SAN ERANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

E.—No. 4b,

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and delivered to the said the Hon. Julius Vogel their joint and several bond in the said sum of £25,000 sterling, conditioned upon the true and faithful performance by them of the said contract on their part: And whereas by a letter or instrument in writing, bearing date on the said 7th day of March, in the year 1871, the said William H. AVcbb and Ben Holladay jointly and severally engaged and promised to and with the said the Hon. Julius A Togel, within four months from the date thereof, to furnish one good and sufficient surety upon the said bond on that day made by them as aforesaid, as by reference to the said letter or instrument in writing will more fully appear: And whereas the said the Hon. Julius A 7ogel has this day agreed to accept, and hereby does accept, the said Ben Holladay as such surety, in fulfilment of the terms of the aforesaid letter or instrument in writing, and in addition to the security of the aforesaid bond of the said William H. Webb and Ben Holladay, this instrument in no wise altering or changing the same: Now, the conditions of the above obligations are such that if the said AVilliam H. Webb or Ben Holladay, or cither of them, their or either of their respective heirs, executors, administrators, or authorized assigns, shall well and truly keep and perform the conditions of the aforesaid bond made by them on the aforesaid 7th day of March, 1871, to the said the Hon. Julius Vogel, and shall well and truly pay the said sum of money thereby secured to be paid according to the true intent and meaning thereof, as by reference f o the said bond will more fully appear, then the above obligation to be null and void and of no effect, and the obligator thereto to be fully discharged therefrom. But if the said William H. AVebb or the said Ben Holladay, or their representatives as aforesaid, or their said assigns, shall fail to keep and perform the aforesaid bond, or to pay the said sum of money according to the true intent and meaning thereof, then the above bounden Ben Holladay, as surety as aforesaid, his heirs, executors, or administrators, shall pay or cause to be paid to the said the Hon. Julius Vogel, Postmaster-General as aforesaid, or to his successor or successors in office for the time being, the above-mentioned sum of £25,000 sterling as aforesaid, liquidated damages, and this obligation to remain in full force and effect. (1.5.) Ben Holladay, per Geo. K. Otis, Attorney. Sealed and delivered in the presence of— F. F. Marbury, jun., Charles Fox. United States of America, State of New York, City and County of New York, on this 11th day of July, 1871, before me, Francis F. Marbury, junior, a Public Notary in and for the State of New York, duly commissioned and sworn, dwelling in the City of New York, personally came George K. Otis, the attorney in fact of Ben Holladay, known to me to be the individual described in, and who as such attorney executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same as and for the act and deed of Ben Holladay as aforesaid, under and in virtue of a certain letter of attorney executed and acknowledged by him, the said Ben Holladay, to him, the said George K. Otis, and bearing date tho 22nd day of February, 1871. AVitness my hand and seal of office, at the City of New York aforesaid, the day and year last above written. F. F. Marbury, jun., Notary Public, New York.

No. 125. Mr. Webb to the Hon. J. Vogel. United States, New Zealand, and Australian Mail Steamship Line Agency, Sir,— San Francisco, 18th July, 1871. The establishment of a line of steamers (belonging to the A.S.N. Co., of Sydney), running between Sydney, via Fiji and Honolulu, and San Francisco, in opposition to our line, obliges us to make a change in the plan adopted at present for the running of our line. We therefore come to you asking some additional favours. We propose to avail ourselves of the privilege in clause 14 of the contract, which allows us, during the first thirteen complete services between San Francisco and New Zealand each way, to cause the vessel arriving at Auckland to be run on to Sydney, under certain provisions. The chief provision is, that in the meantime we shall leave at Auckland one of the contract vessels to proceed to Port Chalmers via coastal way ports. With this provision we are not yet able to comply. It is necessary to advertise immediately, both in Europe and New Zealand, as well as in Australia, that our steamers will proceed, on arrival at Auckland, direct to Sydney, without change of passengers or freight—the service to commence with the steamer leaving here in August, and terminate with the completion of the remaining voyages of the thirteen, or sooner if satisfactory arrangements are arrived at with the Australian Colonies for payment of subsidies. AVe therefore are obliged to ask of the Postmaster-General a temporary suspension of that provision above mentioned, and thus enable us to substitute during said period other steamers to perform the New Zealand coast service, or in lieu thereof submit to such deductions of subsidy as the Post Office Department may find necessary to pay to have that service performed. We also ask that on the return of the Postmaster-General to New Zealand, the following modifications will be made to the existing contract, viz.:— Provision to be made by which we shall receive the whole of any subsidies to be obtained from other Colonies, we agreeing to surrender a portion, to be hereafter agreed upon, of that now received from New Zealand, when other subsidies are obtained. » 2