MR. THOMAS B.CURRAN (Donegal, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, what is the duration and terms of the contract, if any, at present existing between the Postmaster General and Messrs. Steele and Rennie for the conveyance of Her Majesty's mails to the United States and Canada from Londonderry to the anchorage of the Transatlantic steamers at Moville; if such a contract does not exist, what sum is allocated for this purpose in the contracts between the Postmaster General and the proprietors of the Anchor Line and Allan Line; and, as a local company—viz., the Londonderry and Moville Steamship Company, Limited—has put a fast steamer on Lough Foyle that does the trip inside an hour, whereas Steele and Rennie's steamboats take from 1½ hours to 2 hours to do the trip, will the Postmaster General see that the mails are conveyed from Derry to the packets by the new company's boats?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonThe Question has been based upon a misconception. The Postmaster General has no contract with Messrs. Steele and Rennie, with Messrs. Allan Brothers, or with the owners of the Anchor Line of steamers.