F.—6

28

No. 102. v The Seceetaey, Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Christchurch, to the SeceetaEy, General Post Office, Wellington. Sic, — Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Christchurch, 16th June, 1899. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st May, on the subject of the San Francisco mail, and, in reply, beg to state that it was an error on my part inserting the last paragraph in my previous letter with reference to delay at New Plymouth. This Chamber fully recognises that the Post-office Department did everything possible under the unfavourable circumstances attending the despatch of the mail referred to to forward the mail to Auckland. I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. H. Antill Adley, Secretary.

No. 103. Waebant. His Excellency the Goveenoe to the Hon. the Postmastee-Geneeal. To the Bight Hon. Bichard John Seddon, Postmaster-General. In pursuance of the provisions of section eight of "The Post Office Act, 1881," I, Uchter John Mark, Earl of Banfurly, Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, do hereby direct you, Bichard John Seddon, Postmaster-General of the said colony, to enter into a contract on behalf of the Government of the said colony with the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited) for the carriage of mails each way between Auckland and San Francisco for the period from the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, to the thirty-first day of March inclusive, one thousand nine hundred, the contract to be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the resolutions attached hereto, passed in the House of Eepresentatives on the third day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. Given under my hand, at Wellington, in the said colony, this twenty-second day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine. Banfuely.

DEPARTURE FBOM AMEBICAN POETS. No. 104. The Besident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Seceetaey, General Post Office, Wellington. Sic, — Besident Agency for New Zealand, San Francisco, 16th October, 1898. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 13th September last [No. 11, F.-6b, 1898], acknowledging my letter of the 30th July, covering the report on the Canadian Pacific mail route, and informing me that you propose to adopt some of the suggestions therein contained. The " Warrimoo " is again reported late at Vancouver, and the mails did not go forward from that place before Saturday, and consequently did not leave New York until yesterday?"by the " Campania." Ido not know where these delays occur, but no doubt the Mail Agents duly advise you. It is quite unfortunate, now that the fast steamers are scheduled to connect on Tuesdays, that the Pacific steamer is so slow that the benefit does not accrue to the service. Enclosed I send copy of a communication addressed by me to the Chairman of the Hawaiian Commissioners, in which I have endeavoured to induce them to include in their recommendations to Congress some modification of the United States coasting-laws, whereby a New-Zealand-owned vessel can continue in the mail-service vid Honolulu. The Chamber of Commerce and other local commercial bodies have petitioned the Commissioners to at once apply the existing laws to the shipping between California and the Hawaiian Islands, so it is doubtful whether I can effect much. I trust, however, you will not consider the effort unwise. I have, &c, H. Stephenson Smith, Besident Agent. W. Gray, Esq., Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

Enclosure in No. 104. The Besident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Chaieman of the Hawaiian Commission, Springfield, Illinois. Sib,— San Francisco, 7th October, 1898. I have the honour, in availing myself of the permission to address you contained in your communication of the Ist instant [not printed], to present the following statement for your conconsideration: — In order to lay the matter before you in an intelligent manner, I would preface my remarks with a brief statement of the history of the mail-contract services that have existed for more than twenty-five years, via San Francisco, between the Australasian Colonies and the United States. Early in the seventies the New Zealand Goverment entered into a contract with a citizen of the United States for the establishment of a mail-service between the colonies and San Francisco, as a portion of a through service to Great Britain. This service was maintained at a large subsidy