F.—6

14

until after 2 p.m. Owing to the hour of arrival of the south steamer, he is of opinion that in any case it will be impossible to have the mails ready before 2 p.m., seeing the amount of sorting that has to be done after that steamer's arrival. Under the circumstances, I shall be glad to know whether it can be arranged for the mail-steamer to leave at 2 p.m. in future. It is expected that there will be a late departure for San Francisco this week, owing to the operation of the quarantine regulations. I have, &c, The Managing Director, W. Gray, Secretary. Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin.

No. 58. The General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. (Telegram.) Dunedin, 21st March, 1901. Mr. Spreckels has advised that he has appointed Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane, of Auckland, his general agents for New Zealand, commencing with "Sierra" inwards next week. It has also been arranged that Union Company takes over agency for Canadian and Australian steamers as from 25th instant.

No. 59. The General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Sib,— Dunedin, 21st March, 1901. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your favour of the 19th instant, asking that the departure of the San Francisco mail-steamers may be made at 2 p.m. in future, and have to confirm my wire to the effect that after the 25th of this month we hand over the agency of the San Francisco steamers to Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane, of Auckland, and take up that of the Canadian and Australian line. This matter is therefore out of our hands, and we would suggest your communicating with Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane regarding it. I have, &c, D. A. Aiken, for General Manager. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

No. 60. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to Mr. J. D. Spreckels, s.s. " Ventura," Auckland. (Telegram.) Wellington, 23rd March, 1901. lam much disappointed that we shall not meet. I had hoped you would have had time to come to Wellington to discuss matters in connection with the service. You mentioned the time-table to Hon. Mr. Ward, who, however, did not quite understand the purport of your suggestion, remembering that you had definitely intimated that the time-table as framed by yourself was unalterable. The time-table most suitable to New Zealand is one providing for an interval of about a week or ten days between the arrival of the inward steamer and the departure of the outward one, to enable replies from all parts of the colony being sent by return mail. Such a suggestion, I believe, was made to you through Mr. Witheford. The question of a contract with New Zealand is one which will no doubt be dealt with directly between the Postmaster-General and yourself. In the meantime I should be obliged if you would empower your principal agents to receive moneys payable in respect of the outward services. Up to the present no payment has been made on your behalf, as the Union Company were not specifically empowered to receive moneys for you. You are, of course, aware that the Washington Post Office has applied for the London Post Office payments on its mails to New Zealand, and intends retaining them under the provisions of the Postal Union regulations. Hitherto such payments were received by this colony and paid over to the contractors.

No. 61. Copy of a Minute by the Secretary, General Post Office. With the commencement of Messrs. Spreckels's three-weekly service, the payments by the London Post Office on its mails to the colony [see No. 29] will be made to the Washington Post Office instead of to this office. The New South Wales contribution has also ceased, so that our payments will now cover our own outward mail-matter only. Any contributions received from non-contracting colonies, however, are to be paid over separately to Messrs. Spreckels. New South Wales makes a direct payment to Messrs. Spreckels.—W. Gray. 11/4/01.