L—lob.

12

ing the mails always arrived at Dunedin on Wednesday night and were sent on immediately by special train. To enable the Dunedin public to reply by the Vancouver service (present day of arrival at and departure from Vancouver being maintained) a 16-knot service between Wellington and Vancouver would be required. This would give Dunedin about one day, Christchurch two days, Wellington three days, and Auckland one day for replies. Invercargill would have about six hours for replies,, as in the case of the San Francisco service. I have, &c, The Chairman, Extension of Commerce Committee, W. Gray, Secretary. Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

Return showing the Number of Letters and other Articles sent and received in the Mails via San Francisco and viâ Vancouver respectively for 1898-99 Contract Period (Twelve Months).

* No figures available for United States, Canada, &c. Note.—The figures are estimated—based on the correspondence of seven mails each way. W. Gray.

San Francisco and Vancouver Mail-services. The mail vid San Francisco or Vancouver is due in London fortnightly on the Wednesday, and the mails leave London for New Zealand three days afterwards. The present arrangement is for the San Francisco mails to arrive three days before the departure of the Vancouver mails, the Vancouver mails arriving three days before the departure of the San Francisco mails. The interval for replies in San Francisco and Vancouver is fourteen days, during which the steamers lie there. San Francisco : Auckland as Port of Call. Under a fifteen-knot service between San Francisco and Auckland the mails would be due in Auckland on Sunday, 11 p.m., instead of Tuesday, 8 p.m. ; at Wellington on Tuesday morning; Christchurch, Tuesday night or Wednesday morning; Dunedin, Wednesday; and Invercargill, next morning. The return-mail would leave Auckland on Monday, in place of the previous Saturday, as at present; Wellington, Saturday, instead of Friday morning; Christchurch, Friday, instead of Wednesday; Dunedin, Friday, in the place of Wednesday; and Invercargill, Thursday evening (by special); giving Invercargill about a day for replies, Dunedin a clear day, Christchurch two days,. Wellington four days, and Auckland about a week. Wellington as Port of Call. Under the present running the mail would be due here on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, with a corresponding gain to southern ports. The Auckland mails, however, would not be delivered until about Thursday, at midnight, instead of Tuesday, as now. The outward mail would leave Wellington on Friday at 5 p.m., instead of Friday morning, as at present; Christchurch and Dunedin on Thursday evening and morning, instead of Wednesday ; Invercargill on Wednesday night. The Auckland mails would have to leave on Thursday morning before the arrival of the inward mail, due about midnight. Only Wellington and Christchurch would be able to reply: Wellington would have about two days, and Christchurch a few hours. With a fifteen-knot service the inward mails would be due here on Monday, 7 p.m., in the place of Tuesday morning, vid Auckland. The mails would reach Christchurch and Dunedin on Tuesday, and Invercargill on Wednesday. The Auckland mail would not be delivered until about 1 a.m. Wednesday, instead of on Sunday at 11 p.m., as would be the case were Auckland first port of call. '.>i' The outward mail would leave Wellington on Sunday, 4 p.m.; Christchurch and Dunedin on Saturday morning and evening ; Invercargill, Friday evening ; and Auckland, Saturday morning. This would give Wellington between five and six days for replies, Christchurch between three and four days, Dunedin about three days, and Invercargill about two days. Auckland would also have about two days for replies. It would be possible to despatch the outward steamer either from Auckland or Wellington a day later than provided for, giving a day longer for replies. General Post Office, 31st October, 1898. W. Grat.

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given; printing (1,360 copies), £7 ss.

Authority: John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB9B.

Price 6d.]

* Number of Letters. Number of Books. Number of Newspapers. Fnited Kingdom, Europe, and J America \ Fnited Kingdom and Europe only* \ Despatched vid San Francisco „ Vancouver ... Eeceived vid San Francisco... „ Vancouver 562,296 303,996 £61,244 440,328 133,488 72,366 410,452 413,553 402,095 225,000 1,143,402 1,152,036