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of weight itself has been raised from 15 to 20 grammes, 1 oz. being regarded as the avoirdupois equivalent of 20 grammes. His Majesty's Government are prepared to raise the unit of weight for outgoing letters from \ oz. to 1 oz. on the Ist October, 1907, when the new Postal Union Convention and the charges introduced by it are to come into operation; and I shall be glad to learn that your Government are prepared to adopt the increased unit of weight as from that date. This increase of weight has an important bearing on postal relations within the British Empire; and I share with the Postmaster-General the hope that under the Imperial penny postage scheme your Government will agree to the penny rate of postage being applied to all letters not exceeding 1 oz. in weight posted to or from places within the Empire. I have agreed to the adoption of this increased minimum weight both for foreign and Imperial letter postage on behalf of the following colonies: — Ashanti, Gibraltar, Malta, Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Gold Coast, St. Helena, Trinidad and Tobago, Falkland Islands, Hong Kong, Seychelles, Turks Islands, Fiji, Labuan, Sierra Leone, Windward Islands, Gambia, Leeward Islands, Southern Nigeria, and on behalf of the following protectorates:— British Central Africa, Northern Territories of the Gold Somaliland, East Africa Protectorate, Coast, Southern Nigeria Protectorate, Gambia Protectorate, Sierra Leone Protectorate, Uganda. Northern Nigeria, I have also agreed on behalf of the Federated Malay States and Cyprus. Copies of the new Postal Union Convention, with an English translation, which is in course of preparation by the Postmaster-General, will be transmitted to you at an early date. I have, &c, The Officer administering the Government of New Zealand. Elgin. P.O. 07/236(1).]

Enclosure in No. 14. Postal Union Congbbss of Rome, 1906. Principal Besults and Practical Outcome. Increase of voting-power. 1. Although on this occasion there were no new accessions to the Universal Postal Union, considerable modifications were decided on in connection with the voting-powers. A separate vote was given to the British Colonies of South Africa (including the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony), and the vote previously allotted " to the rest of the British colonies," and assigned to the South African Colonies, was thus set free, and has now been assigned in the final protocol of the Rome Convention to New Zealand, with the Cook Islands and other dependencies. New votes in respect of colonial possessions were accorded to the United States, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Portugal. Statistical accounts, rates of transit. 2. Statistics are to be taken every six years for the purpose of calculating the payments due for the transit of correspondence. The process of taking statistics has been considerably simplified as compared with that which obtained formerly. Closed mails will be weighed in the bag or wrapper, and from the gross weight 10 per cent, will be deducted in respect of packing and of correspondence entitled to pass free of charge. During the statistical periods, of which the first will be in November, 1907, letters and post-cards must be packed separate from other articles. The Union transit rates have been reduced. In the case of closed mails, the fundamental landtransit rate will be lfr. 50c. per kilogramme of letters and post-cards, and 20c. per kilogramme of other articles; and it was decided to apply multiples of these rates to all transits of exceptional length, and to restrict the category of extraordinary services giving rise to special rates to the Indian mail-service and (temporarily in all probability) the transit across the Isthmus of Panama. Under this arrangement the scale of land-transit rates will be— Letters and Other Post-cards. Articles. If. 50c. and 20c. for transits not exceeding 3,000 kilometres. 31 and 40c. „ „ from 3,000 to 6,000 4f. 50c. and 60c. „ „ „ 6,000 to 9,000 6f. and 80c. „ „ above 9,000 kilometres. The sea-rates will be Letters and Other Post-cards. Articles. If. 50c. and 20c. for transits under 300 miles. 4f. and 50c. for transits across the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean, &c, and if the distance does not exceed 1,500 miles. Bf. and If. for longer distances.