SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

17

E.—No. 2.

Enclosure in No. 3. N. B. Stone, P.M., to the Hon. Joseph Dockee. Sic, — Post Office, San Francisco, 13th September, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 871-2978, dated 28th July, 1871, covering copy of a letter from the Hon. H. H. Hall, United States Consul at Sydney, and notice contents. In reply, I beg leave to inform you, that the instructions sent me by the United States Post Office Department, respecting the forwarding of English mails for your colony at the time of the sailing of the " City of Melbourne " on her first voyage, were positive, to send all English mails for your Colony via New Zealand. In answer to a letter subsequently sent the department on this subject, lam further instructed that English mails for your colony can only be sent direct, by consent of the New Zealand Government. I have, &c, The Hon. Joseph Docker, N. B. Stone, Postmaster. Postmaster-General, Sydney, N.S.W.

No. 4. The Hon. W. Gisboene to the Hon. J. Eobeetson. Sir, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, sth December, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 23rd October, enclosing copy of a letter from the Postmaster at San Francisco, California, to the effect that, at the time of the sailing of the " City of Melbourne " " on her first voyage," he was instructed by his department to send all English mails for your colony via New Zealand; and that he has since been instructed by his department, that English mails for your colony can only be sent direct, by consent of the New Zealand Government. Complying with your request that your Government may, as early as possible, be favoured with an explanation whether the action of the Postal Department of the United States has been the result of any communication on the subject from this Government, I have the honor to state— (1.) That as to the specific complaint made in your letter of 26th September, that mails for New South Wales were not forwarded direct, an explanation has already been given, the letter containing it having probably crossed yours of 23rd October. (2.) That no action has been taken which can justify the instructions stated in the letter of the Postmaster at San Francisco to have been given to him. I enclose printed copy of a Convention entered into between the Government of the United States and that of this Colony. Tou will see that by clanse 6 of the Convention, the United States agree not to forward, without the consent of this Government, mails for any colony except New Zealand by mail steamers subsidized by this Colony. lam sure you cannot consider such an arrangement an unfair one; and I must add, that the Government of New Zealand have not attempted to influence the Government of the United States to refuse to New South Wales a like arrangement as regards mail steamers subsidized by that colonjr. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, New South Wales. W. Gisboene.

No. 5. The Hon. J. Bobeetson to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sib, — Sydney, 31st January, 1872. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of the 19th October and sth December last, in reply to my communication of the 23rd of the former month, on the subject of the tranmission of the English mails for this colony via New Zealand and not otherwise, unless by the consent of your Government; and, in reply, to transmit, for your information, a copy of a minute by the Postmaster-General of this colony on the subject, which has been adopted by the Cabinet. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary of New Zealand. John Eobeetson.

Enclosure in No. 5. Minute by the Hon. J. Docker. The complaint of this Government was, not that the Government of the United States had refused to forward mails addressed to this colony by mail steamers subsidized by the Colony of New Zealand, without previously obtaining the consent of the latter Government, but that it had refused to deliver mails addressed to this colony, to the authorized agents of a vessel acting as a mail steamer, unless the consent of the New Zealand Government had been obtained. The 6th clause of the Postal Convention referred to in this letter cannot apply to this case, because this clause merely authorizes the New Zealand Post Office to require the United States Post Office not to forward by such subsidized packets any mails addressed to any colony not agreeing with New Zealand to contribute to the maintenance of any such line: and, indeed, if it did apply, such notice not having been given, and Australian mails shipped on board such vessels, it would simply put it in the power of New Zealand to detain such mails. 5