at the option of the concessionaire. In the event of its being double, it shall consist of fourteen iron wires eight millimeters in diameter, laid spirally over the armature of the deep-sea cable. In the event of its being single, it shall consist of ten iron wires, ten millimeters in diameter, laid spirally. In both cases the armatures shall be protected by two servings of hemp coated with Clarke's composition, as in the case of the deep-sea cable.

ARTICLE 4. In the neighborhood of the coasts the cable shall be laid in the line of the currents by using two miles of shore-end cable, and then two miles of intermediate before joining the deepsea type.

ARTICLE 5. The concessionaire can adopt such system of apparatus as he may deem suitable for working the cable, modifying or changing it as he thinks best, but he shall always keep at the principal station the following testing instruments: one Thomson's reflecting galvanometer with all its adjuncts, one Wheatstone's bridge with resistance coils up to 10,000 ohms, one condenser of a third of a farad, one Thomson's receiving syphon of the newest type, with the local battery, and the tools necessary for splicing cables.

ARTICLE 6. The receiving and transmitting station for the working of the cable shall be situated in that office of the State which the Government shall deem most suitable for the purpose, the concessionaire paying a fair proportion of rent corresponding to the increase of the premises required for the establishment of the new station, and the branch telegraph line which is to connect the end of the cable with the nearest station of the State shall be constructed at his expense.

ARTICLE 7. The materials required for the construction on Spanish territory of the aerial line which is to connect the cable with the station above mentioned, as well as the apparatus and other instruments, shall be considered as items of a public work, and as such shall enjoy the immunities conceded by the existing laws.

ARTICLE 8. The telegraphists and other persons employed in the working of the cable shall be chosen by the concessionaire, but subject, in the exercise of their duties, to the provisions contained in the telegraph regulations of the islands. In addition to this, the Government reserves to itself the right of organizing, in connection with the cable, such a system of supervision as may be most in accordance with the present administrative regulations. Consequently, telegrams received and presented for transmission, shall be handed over to the officials of the State, who will act as intermediaries between the public and the concessionaire's agents.

ARTICLE 9. The Government may establish, wherever it deems it expedient, the aerial and submarine telegraph lines in the Philip

pine Islands which are necessary for the Government and public service of the said provinces.

ARTICLE 10. Telegrams passing over the cable shall pass through the station mentioned in the 6th Article hereof for the necessary purposes, so long as the convenience of the service does not call for a change of the delivery station.

ARTICLE 11. The Government will pay to the concessionaire of the Luzon-Hongkong cable a monthly subsidy of $4,000 for a period of 10 years, reckoned from the date of transmission over the submarine cable of the first despatch, so long as the cables are in good working order, to which effect the concessionaire will be required to produce a certificate from the inspector to be named by the Government. The above-mentioned subsidy shall be paid monthly by the Manila Treasury, one-third by the Treasury and the remaining two-thirds by the Local funds, as provided in similar cases. If during the working of the cable it should cease to transmit messages, the Government will not pay the subsidy so long as the interruption lasts; but if it be repaired within the space of one year, the period of interruption shall not be taken into account in the calculation of the subsidy in question.

ARTICLE 12. The concessionaire shall enjoy an exclusive privilege for 40 years, during which period it shall not be lawful for the Government to grant the right of laying any other cable between the points mentioned in this concession. The Government reserves to itself the right of suspending the transmission of messages over the cable if they should appear dangerous to the security of the State, in conformity with the stipulation of the last International Telegraph Convention, the regulations of which shall apply to this telegraph route so long as they do not clash with the clauses of this concession.

ARTICLE 13. The cable must be laid and working in good electrical condition within the term of two years, reckoned from the date of the definitive concession. If it should be not so laid or if through causes under the control of the concessionaire it should prove useless for the service within the term above mentioned, the concession shall be null and void, and the deposit shall be forfeited. On proof being given that the suspension of working has been brought about by the breaking of the cable or by unpreventable accidents in the laying, the above-mentioned term shall be extended by one year. In the event of the conductors becoming useless, even from causes beyond the control of the concessionaire, during the period of the concession, he shall be bound to replace them so that communication may be restored within a period not exceeding one year. default of this being done within that time, the concession shall be considered null and void.

In

ARTICLE 14. The concessionaire shall admit on board the ship carrying the cable the commissioner or commissioners of the Government to superintend the operations of laying, landing, and acceptance of the cable.

ARTICLE 15. Whenever the working of the line is interrupted totally or partially for more than one month in consequence of accidents or disputes between the company and its servants or from any cause attributable to the negligence, bad management, or want of organization of the undertaking, the Government shall have power to take charge of the cable and to receive the sums accruing from the working, which shall be handed over to the company at the proper time after deducting the expenses of the official administration and those of maintenance, repairs, and of any modification or change of apparatus which may have been necessary. This concession shall be considered lapsed if the period of interruption of the working shall exceed one year, reckoned from the official notification given to the company, the apparatus and other serviceable materials becoming the property of the Government as some compensation for the prejudice caused to the country by the total interruption of the service.

ARTICLE 16. The official correspondence of the Government shall enjoy the privilege of priority and free transmission over the cable in conformity with the telegraphic service regulations now in force in the Philippine Islands, during the term of the subsidy, at the expiration of which it shall enjoy priority and be paid for at onehalf the established tariff rates.1

ARTICLE 17. The concessionaire may fix the tariff according to which telegrams sent over the cable are to be charged, but the highest rates shall not exceed those of other submarine telegraph companies whose cables are operated under analogous conditions. In any case, telegraphic correspondence shall pay rates equal to those now charged by the Spanish Administration in conformity with the tariffs in force on telegrams forwarded, received, and in transit. Should any modifications be introduced in the said tariffs, the concessionaire will have to make a similar alteration with respect to the amounts to be levied on account of the Spanish Administration.

ARTICLE 18. The accounts shall be kept by both parties as may be mutually agreed, conforming, as far as possible, to the existing international regulations. Consequently, the St. Petersburg Convention or any other convention made in modification thereof, provided that

[In accordance with a letter of Mr. Warden Morice of February 21, 1879, addressed to H. E. Minister the Colonies, Madrid, this article was changed to read as follows: "ARTICLE 16. The official correspondence of the Government will be transmitted free of charge through the Cable, and with right of priority, during the 40 years of the concession."-Agent's note.]

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Spain be a party thereto and that it be not in opposition to the clauses of this concession, shall be considered to be the basis of this arrangement. The said conventions shall also regulate the international service.

ARTICLE 19. The concessionaire shall appoint duly authorized representatives in Madrid and Manila to intervene in all matters or disputes which may arise between the Spanish Administration and the said concessionaire. All such questions must be decided in the manner prescribed by the existing regulations with respect to the interpretation and effects of Colonial public contracts.

ARTICLE 20. There shall be laid down, with the concessionaire's concurrence, in a special regulation, everything relating to the international telegraphic tariffs which has to bear upon the transmission by the concern of private telegrams and other details of the working of the cable, and the same regulation shall make provision for the guarantee which the concessionaire will be required to give for the recovery of the proportion of the price of the telegraphic despatches which belongs to the Government lines.

ARTICLE 21. On the award of the contract a corresponding deed will be executed, the cost of which, and of two copies thereof for the Colonial Office, shall be defrayed by the concessionaire.

ARTICLE 22. Nonobservance on the part of the concessionaire of any one of the clauses of this concession shall be deemed sufficient to nullify it.

ARTICLE 23. Proposals must be drawn up in the form following:

The undersigned undertakes to lay within two years and to operate a submarine telegraph cable from Manila to Hongkong in connection with the general telegraph system, upon the conditions approved (on such date) and published in the Gaceta de Madrid (on such date), in consideration of a monthly subsidy of (amount of subsidy), to be paid by the Government for a term of (number of years).

Madrid, December 14, 1878.

Approved by His Majesty.

(c) Royal Order of February 22, 1879.

ELDUAYEN.

[Gaceta de Madrid (March 1, 1879), Vol. I, No. 60, p. 593.]

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SIR: With reference to the public competition held on the 14th instant, for the award of a contract for laying and working a submarine telegraphic cable between the Island of Luzon and Hongkong, pursuant to the authority granted by Royal Decree, dated the 14th of December of last year, and in accordance with the schedule of conditions approved on the same day:

Considering that at the said competition the conditions and formalities prescribed in the said Royal Decree have been duly observed: Having seen the official report on the said public competition, which is transcribed in continuation hereof:

Having seen the three tenders made, the first by Don Juan S. Perez, in which he offers to accept a reduction of the subsidy for a term of 12 months; the second by Mr. William Warden Morice, as representative of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Company, in which, although no reduction is made in the subsidy, he proposes to construct and lay the cable within a term of 18 months, handing in a written statement and a plan showing that the said companies have constructed and laid 50,000 miles of cable, including the cables to which the projected line will be joined; and the third by Don José Zapatero, proposing a reduction of the subsidy for the term of 14 months, which, however, is accompanied by a note which must be considered as forming part of the tender, and in which the acceptance of the conditions is made dependent upon the greater or less depth of the seas in which the cable has to be laid:

Having seen the official letter of Mr. William Warden Morice, in which he states that in the event of the concession being given to the companies represented by him, they will undertake to allow the transmission of the official correspondence of the Government over the cable gratuitously and with right of priority for the term of the 40 years of the duration of the privilege mentioned in the 12th Article of the schedule of conditions:

Considering that the explanatory note presented by Don José Zapatero nullifies his tender, since it leaves in suspense the observance of the general conditions, the tenderer not engaging to be bound by the same:

Considering that although the reduction proposed by Don Juan S. Perez would effect a saving of $48,000, yet, on the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the Government's right to the free transmission of its official correspondence is limited to the term of the subsidy, after which half rates will be charged, reducing the said term to 9 years; on the 10th year half the tariff charges would be levied, and consequently it is necessary to deduct from the abovementioned sum of $48,000 the total amount to be paid on that ac

count:

Considering that in the tender signed by Mr. William Warden Morice on behalf of the above-mentioned companies, although he makes no reduction in the subsidy, yet he offers to complete the construction and to have the cable laid in 6 months less than the time stipulated in the schedule of conditions, a circumstance worthy of the consideration of His Majesty's Government which desires to see