CO129-447 - Governor Sir May - 1918 [1-3] — Page 531

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No

99.

Sir,

REC

27175

REG 4 JUN 18)

GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

HONGKONG. 26th. March, 1918,

523

I have the honour to forward for your

information and instructions copy of a letter which has been sent to the Postmaster-General by the Agent of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company in this Colony.

2.

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•

The Agent states that no payment has been made to the Company by the Colony in respect of the Bombay- -Shanghai section for the last two quarters of the year 1917, end asks that payment should be made and that the payment to be made should be based on the rates obtaining for freight and not in accordance with the rates of payment which are authoris. -ed under the Postal Convention. It appears from the Crow Agents' accounts that a sum of £2,518 5 O has been paid to the General Post Office in respect of the third quarter and also in respect of the fourth quarter of the year. I am un- -able to explain why no communication has been received from the General Post Office on this subject. The present position however is that this Colony has paid in full its share of the mail subsidy but nothing appears to have been paid by the London Office to the Company in respect of the Hongkong-Bombay section for the last six months of the year,

3.

I do not consider the request of the Agent

that payment should be made according to the prevailing

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

WALTER LONG, M.P.

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&C..

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freight