13

E.—3

I am given to understand that Messrs. Cunard recommend that the mails should be despatched throughout the whole year in their boats, which leave Liverpool on Saturday; but this of course would involve an alteration in the time-table. The fastest boats between Liverpool and New York are unquestionably those of the White Star Line, but then the Post Office has only contracts with Messrs. Cunard and Messrs. Inmau and Co. Perhaps, after conferring with the Government of New South Wales, you will deem it advisable to instruct me on the questions now suggested. I have, &c, I. E. Featheeston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 22. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Agext-Geneeal. Sib— General Post Office, Wellington, 15th June, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 17th April last, bringing under my notice the delays which have occurred in the transmission of the colonial mails from Liverpool to Boston, and informing me it had been arranged, as a temporary measure, that the mails would, from the 31st March last and during the summer months, be forwarded to New York instead of Boston. 2. I have to thank you for the attention you have given to the subject, as well as for the valuable suggestions contained in your letter, a copy of which I have forwarded to the Postmaster-General of New South Wales, with the request that he will favour me with his opinions upon it at his earliest convenience. 3. When I receive a reply, I will again communicate with you on the subject. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. Julius Vogel.

No. 23. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Hon. the Postmastee-Geneeal, New South "Wales. Sib,— General Post Office, Wellington, 15th June, 1874. By the Brindisi mail, which has just arrived, I have received a communication from the Agent-General for this colony, in which he directs my attention to the delays the New South Wales and New Zealand mails have suffered in transmission between Liverpool and Boston—a matter you brought under the notice of the Postmaster-General, London, on the Bth of April last. 2. The Agent-General, at the request of the contractors, waited upon the London Post Office authorities with the view of having the mails despatched to New York, and thus to prevent a continuance of the delays. He found, however, that the Cuuard Company, with the concurrence of the Post Office Department, had already decided to convey the mails to New York instead of to Boston— during the summer months only, the Boston route to be again adopted in the winter. 3. The Cunard Company have recommended that the mails should be despatched throughout the whole year by their fast steamers which leave Liverpool every Saturday. 4. I forward you a copy of the Agent-General's letter for your information, in the hope that you will be good enough to favour me with your views thereon at your earliest convenience. 5. Should it be considered advisable to change the days of the despatch of the mails from London, a corresponding alteration would have to be made in the despatch of mails from this side. In any case, it seems to me the time-table might with advantage be altered so as to allow a longer interval between the arrival of the inward and the departure of the outward mails. The result under the existing time-table is that, whenever the inland mails are late in arriving, the despatch of the return mails is necessarily of a hurried character, and but little time is afforded for replying to letters received. I would also suggest that one day later should be fixed for the steamers leaving Auckland for Kandavau, experience having shown that with a later departure the vessels would still arrive in Kandavau as soon as the steamer from New South Wales. Not only does this colony suffer through the mails leaving unnecessarily early, but the delay at Kandavau presses hardly on the contractors, since it lengthens the time for performing the outward service, and thus occasions to the contractors either additional penalties or a less rate of bonus, as the case may be. I have, &c, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, New South Wales. Julius Vogel.

No. 24 The Hon. Saul Samuel to the Hon. J. Vogel. Sib,— General Post Office, Sydney, 11th August, 1874. I have the honor to acknwledge the receipt of your letter dated the 15th of June last, enclosing a communication from the Agent-General of your colony, in which he directs attention to the delays in the transmission of the New South Wales and New Zealand mails between Liverpool and Boston, and mentions a recommendation from the Cunard Company, that the mails should be despatched throughout the whole year by their fast steamers leaving Liverpool every Saturday, which, as you observe, would involve a corresponding alteration in the day of the despatch of the homeward mails. In asking my views on this point, you further remark that in any case you think the time-