B.—No. 3a.

No. 4. Copy of a Letter from Mr. F. Hill to the Hon. JonN Hall. Sib, — General Post Office, London, 25th June, 1867. Having submitted to the Postmaster-General your letter of the 16th April last, and its enclosures, I am desired to inform you that His Grace has anticipated the suggestion contained in your letter, that the postage collected in this country on behalf of tho Post Office of New Zealand, upon newspapers sent via Panama, may be reduced to one penny for each newspaper —having already sanctioned the collection of a reduced rate of twopence instead of fourpence upon such newspapers. I have, &c, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, &c, Wellington, New Zealand. F. Hill.

No. 5. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. John Hall to the Seceetaet, General Post Office, London. Sic,— General Post Office, Wellington, Ist July, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th April last, No. 342 S., specifying the rates which you propose should be mutually accounted for by the Imperial and Colonial Post Offices, on correspondence transmitted between the United Kingdom and New Zealand by way of Panama, and I beg to agree, on behalf of this Department, to the rates proposed, although I should have been glad if the use of fractional parts of a penny could have been avoided. With regard to the rate for newspapers, however, I would observe, that as the Colonial postage to be collected in Great Britain on such papers when sent via Panama is now reduced to one penny, I presume the rate to be accounted for by the Imperial Post Office will be one-third of the amount stated in your letter under reply, viz., sixpence one-sixteenth per pound. I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, London. John Hall.

No. 6. Copy of a Letter from Mr. P. Hill to the Hon. John Hall. Sic, — General Post Office, London, Ist July, 18G7. With reference to the last paragraph of my letter of the Ist ultimo, I have to inform you that, in accordance with a fresh estimate which has now been prepared by the Receiver and AccountantGeneral of this Department, the rate per pound at which this country should account for the postage in bulk upon newspapers sent via Panama to New Zealand and the Australian Colonies will be sixpence one-sixteenth instead of one shilling and sixpence three-sixteenths as heretofore. Although, as you are aware, the transit rate has been similarly reduced upon book packets and patterns, no reduction of postago has been made upon them, for the reason given in my letter of tho Ist ultimo; and they should accordingly continue lo be accounted for at the same rate as heretofore, namely, one shilling and sixpence three-sixteenths per pound to the credit of the Colonies. I request you will be good enough to inform mo whether you agree to the amended rate in regard to newspapers. A communication similar to this has been addressed to the Postmaster-General of New South Wales. I have, &c, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, &c, Wellington, New Zealand. P. Hill.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. No. 7. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. J. Dockee to the Hon. J. Hall. Sic,— New South Wales, General Post Office, Sydney, 18th April, 18C7. I have the honor to transmit for your information a copy of the Circular (dated 18th April) which has been addressed from this Department to the postal authorities at Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart Town, intimating to them the arrangement, lately agreed upon, of charging twenty shillings per pound on the gross weight of. all mails to or from those Colonies which do not contribute to the subsidy paid for the Panama Mail Service. 2. You will observe that the date proposed for the arrangement in question to take effect, is from the 31st May next. 3. As Wellington and Sydney will be responsible for the cost of the Isthmus transit, both on the inward and outward mails of the Colonies in question, the plan which it is proposed to adopt is to take the weight of these mails at the office through which they pass, and to calculate the same at elevenpence per pound, the amount so calculated to be accounted for as the Isthmus transit either by this Colony or New Zealand as the case may be. 4. The weight computed at twenty shillings per pound to be credited by the Colonies concerned either to New South Wales or New Zealand, as the case may be, and the amounts thus credited to bo placed in the accounts between your office and this, with the view to their being shared. 5. In conclusion I have to request that you will take the steps necessary to apprise the London Office of the position in which the various Colonies stand in regard to the mode of accounting for the Isthmus transit rate, aud of any other details connected with this arrangement you may deem it needful to communicate. I have, &c, J. Dockee, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Postmaster-General.

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