F.—6.
No. 71. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Deputy Postmaster -General; Melbourne. Sir— General Post Office, Wellington, Bth May, 1903. I have the honour to confirm my telegram of the 7th instant, as follows, sent in reply to yours of the same date on the subject of the San Francisco mail-service contract: [No. 70.] I enclose herewith copy of the letter to you of the 27th July, 1901, referred to in my telegram [No. 8, F.-6, 1902.] " I have, &c, The Deputy Postmaster-General, Melbourne. W. Gray, Secretary.
No. 72. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to Mr. Dunnet, Auckland. (Telegram.) General Post Office, Wellington, 29th June, 1903. Beferring to my service telegram of 7th ultimo [not printed] and your reply the same day [not printed], lam directed by the Postmaster-General to ask you to be good enough to inform me whether the contractors for the San Francisco mail-service will agree to a renewal of the service for a few months—say, not exceeding six months— until Parliament has had an opportunity to consider the question of renewal. I shall be obliged if you will reply to-morrow.
No. 72a. Mr. Dunnet to the Seceetary, General Post Office, Wellington. (Telegram.) Auckland, 30th June, 1903. Oceanic will agree to a renewal of San Francisco mail-service for a few months, not exceeding six months, until Parliament has had an opportunity to consider the question of a new contract.
INCIDENTS OF UNITED STATES AND ATLANTIC TRANSIT, ETC.
No. 73. The Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Post Office Department, Office of Foreign Mails, Washington, D.C., Sir,— 22nd May, 1902. I have the honour, by direction of the Postmaster-General, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th ultimo [No. 133, F.-6, 1902], in which—with reference to the correspondence closing with your reply, under date of the Ist April, 1901, to this Department's letter of the 15th February, 1901—you state that the draft of a contract between your Administration and the Oceanic Steamship Company for ocean mail-service from Auckland to San Francisco is now being revised, and inquire whether or not this Department would object to the insertion of a stipulation in said contract requiring the company to hold its steamers at San Francisco to await the arrival of the British closed mails, whenever that course may become necessary, in order to secure the prompt forwarding of said closed mails from San Francisco, for which detention your Administration is prepared to pay the Oceanic Steamship Company demurrage at the rate of £5 an hour after the first twelve hours, provided this. Department does not object to such payments. In reply, I am to inform you that this Department does not object to the insertion in the contract in question of a stipulation that the Oceanic Steamship Company shall hold its steamers at San Francisco when that course becomes necessary in order to receive there the British closed mails, provided such detention is requested by this Department; nor is objection made to the proposed payment to the company of demurrage therefor at the rate of £5 an hour after the first twelve hours. In this connection I am to invite attention to the circumstance that the schedules issued by the Oceanic Steamship Company show that the steamers leave Auckland for San Francisco, three days before the arrival at Auckland of the steamers from San Francisco, and several complaints have been made to this Department of the inconvenience caused by that arrangement to persons in Auckland having business relations with persons in the United States.
3—F. 6.
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