}
244291/12.
Secretary,
TREASURY.
COPY.
C.O.
271
7982
8 MAR 3
GENERAL POST OFFICE, LONDON.
28 February 1913.
Sir,
I an directed by the Postmaster General to acquaint
you, for the information of Their Lordships, that Clause 38
of the existing Contract with the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company, dated the 7th of August 1907, for
the performance of the Eastern Mail Service provides that
the Contract shall determine on the 31st of January 1915
if 24 calendar months' notice has previously been given by
either party, and in the absence of such notice, the Contract I
is terminable at any later date after the expiration of a
notice of the same duration.
The Postmaster General duly considered the question of
the advisability of giving the requisite notice at the end
of last month for the determination of the Contract ih
January 1915.
The total value of the service at the present Postal
Union rates, exclusive of the conveyance of parcels, has now
increased to about £390,000; while the amount of the
subsidy is £305,000, including £10,000 in respect of the provision of sea-sorting accommodation.
The Contract, as Their Lordships will remember provides for a fortnightly service between this Country and
Australia, as well as services to India and the Far East;
and