F.—9.

1895. NEW ZEALAND

CANADIAN PACIFIC MAIL-SERVICE. (PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HON. THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND AND Mr. JAMES HUDDART, STEAMSHIP OWNER.)

Laid upon the Table of the House of Representatives by leave, and ordered to be printed.

Articles of Agreement made this 19th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1895, between the Hon. J G. Ward, Postmaster-General of New Zealand (hereinafter called. " the PostmasterGeneral," in which expression his successors in office for the time being are respectively intended to be included) of the one part, and James Huddart (hereinafter called " the contractor," which expression shall be deemed to include the heirs, executors, administrators, and permitted assigns of the said James Huddart when the context so requires or admits) of the City of London, in England, steamship owner, of the other part. Witnesseth that, for and in consideration of the covenants and agreements hereinafter contained on the part of the Postmaster-General, the said James Huddart or his heirs, executors, and administrators doth covenant and agree to and with the Postmaster General, his heirs and successors, in manner and form to the effect following, that is to say : —■ 1. He will provide, establish, and during the continuance of this contract maintain, continue, and carry on in the manner hereinafter set forth, a regular steamship service between a port in Australia and Auckland or Wellington (at the option of the contractor), New Zealand, and the City of Vancouver in the Province of British Columbia, with the option of the contractor calling at the port of Suva, Fiji, and at Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands, and at the City of Victoria in the said Province of British Columbia (or as near thereto as'the steamships can safely go), on both the homeward and outward voyages from New Zealand to Vancouver and from Vancouver to New Zealand. 2. The contractor shall have the option of making either of the above-named New Zealand ports the terminal port, and, in the event of one of the above-named New Zealand ports so becoming the terminal port, the contractor undertakes that the said service shall make connection at the New Zealand port with a line of steamers for Sydney and other ports on the Continent of Australia, so as to provide and secure an effective steamship service between British Columbia, New Zealand, and the Australian Colonies. 3. The steamships performing the mail-service between Australia, New Zealand, and British Columbia shall be regularly and continuously employed in the said service, and each steamship shall be of a gross tonnage of not less than 3,300 tons. Each of the steamships shall have approved triple-expansion machinery refrigerators for ship's use, and for carrying not less than about eleven thousand carcases of mutton, or an insulated cubic capacity of about 20,000 ft. for cold storage. The steamships shall also be fitted with duplicate electric light engines, special ventilation for tropical voyages, ample saloon and cabin accommodation for at least 130 passengers, and provided with every comfort and convenience that is to be found in the best mail liners of their size. Each of the said steamships is also warranted to be of the highest class at British Lloyds, and to have been or to be built under the supervision of the London Board of Trade and each of the said steamships shall during the continuance of this contract be at all times tight and strong, well and sufficiently manned, victualled, and equipped and sufficiently seaworthy 4. The contractor shall have the option of commencing this contract after the expiration of eight months from the date of these presents, and one of the steamships shall sail from the elected port in New Zealand upon its first voyage in the performance of this contract not later than a day in December of the year 1896. The period of each voyage from one of the above-named ports in New Zealand to the acceptance of a pilot in British Columbia, or vice versa, subject to delays beyond the contractor's control, shall not exceed twenty-two days, including all detentions at Suva and Honolulu on each voyage both outward and homeward, and the said service shall be four-weekly— that is to say, every twenty-eight days the said steamships shall arrive alternately at British Columbia and a New Zealand port, at intervals of not more than four weeks after the first arrival of one of the steamships at a New Zealand port in the performance of this contract. 5. The steamships shall not during the continuance of this contract call at any port or country other than those before mentioned without the written consent of the Postmaster-General.