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the Philippine Archipelago connected as soon as possible with the general telegraph system:

Considering that the offer of the companies represented by Mr. Morice to convey the official correspondence of the Government free of charge over the cable, for the period of the 40 years of the duration of the privilege, is more advantageous to the State than the surrender of one year's subsidy offered by Don Juan S. Perez:

Considering that the proposal of the said companies, besides being more advantageous than that of Don Juan S. Perez, from an economical point of view, is so also in view of the guarantees afforded by their well-known experience in constructing and laying submarine telegraph cables:

And, lastly, considering that the circumstance of the said companies being possessors of the submarine telegraph lines to which the projected cable is to be joined, will facilitate the rapid transmission of the correspondence and the surveillance of the new cable, and at the same time afford the advantage of uniformity of tariffs: For these reasons

His Majesty the King (whom God preserve), at the instance of the Minister for the Colonies, and with the concurrence of the Council of Ministers, has been pleased to order that the concession for the establishment and operation of the submarine cable between the Island of Luzon and Hongkong be granted to Mr. William Warden Morice as representative of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China. Company, under the conditions contained in the schedule approved on the 14th of December last, and subject to the modifications which he offered on behalf of the said companies, at the time of the competition for the contract, and subsequently.

All which, by Royal Order, I communicate to you for the necessary purposes, and in order that you may direct the return of the vouchers for the deposits made in conformity with the 3d Article of the Royal Decree, dated the 14th of December last, to the persons whose tenders have not been accepted, retaining that which corresponds to the amount of said deposit, as a security that the cable will be in working order within the time prescribed, and to execute the requisite deed of contract in pursuance of the provisions of the 8th Article of said Royal Decree. May God preserve Your Excellency many years.

Madrid, February 22, 1879.

1

ELDUAYEN,

The Director General of Grace and Justice,
Administration, and Public Works.

[The formal deed of concession of March 6, 1879, in which are embodied this Royal Order, the Schedule of Conditions and Royal Decree, is not printed.—-Agent's note.]

II. CONCESSION OF MARCH 30, 1898, GRANTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN TO THE EASTERN EXTENSION, AUSTRALASIA AND CHINA TELEGRAPH COMPANY, LIMITED, FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF A SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLE BETWEEN MANILA AND HONGKONG.

(a) Royal Decree of March 28, 1898.

[Gaceta de Madrid (March 31, 1898), Vol. I, No. 90, p. 1102.]

In conformity with the proposal made by the Minister for the Colonies, in accord with the Council of Ministers:

In the name of my August Son, the King, Don Alfonso the XIII, and as Queen Regent of the Kingdom,

I hereby decree as follows:

ARTICLE 1. Don Vicente Coromina y Marcellan is hereby authorized in the name and as the representative of the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company, Limited, which has its domicile in London, and holds the concession for the working of the submarine telegraph cable connecting Hongkong with Bolinao-in the Island of Luzon, in the Philippines-to cut the aforesaid cable near Bolinao and to extend it to Manila, establishing the new station in that capital.

ARTICLE 2. The new cable shall be laid and ready to transmit the official correspondence of the Government within the maximum period of thirty days, reckoning from the date on which the contract relative to the present concession is signed.

ARTICLE 3. The laying of the cable, its landing at Manila, and its operation shall be carried out at the expense and risk of the abovementioned company in exchange for the concession to the same of the following privileges:

First. The concession of an extension for 20 years (which will expire the 8th day of May, 1940) of the monopoly enjoyed by the aforesaid company for the working of the Hongkong-Manila cable, until which date no other submarine telegraph line can be laid between the points mentioned.

Second. The extension of the landing rights for a period of 20 years in respect of the cables, the concession for which is granted for the purpose of joining all the Spanish possessions in the Pacific Ocean and of connecting them with other countries-such period to be reckoned from the date on which the new cable is opened for working.

Third. The placing of the company's employees on the same footing as those of the State telegraphs, so that the former may enjoy

the same privileges; and the exemption of the company's property from local taxes and imposts.

ARTICLE 4. The Government may at any time, whenever it deems it expedient, and in the period of the 20 years referred to in the second paragraph of the preceding Article, redeem the privilege of establishing cables in our Islands in the Pacific by the annual payment to the company of £5,000 (five thousand pounds sterling) for the years which may then remain unexpired as regards the period above mentioned; but the company shall continue to enjoy the privilege granted in the first paragraph without the right of receiving any subsidy.

ARTICLE 5. The new cable station shall be erected at Manila, at the company's expense, on land which shall be granted to it for the purpose.

ARTICLE 6. In addition to the prescriptions laid down in the preceding articles, the conditions for the concession and operation of the new cable shall be those set forth in the schedule of conditions annexed to the present Decree.

Given at the Palace, March 28, 1898.

The Colonial Minister,

SEGISMUNDO MORET Y PRENDERGAST.

MARIA CRISTINA.

(b) Schedule of Conditions for the establishment and operation of the cable, March 28, 1898.

[Gaceta de Madrid (March 31, 1898), Vol. I, No. 90, pp. 1102-3.]

1. The above-mentioned cable shall be made in the manner necessary to ensure its proper working; that instrument system which the concessionaire may deem most suitable shall be used, modifying the present one as he thinks best; and at the chief station such testing instruments shall be kept as may be necessary for the same.

2. In the neighborhood of the coasts, the coast and intermediate cables shall be used in such proportion as to ensure the security of the means of communication.

3. For all legal purposes the services of the cable shall be considered as a work of public utility.

4. The telegraphists and other employees for the cable service shall be selected by the concessionaire; but they shall be subject in the exercise of their functions to the rules established in the regulations of telegraphists in the Philippines. In addition to these the Government shall reserve to itself the right of organizing for the cable service such system of supervision as it deems best, in accord with the rules in force in this department. For instance, telegrams re

ceived and those presented for transmission will, therefore, be handed over to the Government functionaries, who will be the intermediaries between the public and the concessionaire's agents.

5. The Government may construct, whenever it deems it expedient to do so, such aerial and submarine telegraph lines in the Philippines as may be required for the administration and public service of those provinces.

6. The Government and the company in the working of the cable shall apply the regulations annexed to the International Telegraph Convention in force.

ever,

7. In the event of failing to lay the cable within the period of 30 days specified in the Decree, or should the cable through causes within the control of the concessionaire not be ready for service within the period mentioned, it shall be understood that the concession expires, with the loss of the respective security. Should it, howturn out that the causes above alluded to arose from the cable breaking, or from accidents in the laying which could not have been prevented, the said period shall be increased to three months, or more, in the event of the vessel laying the cable being completely disabled. Should the conductors become useless during the period of the contract, although from causes beyond the control of the concessionaire, he is bound to replace them so as to reestablish communication within one year. In the event of this time expiring without the service being restored, it is understood that the concession lapses.

8. The concessionaire shall allow the delegate or delegates of the Government to be on board the vessel which lays the cable, for the purpose of examining the operations of the laying, the landing, and the taking over of the cable. A Government vessel shall be present at the work of laying and establishment of the cable, and in case of need shall mark out the route agreeably to the track chosen, and communicate with the shore when circumstances render it necessary.

9. Whenever the service of the line is totally or partially interrupted for more than one month-owing to commercial accidents, disputes between the concern and its employees, or from any cause attributable to the bad organization and management of the aforesaid concern-the Government shall have the right to take charge of the cable and to receive the proceeds of its working, which shall be handed over to the concern at the proper time, after deducting the costs of official administration and those of maintenance, repair, or alteration in, and change of, instruments which may have been made. It shall be understood that in the event of the service continuing interrupted for more than a year-reckoning from the notification officially made to the concern-the concession lapses, the instruments and other useful material being forfeited to the Gov

ernment as partial compensation for the prejudice which the country may suffer from the total interruption of the service.

10. In all cases the Government official correspondence shall enjoy the privilege of priority of transmission by the cable, and, as provided by the service regulations at present in force in the Philippine Islands, it shall be forwarded free of charge over the cable during the first ten years of the present concession; it shall pay one-fourth the ordinary tariff during the ten years following; and it shall pay one-half the same during the aforesaid second period and until the expiration of the concession.

11. The concessionaire shall fix the tariff for the private correspondence transmitted over the cable, the maximum rates for which shall not exceed those adopted by telegraph companies whose cables are similarly circumstanced.

12. The accounts by both parties shall be kept according to the rules laid down in the International Convention and Regulations in force.

13. The concessionaire shall have in Madrid and Manila duly authorized representatives who can deal with matters or questions which may arise between the Spanish Administration and the aforesaid concessionaire. These questions shall be settled by the modes which the regulations in force prescribe for the interpretation and purposes of public Colonial contracts.

14. The concessionaire shall deposit, at the disposal of the Minister for the Colonies, a security of 100,000 (one hundred thousand) pesetas, in cash or Public Debt Funds, as a guarantee for the fulfillment of the conditions for the laying of the cable. The aforesaid security shall be returned to the concessionaire when the certificate of the act of the acceptance of the said service is received at the Ministry, approved by the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.

15. The award of this service having been made, the contract shall be recorded as a public deed, the cost of this and of two copies of the same one of which shall be delivered at the Ministry for the Colonies-being at the expense of the concessionaire.1

16. The nonobservance by the concessionaire of any one of the clauses set forth in the Royal Decree of the concession of the cable and in this schedule shall suffice to render it null and void.

Accepted in the name of the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company.

1

VICENTE COROMINA.

Approved by Her Majesty, Madrid, March 28, 1898.

[The formal deed of concession is not printed.-Agent's note.]

S. MORET.

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