Governor
Hongkong
No 284.
24th May 1867.
Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, K.C.B.
His Grace
The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.
Postal remittances.
Exception taken by Her Majesty's Treasury to Course followed by Governor.
Reasons why exception tenable is not at all complete or clear. He states, indeed, distinctly that the reasoning is entirely in error, in saying the practice to have been that of Rating at 4/3d., which, he says, has never occurred once, - but I am unable to understand His Lordship from his account what he considers to be the obligation of the Colony towards the Imperial Government. Up to 1861 the Imperial Government managed the P.O. when in China, as it is elsewhere.
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The forces were paid by the Colony, but in that year made over to the Imperial Government on terms of a customs division of postage between the Colony and the Imperial Government. And in 1862, an arrangement was hoped to carry out this understanding.
Art. IV. (1st of 1862 amendment) was to convert all payments made by the Colony to the Imperial Government into Sterling at the rate of 4/3d. - I can find nothing in the correspondence to support the binding on Colony to pay the Imperial Government at 4/3d.
The Middlemore correspondence provides that this amount payable to the Imperial Postoffice shall be governed by the Regulations from time to time, & that the sums due from the Colony shall be paid in like manner.
Mr. S. M. Gen. Scott from time to time affirms it was never intended for this office to claim more than is right, the debts on the French Mail are at once plain matter of fact - the rate at which the payments are made without a report from the Postmaster General.
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