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4

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE.

By one Intercolonial Service. Two Intercolonial Services. Melbourne, Hokitika, Wellington, Melbourne, Bluff, Wellington, and and Bluff ... ... ... £12,000 Hokitika ... ... ... £12,000 One Interprovincial service and a Melbourne and Sydney... ... 2^000 half ■■■ ... ... 8,000 Sydney and Auckland ... ... 7,'s00 Wellington and Napier ... 650 One Interprovincial service and a half ... ... ... 8,000 Wellington and Napier... ... 650 £20,650 £30 450 Probable Imperial Contribution ... 6,000 Probable Imperial Contribution... 6,'oQO Net cost ... ...£14,650 Net cost ... ...£24,450

Tour Committee are of opinion that not less than two regular Mail Services per month should be kept up between the several ports of the Colony. Accordingly both of the above schemes provide for two complete Interprovincial Services, the southern half of one of them being, however, performed by the Intercolonial steamer. Your Committee abstain from making any recommendations as to which of the two schemes should be adopted ; the question appears to them mainly one of expense. The statements above given will enable your honorable House to form a reliable opinion as to the relative postal advantages of the two proposals, and as to their probable cost, as well as to determine whether the advantages presented by the double service are worth the additional outlay which it will involve. With respect to the San Francisco and Torres Straits Mail Services, your Committee have taken evidence, and have collected the best information at their disposal; such information is, however, necessarily very imperfect. They append to this Eeport a valuable Memorandum by Lieutenant Woods, Marine Surveyor, on the Pacific line, as well as a Memorandum from the same officer on the peculiarities of the navigation between Brisbane and Singapore via Torres Straits. Por the purpose of illustrating the comparative utility for postal purposes of the two routes above mentioned, as well as of that now in use by way of Melbourne and King George's Sound, your Committee append a Time Table showing the dates at which mails sent on the same day from London by each of those routes would arrive at the several ports in New Zealand. Table showing Dates op Arrival at the different Ports of New Zealand of a Mail from London via Melbourne and Hokitika, via Singapore and Auckland, and via San Prancisco and Auckland, respectively.

Via Melbourne and Hokitika.

Via Singapore and Auckland.

Ports. Dates. No. of Days in transit, London via Marseilles ... Melbourne Hokitika Wellington Lyttelton Port Chalmers... Bluff Picton Nelson Taranaki Napier Manukau ... dep. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. June August )> )) j) 3) 18 5 11 13 14 15 17 13 14 16 14 17 ...t 48 54 56 57 58 60 56 57 59 57 60 ;; j> ;> J) » >>

London via Marseilles ... Singapore Brisbane Auckland Napier Wellington Ly ttelton Port. Chalmers... Bluif Picton Nelson Taranaki Hokitika .. ; . ... dep. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. ... arr. June 18 July 23 August 9 19 22 23 25 26 29 24 „ 25 27 29 ...f 85 52* 62 65 ■ 66 68 69 72 67 68 70 72 - * Tlie actual lime occupier! between London and Queensland in six experimental Vide E.—No. 41808, page 19.) t Tlio time stated to be occupied via Singapore and King George's Sound is th iulk of the Mails are sent by Southampton, and take six days longer in their transmisi 1 voyages made in 1SGG, was 66} days. iat taken by the Marsei sion. lies Mail; the