DUPLICATION OF TELEGRAPH CABLE FROM PORT DARWIN (FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1879 Session I, F-04a

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1879. NEW ZEALAND.

DUPLICATION OF TELEGRAPH CABLE FROM PORT DARWIN (FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO).

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. No. 1. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach to His Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson. Sir,— Downing Street, 25th April, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 10th of April, conveying the assent of your Government to the terms proposed in my telegram of the 7th of April, by which the cable which was about to be used for the duplication of the Australian Telegraph Service could be made available for the immediate construction of a cable to South Africa. The Government of New South Wales, and Mr. Graham Berry on behalf of the Government of Victoria, have also assented to the proposed arrangement, and I enclose for the information of your Government copy of the correspondence which has passed on the subject. I also enclose a copy of a letter from the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company, on which my telegram of the 7th of April was founded, together with a copy of the reply, in which I have communicated to the Company the decisions of the Australasian Governments in the matter; and I have to request that you will convey to your Government the thanks of Her Majesty's Government for their ready acquiescence in the arrangement proposed by the Company. I have, &c, Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c. M. E. Hicks Beach.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1. The Officer Administering the Government of New South Wales to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. (Telegram.) loth April, 1879. This Government accedes to request for use of cable on conditions stated; but colonies' contract should be signed forthwith. Alfred Stephen.

Enclosure 2 in No. 1. The Colonial Office to the Hon. Graham Berry. Sir, — Downing Street, 7th April, 1879. In the course of the negotiations which have recently taken place between Her Majesty's Government and Mr. Pender, acting on behalf of the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company, for the laying of a submarine cable between Aden and Natal, Mr. Pender solicited the good offices of Her Majesty's Government in obtaining the concession of the Governments of Victoria and New South "Wales to the postponement of the duplication of the Australian cable for a short period ; and I am now directed by Sir Michael Hicks Beach to enclose, for your information, a copy of a letter which Sir J. Anderson has addressed to this department on the subject. Her Majesty's Government would be much obliged if the Government of Victoria would assist them by making such arrangements with the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company as would permit of the use for the South African line of the cable now ready; and he trusts that you may feel yourself able to consent, on the part of your Government, to what is proposed. I am to add that a similar request has been addressed by telegraph to the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand. I have, &c., The Hon. Graham Berry. R. G. W. Herbert.

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Enclosure 3 in No. 1. The Hon. Graham Berry to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Alexandra Hotel, London, 9th April, 1879. I am directed by the Hon. Graham Berry to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, and of the enclosure from Sir James Anderson, Director of the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company; and to inform you that the Government of Victoria ■willingly consent to the proposed extension of time within which the second cable is to be laid to Port Darwin; and it is with satisfaction they are thus able to co-operate in assisting to secure safety and peace for that part of Her Majesty's dominions at present in greatest need of such help. I have, &c., R. G. W. Herbert, Esq., Colonial Office. H. H. Hayter.

Enclosure 4 in No. 1. The Colonial Office to the Hon. Graham Berry. Sir,— Downing Street, 17th April, 1879. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant, and to convey to you the thanks of Her Majesty's Government for the ready acquiescence which you have expressed on behalf of the Government of Victoria in the proposed" extension of the time to be allowed to the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company for the laying of the duplicate Australian cable. Sir Michael Hicks Beach desires me, at the same time, to enclose, for your information, copies of the replies which have been received by telegraph from the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand, and I am to say that copies of these telegrams and of your letter have been communicated to the Company, in reply to their letter of the 2nd instant. I have, &c., The Hon. Graham Berry. R. G. W. Herbert.

Enclosure 5 in No. 1. Sir James Anderson to Sir M. E. Hicks Beach. The Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company (Limited), Sir,— 66, Old Broad Street, London, E.C., 2nd April, 1879. With reference to the conversation which Lord 'IVeeddale had with you this morning on the subject of the cable to be laid for the Australian Colonies, it has been well understood in Australia that the Company were making the cable, and were prepared to lay it considerably within the contract time. In the newspaper reports which have gone out it has been stated that 2,000 miles of the cable intended for the Australian Colonies were being diverted, in order to be laid to the Cape of Good Hope. We learn that this announcement has occasioned some annoyance to the representatives of the colonies, who feel that their convenience has been sacrificed without their sanction having been solicited. Our agreement with the Australian Colonies stipulates that the contract shall be signed on or before the Ist July next, and that the cable shall be laid in eight mouths from the date of signing the contract, which has not yet been signed. All the details arc, however, agreed to. What we ask is, that the eight months for laying the cable shall count from the Ist July, instead of from the date of signing the contract, and that one or two weeks' further grace may be given if such delay prove unavoidable. In consideration of this, we agree, on behalf of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company, that the half-rates for Government telegrams, and quarter-rates for Press telegrams, over that system shall commence from the date of signing the contract instead from the date of the subsidies commencing to be paid. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bart., James Anderson, Colonial Office, S.W. Director.

Enclosure 6 in No. 1. The Colonial Office to Sir James Anderson. Sir, — Downing Street, 17th April, 1879. In reply to your letter of the 2nd instant, I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to transmit to you, for the information of the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company (Limited), copy of the correspondence which has passed by telegraph •with the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand, and with Mr. Graham Berry^as representing the Government of Victoria, with respect to the request contained in your letter that the Company should be allowed to count the eight months for the laying of the duplicate Australian cable from the Ist July next, instead of from the date of signing the contract with the representatives of the colonies in this country. I have, &c, Sir James Anderson, R. G. W. Herbert. Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company. By Authority : GbokOß Didsbtjbt, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB79. Priet 3d.]