E.—2

10

delivery of mails; but the Contractors shall be entitled to the benefit of and to receive any subsidies or payments which the Contractors may be able to induce any colony or dependency or Government other than the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of any Australasian Colony, to agree to pay for the conveyance of mails over the aforesaid routes, after deducting any payments made or expenses (if any) incurred by the Postmasters-General, or either of them, for the conveying mails to and from any or either of the ports or places aforesaid. 15. The Contractors shall provide, to the satisfaction of the Postmasters-General, on board all steam vessels employed under this contract, proper, safe, and convenient places of deposit for the mails, with locks, keys, and secure fastenings. 16. The Contractors shall also provide, to the satisfaction of the Postmasters-General, all necessary and suitable accommodation, including lights, for the purpose of sorting and making up the mails on board the several vessels employed under this contract; and on being required to do so by the Postmasters-General, or either of them, shall at their own cost erect or set apart in each of the said vessels a separate and convenient room for such purposes; and all such furniture, lamps, fittings, and other conveniences shall be from time to time cleansed and kept in repair, and the oil for the lamps supplied by the servants of and at the cost of the Contractors. The master or commander of each of the said vessels shall also, if required, provide assistance for conveying the mails between the mail room and the sorting room without charge. 17. If the Postmasters-General, or either of them, shall think fit to entrust the charge and custody of the mail, or his respective mail, to the master or commander of any vessel to be employed under this contract, and in all cases where the officer or other person appointed to have charge of the mail shall be absent to the knowledge of the master or commander of such vessel, such master or commander shall, without any charge, take due care of, and the Contractors shall be responsible for, the i receipt, safe custody, and delivery of the said mail at the several appointed places on the shore, in the ' respective ports, as part of the services hereby contracted to be rendered. The master or commander shall also make the usual Post Office declaration, and furnish such journal, returns, and other information, and perform such other services, as the Postmasters-General or either of them, or their or either of their officers, shall from time to time reasonably require. 18. The Contractors and all commanding and other officers in charge of the vessels employed under this contract shall at all times punctually attend to the orders and directions of the PostmastersGeneral, or either of them, their or either of their officers or agents, as to the mode, time, and place of landing, delivering, and receiving the mails, subject to the special provisions herein contained, and so far as such orders and directions are reasonable and consistent with the safety of the vessels. 19. The Contractors shall have no claim to any postage, nor to any sum on account thereof, for mails carried in any vessel employed in the service under this contract, or on account of any services rendered, except as herein specially provided to be paid. 20. The Contractors shall provide suitable first-class accommodation for a mail officer or agent , and one assistant for each of the Postmasters-General on board each of the vessels employed under this contract, who shall be at liberty to use such accommodation as may be required for the performance of their duties, and such officers or agents and assistants shall be victualled by the Contractors as chief cabin passengers without charge either for their passages or victualling; and whilst the vessel stays at any port, excepting the ports of Sydney and San Francisco, to or from which the mails are conveyed, such officers, agents, and assistants shall be allowed to remain on board, and shall be victualled as aforesaid. 21. Every such mail officer or agent and assistant shall be recognized and treated by the Contractors, their officers and agents, as the agent of the Postmaster-General respectively, or Post-masters-General, by whom he may have been appointed, as the case may be, and as having full authority in all cases to require a due and strict performance of this contract: Provided that no such agent, officer, or assistant shall have power to control or interfere with any master, commander, or officer in the performance of his duty; and every such agent, officer, and assistant shall be subject to all general orders issued by the master or commander for the good order, health, and comfort of the passengers and crew, and the safety of the vessel. . 22. During the continuance of this contract, and so long as the same shall be faithfully carried out by the Contractors, no charge for pilotage, tonnage, lighthouse, or harbour dues shall be made in New South "Wales for any of the steam vessels employed in carrying out this contract; and the Contractors / shall be at liberty to use once in every four weeks, for five days at a time, the Fitzroy Dry Dock at Sydney, if not leased or otherwise occupied, and also the workshops there, on payment only of the expenses of and attending such use; and no charge for pilotage, tonnage, lighthouse, or harbour dues shall be made at any port in New Zealand in respect of any of the steam vessels employed in carrying out this contract. 23. This contract, or _ any part thereof, shall not be assigned or underlet or disposed of by the Contractors without the joint consent in writing of the Postmasters-General first obtained for such purpose. 24. In case this contract, or any part thereof, shall be assigned, underlet, or otherwise disposed of by the Contractors otherwise than with such consent as last aforesaid, or in case of any great or habitual non-performance or non-observance of this contract, or of any of the covenants, matters, or things herein contained, and, on the part of the Contractors, their officers, agents, or servants, or any of them, to be observed and performed, and whether there be or be not any penalty or sum of money payable by the Contractors for any such non-observance or non-performance, it shall be lawful for the Post-masters-General, if they shall be of opinion that the Contractors are not bond fide carrying out the provisions herein contained, and they shall jointly so think fit (and notwithstanding there may or may not have been any former non-observance or non-performance of this contract), by writing under their hands, to determine this contract without any previous notice to the Contractors or their agents. And the Contractors shall not be entitled to any compensation in respect of such determination. And such determination shall not deprive the Postmasters-General, or either of them, of any rights or remedies to which they or he would otherwise be entitled by reason of any non-observance or non-per-