712790-1866-GOVERNMENT-NOTIFICATION-NO-30 — Page 2

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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 3RD MARCH, 1866.

The Imperial Postal Rvenue collected in 1865 is £1,200.7.5) in excess of the Imperial Revenue of 1864.

I have already pointed out the Imperial portion of Revenue collected here last year has been £27,267.18.51, the Imperial share of Revenue collected in Loudon on outward mails must of course be greater; although I have not the menus of ascertaining it exactly, assuming it however to be but little in excess, it still shews that the Hongkong Post Office contributes a sum of not less than say £60,000 per annum in aid of the Postal subsidy.

The altered system of keeping the Accounts of the Department above referred to has been found so far to work well. The expenditure for the year 1865, so far as the same has formed a charge upon the Colonial Government, amounts to $25,413.59 or $982.54 in excess of that of the previous year; which is partially accounted for by an addition to the Staff of one Sorter who was appointed on the 10th February, 1865, at $720 per annum; this sum does not however include the cost of the new building, or the subsidy for the English Mail Contract, which disbursements are not made through the Department.

The Staff of the establishment now consists of--

1 Postmaster General,

1 Assistant do.,

1 Clerk,

1 Charge Taker, and

5 Sorters,

1 Compradore,

1 Head Coolie,

#

9 Ordinary Coolies, and

5 Boatmen,

and there are 8 Agencies under its control, viz.: at

Canton,

Swatow,

Amoy,

Foochowfoo,

Ningpo, Shanghae, Nagasaki, and Yedo;

in the case of Shanghae, the Colonial Government contributes a portion of the Packet Agent's Salary, the rest being paid by the Imperial Post Office, which Department also pays the salaries of each of the other Packet Agents; all other expenditure at the Ports being borne by the Colony-the Hongkong Post Ofice also keeps an account with the Post Office at Macao, and the same instructions are issued to the Office of Macao as are given to the British Packet Agents, but the salary of the Postmaster of Macao is defrayed by the Portuguese Government, which gives security to this Department, for the revenue received there;-with the exception of Shangle, the Packet Agents are all Officers in the British Consular Service.

Mails are also sent to the Legation at Pekin, and to the British Consuls at various other Ports, but with the exceptions indicated, there are no regularly appointed or paid Packet Agents.

The new building was opened to the Public on the 12th September last, and it has been found in all respects sufficient to meet the increased requirements of the Colony.

On the 25th September last I issued a new code of regulations for the guidance of the Officers of the Department, and these were published in pamphlet form.

I am unable to report that any improvement has taken place on the subject which was touched upon in my previous report as to the illicit conveyance of correspondence by the British Contract Packets between Hongkong and Shanghae; on the contrary, my letter of the 28th July last, No. 43, will have informed you of the continuance of the practice, and also of a defect in the Colonial Law which places the Company subsidized by the Crown without the compass of the Law which affects the Masters of Vessels not under Contract to carry Mails.

The loss to the Public, and the inconvenience caused to the Department by the continuation of this system, can hardly be overestimated, and notwithstanding every endeavour has been made by the Officers of the Post Office, to counteract it, it has been found, in the present state of the Law, to be practically impossible to effect any improvement.

The compulsory use of Postage Stamps in the payment of postages both here and at the varions Packet Agencies at the Ports of China and Japan is still found to be an advantage, the Stamps now in use however, although of 10 separate values, are not wholly suitable to the present rates of postage, and the introduction of four additional kinds, viz.: a 16 cent Stamp, a 32 cent Stamp, a 53 cent Stamp, and a 480 cent Stamp would be received by the Public as a convenience..

Towards the close of the past year the time for posting correspondence for the Mails by the British Contract Packets was extended from 6 P.M. on the evening prior to the Packets departure until 9 A.M. on the morning of her departure, and a box for the receipt of Correspondence has been kept open during the night; this box however except for the use of persons who reach the Office just after the closing of the Windows at 6 P.M. has been almost in disuse.

$163,982.98 has been received for Postage Stamps sold during the year 1865.

The Colony's Share of the Postage on Mails received from London during the year 1865 amounted to £1,241.19.0 or £44.14.6 in excess of the Colonial Revenue from the same source in the previous year.

During the year 1865, 230,073 Letters and 158,011 Newspapers and Prices Current, were sent in the Mails by the British Packets to London, and 9,870 Letters and 5,136 Newspapers and Prices Current, were sent in the Mails by the French Packets to London; no account is taken of the number of letters and papers received at Hongkong, in the Mails by either the English or French Packets.

904 Registered Letters were received from London, and 979 Registered Letters were dispatched to London during the year 1865.

1,235 Ship Mails (i.e. Mails carried otherwise than by the subsidized Packets) were received at the Hongkong Pest Office during the year 1865, and 1,506 Ship Mails were dispatched during the same period.

During the past year 1,200 Official Letters on the business of the Office were received, and 794 letters transmitted in reply; this is exclusive of printed Time Bills, Letter Bills, Returns, &c., and of numerous Unofficial applications for information mude in Memoranda and Notes.

In the month of November last an agreement was entered into between His Lordship the Postmaster General in Englan and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company under which the system of fines for overtime and premiums fr time saved on the voyage, which was then in operation on the line between Point de Galle and Sydney, was extended to al! the services for which the Company are under contract with the Post Office.

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I inclose a Return shewing the number of days allowed for the conveyance of the Mails from London to Hongkong Southampton and vià Marseilles, the time each voyage occupied, and the numbers of days lost or gained, from which it wil be seen that during the year 1865, 3 mails arrived at Hongkong on their due date, 13 before their time, and 8 after they were due here, and, that in the voyages 24 days were gained and 36 lost.