F.—B

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(2.) Any sums so borrowed shall, during the construction of the Pacific cable, bear interest at the rate of three per cent, per annum, and after construction shall be repaid, with interest at the same rate, by means of terminable annuities for such period not exceeding fifty years from that time as the Treasury fix. (3.) The principal of and interest on any money so borrowed, and after construction the annuities created for the purpose of the repayment of that money, shall, unless otherwise provided for, be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Eund or the growing produce thereof. 3. (1.) The amount required in each year for the annual expenses of the Pacific cable, including any such expenses incurred before the passing of this Act, shall be defrayed out of the receipts arising in connection with the cable, and, so far as"*those receipts are not sufficient, out of moneys provided by Parliament. (2.) For the purposes of this Act the annual expenses of the Pacific cable include any sums required for the payment of interest on money borrowed for the purposes of this Act (including the interest on any temporary loan raised for the purpose of the cable before the passing of this Act), or for the payment of annuities created under this Act, and any expenses of the Pacific Cable Board or other expenses properly incurred in working or maintaining the cable. (3.) Such sums as are received from any colonial Government on account of the annual expenses of the Pacific cable shall be paid into the Exchequer. (4.) If in any year the receipts arising in connection with the Pacific cable exceed the amount required for the annual expenses of the cable as hereinbefore defined, the surplus shall be applied, in such manner as the Treasury direct, in reduction of any sums outstanding on account of money borrowed under this Act, and, if there is no such sum outstanding, thirteen-eighteenths of the surplus shall be paid to the colonial Governments, and the residue shall be dealt with as the Treasury determine. 5. Any sums available for the payment of interest on money borrowed under this Act or of annuities created under this Act, and any sums available as surplus under this Act, shall be paid over by the Pacific Cable Board in such manner and at such times as the Treasury direct. 6. (1.) The construction and working of the Pacific cable shall be under the control and management of a Board constituted in manner provided by the Schedule to this Act, and called " the Pacific Cable Board " ; and the cable, and all property used for and in connection with the cable, and any rights and obligations under any contract for or in connection with the construction of the cable entered into before the passing of this Act, shall be vested in, and be rights and obligations of, the Board. (2.) The provisions of the Schedule to this Act shall apply with respect to the constitution and proceedings of the Pacific Cable Board. 7. The Pacific Cable Board shall in every financial year cause to be made out an account, in such form as the Treasury require, of the money received, expended, and borrowed, and of the securities created under this Act, and that account shall be audited in manner directed by the Treasury, and laid before Parliament. « This Ant matr V>« fit.erl o.a " Thn Pa.m'fir" flnVilo Apt, 1 Qfll "

Schedule. — Provisions as to the Constitution and Proceedings of the Pacific Gable Board. 1. The Pacific Cable Board shall consist of— Three members representing His Majesty's Government; Two members representing the Government of Canada ; Two members representing the Governments of the States of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland; and One member representing the Government of New Zealand. 2. The first members of the Board shall be— Sir Spencer Walpole, K.C.B. (Chairman) ... ... ...) representing G. E. Y. Gleadowe, Esq., C.M.G. ... ... ... ...[ His Majesty's W. H. Mercer, Esq. ... ... ... ... ...j Government. Lord Strathcona and Mount Boyal, G.C.M.G f re P resentin g th e Alexander Lang, Esq j ' representing the Hon. Henry Copeland ™ ,° f Hon. Sir Andrew Clarke, G.C.M.G South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. ( representing the Hon. W. P. Beeves ... ... ... ... ...j Government of ( New Zealand. 3. The Pacific Cable Board shall be a body corporate by that name, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with power to purchase, take, hold, and dispose of lands and other property for the purposes of this Act. 4. Any vacancy occurring in the office of the members representing His Majesty's Government, by reason of death, resignation, incapacity, or otherwise, shall be filled by the Treasury; and any such vacancy in the office of the representatives of any of the colonial Governments shall be filled by the Government or Governments which the member whose office is vacant represented. 5. The Treasury may appoint a member of the Board to be Chairman of the Board, and, so long as the Chairman does not hold any office of profit under the Crown or under any colonial Government, there shall be paid to him such salary, not exceeding six hundred pounds a year, as the Treasury direct.