§ MR. PROVAND (Glasgow, Blackfriars, &c.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General if the Government has at present under consideration any new contract for the conveyance of the West India mails; and, if so, in what newspapers and on what dates did the Government advertise for tenders, and will this House have an opportunity of considering the terms of the proposed contract before it is agreed to?
§ The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES,) University of CambridgeThe reply to the first part of the hon. Member's question is, Yes. Tenders were advertised for in three consecutive issues beginning on the 16th of October, 1888, of the Times, Daily News, Standard, Shipping Gazette, Contract Journal, Liverpool Daily Courier, Scotsman, Glasgow Herald, Greenock Herald, Southampton Times, and Liverpool Journal of Commerce. Any contract made for a term of years upon the basis of a tender received for the service in question would, as a matter of course, contain the usual clause prescribed by the Standing Orders of the House, with the view of subjecting such contracts to the authority of Parliament. The contract will be submitted for the consideration of the House in the usual course.