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No. 49. The Manager in Australasia, Eastern Extension Company, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. The Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company (Limited), Sir, — Melbourne, 7th October, 1907. With reference to your letter dated the 13th June last [No. 24, F.-8, 1907], on the subject of deviated traffic, which was submitted to my head office, 1 have now the honour to inform you that the following view has been taken by this company, and the charge over their New Zealand cables will be made in accordance therewith: — New Zealand and Great Britain and America. Ordered via Pacific. If the route via. Norfolk Island is interrupted, either land-line or cable, traffic ordered via Pacific passes over the Extension Company's cables at the full tariff of 3d. per word. Ordered via Eastern. If the route by the Extension Company's cables between Australia and New Zealand is interrupted, either land-line or cables, traffic passes via Norfolk Island and Southport, that route receiving the full rate of 3d. per word between New Zealand and Australia. The traffic accountant adds that the company does not think that any question of pro rata division arises in the cases mentioned; and, further, that the above principle has been agreed to by the Pacific Cable Board in Lo»don. I have, Ac, W. Warren, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Manager in Australasia. [Acknowledged Bth November, 1907.] [P.C Diver. 07/74.]

• No. 50. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the General Manager, Pacific Cable Board, London. Sir, — General Post Office, Wellington, Bth November, 1907. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th September last, with respect to the allocation of charges on diverted cable traffic south of Norfolk Island. I am pleased to learn from the copy of the correspondence which you forwarded for my information that the Eastern Extension Company now recognises the right of this Department to route cable messages via Eastern and Southport or via Pacific and Southport for the whole period of any telegraphic interruption, instead of for the first twenty-four hours only. I also note that your Board will bear the extra cost of the messages in such cases, so that the charge to the sender may be the same by both routes; also that, as regards inward messages in course of transmission when an interruption south of Norfolk Island occurs, the Convention rules regarding pro rata charges would apply during twenty-four hours, but that such cases would be very rare, and would practically be confined to traffic from the north of Norfolk Island. I have, Ac, D. Robertson, Secretary. The General Manager, Pacific Cable Board, London. [P.C-Diver. 07/83.]

No. 51. The Manager in Australasia, Eastern Extension Company, Melbourne, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Sir, — Melbourne, 31st January, 1908. I have the honour to bring under your notice that on the 16th instant seventy-five messages were diverted from " via Pacific " to " via Eastern," owing to the interruption of the Pacific route, on which there was very heavy delay shown, presumably through the messages having been held too long before diverting them, which delay this company was not responsible for, although, apparently, the receivers considered it was, as several complaints have been received from them about the delay. I therefore beg to suggest that whenever an interruption to either route occurs messages should at once be diverted to the route that is working well, as it is very unfair to senders and receivers that their messages should be subjected to unnecessary delay in "their transmission. I have, Ac, W. Warren, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Manager in Australasia. [E.E. Misc. 08/15.]