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No. 37. Tbe Sbcbetaht, General Post Office, London, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Sir, — General Post Office, London, 25th September, 1906. With reference to your letters of the 31st May [No. 71, F.-a, , 1906] and the Bth June last [No. 77, F.—6a, 1906], concerning the conveyance by the steamship " Moana " from Vancouver of the mail for New Zealand from this country, diverted from the San Francisco route on account of the recent earthquake, I am directed by the Postmaster-General to inform you that the Canadian Post Office has not received any special payment from this office for the conveyance of the British mails on the occasion in question. Payment for the conveyance of the mails from this country for New Zealand by way of San Francisco is made to the United States Post Office on the basis of Postal Union statistics taken in 1896, the payment in respect of the sea-conveyance from San Francisco to New Zealand amounting <s> an average of about £200 per voyage. The Postal Union Convention provides, in paragraph 3of Artice XXXI, for a readjustment of transit charges when an important modification affecting a period of at least six months takes place in the flow of correspondence; but there is no provision for deduction from the regular payments on account of the diversion of a single mail, and the Post-master-General is precluded from claiming a rebate from the United States Post Office in respect of the mail in question. In these circumstances, he is unable to admit the claim of £82 4s. 7d. made against this office in your general account for the quarter ended the 31st March last for the sea-conveyance of this mail. It would appear, however, from your letter of the 31st May to the Postmaster-General of Canada, of which you forwarded a copy, that the conveyance by the " Moana " was arranged at the instance of the Post Office of the United States; and I am to suggest that any special claim which yon may feel justified in raising in respect of the diversion of the mail from the San Francisco route be addressed to that office. I am, &0., The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. H. Buxton Fohman. [P.O. Oe/177-i.J

No. 38. The Assistant to President, Oceanic Steamship Company, San Francisco, to the Sechetabt, General Post Office, Wellington. Oceanic Steamship Company, DbahSir,— 38 Clay Street, San Francisco, 3rd October, 1906. In response to your communication of the 6th September, regarding the irregularities of the Auckland - San Francisco mail-service, you may pi-obably recall that during your sojourn here we showed you a statement regarding the delivery of the mails in London, which showed, prior to the 4th May, only two late deliveries in London, in spite of the late arrivals in San Francisco. The crucial test of the value of the service is the through connection between Auckland and London, and we have managed, in spite of our delinquencies as regards arrivals in San Francisco, to make a pretty fair iecord as far as the ultimate arrival of the mails in Jxmdon is concerned, and this is a point which we think should be given due consideration by your Parliament. We have mislaid the statement which we had, giving the London arrivals, which makes it necessary for us to procure a duplicate from New York, which we cannot do in time for this steamer. It will be forwarded, however, as quickly as possible. [Not received.] We rather feel that if your Parliament understood the grave difficulties which confront us even now, as a result of the recent earthquake and fire, they would condone most of our irregularities. For instance, it is impossible to obtain efficient crews here. Wages are so high in other lines of business that good men are very difficult to obtain for the engineer's department, and we are forced to put up with such material as cannot find employment in any other capacity. Another grave disadvantage that we labour under is, and has been, the late delivery of mails to our steamers, preventing our sailing on time from San Francisco, and thus throwing us out along the entire route. By the " Sonoma," sailing to-morrow, we are sending Mr. L. F. Cockroft, our general passenger agent, who is conversant with the situation, and can probably explain it to you from our standpoint, and we hope you will find much in his argument to mitigate our offences. Yours, &c, Oceanic Steamship Company, F. S. Samuels, Assistant to President. The Secretary, General Po.st Office, Wellington. [U.S. Inc. 06/106.1

No. 39. The Resident Ac;ent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Resident .Agency for .New Zealand, "216 California Street, San Francisco, Sir,— 4th October, 1906. 1 have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 31st August, in reference to the unsatisfactory running of the R.M.S, " Sonoma," and note that upon her last