E.—3

2

I rely with confidence on this subject receiving that consideration from the Government of Victoria which its importance appears to us to deserve; and trust that it may be found practicable to make arrangements to detain the steamers for twenty-four hours to await the arrival of the New Zealand mail on the rare occasions when accident may render such detention necessary. I have, &c, The Hon. the Chief Secretary, Melbourne. Daniel Pollen.

Enclosure in No. 3. Memobandum for the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet. The Postmaster-General has to request that the attention of the Chief Secretary of Victoria be directed to the circumstance of the Galle steamer having been permitted to take her departure from Hobson's Bay, last month, without the New Zealand mails. The " Alhambra " arrived at Port Phillip Heads only eight hours late, and found that the "Baroda" had sailed without waiting for the New Zealand mails. 2. It is true that, through the exertions of Messrs. McMeckan, Blackwood, and Co., the mails brought by the " Alhambra " were transhipped to the " Baroda," at Glenelg, and the mail thus saved ; but the Postmaster-General has to complain that no effort appears to have been made to detain the Galle steamer at Hobson's Bay for a few hours awaiting the arrival of the "Alhambra." This Government has entered into a contract for conveying the Suez English mails to and from Melbourne at a cost of £5,000 per annum, and has also agreed with the Victorian Government to contribute towards the main service between Melbourne and Galle to the extent of the amount represented by the gross postages on the total correspondence sent and received. 3. The Government have not adopted the course pursued in New South Wales of levying an additional postage on Suez correspondence. They have desired to have the Suez service fairly open to use. But the Postmaster-General is compelled to say, that unless the Victorian Government are inclined to show some consideration for the interests of New Zealand, the sooner the colony abandons the use of the Suez service the better. The Government of Victoria have not forwarded to New Zealand a copy of their contract, but it is to be presumed that it contains the ordinary clauses giving a power of detaining the steamers, and it seems to the Postmaster-General that the mail steamer should be detained at least twenty-four hours for the New Zealand mails. To do so would involve no inconvenience, except to the contractors, for there is an ample margin of time allowed to the contractors to make up twenty-fours' delay. Julius Vooel. General Post Office, Wellington, 14th May, 1874.

No. 4. The Hon. J. G. Eeancis to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet, New Zealand. Victoria, Sie, — Chief Secretary's Office, Melbourne, sth June, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th ultimo, No. 69, relative to the sailing of the Suez mail steamer, of April last, from Port Phillip without the mail from New Zealand. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, New Zealand. J. G. Peancis.

No. 5. * The Hon. J. G. Eeancis to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet, New Zealand. Victoria, Sib, — Chief Secretary's Office, Melbourne, 24th June, 1874. Referring to your letter of the 18th ultimo, No. 69, and to mine of the sth instant, I have the honor to transmit herewith a memorandum by my colleague, the Hon. the Postmaster-General, with reference to the sailing of the mail steamer via Suez from Hobson's Bay, in April last, without the mail from New Zealand. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, New Zealand. J. G. Feancis.

Enclosure in No. 5. Memobandum by the Hon. E. Langton for the Hon. the Chief Seceetaet. "With reference to the accompanying letter from the Colonial Secretary, New Zealand, dated 18th ultimo, enclosing copy of a memorandum from the Postmaster-General of that Colony, complaining that the mail steamer which left Melbourne on the 21st April, was not detained for the New Zealand mails for Point de Galle, which arrived in the " Alhambra " only eight hours after the sailing of the "Baroda," and stating that, in Mr. Vogel's opinion, the mail steamer should be detained at least twenty-four hours for the New Zealand mails, I have the honor to state that there is every desire on my part that the Point de Galle service should afford all possible accommodation to the authorities in New Zealand, consistent with a due regard to the interests of Victoria and of the other colonies