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only got through, and that with extreme pressure and difficulty, by long and severe hours of duty, by excessively hard work, and by the superior officers joining in manual labour which, in most other places, would be performed by men at twenty-five shillings a week.
12. We have ceased to expect a profit on the working of the Post Office. That there is still a balance to the good is mainly due to the Parcel Post. During the year the following parcels have been dealt with (not including local parcels, of which no separate account is kept.)
(
By P. & O. Packet,. By German Packet,.
two
Č
6 But it is when the Chinese Staff of the Office is considered that it is seen how complete!? inadequate is the provision of hands, in comparison with the work to be done.
In the Local or Municipal Post Office of Shanghai, which undertakes nothing but the reception and distribution of local correspondence, and of that exchanged by steamer with certain Ports immediately corresponding with Shanghai, the work is carried on by the following Chinese staff under the superintendence Europeans:--
3 Senior Chinese.
17 Postmen and Coolies.
2 Rickshaw Coolies. 4 Boatmen.
26
The Municipal Post Office at Shanghai is one of seven Post Offices by which the correspondence of that Settlement is dealt with, and it is furnished with twenty-six Chinese. The Hongkong Post Office does the whole of the Postal work of Hongkong, inward, outward, and local; prepares and passes on the mails for all China and Japan; acts as a centre between those countries and the Straits, India, America and Australia; sorts both the English and French mails for Shanghai; and is furnished with twenty Chinese. The amount of correspondence passing through Shanghai may be taken, with fair accuracy, to be about half of that passing through Hongkong. The whole Postal work of Shanghai is performed by 13 Europeans and 48 Chinese, that of Hongkong by 17 Europeans and 20 Chinese. Moreover the only two really heavy mails for Shanghai are sorted in Hongkong.
7. The Municipal Post Office at Shanghai can, naturally, establish hourly deliveries, and effect them with great regularity and satisfaction to the public. The Hongkong Post Office effects with difficulty three deliveries a day, with an extra delivery after dark when necessary; and, when there is a rush of either inward or outward mail work, delivery has to be suspended altogether, the services of the postinen who should go out with correspondence being indispensable indoors.
8. The directions in which the organisation of the Hongkong Office should now be developed are
these:-
(a.) The improvement of local delivery.
(b) The collection of correspondence from steamers, and a quicker landing of contract
mails, by means of a steam-launch belonging to the Department.
(c.) An enforcement of the monopoly of the Post Office with regard to outward corres-
pondence, more particularly Chinese,
The third of these has been waiting for time and opportunity, but the other two are absolutely de- pendent on the provision of a larger building. Local delivery cannot be improved without a Chinese staff at least double of what we have at present. There is not room in this building for a single additional Chinese. Instead of adding to the existing overcrowding, it should be abated. And it is worse than useless to collect correspondence from steamers unless there are the means of delivering it at least as quickly as the steamer agents can deliver it themselves. Similarly, this Department could not work a steam-launch to advantage without two Europeans to relieve each other in the duty of boarding vessels ou arrival. They would have to live on the premises, for which no ingenuity could arrange in the present building. In fact almost every attempt to improve the service in any way is blocked by the same condition, more room.
9. To fully develope the internal Postal service of this Colony there will be needed ere long four small sub-offices, viz., one at the east and one at the west end of the town, one at Kowloon and one at the Peak. Pillar boxes will also have to be established at convenient spots on the routes leading to these suburbs. All this would pay its own expenses and more, but it is useless to attempt it without a sufficient central staff to receive and distribute the correspondence.
10. International Statistics, to regulate the payments for sea and territorial conveyance of mails during three years were taken during the first twenty-eight days of November, and, so für as is known up to this date, with regularity and success.
11. The date at which this Report has to be sent in makes it impossible to detail the Revenue of the Department for 1887, which will not be definitely ascertained for some months to come. Probably, however, there will be some improvenient on the Revenue for 1886, which was as follows:-
Gross Revenue, 1886,
.$134,734.72
Share of United Kingdom, Share of other countries, Conveyance of Mails..
Working expenses, ... .................................... Balance,....
.$78,379.82 7,865.91 6,973.12 33,136.49
8,379.38
$134,734.72
$134,734.72
Inward.
5,195 215
5,410
Outward.
3,831
166
3,997
Total.
9,026 381
9,407
13. The largest Parcel Mail was that despatched on November 8th, the Christmas Mail, by which 329 parcels, weighing 631 lb. net were forwarded. The next largest was that despatched on November 22nd, the New Year Mail, by which 265 parcels, weighing 487 lb. net were forwarded. The largest inward Parcel Mail consisted of 408 parcels, weighing 892 lb.
14. Two parcels were confiscated in London, one for containing reprints of books copyright in the United Kingdom, the other for containing cigars which it was attempted to sanggle under a false declaration. The cigars were addressed to a lady, probably to divert suspicion of the real nature of the contents of the parcel.
15. The exchange of Parcels with the Continent by German Packet is steadily though slowly increasing. At first only four or five parcels were sent or received by each mail, now the average is about twenty. A box containing eight parcels was lost in the Oder.
16. The reduction of postage on coast and local parcels effected some time since has been the means of attracting a considerable business in the transmission of such parcels, which are now carried at five cents a pound including Registration.
17. It is hoped ere long to have Parcel Post arrangements in force with the principal Australian Colonies. The Victorian Government, which, as controlling the P. & O. liue from Melbourne to Colombo, is the first to be consulted, has accepted the proposals of this Office, and it is hoped that the system may be at work within two or three months. An exchange of parcels by the direct Torres Straits steamers was proposed to Queensland, but the internal legislation of that Colony does not permit of its adoption.
18. A direct exchange of Parcels with Canada via Vancouver has also been proposed. The Canadian Post Office replied that when the mail service between Vancouver and Hongkong has been put on a permanent footing the question will be considered.
19. It has been shown in paragraph 12 that, exclusive of local exchanges, 9,407 parcels pussed through this Office in the course of the year. Although the contents of many of these were of con- The reason is siderable intrinsic value, no parcel has been lost, nor has any local parcel been lost.*
not far to seek. Although parcels are not technically considered as Registered Articles, yet practically and to all intents and purposes, they are Registered. Persons who talk "the stuff that makes one sad and almost sick," as to how they never register their letters, "it only serves to call attention to them, would do well to consider the fact that upwards of nine thousand parcels, often containing such di objects as watches, rings, bracelets, &c., with the contents and value marked on them, have been f transmitted safely under Registration during the year, whilst it is believed that nearly every letter containing such objects and posted without Registration has been stolen, not necessarily here, nor even necessarily in the Postal service, but still stolen, somewhere.
20. If it were as possible to prevent the sending of unregistered money letters through the Post as it is to prevent the sending of unregistered parcels, letter-stealing would disappear." It is kept up and perpetuated by the persons referred to in the last paragraph, who not only do wrong them- selves, but also persuade others to do so. If only money letters were stolen, the senders tight well be left to reap the consequences of their own carelessness, but unfortunately the letters of innocent people are stolen on the chance or on the supposition that they contain money.
So far at least as Post Offices
21 It may be questioned whether the detective measures taken by many Postal Administrations in the way of sending test letters and laying other traps for Post Office thieves do not do more harni than good. Every time a letter-carrier is convicted, the public begin to think that now, at last, they may send money letters with safety. They are soon undeceived. where the subordinates are Chinese are concerned, it will NEVER be safe to send money or valuables through the Post muregistered, and it is believed to be at once the kindest and the justest course to avoid any useless show of an attempt to make it so. Such attempts only foster a disas- trous illusion, and intensify the evil they are intended to cure. To countenance the promiscuous sending of money letters, and yet attempt to put down thefts by detective measures, is like planting a noxious weed, and then suipping at it with scissors. The public have it in their power to cut the It is believed that the refusal of this weed at the rout by ceasing to send unregistered money letters. Department to make any enquiry into alleged cases of theft of unregistered money letters has reduced that class of correspondence very considerably. If these remarks should deter one additional person from sending money in unregistered covers they will not have failed of their object. And, if they do not deter him, the loss of his money very speedily will.
* Eleven Registered Letters are believed to have been destroyed by an explosion on board the Fermosa on December 24tb.
ug.
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