'FRISCO SERVICE'

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 908, 30 August 1910, Page 5

'FRISCO SERVICE'

_■ ..—: ; AUCKLAND CRITICISM, . THE VIEWS OF MR. MASSEY. •• VERY POOR AFFAIR." "I am not favourably impressed with the new proposals for establishing a mailservice between this country and San Francisco by way of Rarotongn and' Papeete," remarked Mr. Massey, Leadei' of the Opposition, to a Dominion reporter, .■ ' yesterday. • . Mr.. Massey said that he had hoped ■ that the next arrangement .would be a mail service to Britain by way of Van-' couver. For Imperial reasons he should, ' : have liked 1 to see a direct connection between this couutry and Canada, and he'... hoped , some such arrangement tuight be made in the not far distant future. He . , admitted, of cuurse, that n really good service via 'Frisco was quite possible, but what was proposed now ; would not, in his opinion, givo' us a good -ser vice, and, as a matter' of fact, compared unfavourably with the contraot provisions of the. old 'Frisco service, which carried most of our mails for many years • For instance, the proposed time-table allowed for twenty-two days from Auckland to San Francisco, and . the name time from San Francisco to..' Wellington. . Under the old contract the time was sixteen and a lialf days-really, 896 hours—from Auckland to Son' Erancisco and vice versa, but he thought.it was really looked upon as a seventeen days' , time-table. So there was a loss of five ' ■ days right away. Then; with the old . service, we had seventeen trips each year; , with the new there would be only thlr- , teen. The not cost to this country of.. t ,-.. the Old service was about ,£]5,000 per annum, that was after deducting postage. According to tie Minister's state- . .ment on Saturday morning,, the Government would pay the Uaioti Steam Ship . Company £21,666 per annum, or .81666 per trip, eo that, even allowing tot postage, ■' i . the new service would cost considerably more than the old, while from the point' of view of speed and frequency it would not be nearly so good. He could hardly speak as to the possibilities of trade, but ; he thought, bearing in mind the ex- . tremely protectionist Customs tariff .of ; : the United States, that there was more business to be done with Vancouver in the way of exports from 'this country '; than with San Francisco. \ '. "Under the new arrangement, New Zea- ' ■'■. land could hardly expect to get her mails delivered in London , , counting from Auckland, under an average of thirty- ; four days, which could not. by any . means be considered . a satisfactory arrangement. With- fairly good steamuri and proper train arrangements, our mails should be delivered in London it twenty-seven days. / With the old ser; . vice the mails were ;, sometimes delivered, in London in twenty-eight days. Tho subject must come before Parlia< ment, ; and within a few .weeks. Personally, he was disappointed with tho . proposals, but judging from opinions h< had heard expressed, while members gen^'' erally thought that, as a mail .service. ; what was proposed was a very poor affair, they would be , in favour of giving it a trial for a year, in tho hope that it ' would lead to something better, either ; by way of San Francisco or ; Vancouver, i STRONG DISAPPROVAL ;«:■ . AUCKLAND PROTESTS. '■'/■■- ■' (By TeJegrapb.-Press Association.) N ': Auckland, August 29. The proposale outlined by the Prime Minister on Friday night for.the estab- , lishment of an Auckland-San FranfleeoWellington mail service'were considered • at a special meeting of the: Council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce this ; • . "The president (Mr. J. H. Guneon),_ in opening the meeting,. said that tho ■ fact that the service involved a 22-daya' nth ' between New Zealand and San Francisco < was sufficient to warrant the chamber in condemning the service. From the Auckland standpoint this was a most important question, and in his opinion it was simply an attempt to take the San Francisco service from Auckland, to which it pro-, : perly belonged. What the Prime Minister had indicated would happen in tho event of a restoration of the service aiforded, in'his opinion, .very strong grounds for a protest by the chamber.. .. ,- ' : , Mr. Nathan: I think, that for a. .£20,000 , subsidy, we should get a very much better ", ' ■ service. - - . ' .-';■■ Mr. , L. Myers stated that personally he felt very" disappointed with the proposals. There seemed to him to bo no justification whatever for giving Wellington the advantage of having the incoming » : \Mr. Mennie remarked that the greatest advantage seemed to lay with the Union Company. : . • : , . ■ After further discussion the/ following resolution, moved by the chairman, ami seconded" by Mr. Leo. Myers, was carrie< /. -■ unanimously:— '. . ■ _ .'. . - : "That this chamber strongly disapproves, of the proposed mail contract for New Zealand, via Earotongn and Papeete to San Francisco, ■ • which, in its opinion, is' unsuitable, \ : ; and for tho following reasons would - urge upon the Government the wisdom: .■ . of giving the question, further con-" -.. .'-. eideration with a .view' to providing an adequate and up-to-date tervico:— ' . "(1) That the" service now proposed, which/is of an inferior' character, ' , is premature until,negotiations tor a first-rate service via. Vancouver are. • concluded, and move particularly asthere is now a reasonable probability of tUe Ships Subsidy Bill being pussed ncxl year by the United. States Con- ', .; gr'e.*s, enabling the establishment of a,. -. San Francisco service. ■■... "(2) That "a v service between New Zealand and San Francisco should not. .;.,,, occupy more than 17 days,-and no \ service that requires a longer, time '" would be satisfactory to the Dominion. .: ' "(3). That the vessels with which -, ■ ■ ■ ■.' it is proposed to" inaugurate the.'ser- :. -■" vice are out of date, and unsuitable ;. for the anticipated traffic and mail ."'_; carriaße. ' - '.. "(4) That Auckland, benig tho natural commercial aud geographical port of .--\-. arrival'and departure, no ( change in ■ this respect is'justifiable.' , ■ . - PRESS OPINIONS. "THE NATURAL PORT." ' (By Teleßraph.—Special Correspondent.) ' Auckland, August 29. • •In "ft leading article on the mail eer- ',; vices, tho "Herald" says:—Wo still hear in Sir Joseph Ward's announcement the consoling allusion to'some future Van-': 'couver connection with Auckland, but in the meantime tho public money is being frittered away upon" so-called "mail services which arc wholly unworthy of the : ; ■'. ' name, and which will still drain the: funds available for. that purpose. If a . Vancouver service should bo arranged, . New Zealand.is still being put off with ' inferior and fourth-rate mail provisions. : . Tho cardinal need for swift transit;is be-/ ing completely set aside, and if we seek tho reason why, it "is evidently because Auckland is tho natural port for swift ocean mails to Europe and America, and,, because any makeshift arrangement which ~ lias the effect of diverting legitimate • trade from Auckland finds encouragement and support in influential quarters, ' ''. . ■ ■ . ;'-.', • . (By Tclenrauh.—Press Association.) Auckland, August 29. The "Star" says Uie proposed' now service can scarcely be claimed to be • satisfactory, but it is bet-; tor-than the practically useless service— ' from a mail point of view—at present / connecting New Zealand with America via Tahiti. Tho paper adds: "A great • deal depends on the class of steamers ( and their speed." THE AORANGI'S OVERHAUL. ' (Ucc. August 30, 0.50.a.m.) Sydney, August 29. ' Tho Aornngi has undcrgono an exi . tensive overhaul, prior to being oinployod in the New Zealand-San l'Vnncisco new ■ '" - mail . .' . ;