File 3531/1905 Pt 1 ‘Mesopotamia:- Euphrates + Tigris S. N. Co.; Mail contract’ [‎320r] (9/148)

Despatch No. 440 of 4he 4th of August last, explained the reasons which
he then considered to prevail against supporting such an application,
a nd\ 111 Vle w of^the recent establishment of a Turkish steamboat
service on the Tigris, it is probable that the Porte would be less
subject than be *° re t0 favourabl y consider any representations on the
at Lans f owne however, again refer the question to Sir
JN. O honor for his consideration, and in the meantime he sees no
objection to addressing the Euphrates and Tigris Company in the terms
which Mr. Secretary Brodrick proposes.
I am, &c.,
The Under Secretary of State Charles Hardinge.
for India.
Enclosure No. 5 .
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. to Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company.
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ,
Sih 25th March 1904.
I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th Eebruary in which
you apply for an extension of the Contract for the conveyance of mails
by your Company between Busreh and Bagdad for a further period of
ten years.
In reply I am to say that the Secretary of State in Council will he
prepared to enter into a new Contract with your Company on the basis
of paying the same subsidy that has been paid under the existing
contract, viz., Bs. 24,000 per annum, for a weekly service.
The Secretary of State in Council is not, however, satisfied that the
complaints which have been made of the irregularity of the service
maintained by the Company are beyond their power to remedy under
the existing conditions of the navigation. He, therefore, considers it
necessary to insist upon provisions (a statement of which is enclosed)
being introduced into any new Contract, in order to secure greater
regularity in the future.
I am, &c.,
The Secretary, A. Godley.
Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company.
Annex.
Statement.
Clause 5.—The words “ so far as is compatible with the reasonable
requirements of their trade ” should he omitted.
Clause 11.—Between this clause and the present Clause 12, the
following should he inserted as a new clause :—
“ That in case any vessel employed or to he employed in the per
formance of this Contract shall not arrive at Basreh or Baghdad before
the end of nine hours calculated from the time fixed for the arrival of
such vessel by the said Government officer, then and in each and every
of such cases and as often as such default shall happen, the Company
shall forfeit and pay into the Treasury of the Government of India
in Calcutta or Bombay as and by way of liquidated damages the sum of
Bs. 15 for every hour and fraction of an hour after the time so fixed
for such arrival during which the said vessel shall fail to arrive, but
nevertheless so that the Company shall not in any case be liable to any
15836. B