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No. 103. The Technical Manager, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Limited, Sydney, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Limited, Culwulla Chambers, Sir,— ? l| Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 12th September, 1913. I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 29th August, in the matter of proposals for reduction of radio-telegraphic rates. I brought this matter before my board yesterday, and strongly recommended itlfor favourable consideration, and I am pleased to inform you that my views were endorsed by the board. We are now investigating past records and the possibilities of future development; and although it is not possible to give a definite answer to your proposals at the present moment, I am pleased to inform you that this company is in favour of making some reduction for colonial ships trading between New Zealand ports, and that the matter is now receiving our best consideration. I will communicate with you further at as early a date as possible, but I may not be able to give you our final decision until after the next meeting of our board, which will be held in the second week of October. I have, &c, E. T. Fisk, Technical Manager, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Limited. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington.

No. 104. The Assistant Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin. Sir, — General Post Office, Wellington, I.6th September, 1913. With reference to your letter of the 11th instant, regarding the proposed reduction in the charges for the transmission of ordinary radio-telegrams, I think there is no need for you to communicate with Mr. Fisk. I anticipate he will send you a copy of the reply he gives the Department. I have, &c, F. V. Waters, Assistant Secretary. The General Manager, Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin.

No. 105. The Technical Manager, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Limited, Sydney, to the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington. Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), Limited, Culwulla Chambers, ..Sir, — Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 9th October, 1913. I have the honour again to refer to your communication dated the 29th August and my reply thereto of the 12th September. The proposals you were good enough to make were fully discussed at our board meeting yesterday, and I am pleased to inform you that we shall be agreeable to comply with your suggestions for reducing the present radio-telegraph rates on board ships operated by this company trading exclusively between Australia and New Zealand, and between ports on the coast of New Zealand ; the total charge to be sd. per word, and divided in the proportion of three-fifths to the coast station and two-fifths to the ship station. With reference to the mail-steamers trading between New Zealand and San Francisco, New Zealand and Vancouver, and New Zealand and the South Sea Islands, we should prefer not to make the reduction at the present time, but to watch the effect of the reduced rates on those ships already mentioned, and then, if after a suitable trial-period an extension appears to be justified, we shall be very pleased to again consider the question. For the exchange of telegrams exclusively between ships to which the reduced rates will apply I foresee some difficulty in making a similar reduction, because the arrangement at present applies only when they are in communication with the New Zealand coast stations, and not during other parts of their voyage. I think the best arrangement for the time being will be to make a rate of 4d. per word for messages exchanged between any two ships licensed by your Administration i.e., 2d. per word for each ship ; and when communicating with ships licensed elsewhere the present ship-tax of 4d. per word should be charged for such other ships, and 2d. per word for the New Zealand ship. We propose, if after a suitable trial the reduction is justified by a sufficient increase in traffic, to approach the Commonwealth Government with a suggestion to apply similar rates on the Australian coast, and if this is done the reduced ship-tax can be applied to all communications between any ships registered in the Dominion or the Commonwealth. We suggest, if suitable to you, that the new rates should come into force on the Ist January, 1914 ; and simultaneously with their introduction we have decided to expend a considerable sum upon thoroughly advertising the service, as we realize that at the present time the public has not been educated to the use of wireless telegraphic communication between shore and ship.