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Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Limited, for five years, the steamers to call at Honolulu, Suva, and Auckland, the Canadian Post Office reserving the right to require the contractors to proceed to Sydney or Melbourne, or both, the payment to be the present contribution by Canada, £37,091, plus contributions from Fiji and New Zealand. New Zealand has agreed to the conditions, with the amendments included in the following : — 1. The contract to be for five years. 2. Subsidy to be contributed by the New Zealand Government, £20,000 per annum, with exemption from harbour and dock dues. 3. Permission to be given to the contractors to proceed from Auckland to Sydney or Melbourne, and to retain any sum contributed by the Commonwealth. 4. First voyage outwards from Auckland, 4th August; from Vancouver, 6th October. Dates of departure from Auckland to be amended as soon as practicable, to enable a fortnightly alternation to be made with the San Francisco service. 5. The voyage between Vancouver and Auckland, via Honolulu and Suva, to be made in nineteen days. The same time to be kept in the reverse direction. 6. New Zealand shippers to have the first refusal of all space for freight, so long as no subsidy is being paid by the Commonwealth Government. No discrimination in rates of freight, passengeraccommodation, or passenger-rates is to be made against New Zealand, whether a subsidy is paid by the Commonwealth or not. The Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourists will bear one-half of New Zealand's contribution. An endeavour is being made to form the closest possible connection with the mails from Liverpool by the Canadian Pacific Railroad " Empress" steamers, and also to alternate on even Eour-weekly dates with the four-weekly mail from San Francisco. It will not be practicable to make fortnightly sailings from New Zealand. Under the present proposed dates the steamer for Vancouver will leave Auckland each Friday four weeks, seven days after the departure of the steamer for San Francisco from Wellington. Suez Service. The P. and 0. steamers resumed making calls regularly every four weeks at Auckland during the southern summer The s.s. " Warrimoo," which left Wellington on the Ist July, 1910. the s.s. " Moeraki," which left on the 26th August, 1910, the s.s. "Aorangi." which left Wellington on the 19th May, 1911, and the s.s. "Warrimoo," which left Wellington on the 16th June, 1911, were the only vessels which failed to connect with the outward English mail at Sydney. Payments on Account of the Peninsular and Oriental, and Orient, Mail-service during the Year 1910-11. £ £ Payment to Peninsular and Oriental and Orient lines .. .. .. 10,784 Transit-charges across Australia and Europe .. .. .. .. 6,139 Mail-service to Australia .. .. .. . . .. 15,289 Proportion chargeable to mails for Commonwealth .. .. 4,000 11,289 28,212 The maximum, minimum, and average number of days within which the mails were delivered at and from London, and Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. and Dunedin. by the Peninsular and Oriental and Orient lines was : — P. and O. Line. Orient Line. Max. Mm. Aye; Max. Mm. Average. London to Auckland .. ..39 36 3719 38 37 37-12 Auckland to London .. .. 37 36 36-33 39 37 37-73 London to Wellington .. ..40 35 38-04 39 38 38-19 Wellington to London .. ..36 35 35-37 38 36 36-73 London to Christchurch .. .. 39 36 38-69 39 38 38-96 Christchurch to London . . .. 37 36 36-37 39 37 37-73 London to Dunedin .. ..39 38 38-12 39 38 38-12 Dunedin to London .. .. 37 >36 36-37 39 37 37-73 Inland Mail-services. By Order in Council dated the 13th day of March, 1911, the gratuities payable on bags or packets containing mail-matter for delivery within New Zealand conveyed between Wellington and Lyttelton by steamers running to a regular daily time-table was fixed at £1 13s. 6d. per cubic ton. Previously the rate was Is. 4d. per bag. The system of interchanging officers between Christchurch and Wellington for the purpose of learning the sorting of the other office is being continued. One of the motor-vans used in connection with the Wellington city mail-service was sold, and replaced by a second Albion motor-lorry, which was brought into use in March, 1911. It is intended to replace all horsed vehicles by motor-vans as early as possible. The sum paid to the Railway Department for the conveyance of mails by ordinary trains was £59,803. The number of inland mail-services in operation on the 31st December, 1910, was 1,576.