F.—l

XVI

Wellington — Thrice weekly to daily: Feilding-Makino-Glenwood-Cunningham's-Waituna West; Kimbolton-Peep-o'-Day-Mangarimu-Pemberton-Rangiwahia. Twice weekly to daily : Waituna West-Rewa. Twice to thrice weekly : Eketahuna-Parkville-Nireaha ; Makuri-Rakaunui-Pongaroa (once to twice weekly thence to Mangatiti). The frequency of the following services was diminished : — Christchurch — From seven to six times weekly : Greenpark-Little River. Wanganui— Prom twice to once weekly : Utiku-Pukeokahu. The following services were abolished : — Auckland — Ahipara-Herekino ; Auckland-Epsom (by train) ; Henderson Post-office and Railwaystation ; Mount Albert Post-office and Railway-station; Otahuhu Post-office and Railway-station; Tairua-Ohui. Dunedin — Beaumont-Tallaburn. Thames— Paeroa-Karangahake-Waikino-Waihi (superseded by train service) ; TaurangaMotiti; Thames-Parawai-Kopu-Kirikiri-Puriri-Hikutaia-Paeroa (superseded by train service). Timaru — Lake Tekapo-Tasman Downs (winter service : replaced by Lake Pukaki-Hermitage service, weekly by horse during winter). Wellington— City, clearing Brooklyn posting-box and posting in Wordsworth Street receiving-box. The following services have been otherwise altered : — Auckland— Rotorua-Wairakei-Taupo, by change of route to new road vid Waiotapu. Blenheim— Blenheim, &c, to Kaikoura, to run via Redwood's Pass instead of Taylor Pass, and to include Seddon. Picton-Endeavour Inlet, by inclusion of Resolution Bay. Invercargill— Wyndham-Glenham-Pine Bush, two services established in place of one. Westport— Westport-Charleston, to new route vid Nine-mile Beach. Ocean Mail-services. The San Francisco mail-service has continued to be performed with admirable regularity. The homeward mails have generally been delivered in less than schedule time, and only twice has the time been exceeded on the inward voyages, and then only through stress of weather. No penalties have been incurred by the contractors on this account. For several voyages since the beginning of the present year the presence of the bubonic plague at Honolulu prevented direct communication with the shore at that port, and the transfer of the mails after fumigation had therefore to be made by lighters. The contract for the renewal of the San Francisco service, which was entered into in 1898 and expired on the 31st March, 1900, has been renewed with the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand until the 31st March, 1901. The Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco (the J. D. Spreckels and Brothers Company), now associated with the Union Steam Ship Company in carrying out the present service, having secured a ten-years contract from the United States Government for a service between San Francisco and Australia, has offered to perform a 16-17-days service between Auckland and San Francisco, and twenty-days between Sydney and San Francisco, every three weeks each way, for a payment of £30,000 per annum from the colonies. Three new steamers of 6,000 tons have been built specially for the service. The essential condition of the offer is that the service shall be performed exclusively by vessels registered in the United States. As the resolution of the House of Representatives last year authorising the renewal of the service made it a condition that at least one British-owned vessel should be employed in any new service, and as the New South Wales Government has declined to subsidise any service performed entirely by foreignowned steamers, the Oceanic Company will no doubt find it necessary to modify its demands in some way. The position is further complicated by the fact that Honolulu being now a port of the United States, vessels trading between there and San Francisco are subject'to the provisions of the American maritime laws, which, among other things, prohibit the conveyance of passengers and cargo between ports of the United States except in vessels owned or registered in that country. By the terms of last year's resolution, however, the matter has to be submitted to the House of Representatives before definite action can be taken. The Oceanic Company's offer will be considered in connection with the proposals for a new contract which are to be submitted to the House. The usual printed papers to be laid before Parliament relating to ocean mail-services contain Messrs. Spreckels's proposals, including the time-table under which the service is to be run.