MAIL CARRIAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 126, 1 June 1904, Page 3

MAIL CARRIAGE.

VICTORIA PAYS TWICE OVER. MELBOURNE. May 31. A curious blunder has been made by the Victorian postal authorities over tho carriage of 'Frisco mails. .Under the old arrangement the State remitted poundage payments to the New Zealand Government, which handed them over to the contractors. Under the new method the Federal Government conveyed mails and pla- . ced them aboard the steamer at Sydney, and debited each State with the amount due for Its mails. The Victorian postal authorities, in addition to paying this, continued remitting to Newi Zealand the twelve shillings poundage rate, oblivious of the fact that it was paying twice, until the Auditor-General dropped on the matter. Ho is now seeking to secure repayment of over £3OOO from the Oceanic Company, THE OCEANIC COMPANY'S STATEMENT, (Received June 1, 1.15 a.m.) SYDNEY, May 31. The agents of the Oceanic SteamBhip Company state that in place of the alleged over-payment of £3920 lon carriage of mails there has been an under-payment amounting to £13,000 since 1900. Of the sum alleged to have been over-paid £I2OO only came into their hands, while £2715 was paid to the New Zealand Postal Department which transferred it to the Oceanic Company. Theagents assert that in consequence of the extreme lowness of the amount for mails they have been definitely instructed to ask the department to relieve them of the duty of carrying the Australian mails unless the authorities can see their way to L,P«y & moderate remuneration.