DEC. 5.]
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
1227
Continuation of Agreement for a Direct Mail Service.

A RTICLES of Agreement made and entered into this 12th day of November, 1889, between
the Honourable Edwin Mitchelson, the Postmaster-General of the Colony of New Zealand,
appointed under the provisions of "The Post Office Act, 1881," and acting for and on behalf of
the Government of the said colony, of the one part, and The New Zealand Shipping Company
(Limited), of Christchurch, in the said colony, of the other part.

WHEREAS, by articles of agreement made on or about the ninth day of December, 1884, between
the Honourable Sir Julius Vogel, then being the Postmaster-General of the Colony of New Zealand,
of the one part, and the said Company of the other part, a contract was entered into for the con-
veyance by the Company of the mails therein mentioned for a period of five years, computed from
the twentieth day of December, 1884, under and subject to the terms, stipulations, and conditions
in the said articles of agreement particularly mentioned: And whereas it hath been agreed between
the parties hereto that the conveyance of mails by the Company shall be continued and carried on
under the terms of the said hereinbefore-recited articles of agreement (hereinafter referred to as
the "original contract") for a further period of twelve calendar months, but subject to the modifi-
cations and variations hereinafter set forth:

Now, therefore, these presents witness that, for the considerations herein set forth, the Company
doth for itself, its successors and assigns, hereby covenant with the Postmaster-General and his
successors, and the Postmaster-General, on behalf of himself and his successors, and of the Govern-
ment of the said colony, doth hereby covenant with the Company and its successors, in manner
following, that is to say: —

1. The Company shall from time to time and at all times during a period of twelve
   calendar months, to be computed from the twelfth day of December, 1889 (unless this contract
   be previously terminated in pursuance of the provisions for that purpose forming part of this
   contract), convey all Her Majesty's mails, and all other mails of whatever country or place which
   the Postmaster-General shall at any time and from time to time require the Company to convey,
   from and to the Port of Plymouth, in England, and either of the Ports of Auckland, Wellington,
   Lyttelton, Port Chalmers, or Bluff, in New Zealand, and any port or ports intermediate between
   Plymouth and New Zealand at which the steam-vessels engaged in the performance of this contract
   may call, within the times and in the manner provided in the original contract and these presents.

2. The services hereby agreed to be performed by the Company in pursuance of these presents
   shall be performed in accordance with and subject to the terms, stipulations, and conditions expressed
   and set forth in the original contract, except so far as the same are modified by these presents.
   And all the provisions of the original contract, except in so far as the same have been modified, varied,
   or altered by the terms of these presents, and so far as the same respectively are capable of taking
   effect, shall accordingly extend and apply hereto as effectually as if such provisions had been herein
   set out at length, and shall be binding on the parties hereto accordingly.

3. The services hereby provided for shall commence with the despatch of the "Rimutaka," from
   Plymouth on the fourteenth day of December, 1889, and with the despatch of the "Doric" from a
   New Zealand port on the twelfth day of December, 1889: Provided that the Company shall be at
   liberty at any time during the subsistence of these presents, and without any further consent on the
   part of the Postmaster-General, to enter into any agreement or contract with "The Shaw, Savill,
   and Albion Company (Limited)" for the conveyance by such last-mentioned company of the mails
   to Plymouth by the vessels now named respectively the "Arawa," "Coptic," "Doric," "Ionic,"
   and "Tainui," or by such other steam-vessels as the Postmaster-General inay from time to time in
   writing approve in substitution for any of such vessels. But nothing herein contained shall be
   deemed to release the said first-mentioned company from its obligation to perform and carry out all
   the services contracted for under these presents.

4. The rates for the conveyance of mails under these presents shall be the same as those set
   out in the fifteenth clause of the original contract; but the total sum to be payable to the Company
   in respect of all the services to be rendered under these presents shall not exceed £17,500 in all;
   and the Postmaster-General may from time to time apportion the moneys actually payable to the
   Company in accordance with this clause.

No claim in excess of such sum shall be made by or allowed to the Company; and, except as
herein provided, the terms of the fifteenth clause of the original contract, other than those set out
in the first proviso thereto, shall apply to this contract.

5. The bonus to be paid to the Company for the conveyance of mails within the periods specified
   in the original contract shall be allowed only up to forty-eight hours on any one voyage, whatever
   may be the actual period of delivery within such specified periods; and if the time occupied in so
   conveying the mails is in excess of the specified periods, then the reduction to be made in the moneys
   payable to the Company shall only be made in respect of a period of the first forty-eight hours,
   however long may be the excess in point of time.

6. No penalty whatever for late arrival at or departure from any port shall be enforced against
   the Company for delay in conveying the mails within the said specified periods in any case where
   the same is due to any general labour-strike or dispute in respect thereof tending to prevent the due
   despatch or arrival of any vessel employed under these presents; but nothing herein shall be deemed
   to extend to any strike, labour or other dispute among or in respect of the crew of any such vessel
   or any other employés of the Company.

7. In the event of any vessel employed under this contract becoming disabled through tempés-
   tuous weather or by reason of accident beyond the control of the Company, or being lost or de-
   stroyed, the Company may either provide and equip a steam-vessel as a substitute, in accordance
   with the terms of the original contract, or may give the Postmaster-General immediate notice in
   writing of its intention to abandon the further performance of this contract; and thereupon, and
   after the completion of any voyage or voyages on which any vessel or vessels may, at the date of the