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(No. 8.) The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Managing Directoe, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin. Post and Telegraph Department, General Post Office, Sir,— Wellington, 24th January, 1896. I have the honour to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, covering one received from Messrs. Spreckels and Brothers Company regarding the proposed alteration in the sailing-day of the mail-steamers from San Francisco to Auckland. I have, oVc, The Managing Director, Union Steam Ship Company W. Geay, Secretary, of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin. (No. 9.) The Hon. the Premier to the Agent-General. Str, — Premier's Office, Wellington, sth February, 1896. I have the honour co enclose herewith copy of a letter, of the 9th ultimo, from the Resident Agent for New Zealand in San Francisco, in reference to the despatch of the colonial mails from San Francisco. You will observe that the selection by the British Post Office of the " Aurania " and the " Umbria" for the transport of the New Zealand mails to New York is likely not only to delay the mails, but also to neutralise the advantages which are secured by the acceleration of the train running between New York and San Francisco, representing a gain of twelve hours in the overland transit. I shall therefore be glad if you will represent to the London Post Office the propriety of arranging for the despatch of the colonial mails to New York by the swiftest vessels, such as the " Campania " and the " Lucania." I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. R. J. Seddon. (No. 10.) The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. Post and Telegraph Department, General Post Office, Sir,— Wellington, sth February, 1896. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th ultimo, notifying that you had come to an arrangement with Messrs. Spreckels and Brothers for the despatch of the mail-steamer from San Francisco at midnight of Wednesday on any occasion upon which the final instalment of mails should reach San Francisco on that day, and also that you had later ascertained that that arrangement was likely to prove ineffective owing to the action of the London Post Office in despatching the mails for the colonies by slow steamers. It is a matter for regret that the slower steamers should have been selected for the transport of the mails to New York during the winter, and the Agent-General has been communicated with and asked to suitably represent to the London Post Office the propriety of always despatching mails by the fastest vessels in the week in which the colonial mails are forwarded to New York. H. Stephenson Smith, Esq., I have, &c, Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. W. Geay, Secretary. (No. 11.) The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. Post and Telegraph Department, General Post Office, Sir,— Wellington, 6th February, 1896. Adverting to the letter of the 30th November last from the Superintendent, Foreign Mails, Washington, to you, in which it was stated that mails available for despatch at New York at 1 p.m. are required to be forwarded by the fast express train which commenced running on the 25th idem, I have the honour to inform you that the Mail Agent, by the last trip of the " Alameda," reports that the vessel left one day late, but that the delay would have been lessened had the mails been forwarded from New York by the fast express instead of the ordinary train. This information appears to have been obtained from the San Francisco Post Office, but the Mail Agent is not clear that the mails arrived in time for the fast express. No doubt you will be careful to inform me in due course of any occasion on which the connection has failed at New York from avoidable causes. I have, &c, H. Stephenson Smith, Esq., W. Gray, Secretary. Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. (No. 12.) The Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Sir, — San Francisco, sth February, 1896. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 20th of December, 1895, principally having reference to the question of changing the day or hour of the departure of steamers from this port should the alteration of the time of running the overland trains justify such change. My communication upon this subject by the last mail will have