Postal Service of the British Empire

The total volume of postal traffic for 1928 amounts to 309. 000,000 articles of all kinds, or 4o per head of the population. The Post Office shows a small margin of profit.

South Africa, alone among the Dominions, is responsible for the whole of her sea communication with Great Britain in both directions; she also maintains the only Sea Post Office which still operates between Great Britain and any part of the Empire.

New Zealand.

The New Zealand Post Office is a compara tively modern growth, as it was not till 1854 that the first Post master General was appointed. In 1901 she advanced the idea of Universal Penny Postage, which was actually submitted to, though not adopted by, the Postal Union Congress of Rome in 1906. New Zealand, however, adopted Penny Postage not only within the Empire but also with every Foreign country which would accept it, even on a unilateral basis; and when she re established the Imperial penny postage in 1923, the same measure was also extended to a number of foreign countries.

In 1905 she sanctioned the use of postal franking machines instead of postage stamps, and succeeded in 1920 in obtaining the general adoption of such machines by the Postal Union gen erally. In 1908 she established postal services by motor, and in 1909 introduced automatic stamp-selling machines.

The Postal business is heavy in relation to the number of the population. The number of articles of all kinds delivered in 1928 was over 244,000,000, or 181 per head.

India.

A postal service was first established in India by Clive in 1766; but it was mainly intended for official correspondence, and this principle was followed for many years during the gradual extension of British rule in India. It was not until 1837 that it

was considered to be sufficiently developed to warrant the estab lishment of a monopoly in favour of the official post.

The Indian Post Office is governed by legislation based mainly on the English model. The area to be served is immense, and the cost of transport relatively heavy ; moreover the policy of uniform rates irrespective of distance, adopted in England in 1840, was accepted in India as early as 1854, and the aim of the Government has been to fix the rates at as low a point as possible, the Post Office never having been expected to make any considerable profit. Moreover, although the population is very large, the letter writing element is not very considerable. Although the number of letters delivered annually is about 1,300,000,000, this represents an average of only 4 letters per head per annum. Post Office work has, however, in recent years shown a steady and consider able increase, the volume having doubled in a period of about 20 years. At the present time the inland letter postage is 1 anna ( id.), the postcard rate 2 anna, and the newspaper charge for a weight of 8 tolas (3+ oz.) is only anna. A considerable parcel post service is maintained at comparatively low rates, a parcel of 20 tolas (12 oz.) being conveyed for any distance for the low charge of 2 annas (2d.).

A Money Order Service with an annual turnover of nearly 90 crores of rupees (about L67,000,000) is maintained, and the value payable (Cash on Delivery) post, which has been established in India for over 5o years, is also highly developed, the annual value being over 27 crores of rupees (about L20,000,000).