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No. 19. Mr. Lambton to the Seceetaet, General Post Office, Wellington. Sin, General Post Office, Sydney, 9th September, 1874. With reference to previous correspondence respecting the late arrival at Boston of the mails for New South Wales, New Zealand, &c, I am directed to forward herewith, for the information of the Postmaster-General of New Zealand, copy of a letter on the subject which has been received from the General Post Office, London. I have, &c, S. H. Lambton, The Secretary, General Post Office, New Zealand. Secretary.

Enclosure in No. 19. Mr. Scudamoee to the Postmaster- Geneeal, New South Wales. Sic,— General Post Office, London, 18th June, 1874. I am directed by the Postmaster-General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th April last, explaining in detail the object of your telegram despatched a few days previously on the subject of the vessels employed by the Cunard Company to convey across the Atlantic the outward mails for New South "Wales and New Zealand. As the Postmaster-General, on the receipt of the telegram, had placed it in the hands of the AgentGeneral for New South Wales, and had requested him, in conjunction with the Agent-General for New Zealand, to communicate with the Cunard Company in reference to the understanding said to have been come to with them, his Lordship has, with a like object, transmitted to the Agent-General a copy of your letter, and he has received a reply stating that Sir Charles Cowper has reported to the Chief Secretary at Sydney the result of his communication with Messrs. Cunard. With reference to that part of your letter in which you state that the mails for Australia and New Zealand, which were despatched from London on the 13th January last, arrived at Boston two days behind time, that the mails despatched on the 10th February were eight days behind time, and that the mails despatched on the 10th March were at least two days behind time, I am directed to observe that you must be under some misapprehension. In the fourth quarter of 1873, when you made the arrangement for despatching the Australian and New Zealand mails from London on every fourth Tuesday, the table-time for each voyage from Queenstown to Boston was eleven days, as will be seen by the enclosed time-table for that quarter. The average length of time actually occupied in the voyages during the last six months of 1873 was twelve days ten hours. The mails of the 13th January were conveyed from Queenstown to Boston in eleven days thirteen hours; the mails of the 10th February in fourteen days thirteen hours; and the mails of the 10th March in ten days fourteen hours. It will thus be seen that, out of the three mails, one arrived before time, one was only thirteen hours after time, and the third, instead of being eight days late as stated in your letter, was only three days thirteen hours late, and this at the very worst season of the year for an Atlantic voyage. The Postmaster-General, Sydney. F. I. Scudamoee.

Enclosure 1 in No. 16 of this series.

No. 20. Mr. Geat to the Seceetaet, General Post Office, Sydney. Sic,— General Post Office, "Wellington, Ist October, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 9th ultimo, enclosing copy of a communication from the General Post Office, London, with reference to the conveyance of the New South "Wales and New Zealand mails between Liverpool and Boston. I have, &c, W. Gbat, The Secretary, General Post Office, Sydney. Secretary.

No. 21. The Agent-Gefeeal to the Hon. J. Vogel. 7, "Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, "Westminster, S.W., Sib,— 17th April, 1874. I have the honor to bring under your consideration the following circumstances. It would appear that the Hon. Saul Samuel arranged that the San Francisco mails should be sent from London to Boston instead of to New York, under the impression, no doubt, that time would be gained. It turned out, however, that the steamers at Boston were exceedingly slow boats, and the result was that the steamers on two if not three occasions were kept waiting some days at San Francisco for the mails. At the request of the contractors I waited upon the Post Office authorities, with the view of having the mails despatched to New York, when I was informed that Messrs. Cunard had that very day notified that such was their intention from and after the 31st ultimo, and that they would continue to do so during the summer, reverting back, however, to the Boston arrangement during the winter.

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