§ MR. P. O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, when will the present contract with the London and North Western Railway Company for the carriage of Irish and American mails between London and Holyhead terminate; what is the amount paid for the carriage of these mails to the 601 London and North Western Company; whether any negotiations have yet been opened for the arrangement of a fresh contract; and whether, before any contract is agreed upon, he will state the proposed terms to the House.
§ MR. HANBURYThe contract may now be terminated at any time by twelve calendar months' notice on either side. The payment under the contract is £63,000 a year, but the contract covers not only the carriage of the Irish and American mails between London and Holyhead, but all other services over the Chester and Holyhead section of the Company's lines, and the amount specially applicable to the Irish and American service cannot therefore be separately stated. A payment of £5,150 a year, over and above the contract payment of £63,000, has been made since 1st April 1897, in respect of the acceleration of the Irish night mail trains, and a further payment of £6,500 a year (which is not, however, borne on the Post Office Votes) has been made since 1st August last in respect of the acceleration of the Irish day mail trains. No negotiations have been opened, or are at present contemplated, for the arrangement of a fresh contract. It is not usual to submit the terms of contracts for the conveyance of mails by railway to the House, and it cannot be stated beforehand whether any necessity for an exceptional course of procedure will arise in connection with the renewal of the contract referred to by the honourable Member.