G—No. 5

PETITION OF JNELSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

To the Honorable the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The Memorial of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, Respectfully Sheweth : That your Memorialists have learned that a Select Committee of your Honourable House ha» been appointed to examine and report upon the present Postal arrangements of the Colony, with a view, it is presumed, of making such alterations in th jm as shall more equalize among the differen." Provinces, the benefits derivable from the Mail Service. That your Memorialists are fully sensible of the disadvantages under which Auckland ha* laboured since the direct Steam Service between Sydney and that Province has been discontinued, as well as of the defect in the present Postal arrangements, which, while giving a fortnightly Service between the Southern Provinces, only gives these Provinces a monthly communication with the Seat of Government. That, in any alteration which your Honourable House may think proper to make to render the Postal Service more complete, your Memorialists pray, that you will, as far as practicable, place all the Provinces of the Colony on an equal footing, both as regards the inter-Colonial and the inter-; Provincial Postal Service. On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Oswald Curtis, Chairman. Nelson, July 16th, 1861.