:
CONFIDENTIAL.
sir,
C.O.
34362
Reca
REGE 30 OCT 12
GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
HONGKONG. 3rd. October, 1912.
162
no 109167
Bastion.
With reference to Lord Elgin's Confidential
Despatch of 4th. April, 1907, and other correspondence on the
subject of the apportionment of this Colony's share of the subsidy
payable under the contract for the Eastern Mail Service, I have
the honour to draw attention to the altered circumstances in the
transmission of mails between the United Kingdom and Hongkong, and to recommend that the amount of subsidy payable by Hongkong should
be decreased on the expiration of the existing contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
2.
I would refer to the printed correspondence
regarding the Eastern Mail Service, forwarded to you in my 3894-2_ Despatch of November 14th., 1910, No. 393, from which it is seen
To that this service is organised for commercial and political
reasons, as well as for postal purposes; and that the main factor
in the apportioning of cost to the several contributors was the
number of letters sent and received, by each contributor with the
United Kingdom.
3.
By a recent decision of His Majesty's Post-
-master-General, all letters and postcards, unless marked by the
senders to the contrary, are sent by the Siberian route; and the
reciprocal alangement is now in force for letters and postcards from Hongkong to Europe. In November, 1911, Siberian postal
statistics were taken. These show that the cost to Hongkong for
correspondence
HE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P.,
200.,
&c..
&0..