, 1874-07-08
THE WEST INDIAN IN LONDON.

that the Royal Mail Steam-packet Company
had secured the contract for the West Indian
mails for a term of five years from the first of
January next. The provisions of the contract,
and the alterations involved, were not known
at the time the announcement was made. But
they have been published during the last fort
night, and have excited the greatest interest
and attention. 1t was first of all rumOured
that Plymouth was to be abandoned as the
landing place of the mails, and Southampton
again chosen for that. purpose. A question
was therefore asked in the House, and the
Postmaster General (LOrd John Manners) con-
frmed the rum0ur, but shielded himself from
blame by casting the responsibility OF the
change upon his predecessor, the Postmaster
General Of the Liberal Government. That
any government, of whatever politics,
should take upon itself to make an ar
rangement seriously l~essening the postal
convenience of all the principal towns in the
kingdom, can only be accounted for upon a
theory of natural perversity. Immediately
following the Postmaster-General' announce
ment came the publication of the correspon-
dence and the contract, some points of which
may be noticed. The Royal Mail Company
first proposed a contract for eight years, upon
the basis of the Company receiving the whole
of the postage, a minimum of l1G,00W being
guaranteed by the Government. Mr.. Monsell,
who was at the time Postmaster General,
objected to this on account of the length of
the proposed contract, and also because it
would be an act of injustice to agree to main
tain the presents excessive rate of postage for
another eight years. Indeed, all through the
official correspondence there is a general adj
mission that the postage to the West Indies
is very heavy, and out If proportion to other
ocean rates. Mr.. Monsell wished for two good
things, first that the service should be less ex-
p%ensive, and, secondly, that the postage should
be reduced. He then set forth some scheme
by which he thought these two objects might
be attained. One part Of his plan was to cut
off Antigua, and several other islands, from the
Imperial postal service, and make them fetch
and carry their own letters from and to St.
Thomas. However, the result was that the
Government declined the above. mentioned offer
of the Mail Company. The Postmaster-G ener-
al then suggested that no general contract
should be entered into, but that the service
should be divided into several parts, and so
economised as to allow the postage to be re-
duced to s~ixpence. The Colonial Office was
consulted upon the question of asking for a
contribution from the colonies towards defray-
ing the expenses of the service. Lord Kimber-
ley thought that one ought to be obtained.
lie explained IN detail Lord CarnarYOnS Clrcu.
lar of 1866 resulting in the refusal of the
colonies TO contribute. But the amount that
would probably be required from the colonies
now would only be 17,9lGL, aud his lordship
offered to address a circular to the colonies ask
ing them to contribute, Il course which he
thought they would be very likely to adopt;
but these calculations were Omewbat modified
by the tenders which were sent in. Tn
were for a complete service, they were three
in number, and the subsidies asked for were as
follows ALFRED Holt, Of Liverpool 1879, 0OOL.
West India and Pacific Steam Navigation Com
pany 100, O0Oz, Royal Mail Company 81, 1901.
The net total loss to the Imperial Government
by accepting the last tender would be 13,468Z.,
of which the loss on the West Indian service
would be 5,405I. 1t was therefore decided to
accept the tender of the Royal Mail Com
pany and with regard to the colonial contri-
button it was ultimately arranged that as the
loss was SO small, no application should be made
to the colonies but that if the colonies desired
q reduced rate Of postage, they must consent
to bear half the loss that such reduction would
cause to the Imperial Government. A despatch
of Lord Canaryon's is given in reply to a pc
titon from Montserrat, praying to be placed
on the route of the Royal Mail Steamers.
Hitherto a separate contract has been made
with Mr.. Frederic Cassin, of Antigua, for the
conveyance of the mails 10 and from Nevis and