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Enclosure 7 in No. 248. The Secbetaby, General Post Office, London, to the Agent-Geneeal. Sic, — General Post Office, London, 2nd December, 1898. In reply to your letter of the 29th ultimo, I am directed by the Postmaster-General to inform you that the new arrangement for sending vid Suez the correspondence for New Zealand posted up to the Friday evening following a despatch via San Francisco was brought into force on Friday last, the 25th November. I am, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand. H. Buxton Fobman.

Enclosure 8 in No. 248. The Seceetaey to. the Agent-Geneeal to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, London. Sib, — 13, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., 7th December, 1898. I am directed by the Agent-General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, stating that the new arrangement by which correspondence for New Zealand posted up to Friday evening following a despatch vid San Francisco will be sent vid Suez was brought into force on Friday, the 25th ultimo. I am further directed by the Agent-General to point out that your reply to the letter of the 14th ultimo from this office, which conveyed to him the decision of the Imperial Post Office to make this alteration, did not reach him until the 26th, the day after that at which he is now informed it was carried into effect; and in reference thereto I am to add that the Agent-General cannot help feeling that his Government should certainly have been advised of the alteration as finally decided on before, rather than after, the date at which it was first put in force. I am, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, London. Waltee Kennaway.

No. 249. The Managee, New Zealand Shipping Company, Wellington, to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Wellington. New Zealand Shipping Company (Limited), Wellington, Sib,— 19th December, 1898. In the Otago Daily Times of the 28th July last the following statement in relation to the Vancouver mail-service is made :— "The Resident Agent for New Zealand in San Francisco, Mr. H. Stephenson Smith, is not favourably impressed with the management of the Canadian Pacific Railroad in connection with mail purposes. On a trip he made in May last he said they were seven hours late, which seems to be the usual thing, a deficiency in engine-power appearing to be the cause of delay." The Secretary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, writing from Montreal, under date 18th October, 1898, to Messrs. Burns, Philp, and Co. (Limited), Sydney, says,— " Annexed statement [not printed] gives the proper cause of delay referred to (on sth May last) —namely, a slide at one of the sheds in the mountains, which was unavoidable. With this exception, there was no delay between 12th April and 22nd September." For your information I beg to enclose you copy of the train statement referred to. Yours, &c, J. H. N. A. Buenes. W. Gray, Esq., Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

No. 250. The Geneeal Manages for the" Colonies, New Zealand Shipping Company, Christchurch, t the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Wellington. New Zealand Shipping Company (Limited), Christchurch, Sic,— 22nd December, 1898. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 19th instant [not printed] re delay of the s.s. " Aorangi" at Victoria, and we have written the liquidator in London requesting him to urge the agents for the line in Victoria to make such arrangements as will prevent a similar delay in future. I have, &c, A. W. Bennett, pro General Manager. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

No. 251. The Hon. the Peemiee to the Agent-Geneeal. Sic, — Premier's Office, Wellington, 22nd December, 1898. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your cablegram of the 3rd instant (1) Advising that the Imperial Post Office, notwithstanding the protest already made by you, had commenced forwarding the correspondence for New Zealand hitherto kept for the Vancouver route, by the Federal mail, leaving London the week after the despatch of the mail via San Francisco ; and (2) recommending that the homeward mail via Vancouver should he despatched so as to