§ MR. BENTINCKasked the Postmaster General, Whether it is true, as stated in a letter which appeared in the "Times" of December 28th 1877, signed by "a late Commander of a mail steamer,"—
That in the last contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the Government fine them heavily for not delivering the India Mails on the contracts' dates, making no allowance for fogs or bad weather, and not allowing (as in a previous contract) the give and take system;and, if true, whether this arrangement was made solely upon the decision of the Post Office, or whether, before altering the terms of a previous contract, the Post Office obtained the opinion of any nautical authority upon the subject?
§ LORD JOHN MANNERS,in reply, said, that the Department had consulted the proper authorities, and that the other party to the contract had, no doubt, done the same.