122
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

General Post Office,
1st August, 1857.

SIR.—With reference to Lord Canning's Let-
ters to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury,
dated the 18th July and the 2nd Decem-
ber, 1854, requesting their Lordships to bring
under the consideration of the several Colonial
Governments, through Her Majesty's Secretary
of State for the Colonies, a proposition made
by the East India Company to establish a
Book Post between India and the
Australian Colonies, and between India and
Ceylon and Mauritius, I am directed by the
Postmaster- General to acquaint you for
the information of Mr. Secretary Labou-
chere, that, as the consent of all the Go-
vernments concerned has now been received, His
Grace has obtained the authority of the Lords
of the Treasury for carrying the measure into
effect on the 1st October next.

In another letter of this day's date, I have
had the honor to explain an alteration which is
about to be made in the scale for levying pos-
tage under the Colonial Book Post, and that
alteration will extent to all Inter-Colonial Book
Packets forwarded between the Colonies above
mentioned.

The charge will, therefore, be as follows :—
s. d.
For a packet not exceeding four ounces 0 3
For a packet exceeding four ounces
and not exceeding half a pound .. 0 6
For a packet exceeding half a pound,
and not exceeding one pound 1 0
For a packet exceeding one pound,
and not exceeding one and a half
pounds... 1 6
For a packet exceeding one and a half
pound, and not exceeding two pounds 2 0
and so on increasing 6d. for each additional
half-pound or fraction of half a pound.

A Book Post will at the same time be estab-
lished between the Australian Colonies, Cey-
lon, or Mauritius, and Malta and Gibraltar;
but, as these Book Packets will pass over the
Isthmus of Suez, an additional charge will be
made, on account of the expense of transit, and
the postage will be—

s. d.
For a Packet not exceeding four ounces 0 4
For a packet exceeding four ounces and
not exceeding half a pound 0 8
For a packet exceeding half a pound
and not exceeding one pound .. 1 4
For a packet exceeding one pound and
not exceeding one and a half pound 2 0
For a packet exceeding one and a half
pound and not exceeding two pounds 2 8
and so on, increasing 8d. for each additional
half pound or fraction of half a pound.

In acquainting you with the course intended
to be pursued, the Postmaster-General desires
me to request that you will be good enough to
move Mr. Secretary Labouchere to cause the
officers administering the Governments of Vic-
toria, New South Wales, South Australia,
Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand,
Mauritius, and Ceylon, to be informed of the

Auckland:-Printed by W. C. WILSON, for the New Zealand Government.

arrangements which will be carried out on the
date above mentioned.

I have, &c.,
J TILLEY,

Herman Merivale, Esq.,
Colonial Office.

General Post Office,
August 21st, 1857.

SIR,—I am directed by the Postmaster-Ge-
neral to acquaint you, that the Lords of Her
Majesty's Treasury have authorized British
Postage Stamps to be used in payment of the
postage of Letters posted at Gibraltar.
Letters, therefore, despatched from Gibraltar,
bearing Britisk Postage Stamps of an amount
equal to the postage with which such Letters
are chargeable, should henceforth be treated in
the same manner as if the postage had been
prepaid in money.

I am, &c.,
ROWLAND HILL,
Secretary,

The Postmaster General,
Auckland.

General Post Office, London,
11th September, 1857,

SIR,—With reference to my letter of the 11th
November last, transmitting a Table of the
rates of postage to be collected in New Zealand
upon letters forwarded to the United Kingdom
for transmission to British Colonies or Foreign
Countries, I have to acquaint you, that a new
Postal convention has been concluded between
this Country and Belguim, under the terms of
which a reduction will take place on the 1st
October next, and thenceforward, in the postage
of letters addressed to Belgium.

Instead of the rates chargeable upon letters
addressed to Belgium, according to the Table
above referred to, the postage (British and Bel-
gium combined) will be as follows.—viz.

For a letter not exceeding 1/2 ounce
in weight 0 s. d.
0 4
For a letter above 1/2 ounce and not
exceeding 1 ounce 0 8
For a letter above 1 ounce and not
exceeding 2 ounces........... 1 4
and so on, according to the British scale of
weight, adding eight pence for every additional
ounce.

I request that you will be good enough to
cause these reduced rates to be accounted for to
this office, in future, for all letters sent to this
country for transmission to Belgium, and that,
in addition, you will cause the usual French
transit rate to be credited to this office for such
of the correspondence in question, as may be
forwarded by the route of Marseilles.

This postage must be paid in advance, in ac-
cordance with the general regulations laid down
in my letter of the 18th October last.

I am, &c.,
F. HILL,

The Postmaster-General,
Auckland, New Zealand,