F.—l.

The Conference accepted the proposals, but in doing so, resolved that the Imperial Government should be asked to bear one-half the loss the colonies had to guarantee ; the balance to be shared by the colonies on the basis of population. The Conference also stipulated that the duplicate-cable subsidy >of £32,400 (now borne by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, and which has eleven years to run), and the subsidy of £4,200 in respect of the Tasmanian duplicate cable (at present paid by Tasmania), in all £36,600 per annum, should be shared by Great Britain and the whole of the colonies in the same proportions as the guarantee. (Queensland, while agreeing to bear its proportion of the guarantee, declined to share the subsidy.) And, further, that, as the Eastern Company's proposals were based on the assumption that the South Australian land-line charges between Adelaide and Port Darwin would be reduced from Is. 2d. to sd. per word, the Conference decided that the other colonies should recoup South Australia any loss the reduction would involve. Any colony not joining in the guarantee would be required to pay proportionately higher rates for its telegrams. Subsequently, and conditionally on New Zealand accepting the company's proposals, and joining the other colonies in the guarantee, the Eastern Company agreed to reduce the New Zealand-Sydney cable rates from Is. to 6d. per word on international messages, from Bs. 6d. to 6s. for ten words on intercolonial messages, and press messages to 2d. per word—the company taking one-half the risk of loss of receipts, and the colony to guarantee the other half. The effect to New Zealand of these proposed reductions would be : On international messages a rate of ss. 2d. per word in place of 10s. 4d. ; a new rate of 4s. Bd. for Government messages (New Zealand Government international messages are now charged the full rate of 10s. 4d. per word, as the colony does not contribute to the duplicate subsidy) ; for international press messages a rate of 2s. 3d. per word in the place of 3s. sd. ; and on intercolonial messages, as already stated, a reduction from Bs. 6d. to 6s. for ten words. The amount paid by New Zealand on outward cable-messages for 1889, the estimated receipts under the proposed reduced tariff; the saving to the telegraphing public of the colony; and the colony's estimated liability (on the assumption it would have to make good one-half the loss of receipts) in respect of guarantee, and of the subsidy, based on the figures for that year, are given in the following statement: — Paid out by Receipts under • , Colony's New Zealand for proposed p w* Estimated Cables, 1889. Eeduced Tariff. X UDUO- Liability. £ £ £ £ International messages ... 24,825 ... 10,988 ... 13,837 ... 6,918 Intercolonial messages ... 10,543 ... 7,443 ... o, 100 ... 1, 550 35,368 18,431 16,937 8,468 Subsidies ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6,730 £15,198 This.is without taking into account any probable increase of traffic. The colony's liability, of course, would be reduced in proportion to the increase of business. In addition to the liability of £15,198, the colony would also have to pay a proportion of the loss on the South Australian landline. The appeal to the Imperial Government to share half the guarantee and subsidy has been unsuccessful, the Treasury refusing to contribute. It now remains to be seen what further action is to be taken by the Australian Colonies in the matter of the proposed reduction. POST OFFICE. The business for the calendar year was much larger than that for 1888. The number of letters, post-cards, book-packets and pattern-parcels, and newspapers delivered and posted during the year, compared with the number dealt with in 1888, was as under: — 1889. 1888. Increase. Letters—Delivered .. .. .. .. 21,274,390 20,895,316 Posted .. .. .. .. 21,026,837 19,502,704 42,301,233 40,398,020 1,903,213 Post-cards—Delivered .. .. .. .. 914,342 820,391 Posted .. -.. .. .. 935,818 833,706 1,850,160 1,654,097 196,063 Books and sample-packets-—Delivered .. .. 2,604,719 2,362,230 Posted .. .. 2,776,774 2,366,078 5,381,493 4,728,308 653,185 Newspapers—Delivered .. .. .. .. 8,448,630 8,461,453 Posted .. .. .. .. 8,272,381 7,741,396 16,721,016 16,202,849 518,167 The letters increased 471, post-cards 1185, books and sample-packets 13-81, jind newspapers 3-20 per cent. The increase in 1888 was—Letters 2-59, post-cards 2-89, books and sample-packets 946, and newspapers 5-34 per cent. The average number of letters posted per head of population was estimated to be 34i 25 ;in 1888 the average was 3222.

VIII