P.—4,

24

As the proposed contract with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company has nat yet been finally signed and sealed, we are for the present precluded by the latter Company from divulging their secret as to its mechanical construction, but this will appear in detail in the contract when signed. We have the permission of our Company to make this communication to you in your official capacity. We are, &c, The Hon. Sir Julius Vogel, K.C.M.G-. Clare, Forde, and Co.

lII.—As to New Zealand Cable.

See also P.—6c, 1875, No. 2.

No. 7. CONTRACT FOE MAKING AND LAYING THE CABLE. Aeticxes of Contract made the 30th day of July, 1875, between the Eastern Extension Atjstbalasia and China Telegraph Company (Limited), hereinafter called the Company, of the one part, and the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company (Limited), hereinafter called the Contractors, of the other part. Whereby it is agreed as follows: — 1. The Contractors shall, subject to the due performance by the Company of the agreements and conditions hereinafter contained, and on their parts to be observed and performed, and for the consideration and upon the terms hereinafter expressed, manufacture for the Company a telegraphic cable of the total length of 1,370 nautical miles, of the types mentioned and described in the specification hereunto annexed. 2. The cable shall be manufactured and constructed throughout of thoroughly good materials and workmanship, and in all respects in strict accordance with the specification hereunto annexed (which is to be deemed part of this contract), to the reasonable satisfaction of the Engineer of the Company (hereinafter called the Engineer), hut subject to arbitration as hereinafter provided. 3. After the cable shall have been made and tested by the Engineer, the Contractors shall cause the same to be coiled on board a suitable steamship or ships, and shall send the said cable to sea, and by means of apparatus and fittings to be approved by the Engineer, or, in case of difference between him and the Contractors, by Mr. John Perm, and under charge of officers of approved skill and experience, use their best endeavours to lay the same between Australia and New Zealand on or before the 30th April, 1876. 4. The terminal point of the cable in New Zealand shall be at such part of the coast of Blind Bay or Golden Bay as shall be determined by the engineers of the Company and the Contractors before the departure of the expedition, and the terminal point of the cable in Australia shall be at such part of the coast at or near Sydney as the said engineers shall so determine. At each terminal point the Company shall, before the arrival of the vessel or vessels containing the cable, erect a suitable cablehouse; and the Contractors shall, to the satisfaction of the Engineer, supply each cable-house with proper instruments for the testiDg of the cable, until the expiration of the thirty days mentioned in Article 15 : such instruments to remain the property of the Contractors. 5. Previous to the departure of the expedition, the Engineer and the Contractors shall agree upon the course over which the cable shall be laid, and the positions in which the various types of cable shall be placed, and such agreement shall (unless the Engineer consents to alteration thereof) be adhered to by the Contractors as nearly as practicable. 6. It is hereby expressly agreed and declared that after the said cable shall have been manufactured and coiled on board ship ready for sailing, and shall have been duly tested by the Engineer and found to be in accordance with this contract, and the apparatus and fittings of the said ship or ships have been approved in writing by the Engineer or the said John Perm as aforesaid, the Contractors shall not be responsible in damages for any injury or breakage occurring to or loss of the cable or any part thereof, or for failure or delay in laying the same, unless the same arise from the culpable neglect or default of the Contractors or their agents: the true intent and meaning of these presents being that the Contractors shall be bound to take all reasonable precautions and use their best endeavours and make every reasonable effort in accordance with this contract to lay the whole line of cable between the points aforesaid, in good working order, in accordance with the said specification, so that the same shall give good and efficient electrical connection between the points aforesaid, but that they shall not be responsible in damages for failure or delay if bonafide using their best endeavours as aforesaid. 7. Every facility, including batteries for testing, shall be afforded to the Engineer and his assistants to test every part of the cable during manufacture, shipment, and transport. During the laying of the cable the testing shall be in the hands of the Contractors, but shall be open to the continual inspection of the Engineer or his assistants on board ship and on shore. The principle of testing shall be the same as adopted in laying the Atlantic Cable of 1874, or any improvement that may be mutually agreed upon. The Engineer shall have the right of inspecting the charts and observations made during the laying of the cable, and also of having communications on the business of laying the cable forwarded from the ship to the cable-house on shore, and vice versa, through the cable, at reasonable times, while the same is being laid. 8. The Contractors shall provide victualling and accommodation for the Engineer and his staff (not exceeding in the whole five persons) on board the vessel or vessels during the laying of the cable, and until the return of the expedition. 9. The Company shall obtain, at their own expense, all wayleaves and Government and other authorities required for landing the cable and connecting the same with the cable-houses, and the Company shall procure possession of any land required for the purposes of this contract. 10. The Contractors shall connect the shore ends with the cable-houses to be provided by the Company at or near the landing places, in the most efficient manner, so that there shall be good and efficient electrical telegraphic connection between the two cable-houses.