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at present is the payment required to a Post Office official. I wrote you on this subject on the 3rd May, 1887. Possibly an application to the Postmaster-General, at Washington, would result in the services of an official being given free of charge for occasional night service. It will certainly be occasionally necessary. I have, &c, Chaeles E. Buckland, W. Gray, Esq., Secretary, Post and Telegraph Department, Acting Eesident Agent. Wellington, New Zealand.

No. 41. Mr. Geat to Mr. Buckland. Sic,— General Post Office, Wellington, 30th November, 1887. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 9th instant, and to send you a copy thereof, together with a copy of the reply cabled you on the 17th, in connection with an acceleration in the railway mail-time between New York and San Francisco. Your message is not quite clear as to whether the five-days' service is a continuous one, on every day in the week, or whether there are only given fixed days both from San Francisco and New York. But, so far as could be determined, it appeared that a Thursday morning despatch from San Francisco to the colonies, commencing with the December steamer, would probably meet the altered condition of affairs in the meantime. It is considered undesirable to make any change at this end, at least it has been decided to await advices by the mail. If any further alteration be determined upon a cable-message will be sent you. The Union Steamship Company was duly informed of the changes, and the company telegraphed the Messrs. Spreckels about despatching the steamers on Thursday morning. If you do not receive a cable-message varying what has already been decided upon you will please arrange to despatch the steamers by 10 a.m. on Thursday, supposing it is impracticable to send them away on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning was fixed on in case there might be come hitch in getting the steamers away on Wednesday ; but if it be at all practicable to despatch the steamers on Wednesday night you will be good enough to see that this is carried out. I have, &c, W. Geat, Secretary. C. E. Buckland, Esq., Acting Eesident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, California.

No. 42. Mr. Buckland to the Secbetaey, General Post Office, Wellington. Sic, — San Francisco, 16th November, 1887. I have the honour to enclose copy of letter, dated the 26th October, 1887, received from the Hon. the Postmaster-General of the United States, in which he expresses his willingness to increase the payments made by the American Government in connection with the colonial mailservice to $30,000 per annum. He also mentions certain conditions that he would desire to have embodied in the contract. I have &c, Chaeles E. Buckland, W. Gray, Esq., Secretary, Post and Telegraph Department, Acting Eesident Agent. Wellington, New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 42. Mr. Buckland to the Hon. the Postmastek-Genebal, Washington. Sib, — San Francisco, 26th September, 1887. I take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of the Australian mail-service. As you are already aware, the present service will expire in October of next year. The New Zealand Parliament, however, will meet next month, and during its session the question of the continuance of the service will be decided. Eecently a great deal of opposition has been developed in New Zealand to the maintenance of the San Francisco service, except in the northern part of the colony. It is claimed that instead of subsidising a foreign line of steamers further assistance should be given to the local steamship line, which runs direct from New Zealand to London. This feeling is especially strong in the southern part of the colony. It is also held that as the United States derives the greatest benefit from the trade established with the colon)', and as the steamers employed are American-built and Americanowned, the United States Government should contribute more liberally towards the San Francisco mail-service. I also learn from the San Francisco Postmaster that the bulk of the mail carried by this line is American mail-matter, in the proportion of five sacks of American mail-matter to every four sacks of British mail-matter. The United States mail-bags are also each about 51b. heavier than the British. These two facts give a large preponderance, both in quantity and weight, in favour of the United States, as the total quantity carried by the steamers during the year is about 12,000 sacks of mails, weighing 610,0001b. The proportions, approximately, are as follows :—