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who has been, ofor,
past
some months
in communication.
with the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company,
Mr Chater
8.
to you
on
the subject.
and
Before telegraphing
I submitted the whole proposal to the Executive Council and to the Finance
Committee, by which bodies it
was unanimously approved. Since that time the price asked
by the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company
was $6.50 per square foot. A travelling Inspector of
the
Company, to whose decision the
matter was
referred by the
Company, raised the
price
to
$7. a square foot. This made a difference of $18,771. Mr. Chater, who had originally
agreed to pay to Government
for
the portion sold to him the same sum that Government paid for the whole lot,
consented to pay two-thirds of the increased price. The other
third