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No. 48. Mr. Lambton to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Wellington. Sic,— General Post Office, Sydney, 17th April, 1890. Eeferring to your letter of the 16th January, acknowledging the receipt of mine of the 13th December, promising you a complete set of printed papers connected with the renewal of the San Francisco service from November, 1889, I have now the honour to forward the set referred to, and to state that the delay in completing the correspondence is explained in No. 26—namely, the omission of the Union Company to reply to my letter of the 2nd December (No. 19). I am, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. S. H. Lambton, Secretary.

No. 49. Mr. Geay to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Sydney. Sib,— General Post Office, Wellington, sth May, 1890. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th ultimo, and to thank you for forwarding rue the promised complete set of printed papers connected with the renewal of the San Francisco service from November, 1889. I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Sydney. W. Geay, Secretary.

No. 50. Mr. Geay to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Sydney. Sic, — General Post Office, Wellington, 27th November, 1889. I have the honour, by direction of the Postmaster-General, to forward the accompanying copies of correspondence received by the last mail from Mr. Creighton. There have been so many attempts to shorten the railroad journey between San Francisco and New York, and as many failures, that I am somewhat doubtful whether the fast service now proposed will be maintained for any length of time. But, without involving the alteration of the day of despatch from Loudon, the Postmaster-General would suggest that the London Post Office should be approached through the Agents-General to see whether it would not be possible to have the swiftest vessels selected for the conveyance of the colonial mails to New York. I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Sydney. W. Geay, Secretary.

No. 51. Mr. Geay to the Agent-Genebal, London. Sik, — General Post Office, Wellington, 29th November, 1889. I have the honour to inform you that Mr. Creighton, the Eesident Agent for the department at San Francisco, has written this office in reference to another attempt which is to be made to shorten the time of the overland transit of the mails between New York and San Francisco. In connection therewith Mr. Creighton recommends the employment of the fastest vessels for the Atlantic passage, and a change in the date of departure of the mails from London. A reply has been sent Mr. Creighton to the effect that, as the San Francisco service is renewed for twelve months only, any change in the London time-table is undesirable, more especially as the maintenance of the proposed fast overland service must, in the light of former failures, be regarded as quite problematical, and also as any change in the day of the despatch of the mails from London would necessarily involve an alteration in the time-table of the Direct mail-service, which would be highly inconvenient. But I would feel obliged if you would communicate with the London Post Office, and see whether it may not be possible to secure the services of the swiftest vessels for the conveyance of the colonial mails to New York. This, in conjunction with the proposed accelerated overland service, would result in a very material saving of time, and in any case would very often obviate vexatious delays in the transit between New York and San Francisco. The Agent-General for New South Wales will probably make similar representations to the London Post Office. I have suggested, in forwarding a copy of Mr. Creighton's letter to the New South Wales Post Office, that this might be done. I have, &c, W. Geay (For the Postmaster-General). Sir F. D. Bell, K.C.M.G., C.8., Agent-General for New Zealand, London.

No. 52. Mr. Geay to the Besident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. Sib,—• General Post Office," Wellington, 29th November, 1890. Lhave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th ultimo, notifying that you had brought under the notice of the Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington, in letters of the 26th August and 24th September, the inconvenience and risk which attend the deten-