£8,390, and the expenditure £10,347; while payments were made by the New South Wales Government to the post office at Kororareka, in New Zealand, which was not created a separate colony until 1841. In 1847 an overland mail between Sydney and Adelaide was established. Stamps in their present form were issued in 1849, and the postage rates were fixed at 1d. per oz. for town and 2d. for country letters, at which they remain in most of the states to-day.

Regular steam mail communication with Great Britain was first established in 1852. Until that time the Australian colonies had to depend upon the irregular arrival and despatch of sailing vessels for the carriage of mails; but in the year mentioned the steamships Australia, Chusan, and Great Britain were despatched from England, making the voyage in 60 days, and causing a strong desire in the minds of the colonists for a more frequent and steady system of steam communication with the Old World. The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 hindered for a while the accomplishment of this object; but in 1856 a line of steamers was again laid on, and the service was carried on by the Peninsular and Oriental Company and the Royal Mail Company for some years, but without giving so much satisfaction to the public as might have been expected.

As far back as 1854 a proposal was made for the establishment of a line of mail packets via Panama, and negotiations on the subject were carried on for several years between the British Government and the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand. The result was that in 1866 the service was started, and continued in operation until the end of 1868, when it was terminated through the failure of the company by which it had been carried out. In the following year New South Wales, in conjunction with New Zealand, inaugurated a mail service via San Francisco, which, with a few interruptions and under various conditions, has been continued up to the present time. The establishment of a mail route via America had the effect of stimulating the steamship-owners who were engaged in the service via Suez, and from that time there was a marked improvement in the steamers employed, as well as in the punctuality and speed with which the mails were delivered. The Peninsular and Oriental Company have carried mails for the colonies almost from the inception of the ocean steam service, with very few interruptions. Towards the end of 1878 the Orient Company commenced carrying mails between Australia and the United Kingdom, and have continued to do so ever since. In the year 1883 the fine steamers of the Messageries Maritimes of France entered the service, followed in 1887 by the North German Lloyd's, so that there are now sometimes two or even three mails received and despatched every week, and a voyage to Europe, which was formerly a formidable undertaking, involving great loss of time and much discomfort, is regarded as a mere pleasure trip to fill up a holiday.

In the year 1893 another mail service was established, by a line of steamers running from Sydney to Vancouver Island, in British Columbia.

There is also a line of steamers running between Brisoane nna London, but the states other than Queensland make little use of unese vessels. Under the provisions of the 51st clause of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the control of the Post and Telegraph services became vested in the Commonwealth, and by proclamation these services were taken over on the 1st March, 1901. The systems of administration, and the rates levied in force in each state at the date of union were however continued until the Commonwealth Postal Act was brought into operation on the 1st November, 1902, thus securing uniformity in all the states.

GROWTH OF POSTAL BUSINESS.

The growth of postal business in each of the states during the forty-two years from 1861 to 1902 is shown below. It will be seen that the number of letters for all Australasia in 1861 was less than the present total for any individual state, with the exception of Tasmania. The true total for Australasia is, of course, not to be found by adding the figures of the several states together, as interstate letters are counted both in the state from which they are despatched and in that in which they are received for delivery. A second total is therefore given from which this excess has been excluded::

New South Wales.... 340 2,216 4,369,463 90,781,395 3,384,245 47,763,360 105,338 16,995,440

A corresponding table to that already given, showing the number of letters, newspapers, and packets per head of population, is appended :

Western Australia takes the lead in the transmission of letters, newspapers, and packets; while Victoria in letters and postcards, Tasmania in newspapers, and New Zealand in packets occupy second place. A comparison of the average number of letters and postcards per head of population in Australasia with similar figures for the principal countries of the world is afforded by the table given below. It will be seen that on a population basis the correspondence of Australasia exceeds that of any of the countries named, with the exception of the United Kingdom :

RATES OF POSTAGE.

The inland letter postage is 1d. per oz. on town and 2d. on country letters in all the states of the Commonwealth of Australia, except Victoria and South Australia. In Victoria the rate is 1d. per oz., and in South Australia 2d. per oz. on all letters posted for delivery within the state. In Victoria the minimum charge was altered in 1890 from 2d. per oz. to 1d. per oz.; but the loss at that time was too great, and in 1892 the rate was again raised to 2d. per oz.; in 1901 it was once more reduced to 1d. per oz. In New South Wales the city and suburban rate of 1d. per oz., which is in force in the Metropolitan Suburban District, is also in operation within a 12-mile radius of Newcastle, and a 13-mile radius of nearly sixty of the other principal country towns. The inter-state and intercolonial rate is uniformly 2d. per oz. in Australasia. On the 1st January, 1901, New Zealand adopted a universal penny postage, and the loss attendant thereon for the year may be set down at about £34,000. By arrangement with the Commonwealth, New Zealand letters come to Australia for 1d., but letters to New Zealand are charged 2d. When this matter was settled it was

further arranged that New Zealand should reduce its terminal rate on cable messages exchanged with Australia from 1d. to d. per word; but, on the other hand, the Commonwealth made a liberal concession by reducing its terminal rate from 1d. per word per state to a uniform 1d.

for the whole of Australia.

The diverse rates imposed on the carriage of newspapers in the various states of the Commonwealth, prior to the union, continued after the control became vested in the Federal Government, and up to the 1st November, 1902, when a uniform rate was imposed under the Post and Telegraph Rates Act, 1902. On all newspapers posted for delivery within the Commonwealth by registered newspaper proprietors, or by newsvendors, or returned by an agent or newsvendor to the publishing office, without condition as to the number contained in each addressed wrapper, a charge of 1d. per 20 oz. on the aggregate weight is imposed, and on all other newspapers posted within the Commonwealth for delivery therein, d. per 10 oz. or fraction thereof for each newspaper is levied. In New Zealand a charge of d. each is levied upon all newspapers, town and inland. The intercolonial postage is 1d. each to all the states except Queensland, to which province the charge is 1d. each if not exceeding 4 oz., and d. additional for every succeeding 2 oz.

REGISTERED LETTERS.

The number of registered letters and packets passing through the post-offices of the Australasian states has largely increased of late years. In New South Wales the number of such letters in 1902 was 1,095,095. This number was exceeded during 1901, when the number registered was 1,213,277. Even in 1892, when the total

1

was

largely made up of correspondence relating to so-called "consultations," or lottery sweeps connected with horse-racing, which were established in Sydney, and to support which large sums of money were sent to that city from all parts of Australasia, as well as from other countries, the registrations only numbered 1,075,241. Probably not less than 600,000 of the total for New South Wales in 1892 were in connection with these lotteries. The Government of that state dealt with the evil in an amending Postal Bill in 1893, and this illicit branch of the postal traffic was removed to Queensland, where the number of registered letters at once greatly increased, and numbered 541,148 in 1895. But in 1896 the Parliament of Queensland passed an Act making these lotteries illegal, and the evil was transferred to Hobart. The registrations in the northern state in 1902 numbered 357,500. In South Australia 346,902 registered letters were dealt with during the year. In Western Australia 353,522 registered letters and packets were passed through the head office. In Tasmania 235,813 registered letters passed through the post; while in New Zealand the registered articles dealt with numbered 592,258. For Victoria no particulars of registrations are available.

PARCELS POSTS.

Excepting Western Australia, where there was no inland service, there were inland, intercolonial, and international parcels posts in operation in 1902; but statistics of the services on a uniform basis are not obtainable. During the year 785,528 parcels, weighing 2,755,244 lb., passed through the post-office of New South Wales, the postage collected amounting to £50,100; in Victoria 312,997 parcels, weighing 860,742 lb., yielding a revenue of £15,339, were dealt with; in Queensland the number of parcels which passed through the post-office was 303,427, weighing 1,204,627 lb., and the revenue derived from the service amounted to £17,345; in South Australia 49,505 parcels, weighing 121,613 lb., were forwarded, and the revenue received was £3,080; in Western Australia 39,378 parcels, the declared value of which was £91,301, and which yielded a revenue of £3,374, were dealt with; in Tasmania 47,087 parcels weighing 119,152 lb., with a declared value of £55,390, passed through the post, and yielded a revenue of £2,907; and in New Zealand the parcels dealt with numbered 291,670, weighing 861,069 lb., of which 47,654, weighing 173,230 lb., and valued at £123,912, were received from places outside the colony, and 14,779, weighing 35,853 lb., and valued at £16,313, were despatched from the colony.

MONEY ORDERS AND POSTAL NOTES.

In all the states there are money order and postal note systems in operation; and in all the states, except Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, post-office savings banks. In Queensland there is a