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 fifty-four of the other principal country towns; also between Broken Hill and its suburbs, Harden and Murrumburrah, Narrabri and Narrabri West, and Wyalong and Wyalong West. 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 Id. 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 1903 was 928,521 This number was exceeded during 1901, when the number registered was 1,213,277. Even in 1892, when the total 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 1903 numbered 256,475. In South Australia 205,821 registered letters were dealt with during the year. In Western Australia 232,167

registered letters and packets were passed through the head office. In Tasmania 317,831 registered letters passed through the post; while in New Zealand the registered articles dealt with numbered 632,299. In Victoria the registered letters dealt with during the year numbered 876,968.

PARCELS POSTS.

Excepting Western Australia, where there was no inland service, there were inland, intercolonial, and international parcels posts in operation in 1903; but statistics of the services on a uniform basis are not obtainable. During the year 834,329 parcels, weighing 2,696,392 lb., with a declared value of £398,214, passed through the post-office of New South Wales, the postage collected amounting to £52,052; in Victoria 710,858 parcels, weighing 2,400,000 lb., with a declared value of £1,250,000, yielding a revenue of £34,804, were dealt with; in Queensland the number of parcels which passed through the post-office was 314,651, weighing 1,341,868 lb., and the revenue derived from the service amounted to £18,499; in South Australia 71,975 parcels, weighing 190,081 lb., were forwarded, and the revenue received was £4,089; in Western Australia 40,546 parcels, weighing 33,190 lbs., the declared value of which was £86,563, and which yielded a revenue of £1,588 were dealt with; in Tasmania 59,387 parcels, weighing 102,654lb., with a declared value of £131,315, passed through the post, and yielded a revenue of £6,433; and in New Zealand the parcels dealt with numbered 327,629, weighing 1,161,584 lb., of which 59,655, weighing 226,959 lb., and valued at £151,236, were received from places outside the colony, and 17,577, weighing 41,707 lb., and valued at £20,844, 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 Government Savings Bank, but it is not placed under the administration of the Postmaster-General. The Victorian Post Office Savings Bank was amalgamated with the Commissioners' Savings Bank in September, 1897. Particulars of the working of these services will be found in the chapter dealing with "Accumulation."

POSTAL FACILITIES.

The following table shows the number of inhabitants and the area in square miles to each post-office for the year 1903. It will be seen that the most sparsely populated states have the greatest number of post-offices in comparison with their population, but in order to judge of the relative extension of postal facilities the area of country to each office must also be taken into account:

The Federal Ocean Mail Service, which is carried on by the Orient Pacific and Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Companies, is subsidised by the United Kingdom and all the Australian states. New contracts were entered into on the 1st February, 1898, for a period of seven years. The total amount of the subsidy is £170,000, of which £98,000 is payable by the Imperial authorities and £72,000 by the states in proportion

to their population. The sea transit rates collected from other countries and colonies making use of the service are credited to the Imperial and Colonial Governments in proportion to the amount of their contribution towards the subsidy. The following table shows the amount of the subsidy, with exchange, payable by each of the states during 1903, on the basis of the population at the end of the preceding year. In addition to the subsidy, there are other charges in connection with the service, such as transit rates in France and Italy and in Australia. After adding these, and deducting the postages collected in the states, and the proportion of sea transit rates payable by other countries using the service, the net cost charged to New South Wales in 1903 was £3,491, and to Tasmania £3,174, while South Australia obtained a profit of £2,119, Western Australia of £12,121, and Victoria of £456. No information is available regarding the position of the State of Queensland. New Zealand, although not a contracting party, yet avails itself of the Federal Service for the carriage of mail matter, and its net loss during the year amounted to £2,965 :—

The mail service has been performed with great regularity and expedition. The average time occupied by the outward and homeward services in 1903 was as follows:

On several occasions the mails from London have been delivered in Sydney in 32 days.

The failure on the part of the Commonwealth Government to obtain suitable offers for the carriage of Australian mails to England will necessitate the introduction of the poundage system on the termination of the present contract.

In addition to the Federal Ocean Mail Service via Suez, New South Wales and New Zealand until November, 1890, subsidised the Union

Steamship Company, in conjunction with the Pacific Steamship Company, for a four-weekly service, via San Francisco, to the amount of £37,000, of which New South Wales paid £25,750, and New Zealand £11,250. Under the new contract which was entered into, the amount of the subsidy was largely reduced, the contribution being based on the weight of mail matter carried, and New South Wales made an annual payment of £4,000 to the New Zealand Government, subject to appropriation by Parliament. Various extensions of the contract have been made, and at present the New Zealand Government is working under an agreement with the J. D. Spreckels Company (the Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco) which expires on the 10th November, 1906. During the year 1903 the net cost of the service to New Zealand was £14,796. New South Wales incurred an expense of £602 during 1903 in connection with this service, and the share of Victoria amounted to £291. The average time occupied in carrying the mails by the San Francisco route during the same year was as follows:

During 1893 a calendar monthly service between Sydney and Vancouver was established by the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Line, the state of New South Wales granting an annual subsidy of £10,000, and the Canadian Dominion one of £25,000. This action was taken more in the interests of trade between the great British colonies in Australasia and America than in those of the postal service. The Government of New Zealand guaranteed a minimum payment of £7,500 annually to this line in consideration of Wellington being made a port of call. But on the expiry of the contract on the 31st March, 1899, a fresh agreement, to hold for four years, was made by the Shipping Company with the Governments of New South Wales and Queensland, by which Brisbane was substituted for Wellington as a port of call, on condition that Queensland paid a subsidy of £7,500. New Zealand, therefore, does not now subscribe to the Vancouver service, though negotiations are pending for the service to embrace that colony. The contract having expired on the 31st April, 1903 a fresh one was entered into for a period of two years. The subsidy paid is £60,000, and is allotted as follows:-Canada, £34,091; New South Wales, £13,636; Queensland, £10,227; and Fiji, £2,046. Sydney is the initial and terminal port, but a call is made at Brisbane and Fiji, and it is provided that the round trip shall not exceed twenty-one days. During 1903 the net cost of the Vancouver service to New South Wales was £8,757; to Victoria £65; and to Queensland £8,179. The average time occupied by the mails in transit from Sydney to London was 383 days.

The Queensland line of steamers, sailing from Brisbane, via Torres Straits, carries mails for the Queensland Government, payment being