E.—No. 2

42

EUETHEE PAPEES RELATIVE TO

No. 48. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. John Hall to A. Villemsens, Esq. General Post Office, Sir,— Wellington, 13th August, 1868. With reference to my letter of the Bth instant, and subsequent personal communications on the subject of the conditions on which correspondence to and from Tahiti can be conveyed by the Panama, New Zealand, and Australian Royal Mail steamers, I have the honor to state that the Government of New Zealand is prepared to modify as follows the rates of postage to be charged on the correspondence in question; — Amount of Postage to be paid to New Zealand on Correspondence via Panama for Tahiti from France and all other places, irrespective of charges for transmission to London or Panama, as the case may be, viz.; — s. d. On Letters not exceeding £ oz. ... ... ... ... 06 each. On Letters not exceeding 1 oz. ... ... ... ... 1 0 „ On Letters not exceeding 2 oz. ... ... ... ... 2 0 „ And so on in proportion at the rate of Is. per ounce, or fractional part of an ounce. On Newspapers ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 2,, On Book and Pattern Packets not exceeding 4 oz. ... ... 0 4 ~ On Book and Pattern Packets not exceeding 8 oz. ... ... 0 8 „ On Book and Pattern Packets not exceeding 1 lb. ... ... 14 „ And so on in proportion at the rate of Bd. per % lb., or fractional part of % lb. On Registered Letters, &c, 6d. each in addition to the postage, as registration fee.

AMOUNT of POSTAGE to be paid to New Zealand on Correspondence from Tahiti for the under mentioned Countries via Panama, viz.:—

* And 4d. per 1 oz. additional. f And Foreign Book Hate at 2d. per oz. Correspondence for other foreign countries may be forwarded via Panama, the postages to which are enumerated in the accompanying table. This department accounts to London at the rate of Id. per \ oz. on letters, and Id. per 4 oz. for book packets for the United Kingdom, which arc included in the above rates for England. With this exception this arrangement places correspondence from Tahiti on precisely the same footing as correspondence from New Zealand. The above rates for correspondence from Tahiti includes foreign postage to destination. I have, &c, Mons. Villemsens, le Lieutenant do Vaisseau, John Hall, Commandant de Navire de I.M. " La Dorade." Postmaster-General.

No. 49. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. John Hall to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, New South Wales. General Post Office,, Sir,— Wellington, 24th September, 1868. Referring to your letter of 20th June last, addressed to Lieutenant Villemsens of the French Imperial Navy, of which letter a copy has been placed in my hands by that officer, I have the honor to inform you that, subject to the approval of the Government of New South Wales, the Government of New Zealand has agreed to the arrangements described in the enclosed memorandum for the transmission, by the Panama mail steamers, of correspondence to and from the French settlements at Tahiti. The charge to be made for the transport of this correspondence by these steamers may, perhaps, appear small, but, in the consideration of this question, the New Zealand Government has borne in mind that tho French authorities at Tahiti will be put to considerable expense in the conveyance of their mails to New Zealand or Opara, as the case may be; and also, that tjiey have open to them the use of the San Francisco route, on which the rate of postage is very moderate. I have, moreover, felt sure you would agree in the desirability of encouraging, by a liberal postal arrangement, the establishment of frequent and regular communication between Tahiti and the Australasian Colonies. Monsieur Villemsens informs me that the homeward mail will, as a rule, be forwarded from Tahiti to Auckland by a special vessel employed for that purpose, although, in cases of emergency, such mail may be left at Opara. The mail from Europe will be left at Opara by tho Panama steamers, when calling there, and when not, will be brought on to Now Zealand.

COUNTBIES. Route. Letter; not exceeding, to 5* loolc Pa excet iclcets not iding, I oz. a- OZ. |- oz. 1 OZ. If oz. 2 oz. 4 oz. 8 oz. lib. Australia ... }hina England France india S Tew Zealand Via New Zealand Via London Via Panama Via Panama Via Panama Direct s d. 0 6 1 6 0 6 0 10 1 3 0 6 8. d. 0 6 1 6 0 6 1 2 1 3 0 6 s. d. 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 6 1 0 s. d. 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 4 2 6 1 0 s. d. 2 0 5 0 2 0 3 8 4 3 2 0 s. d. 0 6 1 0 0 6 1 0* 1 0 0 6 s. d. 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1+ 0 3 0 1 s. d. 0 4 0 8 0 4 0 6 0 8 0 4 s. d. 0 4 0 8 0 4 0 8 0 8 0 4 8. d. 0 8 1 4 0 8 1 4 1 4 0 8 s. d. 1 4 2 8 1 4 2 8 2 8 1 4