13

F.—6

Enclosure 2 in No. 35. The Secretary to the High Commissioner to the Secretary, General Post Office, Loudon. Sir, — London, 23rd August, 1911. I am directed by the High Commissioner to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, with regard to Wellington instead of Auckland being the port of departure of the steamers performing the mail-service to San Francisco in this month and next. In answer to the last paragraph of your letter, I am directed to state that the High Commissioner has not received any information as to whether the altered arrangement is to be permanent, or whether it will result in the acceleration of the service to San Francisco. Doubtless you observed from the contract for this service, of which a copy was sent you with my letter of the 4th February last, that in clause 31 provision is made as follows : " In the event of the Vancouver service being established at any time during the currency of this contract, and Auckland included as a port of call both ways, the Postmaster-General may, if the service to and from San Francisco is considered to be satisfactory, extend this agreement for a term of two years from the nineteenth day of October, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, with Wellington as the inward and outward New Zealand port of call." I have, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, London, E.C. C. Wray Palliser. [Wn.-S.F. 11/259.]'

No. 36. The General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Sir, — Dunedin, Ist September, 1911. Referring to your favour of the 20th June, regarding payment for mails from San Francisco, in order to keep you apprised of whatever remittances come to us through our San Francisco agents, I now enclose copies of advices dated Washington, 12th May and 6th June, from the Second Assistant Postmaster-General to'our San Francisco agents, covering remittances for mails per "Aorangi," 11th January, "Maitai," Bth February, "Aorangi," 20th March, and "Talune," 24th March. It occurs to us that the May advice refers to American mails only, and that the later advice, 6th June, applies to European, &c, mails coming through the United States Post Office. If our conjecture is correct, we take it that there is a further payment due to us, for the American mails, of 4 francs per kilo, for letters and 50 centimes per kilo, for prints; and similarly for the mails referred to in our letter of the 7th June. Meantime we await with much interest the result of your correspondence with Washington. I have, &c, R. McK. McLennan, for General Manager. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. [Wn.-S.F 11/273.]

Enclosure 1 in No. 36. The Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington, to the Agents, Union Steam Ship Company, San Francisco. Sirs, — Post Office Department, Washington, 12th May, 1911. I have the honour to report that the steamers of the Union Steam Ship Company (foreign register) have conveyed the following mails from San Francisco to Oceania during the quarter ended 31st March, 1911, and that the service so performed has been recognized by this Department and referred to the Auditor for payment.

Francs. 1,810,690 grams of letters, at 4f. per kilo. .. . . .. 7,242-76 38,374,290 grams of prints, at 50 cm. per kilo. . . . . .. 19,187-14-10 Total sea-postage .. .. .. ... .. 26,429-90-10 f., or $5,100-90 I have, &c, Joseph Stewart, Second Assistant Postmaster-General. Union Steam Ship Company, J. D. Spreckels and Bros. Company, San Francisco. [Wn.-S.F. 11/272.]

Date. Vessel. Letters. Prints. Parcel Post. 1911. anuary February larch larch 11 8 20 24 Aorangi .. Maitai Aorangi . . Talune .. Grams. 698,990 497,595 85,990 528,115 Grams. 13,007,185 8,396,165 2,320,385 7,949,330 Grams. 2,058,180 2,314,210 513,610 1,815,225 1,810,690 31,673,065 6,701,225 6,701,225 f— 1,810,690 38,374,290