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PUBLIC

RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

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C.O.885

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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We herewith enclose a duplicate copy thereof and now submit the following re- marks for the consideration of the Committee. It will be seen from this letter that the Telegraph Construction Company were invited to reconsider the amount of their tender on the basis that the entire work should be placed in their hands; that the time of completion should be fixed at within three years from the date of the contract; and that their tender should remain open for acceptance until the 31st October, 1900.

They now agree to keep their tender open until the date proposed, and they are willing to undertake the completion of the work within the three years, subject to the contract being signed before the 31st December next.

We regret to find, however, that the reduction in cost which they offer is inconsider able, amounting to about £24,000, which is the estimated cost of the surveying and sounding expedition* (Tender No. 2).

With regard to the date of completion; we had before us the instructions of the Committee to ascertain the price at which the Telegraph Construction Company would undertake completion within 24, 3, and 4 years respectively, and these dates were dis- cussed at interviews between Mr. Taylor and the Managing Director of the Company. It was then made clear that the engagements of the Company did not permit of com- pletion within 2 years and that, on the other hand, no reduction in the cost either to the Governments or to the Contractors themselves could be effected by an extension of time beyond the three years. Three years was therefore agreed to by us as the basis for negotiation.

After our final interview with the Telegraph Construction Company it became necessary to address to them a formal letter stating the terms upon which the Com- mittee desired a revision of the tender, and we accordingly wrote to them on the 28th August last. A copy of our letter to them is enclosed herewith.

C. T. Davis, Esq.,

Secretary,

DEAR SIR,

Pacific Cable Committee.

We are, &c.,

CLARK, FORDE & TAYLOR.

Enclosure 1 in No. 24.

Pacific Cable.

4, Great Winchester Street, London, EC.,

August 28, 1900. THE tenders for the construction and laying of the Pacific Cable, submitted by different contractors, have now been considered by the Committee.

None of the tenders received are acceptable to the Committee with regard to cost, but the Committee consider that the offer submitted by yourselves affords a basis for negotiation.

We have accordingly received instructions to ascertain whether you are prepared to revise your tender in consideration of the following conditions:—

1st. That the three contracts for the construction and laying of the line shall be placed with you.

2nd. That the date of the completion of the whole.work shall be fixed to meet your reasonable convenience, or say within three years from the date of the signing of the contract, so as to enable you to carry out the work on the most economical lines, and you are, therefore, invited to state a price subject to these revised conditions.

3rd. That your tender shall remain open for acceptance until the last day of October, 1900.

It appears to us that the placing of the whole work in the hands of a single con- tractor should, by the removal of competition, enable you to effect the purchase of materials at substantially lower prices, whilst the cost of shipment is likely to be con- siderably reduced. ·

• Tender No. 2 from the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company amounts to £21,500, with an extra charge of £90 a day for additional soundings, in all, say, £24,000.

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We shall be glad if you will consider the points we have raised and will let us have your early reply for the information of the Committee.

W. Shuter, Esq.,

We are, &c.,

CLARK, FORDE & TAYLOR.

Managing Director, Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co., Ltd.,

38, Old Broad Street, E.C.

DEAR SIRS,

Enclosure 2 in No. 24.

Pacific Cable.

Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co., Ltd.,

38, Old Broad Street, London, E.C.,

September 3, 1900.

We have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo, in which you state that the offer submitted by this Company affords a basis for negotiation, and that you are instructed to ascertain whether we are prepared to revise our tender, in consideration (1) that the three contracts for the construction and laying of the line shall be placed with us; (2) that the date for the completion of the whole work shall be fixed to meet our reasonable convenience, or say, within three years from the signing of the contract, so as to enable us to carry out the work on the most economical lines, and inviting us to state a price, and (3) that our tender shall remain open for acceptance until the last day of October, 1900.

With respect to the last condition, we are quite willing to meet the desire of the Committee for an extension of the time for acceptance of the tender until that date.

We shall also be prepared, if the contract for the construction and laying of the entire line is placed with us, to agree the date for the completion of the work withinĮ (say) three years from the date of the contract, if signed not later than 31st December, 1900.

As to the contract price subject to these revised conditions the figures of the tender were in the first instance so carefully considered by us, and we were so anxious to keep our estimate within the most moderate limits, that there is very little margin for à reduction.

We are, however, willing, and hereby offer that the contract sum for the construc tion and laying of the whole line shall include the cost of the sounding and surveying operations to be carried out under Contract No. 4, and any deep-water sounding opera- tions which may be required by the engineer, and which are not provided for in Schedule No. 4.

If this offer be accepted, we shall be prepared to execute one contract to include the manufacture and laying of the entire cable, and the carying out of the whole of the sounding and surveying operations for the sum of £1.795,000 being the total of the three amounts in tender No. 1.

Trusting that this modification of our tender will be satisfactory to the Committee,

I am,

&c.,

W. SHUTER,

Messrs. Clark, Forde & Taylor.

No. 25. *

Managing Director.

MESSRS. CLARK, FORDE & TAYLOR to the PACIFIC CABLE COMMITTEE. [Ausierel by N». 28.]

SIR,

4, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C., September 19, 1900.

IN compliance with the instructions received from you, we addressed a letter to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co.. informing them that in their letter of the 3rd instant the expression "within (say) three years” with regard to the

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