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No. 132. The Assistant Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Secretary, POstiiasterGeneral's Department, Melbourne. Sir, — General Post Office, Wellington, 15th April, 1914. In reference to your letter of the 23rd ultimo, bringing under notice that inconvenience has on several occasions lately been experienced owing to the late arrival at Sydney of the mailsteamers from Wellington, and that the work of landing the mails has to be done by members of the Post Office staff, I have the honour to inform you that under the contract for the Wel-lington-Sydney mail-service the Union Company is required to land the mails, and to do so on Tuesdays not later than 6.50 p.m. I sent to the Union Company a copy of your letter, and made the request that it would arrange for the mails to be landed without assistance from your office. I have now received a reply that your representations refer to the period when the labour troubles were at their height, when the Union Company's services were being carried out under great disabilities, and that as normal conditions now obtain it is not likely there will be any occasion for complaint in the future. I wish to express the obligations of this Department for the services the Sydney office has been good enough to render. It is easy to understand that the difficulties under which they were rendered were serious. I have, &c, F. V. Waters Assistant Secretary. The Secretary, Postmaster-General's Department, Melbourne.

No. 133. The Assistant Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Secretary, PostmasterGeneral's Department, Melbourne. Sir, — General Post Office, Wellington, 30th April, 1914. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the Bth instant, in reference to the claim of Messrs. Dalgety and Co. for payment for the conveyance by the s.s. " Zealandic " from Australia to New Zealand in November last of mails originating in the United Kingdom, Europe, and India, and to inform you that it has now been arranged to pay the amount to the Wellington branch of the company. The payment of charges for the conveyance from Australia to New Zealand of mails from the. United Kingdom and foreign places is made by this Department on behalf of the Administrations concerned, and the amounts due are credited to this Department by those Administrations. The practice is to wait until all the amounts due for the Australia - New Zealand transit have been credited to New Zealand before payment is made to the shipping companies concerned. All the accounts from other countries for last year have not yet been received, but in anticipation of their receipt payment to Messrs. Dalgety and Co. for the conveyance in question has been arranged. I have, Ac, F. V. Waters, Assistant Secretary. The Secretary, Postmaster-General's Department, Melbourne.

No. 134. The Assistant Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to Messrs. Dalgety and Co. (Limited), Wellington. Gentlemen, — General Post Office, Wellington, 30th April, 1914. In reference to my letter of the 6th January last stating that payment for the conveyance by the s.s. "Zealandic" from Sydney to Auckland in November last of mails originating in the United Kingdom, Europe, and India would be made to you when the accounts were prepared for last year, I have now the honour to forward herewith a statement showing the sum of £96 ss. 4d. to be due to you for the conveyance in question, and to say that a voucher for the amount has been prepared in your favour and passed for payment. Credit has been given for two trips in view of the fact that the " Zealandic " conveyed an accumulation of two weeks' mails. I have, &c, F. V. Waters, Assistant Secretary. Messrs. Dalgety and Co. (Limited), Agents White Star Steamship Line, Wellington.