E.—No, 3

No. 1. Copy of a Despatch from the Eight Honorable the Earl of Carnarvon to Governor Sir Geoeoe Geey, K.C.B. (Duplicate, New Zealand.—No. 64) Sib, — Downing Street, 15th June, 1866. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Secretary to the Board of Treasury, with its enclosures, from which you will perceive that the amount due from New Zealand on account of the Mail Packet Service, for the year from the Ist of January, 1866, to the 31st of December, 1866, is Twenty-three thousand four hundred and ninety-four pounds nine shillings and sixpence ; making, together with arrears due, the large sum of Forty-six thousand two hundred and fifty-nine pounds four shillings and fourpence. I request that you will lay these papers before your Eesponsible Advisers, and that you will urge upon them the propriety of remitting the whole of the arrears due by the time indicated in the Eeceiver and Accountant-General's Eeport, and of taking measures for complying with the desire expressed by the Postmaster-General, that quarterly remittances should in future bo made at the dates specified in his letter. I trust that your Government will not object to the adoption of this course. I have, &c, Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Edward Caedwell.

Enclosure in No. 1. Mr. Hamilton to Sir F. Eooehs. Sie,— Treasury Chambers, 25th May, 1866. I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to transmit herewith, copy of a letter dated 22nd instant, from the Postmaster-General, relative to the amounts due from the Australian Colonies on account of the Packet Service, together with sixteen copies of a Report from the Ecceiver and Accountant-General of the Post Office, with annexed account, and I am to request that you will move Mr. Secretary Cardwell to cause the necessary communications to be made to the Governments of the several Australian Colonies and of New Zealand, with a view to obtain a punctual discharge of their liabilities. I am to request that the special attention of the Governments of Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand may be drawn to the very large balances due from those Colonies, and that the respective Governments be urged to remit the balances duo by the time indicated in the Receiver and AccountantGeneral's Eeport. 1 am to state that my Lords entirely concur with the Postmaster-General, as regards the expediency of establishing a system of regular quarterly remittances ; and they have therefore to request that the Secretary of State will urge upon the several Colonies the importance of making the quarterly remittances on account of their share of the payments to bo made under the contract in the manner indicated in this Report. I have, &c, Sir F. Rogers, Bart. Geo. A. Hamilton. Sub-Enclosure 1 to Enclosure in No. 1. The Postmastek-General to tho Lobds Commissioners of the Treasury. Mx Loeds, — General Post Office, 22nd May, 1866. I have the honor to transmit the copy of a Report from the Receiver and Accountant-General of the Post Office, accompanied by an account of the amounts chargeable to the several Australian Colonies and New Zealand under tho terms of your Lordship's Minute of the 25th April, 1861, ou account of the Mail Packet Service for the year ending the 31st December, 1866, and an account current showing the whole balance which will be due from each of those Colonies on the 31st December, 1866. I request that vour Lordships will bo pleased to cause these particulars to be communicated to the Governments of the several Colonies by the next mail (on the 26th instant), with a view to their taking steps for the prompt remittance of the balance due in each case. Some of these balances, particularly those due from Victoria and New Zealand, are very large, and it is desirable that special attention should be called to the arrears which have been allowed to accumulate, and that a rule should be laid down for the prevention of such arrears in future. This department is obliged to provide the means of paying, on the Ist January, the Ist April, the Ist July, and the Ist October, of each year, the whole amount due to the contractors for the conveyance of the Indian and Australian Mails, and it is only reasonable that the several Australian

PAPERS RELATIVE TO CONVEYANCE OF MAILS VIA SUEZ.