E.—No. 2.

22

FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE

vessel to carry passengers and freight to and from Sydney or Melbourne, but the said Company shall be entitled to the like proportion of the passage money and freight as if such passengers and freight had been conveyed by one of their own vessels under this agreement. That the said Company shall, if and when thereunto required by the said Contractors, run a boat, to be approved of by the Postmasters-General of New Zealand and Queensland, direct between Auckland and Brisbane, for conveyance to and fro of passengers, mails, and freight; and that, for such direct service, the said Company shall receive during the first six calendar mouths the sum of five thousand pounds; and after the expiration of six calendar months, if the said contractors shall require such direct service to be continued, at the rate of the sum of nine thousand pounds per annum, out of any subsidy or other moneys payable or to be payable by the Queensland Government; but the said Company for such direct service shall be entitled to receive only one-fifth instead of one-fourth of the line traffic by the said direct steamer. That the schedule of fares and freights hereunto annexed and marked A shall be the minimum rates of fares and freights for the conveyance of goods and passengers by the said liuo: Provided, nevertheless, that the Contractors shall have power to reduce the payment for a cabin passage from San Francisco to Melbourne direct, or vice versa, to forty pounds, and for a steerage passage to and from San Francisco via Auckland direct, to fifteen pounds. That the Postmaster-General of New Zealand shall receive and pay over to the said Company their proportion, as herein mentioned, of subsidies from time to time paid by the New Zealand Government or any of the Australian Governments. That nothing herein contained shall have the effect, or be considered to have the effect, of authorizing or empowering the Contractors to make arrangements for the carriage of mails, or to carry mails, with or for any Government, without the consent of the Postmaster-General of New Zealand, or otherwise to restrict him in or alter his powers under the above-recited agreement of the ninth of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one. In witness whereof the said Company hath hereunto affixed its seal, and the said Contractors have hereunto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written. J. Milson, Jr., ) James H. Neale, / Thos. Walker, > Directors. M. Metcalfe, ( John Beewstee, J At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, held at their Office on the 23rd day of February, 1872, the Seal of the said Company was duly affixed hereto in the presence of Wm. H. Teowton, Manager. Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said William Henry Webb, in the presence of W. H. Webb. David Dainteey, John P. Boxburgh. Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said Ben Holladay, by his attorney, William Henry Webb, in the presence of Ben Holladay, David Dainteey, (By his Attorney, W. H. Webb). John P. Boxburgh. On behalf of the Government, of New Zealand, I, the undersigned Julius Vogel, PostmasterGeneral of New Zealand, and a Member of the Executive Council thereof, hereby testify the consent and concurrence of myself, as such Postmaster-General, and of the Government of New Zealand, to the above agreement, so far as regards the vessels to be employed as above, and as regards the performance by the Contractors of the mail service between Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane, and Melbourne, and so long only as the above agreement shall continue. This concurrence is not in any way to restrict, prejudice, or affect the powers of the Postmaster-General of New Zealand under the contract of the seventh of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, nor is it to prejudice or affect the liability of the Contractors thereunder, further than and except as to the employment, during the continuance of the said agreement, of the steam vessels of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, as above, in substitution of steam vessels of the Contractors as above, for the performance by the Contractors of the mail service between Auckland and Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne. Julius Vogel. SCHEDULE A. The Fares and Freights at present are: — First. Second. Third. £ £ £ Sydney to San Francisco ... ... ... ... 40 30 20 Sydney to Honolulu ... ... ... ... 30 20 15 San Francisco to Auckland ... ... ... ... 38 28 18 San Francisco to Sydney ... ... ... ... 40 30 20 San Francisco to Melbourne ... ... ... 44 34 22 San Francisco to Brisbane ... ... ... ... 44 34 22 Wool to San Francisco : Clean, 3s. 4d. ; greasy, ss. Bd.; D. W. and Measurement, 80s. Ditto, Sydney to Honolulu, „ „ „ 60s. Per ton of 2,000 lbs., all with 5 per cent. W. H. Webb.