Paget to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)

In reply to your letter of the 14th Instant requesting
to be furnished with any information or remarks, which my Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty can afford, on the propriety of
the charge made for the freight of Hay and Oats shipped on board
the "Thames City," in 1858 for British Columbia, and afterwards
landed at Gravesend by
Colonel Moody's direction; the charge for Freight being £98.10 whilst the value of the goods appears
to have been only £183.3.1; I am commanded by their Lordships
to acquaint you, for the information of His Grace the Duke of
Newcastle, that the amount paid for the freight of the Stores
in question or any other goods, is necessarily irrespective of
their value; and that the Rate agreed upon in the case of the
"Thames City" viz. £4.18.6 per ton was the lowest that could be obtained, and has since been frequently exceeded in forwarding
Stores to Vancouver's Island.