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F.—6

No 6. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 15th May, 1911. 1 have the honour to inform you that when the R.M.S. " Maitai " reached Wellington from San Francisco on the 27th ultimo a delay occurred in landing the mails, owing to their not being separated according to their destinations. The day before the " Maitai " reached Wellington a wireless message was sent to and received bj the commander, asking that the bags for Auckland, Taranaki R.P.0., and Wellington be kept separate from other bags, in order to admit of prompt delivery. The request was not, however, complied with, the explanation being that the bad weather prevailing at the time prevented the handling of the bags. In order to avoid a similar delay in future, I should be obliged if you would kindly give instructions to the commanders of the mail steamers to sort the bags according to the directions in which they are despatched, viz.: (1) Auckland; (2) Taranaki R.P.0.; (3) Wellington; (4) Dunedin, Christchurch, and Invercargill. The bags for the three last-named places will be separated by this Department's officers when they are being transferred to the steamer for Lyttelton. I have, &c, D. Robertson, Secretary. The General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin. [Wn.-S.F. 11/101.]

No. 7. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 15th May, 1911. I have the honour to inform you that the Union Steam Ship Companj' of New Zealand (Limited) has been requested by this Department to have the mail-bags sorted on board the inward steamers as under, in order to admit of their prompt despatch from Wellington: (1) Auckland; (2) Taranaki R.P.0.; (3) Wellington; (4) Dunedin, Christchurch, and Invercargill. If your Department could help by shipping the bags in such a way as to facilitate the sorting on board I should be obliged if you would kindly give the necessary instructions. I have, &c, D. Robertson, Secretary. The Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington, D.C. [Wn.-S.F. 11/102.] _^^__^^^^______

No. 8. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 25th May, 1911. Under the contract for the performance by the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited) of a mail-service between New Zealand and San Francisco, this Department is required to claim on behalf of the company for the payment of sea-transit rates from countries whose mails may be carried by steamers employed in the service. To enable the necessary claim to be made, I have the honour to request that you will kindly supply this Administration with the net weights of mails from the United States of America and other countries conveyed from San Francisco by steamers of the Union Steam Ship Company from the 16th November, 1910; the weights of mails from each country to be shown separately, so that the various rates can be apportioned. It is presumed that payment will be made on the basis of the Convention of Rome. In this case the rates for correspondence from the United States of America and the United Kingdom are as under :— Mails from the United States of- America for New Zealand and Australia —8 francs per kilo, for letters and post-cards and 1 franc per kilo, for other articles. Mails from the United Kingdom for New Zealand —5'23 francs per kilo, for letters and postcards and 65 centimes per kilo, for other articles. Mails from the United Kingdom for Australia—s'ss francs per kilo, for letters and postcards and 69 centimes per kilo, for other articles. The rates on correspondence from the United Kingdom for New Zealand are based on the following mileages :— Liverpool to New York ... ... ... ... ... 3,163 miles. San Francisco to Papeete... ... ... ... ... 3,640 ~ Papeete to Wellington ... ... ... ... ... 2,340 ~ Wellington to Sydney ... ... ... ... ... 1,200 Total ... ... ... ... ... 10,343 miles. I have, &c, D. Robertson, Secretary. The Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington, D.C. [Wn.-S.F. 11/112.]