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Enclosure 1 in No. 46. The Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington, to the Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. Post Office Department, Office of Foreign Mails, Washington, 15th April, 1899. Respectfully referred to Mr. H. Stephenson Smith, Resident Agent of New Zealand Government, San Francisco, Gal. [Bee sub-enclosure], for his information in connection with the correspondence closed by his reply under date of the Ist March, 1898, to my letter of the 23rd February, 1898. [Enclosures 1 and 2in No. 107, F.-6, 1898.] Please return these papers to this office with any information you may be able to furnish. N. M. Beooks, Superintendent of Foreign Mails.

Sub-enclosure to Enclosure 1 in No. 46. The J. 0. Ayee Company, Lowell, Mass., to the Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington, D.C. Sir,— Lowell, Mass., 14th April, 1899. Referring to the correspondence we had with your honourable department in the matter of the Australasian mail-service, which was closed by your favour of 26th May, 1898, we have to point out that, instead of the time available to houses on the Atlantic seaboard for attending to correspondence being extended, it now seems that it is to be actually lessened. The s.s. " Mariposa," instead of arriving at San Francisco on the sth instant, as per schedule, arrived at that port on the 7th, and her mail was, of course, two days late in reaching Lowell. We see in this morning's cable news that the s.s. " Moana," instead of leaving Sydney 10th April, as per schedule, did not leave that port until the 12th April, and therefore her mail, due in New York on the Bth May, must be two days late also. From this we infer that steamers are lying at Sydney two days longer than as originally scheduled, and that the exceedingly short time available under original schedule to houses here in Lowell and other eastern cities is to be still further curtailed by these two days' detention at Sydney. As we have heretofore pointed out, mail-steamers under this arrangement will lie at Sydney twenty-three days, and all Australian business houses using this mail-service are within at least three days' time of Sydney. On the contrary, the steamers will only lie at San Francisco twelve days, and pretty nearly the whole of this period is occupied in the arrival of the mail at Lowell, and return of same to the steamer in San Francisco. We respectfully submit that this is most prejudicial to business interests. We fail to understand why the colonial authorities should not recognise the same and remedy the inconvenience. As matters now stand, should there happen to be any delay caused by storms or otherwise, it is impossible for us to catch the outgoing mail, and registered letters are bound to be late. Trusting the matter may have favourable consideration, We have, &c, The Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington, D.C. J. C. Ayer Company.

Enclosure 2 in No. 46. The Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington. Sir, — Resident Agency for New Zealand, San Francisco, 21st April, 1899. I much regret that this communication did not reach me a few hours sooner, as the Australian mail has just left. The matter complained of in the communication of the J. C. Ayer Company will be brought to the attention of the Hon. the Postmaster-General of New Zealand, and I trust he may be enabled to see his way to afford some relief in the direction indicated by the Ayer's Company. H. Stephenson Smith, Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco. N. M. Brooks, Esq., Superintendent of Foreign Mails, Washington.

No. 47. The Resident Agent for New Zealand, San Francisco, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Sir, — Resident Agency for New Zealand, San Francisco, 12th May, 1899. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communications of the 7th and 15th April last [Nos. 130 and 94, F.-6, 1899], the former confirming cables received and sent in connection with the disposal of through British mails originally intended to have been sent forward to New Zealand vid Vancouver. In this connection I would state that I have received both telegraphic and postal communications from Washington and from the Canadian Post Office Department seeking information as to the most expeditious mode of forwarding their local correspondence to New Zealand points. I have replied stating that, as far as I am advised, their correspondence should come through San Francisco. I am also pleased to learn by your communication of the 15th April that the Postmaster, New York, does not anticipate any difficulty in securing through connections at New York for the mails