would allow of the making and enforcing of regulations, such as exist in most ports elsewhere.
229
24. Should the proposal of the Chinese Government not be accepted, it will be absolutely necessary to improve our Postal Agencies. They cannot be left as they are. On the other hand, no suggestion to open additional agencies at the expense of this Government should be entertained.
25. The time has perhaps arrived when something should be done to bring the Chinese correspon- dence transmitted to and from this Colony more under control. There can be no doubt that the revenue suffers serions 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 so often advocated, besides being ruinously expensive, would make the Postal Department here a nuisance and a hindrance to trade which would not be tolerated for a week. The function of a Post Office is to facilitate, not to hinder business. Proposals of a practical nature have, as you are aware, been submitted to the Government in this matter, and they are at present under consideration.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
5. As to the contribution of Hongkong, the Colonial Office has already raised the question whether, if the Imperial Government effects a saving, the Colonies should not share it. The Imperial Treasury replies, Ceylon, yes; Singapore and Hongkong, no. Hongkong's equitable share of the loss was assessed at £12,000 odd, and the Colony lias been allowed to pay only £6,000. Unless the saving to the Imperial Government amounted to lowering the expenditure by more than half, this sum could not be reduced. This appears to be a fair way of regarding the matter, and I think this Colony should be content to stipulate that it is not to be asked for more than £6,000.
8. As to the Canadian route, the Imperial Post Office confirms what I have held since first I looked into the proposal. The service would be slower by three days than that via Suez, and unless fortnightly, and timed to alternate regularly ith the French packets, could not possibly replace those of the P. & 0. As an alternative route it might be of some service, but unless the homeward packet left here within three days of the departure of the English and French Mails, even
his small advantage would be lost.
7. The question of the hour of departure may seem a small one, but it is not so in reality, for it must be remembered that any inconvenience caused by an unsuitable hour will recur fortnightly till it is removed. It is better therefore to attend to the point now than to have discontent and memorialising by and by. It is very desirable that the P. & 0. packets, like those of the Messageries line, should leave at noon. The hour of departure of the French packets cannot be altered, on account of saving daylight at the mouth of the Saigon river. Having consulted with Mr. McEwen, the only member of the Chamber of Commerce I cau get hold of this morning, I consider that a uniform noon departure of both mails would meet the wishes of the business and general community, and would do away with the long and fatiguing day now caused fortnightly by the later hour fixed for the departure of the English Mail,
I have &c.,
The Honourable F. STEWART.
Acting Colonial Secretary,
&C.
&...
&c.
APPENDIX,
A. LISTER. Postmuster General.
The Honourable F. STEWART,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
(C)
A. LISTER, Postmaster General,
(4.)—APPROXIMATE STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR 1886. Supplied to the International Bureau of the Postal Union, Berne.
INTERNATIONAL,
LOCAL.
COMPARISON WITH 1885.
DESCRIPTION OF CORRESPONDENCE,
TOTAL.
De-
spatched.
Received.
De- spatched.
Received.
Total in 1885.
Increase. Decrease.
Ordinary paid letters.
Unpaid and short paid Articles,
Letters on Postal Business,
600
Post Cards,
2,500
638,500 403,700 61,100 72.000 1,055,000
9.69
22,300 2,400 15,800
50.100 1,100
1200 4,300
1,095,000
39,100
16.000
4.100
1,100
4,000
4.380
350
2,100
1,000
9,900
18,000
3,100
Do. with prepaid reply,
Newspapers and Periodicals,
118,700
243.200
35,100
15,000:
412,000
$10,000
* 98,000
Books, Circulars, Prices Current, &c.,
197,800
8 2,000
14,000
10,800 |
304,100
410,000
* 105,900
Patterns.
4,800.
2,900
300
8,000
16,160
8,160
Commercial Papers,,
Itegistered Articles, .
21,700
30,800
8,400
3,500
58,900
57,874
1,026
Letters with value declared,
Registeral Articles with Return Receipt,
Parcels.
20 3,136
4,200
3,516
50 966
50 888
4.500
2,262
2,238
8,506
1,570
6,936
* The figures in the above table are obtained by multiplying the amount of correspondence forwarded during 28 days by 13. The results are very fortuitous and these decreases are probably more apparent than real. The sale of postage stamps, a much more satisfactory test, shows a steady increase.
No. 38.
(B.)
GENERAL POST OFFICE, HONGKONG, June 16th, 1886,
SIR,-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 939 of yesterday's date, referring to me for an early report the Secretary of State's Despatch No. 57 of May 14, with its enclosures respecting the proposed new contract for the Eastern Mail Service.
2. This subject has been so long under discussion, and is presented by the London Post Office in so clear a light, that there appears to be no doubt as to the course the Colony should pursue. Tu recommending that the Telegram enclosed in draft should be forwarded without delay, I have the pleasure of knowing that I am in accord with the views of the Legisla tive Council and of the Chamber of Commerce.
3. That draft Telegram deals with four points.
(1.) The best tender to accept.
(2.) The contribution of Hongkong.
(3.) The Canadian route.
(4.) The hour of departure from Hongkong.
4. As to the best tender to acept, Ford WoLvrutox's lucid report leaves no question open. I am very glad to see that no experiments are to be tried in the way of leaving the mails to be conveyed, on any portion of the route, by chance
steamers.
No. 29.
GENERAL POST OFFICE, HONGKONG, May 26th, 1886.
SIR,I have the honour to enclose a copy of a letter addressed to me by Mr. H. Korsen, one of the Commissioners of Customs under the Chinese Government, and a special Commissioner for Postal purposes in China. Mr. Kopsch enquires whether, in view of an extension to all the Treaty Ports of the Customs Postal Service which has been for some years in existence in China, and the intended establishment of a Chinese national Post Office, this Department will withdraw its Postal Agencies from the Ports of Hoihow, Canton, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Hankow, and its Post Office from Shanghai.
2. I enclose a copy of the reply I forwarded to Mr. Korsen, pointing out that these Agencies are in reality Agencies of the Imperial Post Office.
3. As His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government will probably think it necessary to refer this matter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the consideration of the Imperial Post Office, I permit myself to offer a few words on this proposal.
4. It seems to me that one main consideration should be kept in view, namely the convenience and welfare of the communities at the various Treaty Ports, which perhaps include more of our fellow-countrymen than of any other nation, the convenience and welfare of their correspondents in other parts of the world, and the interests of trade. The experience of more than eleven years in dealing with the only organised Post Offices in the Far East (until the Japanese Offices were established) convinces me that it is desirable in these interests to accept the proposal of the Chinese Government if possible.
5. Extra-territorial Post Offices may be described as necessary evils, and evils which should be got rid of as soon as the necessity for their continuance is renoved. The objections to them must be so well known to H. M. Government that I need not here recapitulate them. In China they have certainly been free from one disadvantage attaching to them elsewhere they have not, hitherto, wounded national susceptibility. But it is quite possible they may eventually do so, and that before very long.
6. The Hongkong Government maintains, under very great disadvantages, eight Post Offices in China. They are worked (except at Shanghai) by Consulur Officers, whose Consular duties naturally have to take precedence. Able and diligent as most of these gentlemen are, their frequent removals, and the pressure of other duties inevitably stand in the way of the attainment of any very high degree of efficiency. By the time a Postal Agent has learnt his duties he is due for transfer to another port.
7. The Post Offices at most of the Ports, being in the Consulates, are too far removed from the business parts of the Settlements to be really efficient. Only this morning, in looking into a question relative to Swatow, I am reminded that a letter cannot be registered there without sending a messenger across a (frequently tempestuous) stretch of sea which under the most favourable circumstances it takes an hour to cross and re-cross.
8. Another great disadvantage is that the Hongkong Government of course cannot enforce any Postal Regulations in Chinese Ports. The residents send their letters by the mail if they think fit to do so; if not, and more generally, they send them on board the steamers. Too often the chief function of the Post Office seems to be to take the blame if anything goes
wrong.
9. The Customs Authorities propose to replace this very inadequate service with Post Offices at 23 ports (including all those at which this Office maintains Agencies). At most if not all of these Ports all the facilities this office can offer would be given to the public, and I cannot doubt that those facilities would eventually be much extended.
10. The Customs would bring to the task very much larger staffs, officers on duty night and day, buildings in the heart of the business quarters, steam-launches, facilities for boarding steamers both on arrival and departure, the power of search, and, most important of all, the sanction of the national authority, which would allow of the making and enforcing of regulations, such as exist in most ports elsewhere.
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