E.—No. I

8

EURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO

route; but, as far as practicable, every endeavour shall bo made to meet your wishes, and to separate the correspondence.* You inquire whether it will be practicable to make an arrrangement under which only the postage due to New Zealand on letters sent to London or to Panama for transmission to other British Colonies and Foreign Countries, would be collected in the Colony, and the charge for the conveyance of the letters from London or from Panama would be collected on delivery. As respects letters sent to London, any part payment of the postage would be very troublesome both to the Department and the public, and is therefore strongly objected to. Either the whole should be paid or none. I enclose a copy of the Table which was forwarded to you in my letter ofthe 31st May last; and I have distinguished in this table the names of the countries and places letters for which must bo prepaid, or the letters cannot be forwarded. Letters can be forwarded to any of the other countries and places wholly unpaid. In regard to letters sent to Panama, upon those which are addressed to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, San Salvador, the West Coast of Mexico, the United States of America, or the British West Indies, only the New Zealand postage can be taken in advance; whilst upon those addressed to all the other places specified in the second table transmitted in my letter of the 31st May last, the postage set down in that table must be accounted for in the Panama Letter Bill, or the letters cannot be sent forward. In conclusion, I beg to refer to my letter of the 17th September last, in which the PostmasterGeneral requested that, if possible, the suggestion made by the British Packet Agent at Panama to the officer of the New Zealand Post Office who was sent to Panama in the Mail Packet " Kaikoura," with regard to making up the mail for Panama, might be adopted. There is no necessity for any letters being sent in the Panama Mail upon which no postage is accounted for in the Panama Letter Bill, except letters addressed to the British West Indies. I have, Ac, The Postmaster-General, Wellington, New Zealand. F. Hill.

No. 12. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. Jomf Hall to the Secretary, General Post Office, London. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, sth January, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th September, 1866, No. 911b., and of the Ist November, 1866, No. 71,598, on the subject of the mails to be despatched between Great Britain and New Zealand via Panama, and to convey to you my thanks for the instructions stated to have been issued by you. I trust that the request conveyed in my letter of the 16th October, No. 138, to the effect that all letters for New Zealand should be sent via Panama, without otherwise specially directed, will have obviated the trouble to the despatching officers which it is apprehended by you would result from a partial application of this rule. In compliance with the wish expressed by you the correspondence from New Zealand for the United States, California, Costa Eica, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, will henceforward be sent in closed mails addressed to those places. As I am not aware whether you have written direct on the subject above referred to, to the Postmaster-General of New South Wales, I have caused a copy of your letter of the Ist November to be forwarded to him. In order to avoid the possibility of misunderstanding, I beg to enclose copy of the instructions furnished to the officers of this Department by whom the mails are made up on board the Panama steamers, and request you will inform mo whether any alterations in these instructions appear to you to be required. In the event of any general instructions being in existence for the guidance of Mail Agents on board steamers conveying mails for the Imperial Post Office, I shall feel obliged by a copy of such instructions being forwarded to me. I have, &c., John Hall, The Secretary, General Post Office, London. Postmaster-General.

No. 13. Copy of a Letter from Mr. F. Hill to the Hon. John Hall. Sir,— General Post Office, London, 19th November, 1866. By the last voyage of the steamer " Eakaia " a sealed mail from Melbourne for Trinidad was received, and it is probable that other mails for British Colonies in the West Indies have reached Panama by the New Zealand steamers. No correspondence however should be forwarded from Panama to the British West Indies unless the postage due to this office has been accounted for in the Letter Bill for Panama, or unless the postage can be charged by the Agent of this Department at Panama against the office to which the correspondence is sent. This can only be done by the letters, &c, being sent to the Panama office for disposal, and I am directed by the Postmaster-General to request that you will communicate with the Post Office of Victoria, and with the other Australian Post Offices, and request that no closed mails may be forwarded to Panama for transmission to any place other than the United States. Upon such closed mails no postage is required to be accounted for to this office, as they are conveyed from Panama at the expense of the United States Post Office. I have, &c, The Postmaster-General, &c, "Wellington. F. Hill.