106 SUPPLEMENT TO THE HONGKONG GOVT GAZETTE OF 28TH JAN., 1888.
selves, but also persuade others to do so. If only money letters were stolen, the senders might 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.
may
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 harm than good. Every time a letter-carrier is convicted, the public begin to think that now, at last, they
send money
letters with safety. They are soon undeceived. So far at least as Post Offices where the subordinates are Chinese are concerned, it will NEVER be safe to send money or valuables through the Post unregistered, 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- To countenance the promiscuous trous illusion, and intensify the evil they are intended to cure. sending of money letters, and yet attempt to put down thefts by detective measures, is like planting a noxious weed, and then snipping at it with scissors. The public have it in their power to cut the
letters. money weed at the root by ceasing to send unregistered
It is believed that the refusal of this 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.
22. As it appeared doubtful whether the direct route via Aden for correspondence for the South African Colonies was working as satisfactorily as formerly, experiments were made by the despatch of test covers, as to the real time occupied in transit. The result was as follows:-
Viâ Aden.
To Cape Colony, To Natal,
Viâ London.
50 days.
76 days.
57 days.
69 days.
Correspondence for these Colonies is therefore now forwarded exclusively by way of London.
23. In view of the inconvenience caused by the departures of the steamers of the Pacific Mail Company and Occidental and Oriental Steam-ship Company on the same days as the Mails for Europe, the two Companies promised that they would, in arranging their Schedule for the present year, do all in their power consistently with the rules they have found it necessary to observe, to avoid a repetition of this conflict of dates. The good offices of the Companies have been so far successful that, in their Time Table for the first half of this year, there are only two coincidences.
24. It would be very desirable if the occasional despatch of the German Packet on the same day as the French Packet could also be avoided. It deprives the public of much of the advantage of a supplemental opportunity to be obliged to make use of it within a few hours or not at all.
25. The outward French packets now remain here only twenty-four hours, an arrangement causing a severe strain on the strength of this office.* which has only a few hours of daylight to get the whole mail for Shanghai sorted and packed, amidst the numerous distractions always arising from the recent arrival of a contract mail. On one occasion the newspaper portion of the Shanghai mail was unavoidably sent up unsorted. That was on August 4th, a day on which three Contract Mail Packets left this Colony, an' two were expected to arrive. Fortunately one arrival did not take place till the following morning.
26. It is feared that, under the new P. and O. contract, the stay of the outward Packet here will also be only twenty-four hours.
27. If the sorting of mails for Shanghai is to be continued under these circumstances, some re- inforcement of the staff will be inevitable, but this is a subject which can be well considered when the question of the surrender or otherwise of our Post Offices in China to the Chinese Government is settled. No decision on this point has yet been arrived at by the Imperial Government.
28. It will be necessary to make provision for a re-organisation of the Amoy Post Office in case we retain the control of it. It is impossible to continue working it much longer in its present under- manned condition. The duties of the Postal Agent at Amoy depend upon the incessant and constantly increasing steamer traffic of that Port, and have been much added to by the establishment of direct For Manila alone steam communication between Amoy and Manila, and between Amoy and Batavia. steamers leave Amoy on the average every three days. The Postal Agent has, during the past year, collected and accounted for Revenue to the amount of $9,403,60. He has sold $7,837 worth of stamps. He has despatched 5.353 Registered Letters and received 4,831, making a total of 10,184 Registered articles, every one of which needed individual attention and necessitated several entries in books, &c. This gives an average of 28 Registries cach day, including Sundays, but sometimes as The Agent has dealt many as 125 Registered Articles will be despatched to Manila by oue steamer.
*Ou Christmas day the clerks in charge of the Shanghai mil were at work from 2 P.M. till midnight, and were required at 7 the next morning for the ordinary work of the Office.
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