CO129-407 - Public Offices & Others - 1913 — Page 276

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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