F.—6A

Session 11. 1912. NEW ZEALAND.

OCEAN MAIL-SERVICES: CONTRACT WITH THE UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY FOR CONVEYANCE OF OCEAN MAILS.

Return to an Order of the House of Representatives dated the 2nd July, 1912. Ordered, " That there be laid before the House of Representatives the agreement entered into between the Union Steam Ship' Company and the Government of New Zealand in connection with the granting of a subsidy for the Canadian -New Zealand service."—(Mr. Okey.)

CONTRACT FOR CONVEYANCE OF OCEAN MAILS. VANCOUVER. Agreement between the Union Steam Ship Company op New Zealand (Limited) and the Postmaster-General of New Zealand. Memorandum of agreement made this ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twelve, between the Honourable the Postmaster-General of the Dominion of New Zealand (hereinafter referred to as " the Minister," which expression shall include the Postmaster-General of the said Dominion for the time being), acting for and on behalf of His Majesty, of the one part, and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), an incorporated company carrying on business in the Dominion of New Zealand and in the Commonwealth of Australia and elsewhere (hereinafter referred to as " the Contractor "), of the other part, witnesseth that for and in consideration of the covenants, agreements, stipulations, and reservations hereinafter contained on the part of His Majesty, the Contractor, for itself and its successors or assigns, doth covenant and agree to and with His Majesty, his heirs and successors, in manner and form and to the effect following, that is to say : — Route. 1. The Contractor will provide, establish, maintain, continue, and carry on during a period required for the completion of sixty-eight round voyages calculated as begun on the fourth day of August, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, in the manner hereinafter set forth, a regular steamship service between the City of Auckland, in the Dominion of New Zealand, and the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, calling at Suva, in the Fiji Islands, and Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands, and at the outer wharf in the City of Victoria, in the said Province of British Columbia, on both outward and homeward voyages from Auckland to Vancouver and from Vancouver to Auckland : Provided, however, that if so required by the Minister each voyage from Canada to New Zealand shall be extended to a port or ports in Australia ; but the Minister shall not be entitled to make such requisition unless a binding contract shall have been entered into between the Contractor and the Commonwealth of Australia with regard to the extension of any such voyage to such port or ports : Provided further that in the event of the Commonwealth of Australia not entering into such a contract nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent the Contractor, if it shall consider it expedient to do so, from itself extending any voyage to a port or ports in Australia, and in any such case the Contractor shall be entitled to collectffrom the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia and retain all payments for the carriage of mails from Australia to Vancouver, and the Minister shall pay the Contractor at gratuity rates for the carriage of mails originating in New Zealand from New Zealand to Australia by the vessel employed in any such extended voyage. Steamships. 2 The steamships " Makura," " Marama," " Zealandia," or such other steamships of not less than an equal number of tons gross tonnage to be approved by the Minister for the purpose, shall be regularly and continuously employed in the said|service. Bach of the said steamships is warranted to

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