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No. 40. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Premier. Westminster Chambers, 13, Victoria Street, London, S.W., Sir,— 24th November, 1892. I beg to transmit copy of letter which I have received from the General Post Office in reply to my letter, copy of which I enclosed with my letter of the 10th instant, on the subject of the San Francisco mail-service. I may mention that I understand that the Colonial Office are still in communication with the Treasury respecting the matter, and that I shall shortly be made acquainted with the result. I have, &c, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. W. B. Perceval.

Enclosure in No. 40. The Secretary, General Post Office, London, to the Agent-Geneeal. Sir,— General Post Office, 14th November, 1892. The Postmaster-General has had before him your further letter of the 7th instant, on the subject of the New Zealand and San Francisco mail-service. Mr. Morley has certainly regarded the interview to which you refer not so much as an appeal against a final decision as an expression of regret and deprecation at the failure of an appeal which had already been submitted to the Treasury, with the result that their Lordships finally adhered to the decision of their predecessors; and the fresh considerations put forward were, as already stated, not such as to lead to the supposition that a further appeal would prove successful, especially in view of the ample opportunities which the Treasury had had of coming to a conclusion on the subject. The impression that the New Zealand Government has taken the decision in question as final was derived primarily from the opening of your letter of the 18th October, which, however, was found to correspond with telegrams from New Zealand published in several newspapers, to the effect that the final refusal of the Imperial Government to co-operate with the New Zealand Government in defraying the cost of the carriage of the mails across the Pacific has given rise to dissatisfaction. Mr. Morley would greatly regret the importation of a controversial character into the correspondence between yourself and this department, and he thinks it unnecessary to enter further into detail as to the history of this question, and the more so as he is perfectly willing to communicate your recent letters to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury now that he knows such to be your wish. At the same time I am to remind you that as long ago as the 6th September I pointed out to you that it would be safest for your Government to act upon the assumption that the Imperial Government would support the San Francisco service only so far as is implied in using it, if its maintenance were continued, upon the terms prescribed by the Postal Union Convention. The Lords of the Treasury having, as you are aware, since confirmed that decision, the question cannot, of course, be regarded as open at the present moment, even if their Lordships should be pleased to reopen it on representations which you are now understood to have made to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. I am, &c, W. B. Perceval, Esq., Agent-General for New Zealand. S. A. Blackwood.

No. 41. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Premier. Westminster Chambers, 13, Victoria Street, London, S.W., Sir,— 20th January, 1893. Eeferring to your letter of the 3rd November last, I beg leave to transmit herewith copy of letter which I addressed to the General Post Office on the subject of the contribution from the Imperial Government for the past twelve months, and of that which it is now proposed to make. I have, &c, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. W. B. Perceval.

Enclosure in No. 41. The Agent-Geneeal to the Secretary, General Post Office, London. 13, Victoria Street, 11th January, 1893. Sir, — San Francisco Mail-service. Eeferring to your letter of the 6th September last, in which you state that your department has been given to understand that the rate paid to the contractors by the colony is 11s. per pound, 1 beg leave to inform you that, by letter received by the last incoming mail from the New Zealand Government, it is stated that the contractors have been, and are being, paid at the rate of 12s. per pound on the letter-mails from this country. Again, in reference to your letter of the 31st August last, I desire to state that it had been understood by the Post Office authorities in New Zealand that the rates payable would be based on the distance from San Francisco to Auckland as compared to the whole sea-distance traversed on both Atlantic and Pacific, and that of the total rates for sea-transit —viz., 15fr. for letters and postcards, and lfr. for other articles (see sub-paragraph 2 of paragraph 3 of Article IV. of the Postal