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No. 40. Mr. Gray to the Secretary, General Post Office, Sydney. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 17th November, 1888. I have the honour, by direction of the Postmaster-General, to forward for the information of your department copies of correspondence relating to the San Francisco mail-service question. I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Sydney. W. Gray, Secretary.

No. 41. Mr. Whitson to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Sir,— Dunedin, 21st November, 1888. Messrs. J. D. Spreckels and Brothers advise us by last mail that they were forwarding to you complete returns of the quantity of United States mails that had been carried by their steamers up to the 30th June last, and that these figures would show that they were entitled to the whole of the £800 per annum of the American mail-money, a portion of which had been temporarily withheld by New Zealand and New South Wales. If this is so I shall be obliged by your crediting the amount claimed and advising me that the whole amount of £4,000 per annum may now be retained by the contractors. I am, &c, T. W. Whitson, (For Managing Director.) W. Gray, Esq., Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

No. 42. Mr. Gray to the Managing Director, Union Steamship Company, Dunedin. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 27th November, 1888. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant referring to the statements furnished to this office by Messrs. J. D. Spreckels and Brothers of the quantity of United States mail-matter carried by their steamers, with the object of showing that the contractors are entitled to the whole of the sum of £800 per annum of the American mail-money, a portion of which has been withheld by New South Wales and New Zealand. lam endeavouring to verify the figures of Messrs. J. D. Spreckels and Brothers' statements; but, whatever may be the result, nothing could be done in the Way of repaying any sum withheld without first consulting the Postmaster-General of New South Wales. I have, &c, The Managing Director, W. Gray, Secretary. Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin.

No. 43. Mr. Gray to the Superintendent, Office of Foreign Mails, Washington. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, Ist December, 1888. I have the honour to inform you that I have received from Mr. J. D. Spreckels, the President of the Oceanic Steamship Company, San Francisco, copy of two letters from your office of the 19th July last, with enclosure, to Messrs. J. D. Spreckels and Brothers, and of the 9th October to Mr. A. B. Spreckels, on the subject of the amount of mail-matter from the United States conveyed by the vessels of the Oceanic Steamship Company to the Australasian Colonies during the last three years. It is alleged by Mr. Spreckels that the $20,000 per annum paid by your office for conveyance of mails to New Zealand and Australia are not in excess of, but are actually less than, the sum his company should have received. Your letters of the 2nd April, 1886, and the 16th May, 1887, stated that your office estimated its payment of $20,000 to be equal to $4,000 a year in excess of the sum the Oceanic Company had a right to retain for their sole benefit. On this statement the excess sum was held to be divisible between the contracting colonies and the contractors, and the colonies' shares were accordingly deducted from the subsidy-payments under clause 10 of the contract. Mr. Spreckels now claims a refund of the sums so deducted, for the reasons already given. I have therefore to ask you to be so good as to inform me whether the colonies had not a right to participate in the excess of $4,000, or whether your office's payment of $20,000 per annum is only equal to what the company is entitled to claim under the laws of the United States Post Office for the conveyance of the United States mails to New Zealand and Australia. The Superintendent, Office of Foreign Mails, I have, &c, Post Office Department, Washington, D.C. W. Gray, Secretary.