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1943. NEW ZEALAND.

POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR 1942-43.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of Ilis Excellency.

To His Excellency Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Louis Norton Newall, G.C.8., 0.M., G.C.M.G., C.8.E., A.M. May it please Your Excellency,--I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Post and Telegraph Department for the year ended on the 31st March, 1943. I have the honour to be, Your Excellency's most obedient servant, P. C. WEBB. General Post Office, Wellington C. 1. 10th May, 1943.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1943. RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS. The receipts and payments of the Department for the financial year 1942-43 are shown in the following account Receipts. Payments. £ £ £ £ Balance forward .. .. .. .. 38,672 Salaries .. .. .. 1,754,120 Postages .. .. .. .. 1,402,214 Conveyance of ocean and air mails ' .. 183,200 Money-order and postal-note commission 57,210 Conveyance of inland mails .. .. 174,328 Private box and bag rents and rural- Conveyance of mails by rail .. .. 126,535 delivery fees .. .. .. 63,189 Maintenance of telegraph and telephone Miscellaneous receipts .. .. 944,072 lines .. .. .. .. 388,520 Paid telegrams .. .. .. 469,486 Renewals and replacements .. ~ 50,000 Paid tolls .. .. .. .. 1,150,726 Motor services and workshops .. .. 167,185 Telephone-exchange receipts .. .. 1,776,724 Maintenance of Post and Telegraph 5,863,621 buildings .. .. .. .. 74,518 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 1,471,956 Interest on capital liability .. .. 692,637 Sick Benefit Fund .. .. .. 6,890 5,089,889 Renewal and replacement of Assets Fund (investment) 773,000 Balance carried down .. .. .. ~ 39 404 £5,902,293 £5,902,293 £ Balance brought down .. .. .. .. 39,404 The total cash value of the transactions of the Department, including the above, amounted to approximately £470,000,000.

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VISIT OF DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO AUSTRALIA. Mr. J. G. Young, Director-General of the Department, accompanied by Mr. T. Paton, Divisional Director, returned from Australia on the 24th December after having attended the Commonwealth Telegraph Conference. The conference, which was sponsored by the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Union of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and New Zealand, was held for the purpose of dealing with the many communication problems which had arisen as a result of the war. Personal. Mr. W. R. Newall, Deputy Director-General, retired on superannuation on the 31st October on completion of over forty years' service. He was succeeded by Mr. S. A. Ogilvie, Second Deputy DirectorGeneral, who was in turn succeeded by Mr. J. Madden, Divisional Director, General Post Office. Comparative Return of Persons employed in Department. Ist April, Ist April, 1942. 1943. Permanent Staff — Administrative .. .. ■ ■ • • • ■ 17 17 First Division .. .. .. ■ • ■ ■ 4,766 4,683 Second Division .. .. .. •• 6,325 6,593 Junior Assistants .. .. ■ • ■ ■ 752 727 11,860 12,020 Temporary and Casual Staff .. .. .. .. 3, 508 5,576 *15,368 -j-17,596 Non-permanent StaffCountry Postmasters and Telephonists, including Railway officers .. .. .. ■ • • • 1,624 1,622 16,992 19,218 * Includes 3,929 serving with armed forces. t Includes 5,530 serving with armed forces. Officers on War Service. No fewer than 5,530 employees of the Department—s,2B7 permanent officers and 243 temporary employees —have been released for service with the armed forces. It has been necessary for the Department to request exemption of 1,584 employees from service with the armed forces. The majority of the men retained are employed on urgent telegraph and telephone construction work directly connected with the Dominion's war effort. Post Office Honours' List. It is with regret that the following casualties among departmental employees are placed on record : Killed in action, 42 ; died of wounds, 14 ; death officially presumed, 24 ; accidentally killed, 14 ; died from sickness, 5 ; died while prisoner of war, 5 ; deceased (unclassified) 2 ; missing, 48 ; wounded, 110; prisoners of war, 154, a total of 418. Fifteen officers have received decorations for meritorious service and 15 others have been specially mentioned in despatches. Staffing Position. The decision of Government to declare the Department, as from Ist July last, an " essential undertaking " under the National Service Emergency Regulations 1940 had the effect of stabilizing the staffing position to the extent that it enabled a measure of control to be exercised over the resignation of officers. The employment during the year of additional female labour enabled the Department to release further officers for service with the forces. Some four thousand women and girls are now functioning successfully in various departmental capacities. The Department's training scheme by which young officers are assisted to reach proficiency in their duties within a comparatively short period has continued to make a valuable contribution to the staffing problem. Tentative proposals for the rehabilitation of officers returning from service with the forces have been drawn up, and the Rehabilitation Board has expressed gratification with the progress made by the Post Office with its proposals for assisting the men who have had their studies and their practical training interrupted by war service. APPEAL BOARD. Mr. J. A. Gilmour, Stipendiary Magistrate, Wellington, was appointed Chairman of the Post and Telegraph Appeal Board on the 19th May, 1942, in succession to Mr. H. A. Young who had relinquished the position. . Appeals totalling 227 received from 139 officers were adjudicated upon by the Board during the year, with the following results ; Allowed, 8 ; conceded by Department, 1 ; withdrawn, 42 ; did not lie, 13 ; disallowed, 162. In one other case the Appeal Board recommended that the appellant's promotion take effect from the same date as that of the appointee. PROMOTION BOARD AND APPEAL BOARD: POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTION OF SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES. By Order in Council dated the 17th February, 1943, the elections of Service representatives to the Post and Telegraph Promotion Board and to the Post and Telegraph Appeal Board which were due to be held in February and June, 1943, respectively, have been postponed. The Order provides that the next election for an elective member of the Promotion Board shall be held on the third Wednesday in February, 1944, and that for elective members of the Appeal Board on the fourth Wednesday in June, 1944. The terms of office of the present Service representatives on both Boards are extended accordingly

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REGISTRATION OF MOTOR-VEHICLES AND ASSOCIATED WORK. At the. 31st March, 1943, licensed motor-vehicles in the Dominion numbered 297,851. New registrations during the year totalled 14,919. Motor registration fees collected amounted to £494,420. The premiums collected on behalf of the thirty-seven insurance companies authorized to underwrite business in terms of the Motor-vehicles Insurance (Third-party Risks) Act, 1928, totalled £320,798. Mileage-tax amounting to £31,873 was collected in respect of 695 vehicles. NATIONAL SAVINGS. Since the inception, of the National Savings Movement in October, 1940, up to the 31st March, 1943, the total investments from all sources amounted to £10,393,233. Of this sum, investments effected through the Post Office totalled £9,632,132, National Savings Bonds and deposits in National Savings Investment Accounts representing £4,758,365 and £4,873,767 respectively. Up to the 31st March, 1943, the total number of investment accounts opened with the Post Office— i.e., exclusive of accounts opened with the trustee savings-banks—was 294,474. Accounts opened with the trustee banks totalled 33,086. For the year ended 31st March, 1943, the Post Office receipts in respect of national savings amounted to £3,435,103. Of this amount, bond sales contributed £1,360,517, and deposits to the credit of investment accounts, £2,074,586. National Savings Gift Coupons to the value of £4,491 were sold during the year. Sales of National Savings Stamps amounted to £11,741. PATRIOTIC FUND : CONTRIBUTIONS BY POST OFFICE STAFFS. During the three years that the Post Office Patriotic Fund has been in existence the sum of £9,900 has been contributed to the National Fund and £4,900 to the Provincial Funds, a total of £14,800. STORES. In order to meet the exceptional demands of the armed forces for radio, telephone, and other communication services, it was necessary to order from abroad largo quantities of communication equipment. The value of orders placed within New Zealand during the year was £454,326, and the value of those placed abroad was £3,362,140, making a total of £3,816,466. In addition, purchases were arranged on behalf of other Government Departments to the amount of £161,026 for goods obtained in New Zealand and of £314,168 for goods supplied from overseas. BUILDINGS AND LAND. The following departmental buildings were completed during the year : Post-office buildings at Brighton, Clydevale, and Owaka, a residence at Johnsonville ; a residence and staff quarters at Musick Point Radio; staff quarters at Awarua Radio; an automatic-telephone-exchange building at St. Heliers; and a line-store-garage building at Helensville. The departmental portion of the new post-office building at Lower Hutt was officially opened by the Postmaster-General (the Hon. P. C. Webb) on the 3rd February, 1943. Interior work in connection with the upper floors yet remains to be completed. Additions were made to the post-office buildings at Clive and Dargaville, to the departmental building at Herd Street, Wellington, and to the automatic-telephone-exchange building at Ponsonby. Residences for the Postmasters at Dannevirke and Hastings were acquired during the year. Land was acquired at Brighton (post-office), Christchurch (store, garage, and workshops), Denmston (post-office), Gisborne (emergency radio-station), Invercargill (extension of storage site), Kaikohe (extension of post-office site), Kaitaia (residence), Makara (departmental purposes), New Plymouth (chief post-office), Stratford (Postmaster's residence), Te Aro (extension of post-office site), TeKuiti (residence), Timaru (store, garage, and workshops), Wairoa (extension of post-office site), and Westport (residence). In addition, a building and site for post-office purposes were acquired at Inangahua Junction. POSTAL SERVICES. INLAND MAIL-SERVICES. Contracts covering the performance of inland mail-services in the Wellington, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, and Wanganui postal districts expired on the 31st December, 1942, and these were relet for a further term of three years commencing on the Ist January, 1943. At the end of December, 1942, there were 34,977 rural boxholders, which represents an increase of 897 compared with the figures on the 31st March, 1942. AIR MAILS. Inland. The weight of letters carried by air within the Dominion during the twelve months ended the 31st March, 1943, was 92,625 lb. In addition, 13,825 parcels were conveyed by the inland air services. Tkans-Tasman Air Service. During the year a total of 43,8841b. of mail-matter was taken from New Zealand by the Trans-Tasman Service. Mail-matter conveyed to New Zealand totalled 25,197 lb. The average weight of mail carried on each trip was 480 lb.

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Airgraph Service. The airgraph service, which provides for the photographing of letters on a greatly reduced scale on films in the country of origin, for transmission of the films to destination by air, and for the printing of photographic enlargements in the country of destination for delivery to the addressees, was commenced in an outward direction from New Zealand to Canada and the United Kingdom on the 18th January, 1943, and to the Middle Bast on the 10th February. The service, which was introduced primarily as a wartime measure for speeding communications to and from members of the armed forces, provides air transit for communications which, on account of their weight in the usual form of letters, could not otherwise be conveyed by air under existing wartime conditions. Upwards of 1,500 communications, which in the form of letters would weigh approximately 30 lb., can be photographed on to a film which, when packed for air transmission, weighs only 6J oz. The film is developed before despatch, and the prints, made iij the country of destination for delivery to the addressees, measure about 5 in. by 4 in. At the outset the service from New Zealand was made available for messages addressed to members of the armed forces (including members of the Merchant Navy) in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, and also for messages from British Service personnel and members of the Merchant Navy in or passing through the Dominion addressed to their homes in Canada or the United Kingdom. The cost of any such airgraph message is sd. Up to the end of the financial year 7,781 airgraph letters were despatched to members of the forces in the United Kingdom, 2,584 to Canada, and 3,908 to the Middle East. On the 2nd April, 1943, the airgraph service was extended to permit of the acceptance of messages (including business communications) for civilians and business houses in the United Kingdom. The service in the inward direction commenced from the United Kingdom on the 2nd April, 1943, and from the Middle East on the 6th April, 1943. Prior to that date airgraph messages for New Zealand had been accepted by the Canadian Post Office from members of the armed forces in Canada and included in films for Australia, the prints for delivery to the addressees being prepared in Australia and flown to New Zealand by the Trans-Tasman Air Service. A similar arrangement was made by the British Post Office in respect of special airgraph messages which members of the New Zealand armed forces in the United Kingdom and the Middle East were permitted to send for the 1942-43 Christmas and New Year season, when 3,892 Christmas airgraph messages were received from the United Kingdom and 18,667 from the Middle East. The photographic work in New Zealand is carried out by Kodak (New Zealand), Ltd. PRISONER-OF-WAR CORRESPONDENCE. Outward. —Mails for prisoners of war in enemy and enemy-occupied countries continue to be despatched at every opportunity. Surface mails and air mails for prisoners in Germany and Italy are routed via New York and Lisbon, the air mails being transmitted by air across the Atlantic. Air transmission from Portugal into the enemy countries is given to both surface and air mails. Surface mails for prisoners in Japanese hands are routed via the Persian Gulf or via Vladivostock, whichever route offers the better despatch. Air-mail service for prisoners in Japanese hands is not available. Having regard to the circuitous routes by which prisoner-of-war mails are forwarded, to the delays to which shipping and other transport services are frequently subjected on account of war operations, and to the delay to correspondence as a result of enemy censorship, some appreciable time necessarily elapses between the despatch of the mails from New Zealand and delivery to the addressees. Inward. —Inward correspondence from prisoners of war comes to hand with a fair degree of regularity, although some letters have taken up to eight months in transmission. Generally, of course, the factors responsible for delay to mails for prisoners apply equally to correspondence from them. Most of the correspondence from Germany and Italy is routed by the enemy authorities via Lisbon and New York, although some is received via the Middle East and India. POSTAGE-STAMPS. Health Stamps. Health stamps of two denominations —l|d. and 3d. —were placed on sale on the Ist October, 1942, and withdrawn on the 27th February, 1943. Stamps to the value of £16,281 were sold, and onethird of that amount, representing the health value, together with donations amounting to £4,787 collected by the Post Office, was paid to the Federation of Health Camps. MONEY-ORDERS, POSTAL NOTES, AND BRITISH POSTAL ORDERS. Money-orders issued, postal notes sold, and British postal orders sold and paid during the year were as follows : — Number. Value. £ Money-orders .. .. .. .. .. 817,398 4,960,561 Postal notes .. .. .. .. .. 2,242,034 933,633 British postal orders sold .. .. .. 21,706 6,579 British postal orders paid .. .. .. 8,767 4,651 SAVINGS-BANK. Deposits lodged in the Post Office Savings-bank during the year amounted to £38,097,070 and the withdrawals to £26,889,339, an excess of deposits over withdrawals of £11,207,731. The amount at the credit of depositors at the end of the year was £84,4-69,933, the interest accruing to depositors being £1,816,820. WORK PERFORMED FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS. The total sum handled by the Post Office during the year on behalf of other Departments was approximately £150,000,000, a increase of £48,000,000 on the previous year's figures. The amount collected by the Department under the Social Security Act amounted to £18,409,967. MILITARY ALLOTMENT WARRANTS. The number of military allotment and dependants' allowance warrants paid by the Department during the year was 2,750,698.

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TELEGRAPH SERVICES. TELEGRAPH TRAFFIC. The number of telegrams handled during the year was 6,658,896 of a total value ot £469,486. This represents an increase on the previous year's figures of 1,333,839 (25'05 per cent.) and £92,982 (24'69 per cent.), respectively. EXTENSION OF CONCESSION-RATE SERVICE FOR OVERSEAS TELEGRAMS TO AND FROM MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES. The concession-rate service for overseas telegrams to and from members of the armed forces was extended during the year to include the United States of America and New Caledonia. TELEPHONE-EXCHANGE SERVICES. TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT. During the year the number of telephone subscribers increased from 176,171 to 177,030. The restrictions imposed in December, 1941, on the provision of new telephone-exchange connections are mainly responsible for the small increase in the number of subscribers. Practically all the new connections made during the year were required for purposes associated either directly or indirectly with the war effort. The number of toll calls handled during the year was 17,618,832, compared with 16,886,371 for the previous year, an increase of 4'34 per cent. On account of staffing difficulties, the quarter-rate charges for toll calls effected between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. were suspended on the 2nd February, 1942. For the same reason full-rate charges were imposed from the 4th October, 1942, in respect of toll calls effected between 6 a.m. and midnight on Sundays and holidays. NEW AUTOMATIC-TELEPHONE-EXCHANGE EQUIPMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS TO MANUALLY-OPERATED EXCHANGES. The comprehensive programme of extension of the automatic-switching system in the Auckland metropolitan area is now nearing completion, and new automatic exchanges at Mount Albert and Birkenhead were cut into service during the year. It is expected that the establishment of new exchanges at Avondale and St. Heliers and the installation of additional automatic-switching equipment at the Takapuna and Remuera exchanges will be completed in the near future. During the year improved manual telephone-exchange-switching facilities were provided at Dargaville, Feilding, and Pukekohe by the installation of modern lamp-signalling branching multipletype switchboards. PUBLIC CALL OFFICES. The number of public call offices (coin-in-the-slot telephones) in the Dominion as at the 31st March was 1,368, compared with 1,293 at the corresponding date last year. The total collections from the machines for the year was £87,452, an increase of 11 per cent, over the previous year's returns. RADIO SERVICES TRANSFER IN CONTROL OF CERTAIN AERADIO STATIONS. On the Ist January, 1943, the Air Department (Royal New Zealand Air Force) assumed control of the aeradio stations at New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Blenheim, Nelson , Harewood (Christchurch), and Taieri (Dunedin), which were previously administered by the Post and Telegraph Department. The operating personnel at the stations were attested and are now members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The technical maintenance of the stations is still the responsibility of the Post and Telegraph Department. OVERSEAS RADIO-TELEGRAPH CIRCUITS. A direct radio-telegraph service between New Zealand and New Caledonia was established on the 17th December, 1942. RADIO BROADCASTING. RECEIVING LICENSES. The total number of radio receiving licenses current at the 31st March, 1943, was 368,165. APPENDIX.

Table No. 1. Receipts and Payments for the Years 1941-42 and 1942-43.

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Other Disbursements. Balance of ——— T3 n}n „ nn Payments for Receipts over Depreciation Fund r < Ari + r jv m f? nTia Payment to forward. Eecei P ta - to Post and Interest on Consolidated Balance, expenses. expenses Telegraph Capital. J!un<1 - 1 ayments. tare on Renewals, officers'Sick- liability. of Assets! benefit Fund. 1943-1942 .. 38,758 5,388,013 3,827,662 1,560,351 650,100 7,178 667,196 235,963 38,672 1942-1943 .. 38,672 5,863,621 4,340,362 1,523,259 823,000 6,890 692,637 — 39,404

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Table No. 3. Paid Telegrams forwarded and the Revenue derived therefrom, the Number and Classification of Telephone - stations and the Revenue derived therefrom, the Number of Forwarded Toll Calls and the Revenue derived therefrom, and the Number of Radio-receiving Licenses.

Table No. 2. POST OFFICE SAVINGS-BANK.— GENERAL STATEMENT. Business of the Post Office Savings-bank in New Zealand for the Years ended 31st March, 1942 and 1943.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (5?8 copies), £11 10s.

By Authority: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington. —1943.

Price 6d.]

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Average Number of Average , Number Number JNn ™ cer Total Amount Amount ofthePost N D^,osf t ? f Total Amount 0 ' Total Amount of Amoun ' of Excess of Accounts Accounts Accou ? ts ° S the Credit at. S ..sass, « H • SH T™ ™" *as «s SE °=" w "- 1 - =i; L «»»««-'- j-' «;.'-Mr J^SSSL. of the Year. Year - the Year. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d.j £ s. d. £ s. d. 1942 .. .. 927 2,124,028 32,044,733 18 2 15 1 91.411,14225,376,744 9 5 17 19 86,667,989 8 9 1,820,604 6 8136,495 89,5041,039,783 71,445,381 12 5 68 15 0 1943 .. .. 922 2,588,587 38,097,070 0 9 14 14 41,416,648 26,889,338 19 6 18 19 7 11,207,731 1 31,816,820 5 11 124,022 76,809 1,086,996 84,469,932 19 7 77 14 2 I !

™ , ! m 11 o • Radio-receiving Paid Telegraph Traffic. Telephone Service. Toll Service. Licenses. Ordinary. Press. Service Phones and Year ended 31st March, Subscribers Extension EeTCmle of Number of Total Number. Percentage Stations JuSs from Phones „ Can Toll Telephone- P^j. 000 of Value. Number. Hou ™ holda . Number. Value. Number. Value. ™ W (o) and < 6) " wXSl 0flice3 - DS ' Cal18 - equipped. Telephoneoffices. £ £ £ £ 1942 .. .. 5,015,445 319,898 309,612 56,606 173,302 52,187 1,761,918 6,669 1,293 1,989 235,440 144-31 16,886,371 99o,373 371,257 94-9 1943 .. .. 6,373,679 415,411 285,217 54,075 174,088 54,151 1,776,724 6,842 1,368 1,992 238,441 145-69 17,618,832 1,150,726 368,165 92-3