5

F.—2

I enclose a copy of a letter (vide No. 8) of the 30th ultimo from the Postmaster-General to the Chamber of Commerce at Christchurch, in answer to a communication from that body of similar purport, which I am to beg you to be good enough to accept as a reply to your own, in so far as it applies. I have, &c, C. Lemon, The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce, Auckland. Superintendent.

No. 11. The Secretaby, Chamber of Commerce, Invercargill, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Sir,— Chamber of Commerce, Invercargill, 20th June, 1885. In pursuance of a resolution passed by the Chamber at a meeting held on the 19th instant, I have the honour, on their behalf, to recommend that a reduction be made in the rates on cable messages sent by the New Zealand cable. This Chamber is of opinion that if the rates were considerably reduced the result would be a sufficient increase of the number of messages sent as to increase the revenue from this branch of the service. I have, &c, Charles Bout, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Secretary.

No. 12. The Superintendent, Post Office and Telegraph Department, to the Secretary, Chamber of Commerce, Invercargill. Sib,-— General Post Office, Wellington, 3rd July, 1885. I have the honour, by direction of the Hon. the Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs, to acknowledge receipt of the representations of your Chamber, conveyed in your letter of the 20th ultimo, in favour of a reduction in the charges for use of the New Zealand-Australian cable. I enclose a copy of a letter, of the 30th ultimo, from the Postmaster-General to the Chamber of Commerce at Christchurch, in answer to a communication from that body of similar import; which I am to beg you to be good enough to accept as a reply to your own, in so far as it applies. I have, &c, C. Lemon, The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce, Invercargill. Superintendent.

No. 13. The Chairman of Directors, United Press Association, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General. Sir, — United Press Association, Wellington, 23rd July, 1885. [Referring to the interview which you were good enough to grant to the directors of this association on Wednesday, in reference to the cable rates between Australia and New Zealand, I have now the honour, on behalf of the directors, to bring under your notice the position in which the Press of this colony is placed in regard to obtaining cable news. There is no concession whatever made to the Press for news messages on the cable between Australia and New Zealand, and full rates have to be paid for every word received, including even the address and signature of messages. We believe that it is not the practice on other cable-lines to insist on ordinary full rates for Press news; but, on the contrary, half-rates, and in some cases one-third rates, are charged. A large reduction, which it is anticipated will be made on the rate for Press messages from England to Australia, will place the New Zealand Press at a most serious disadvantage as compared with that of Australia, unless some corresponding concession of rates is made on the cable between Australia and New Zealand. Heretofore the New Zealand Press, by arrangement with the Australian papers, have been enabled to obtain equal cable news ; but they are not in a position to pay the present full rates for the greatly-increased quantity of news which will reach Australia from England upon the conclusion of negotiations which are now in progress. The United Press Association has no desire to use " code " messages or to decrease the present expenditure on obtaining cable news, and are quite willing to continue to pay an amount at least equal to what they have hitherto paid. As the cable between Australia and New Zealand is not, and is not likely for a long time to come to be, fully occupied with the transmission of messages, the directors would submit that the cable proprietors might, without loss of revenue or extra cost to themselves, reduce the rates of transmission for Press messages to 3d. per word, so as to enable a largely-increased quantity of news to be obtained in return for continued and guaranteed expenditure at least equal to the present average. Such a reduction would also enable the Australian Press to obtain much fuller New Zealand news than is at present supplied to it, and would probably encourage increased expenditure in this direction. On all these grounds, therefore, the directors venture to ask you to be good enough to use your