F.—l

In 1886 the service yielded a net profit of £2,496 13s. 2d. 221,919 letters, 241,488 books, and 523,523 newspapers were received from, and 314,657 letters, 68,705 books, and 389,010 newspapers despatched to, the United Kingdom, &c, by the San Francisco Service. Direct Steam Service, New Zealand Shipping Company. De. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments on weight of correspondence... ... 13,566 8 11 Bonus, &c. ... ... ... ... ... 8,443 6 8 Light-dues remitted (charged on Estimates) ... 936 0 0 Interprovincial service ... ... ... 3,000 0 0 Ck. 25,945 15 7 Postages from London Post Office ... ... 13,174 9 3 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 6,063 13 9 19,238 3 0 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... £6,707 12 7 The estimated net cost of tho service for 1886 was £11,070 9s. Bd. 322,105 letters, 219,541 books, and 735,810 newspapers were received from the United Kingdom, &c, by the Direct service, and 147,960 letters, 19,946 books, and 111,202 newspapers despatched. Cohmbo-Brindisi, Victorian Packet Service De. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments to Victoria ... ... ... 1,400 18 3 Intercolonial service, &c. ... ... ... 138 19 9 Ck. 1,539 18 0 Postages from London Post Office ... ... 574 5 5 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 384 15 6 959 0 11 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... £580 17 1 The following shows the number of letters, books, and newspapers conveyed from and to the United Kingdom, &c, by the Victorian packets: Deceived, 20,324 letters, 4,651 books, and 34,999 newspapers; despatched, 971 letters, 39 books, and 75 newspapers. Suez-Brindisi, Neiv South Wales Packet Service. De. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments to New South Wales ... ... 485 4 3 Intercolonial service, &c. ... ... ... 70 7 0 555 11 3 Ck. Postages received from London ... ... 190 1 3 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 127 8 10 317 10 1 Net cost to the colony ... ... ... £238 1 2 14,134 letters, 3,624 books, and 20,140 newspapers were received from the United Kingdom, &c, by the Suez-Brindisi service, and 2,246 letters, 56 books, and 152 newspapers despatched. As the general question of the future of our Ocean Mail services will be considered during the present session of Parliament, the following statements have been prepared showing what would be the probable financial effect were it decided to abolish either the San Francisco or Direct service:— I. Direct Service, — Four Weekly. Statement showing the estimated cost of a four-weekly Mail service between the colony and the United Kingdom by the Direct contract steamers, based on the terms of the existing Direct service contract; on the correspondence conveyed by both Direct and San Francisco services in 1887, and on the assumption that the San Francisco service had been abolished. Db. £ s. d. £ s. d. Payments on correspondence by weight: From United Kingdom, &c... ... ... 18,020 111 To United Kingdom, &c. ... ... ... 13,426 17 5 Bonus ... ... ... ... ... 7,000 0 0 Light-dues ... ... ... ... ... 936 0 0 Interprovincial service ... ... ... 4,000 0 0 43,382 19 4 Cr. Postages from London ... ... ... 23,060 5 0 Postages collected in the colony ... ... 22,908 4 10 45,968 9 10 Net profit to the colony ... ... ... £2,585 10 6

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