To the Chief Postmaster, Auckland.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 610, 23 December 1871, Page 2

To the Chief Postmaster, Auckland.

Sir, —I have the honour to beg of you to withhold action in the com* pleting of the contract for carrying the mails from Auckland to Cambridge, as I am anxious to correspond with the Honoraole tho Postmaster-General on the subject through yourself, as i think an injustice would bo done to myself and tho public if the matter should be closed in tho terms of our conversation to»day.—l am, &c, W J Young. P B.—l shall have the honor of forwarding a letter to you for the Postmasten-General 3n Mondaj. Auckland, November 18, 1871.

The Grange, Otahuhu, Auckland, 20th November, 1871. To the Honorable the Postmaster General. Bir, —I have the honor to inform you that 1 tomlorod to perform the .mail service between Auckland and CSBronago-i^<..« ma o f —v o,4_^-i;..— u ut losaed by the Postmaster here for the cum of eight hundred and fifty pounds, for the due performance of which ser» vice Mr Thomas Macky, merchant, and Mr Henry Hardington, coach proprietor, both of Auckland, who agreed to become my sureties. From information received at the Post»offieo I understood that my tender was tha lowest for this service, therefore, I reasonably concluded that it would be accepted, particularly as I had performed similar services for several years during the management of that department here by Mr Oorbett, therefore as an old servant of the Government I anticipated that my tender, seeing that it was perfectly in order and in terms of the Postmaster's request, would have received favorable con» sideration at your hands. Imagine ray surprise when calling on the Postmaster after the arrival of the mail from Wellington to be informed that Mr C G Quick had negotiated for the performance of the service at Wellington and had obtained it. I concluded that some misrepresentation must have iaken place to induce the Government to accept a tender in this irregular manner, as that action would destroy all confidence in public contracting. By the way I have just learned that Mr Crowthers and Mr GG- Walters (either of whom are quite capable of performing your service) ab3olutolv declined to tender for the service from the fact that two years since they tendered conjointly for a similar service in competition with Mr Quick.their tender being fifty pounds less than his ; he, however, immediately started for Wellington and had their tender set aside in favor of one of his own. Consequently I fear that if this kind of thing is continued Mr Quick will have a vested monopoly of this service, as it would bo folly to compete with him. In the present instance he, Mr Quick, first tendered for one thousand pounds for this service, which was declined by tho Government, and I understand that be has now negotiated to perform the service for seven hundred pounds.

I may here mention that the coach service on this line is anything but satisfactory to the public. The fares between Auckland and Drury (with present good roads) are thirty three per cent more than thoy were from the time the first coaoh atarted on this road until the time Mr Quick obtained a monopoly of it. Indeed the fares are in a great measure prohibitory, thereby not only injuring the public but the public service. In conclusion I can only say for myself I have had ample experience as a coach proprietor and mail carrier to enable mo to perform your service satisfactorily ; and if my present sureties are not deemed sufficient, I will if necessary obtain nearly half the people of Auckland to guarantee the due fulfilment of the contract. Therefore I trust you will reconsider this matter, and treat it with equity.—l have the honour to be, &c, WJ' Young. PS.—I enclose a oopy of the note' I sent to the Postmaster here requesting him Hot to clise the contract with Quick until I had an opportunity of communicating with you.

(71,307) General Post Office, Wellington, November 28,1871. Sir, —I am directed by the Honorable the Postmaster»GeHeral to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant respecting a tender you recently made for the mail between Auckland and Cambridge, and to inform you that your tender was declined on the ground of its not being the cheapest. You are in error when you Btate that Mr Quick negotiated for the service. That gentleman tendered as you did, his tender being the cheapest was accepted. I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant, (Signed) W GbaTj, Inspector. W J Young, Esq., The Grange, Qt&huhu, Auckland..

The above correspondence speaks for itself, and requires no comment. Mr Grey informs me lam in error in stating that Mr Quick negotiated for this service, and that Quick tendered as I did and that his tender being the cheapest was accepted.

I beg distinctly to state I have the testimony of the Chief Post Master that Mr Quick did not tender at all to the second advertisement calling for tenders for this service to Auckland. Quick went to Wellington and made an offer to the Government to do the service for £150 less than my tender. This offer being made subsequent to the closing of the tenders in Auckland with the condition that he should have the service for two years. I called on the Chief Post Master here to know if he could withhold closing with Mr Quick until I had heard from the Post Master-General on this matter, he said he had no power to do so as his instructions were absolute to close with Mr Quick for two years at £700 a year for this service. This makes the matter even worse than I anticipated when I wrote the Post Master-General, because they only called for tenders for one year, and not for two. If they had called for tenders for two years I would readily have performed these services for £600 a year, and if for three years at £500, as the longer the period guaranteed the greater would be the security to a coach proprietor, I now leave the public to judge in the whole matter and say if this is legitimate public tendering or negotiation. I am, &c, W. J Young.

The Grange, Otahuhu, December 13,1871