J?.— B.

No. 303. The Secretary, General Post Office, London, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. (Telegram.) London, 12th March, 1903. German administration state S.R. telegrams (request for repetition) are accepted free of charge for transmission over Pacific cable, contrary to Regulation 18 of International Convention. Post-master-General would be glad if you would enable him to answer this so far as New Zealand administration is concerned.

No. 304. The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington, to the Secretary, General Post Office, London. (Telegram.) Wellington, 12th March, 1903. Our S.R. telegrams for transmission via Pacific cable are not accepted free of charge.

No. 305. The Superintendent, Pacific Cable Station, Doubtless Bay, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. (Telegram.) Doubtless Bay, 13th March, 1903. Please give instructions that the date be signalled in all messages, both international and intercolonial.

No. 306. The General Manager, Pacific Cable Board, London, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Pacific Cable Board, Sanctuary House, Tothill Street, Sir,— Westminster, London, S.W., 19th March, 1903. I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th February, reporting that the settlement of the date and time question as regards telegraph messages vid Pacific had been received with the greatest satisfaction. The matter was a very difficult one to arrange, as the Atlantic companies and the telegraph administrations in the United States and Canada, which do not adhere to the International Convention, are extremely averse to supplying any information as to the original date and time free to the public, and they also naturally do not care to make special rules for dealing with Pacific traffic, forming, as it does, so small a portion of the total traffic they carry. The cost will be considerable, but the Board recognised that there was no alternative in the matter, accustomed as the public in Australia and New Zealand are to this great convenience. The Atlantic companies, though charging for the carriage of the information, were good enough to materially assist us in the arrangements necessary to give effect to the exceptional procedure required. I am, &c, C. H. Reynolds, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. General Manager.

No. 307. The Secretary of State, Ottawa, to the Hon. the Prime Minister, Wellington. (Telegram.) Ottawa, 2nd April, 1903. Canadian Government has requested Cable Board, London, to allow transmission five hundred words Press news daily free of charge for three months. Do you and Australia approve? If so, send request to Cable Board.

No. 308. The General Manager, Pacific Cable Board, London, to the Hon. the PostmasterGeneral, Wellington. (Telegram.) London, 9th April, 1903. Date and time on messages to Europe : Glad to inform you that owing to further asistance of Atlantic companies we have arranged, without extra cost, a cipher which enables Homeward messages to be delivered bearing the original date and time to the nearest ten minutes instead of nearest hour.

No. 309. Messrs. Briscoe and Co., Wellington, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Sir, — Victoria and Harris Streets, Wellington, 14th May, 1903. We wish to place on record our appreciation of the promptness obtained of late in connection with the receipt and despatch of cablegrams vid Pacific. We would mention one in particular which we despatched from Wellington to London at about 6 p.m. on the evening of the Bth instant, the reply to which was in our office before 9 a.m. on the 9th instant. Recently, also, our Australian cables have been delivered much more satisfactorily. Yours, &c, The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Bbisooe and Co. (Limited).

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