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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 1 (May 1, 1933)

New Zealand in the Van

New Zealand in the Van.

Although Great Britain was the first country in the world to establish internal penny postage, New Zealand was the first to adopt universal penny postage, as far as possible. This system was inaugurated in 1901 under the Postmaster-Generalship page 6 of Sir Joseph Ward, and it quickly proved itself a success from all view points. Problems of the Great War and the subsequent minor peace caused an increase in the rate for comparatively short periods, but it is back again at the popular penny, where the Department hopes that it will stay, for penny postage has become a keenly cherished departmental tradition.

New Zealanders are known as “great letter-writers”—at least in the sense of postal figures. During the year ended 31st December, 1931, the number of letters posted averaged 90 ½ per unit of the population—a figure surpassed in previous years, for the slump has caused a “cut” in correspondence. Here are the details of the mail for 1931:—

Posted in Dominion. Delivered in Dominion.
Letters & letter-cards 126,587,27 137,046,678
Post-cards 3,457,157 4,152,807
Books, etc. 75,850,013 75,519,555
Newspapers 17,534,022 21,920,949
Parcels 1,597,566 1,817,988

What a wide range of careful and faithful service lies behind those figures! Think of the numerous collections from those red pillar-boxes dotted over the length and breadth of New Zealand, the concentrations, the sortings, the deliveries from door to door!