MAIL SERVICES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 921, 14 September 1910, Page 5

MAIL SERVICES.

\ ,' U.S.S. CO. AND THE PACIFIC. • . The return relating-to, occan mail serr i '■ Vices pftsented.ito.>Pai'liament, yesterday. .''. gives some details- in "regard to the negotiutions in- connection Swith the new 'tfrisco:service. : .r.i- '. In .October last the ; Secretary to tho : ; Postal' Department wrote'- to the : managing diroctor "of the .Union Steam Ship .;; Company;' stating i'that the' -present. Weir /v .. lington-Tahiti:. mail, .service-would expire' :at tho end of .the year. When , the service .was. inaugurated there was. a tacit. ■.. ■ it ; 'would,'; ,'be peri'ormcd for. a year by way of .. . with , the vobject. of'..ascertaining ; whether tho conditions :^ould,. warrant;.an >xteh-' .nph::or : operations';a's. far' 'as ;'Frisco, .by . tne .-Tahiti: route. : ' 7; , The - present', service conld not for- mail' purposes ;:bo. .consid'.cred a .satisfactory one; "yet," with the' . . eiow steamers whicli had been running; and the long stop'dt;-Tahiti). mails had reached . London. from Npw, Zealand, in. i ■:'' ■ thirty r dve ' days,. and i'New, Zealand from London in fortjr . days—times ..which' .approximate closely-, to tliose by' way. of • V: ■;Suez..- The Oceanic Company was con- :;. eide'ring ' whether,,, a-,; satisfactory - service '. between' San Francisco and New Zealand could be,arranged■ by employing one. of i their" steamers, ~ such as "the,;. Sierra, and; the Union Steam Ship Company ; providing one steamer.. . ]lo was directed to Btato that,' in", view of the fact that tho Government was about to open negotia'"'i .' tions';for;''a'; so'nnecting^'seryice' 1 at Fiji :• with the Vancouver. steamers,' it was un- ; . likely .that;,the iWellington-Tahiti'- service, ■ in its '.presents jtorm could . W maintained. It was ■ considered'.it should; not be-' difficult for the Uilion. Steam -Ship; Company, either r : the .' 'Oceanic Company .to .carry out a service between New';Zealand,.and Sai'Praii-. Cisco, the steamers running th. e wbole distance, including stoppages, in eigh- ' teen days; and the Government was pre- -'; pared to. offer ftsc. \ reasonable j subsidy, for - ' this purpose. An' eighteen-days .. four- ' weekly .servicc to San Francisco, ■. timed ..;, to connect with the Lusitania or Maure : ;-, tania at. New York, , would;. reduce - the •V'; oourse ,of. ipost.;to-'; and;. from. London; to twenty-eight days. Such a service, al- . t ;'ternating- with : a close '..connection .at Fiji, would give Now Zealand a mail . : -rice niuch; superior to that' at'.present available; He . was to: inquire; . tliereforu, whether the Union' Steam.. Ship Company; ' ' was v prepar'ed ; t6',under,take:.the:wprk,'iand, • if so, what subsidy would be required v Tho port of :call on: either the outward , - or the "■ inward voyage -. would' be " Auck- ; "land.7 In- reply the managing director of 3ifc .Union Steam Ship Company wired to the? Secretary to the G.P.O. as under in ' .December last:"Re Tahiti ,service.'...-At ; first sight, think from company's point. " of view, would; view', proposal' favourably, ' but think.'serious''objection would be ofr feied by Auckland people to proppsed five-weekly-service, as • they have -had ;a : - four-weekly service', for; ;inany.;years, and. • '• look upon it.as retrograde stop .as far as they were concerned. ; A further ob- ' jection. from their point of view is that -the; arrivals' of' steamers from .Tahiti; Tonga, and Fiji aro at present arranged ; - ; to avoid clashing; and enable markets to .■■-5-:' '' be regulated to advantage, and this would be Impossible in case of five-weekly ser■vic®. . Concurrence 6f 'Tahiti Government would have to be secured, as we liave always-had formal contract with ■ tliem renewed from time to time for fourv. I weekly- &crvico. from Auckland, Tinder ' ■';! which; we 1 receivo; . subsidy , of' jB7OO per minnm and freedom from dues in group. , Would; point out that, under proposed; ar- : rangement steamers would not alternate ;; ' at equal -intervals,' as Vour -.steamers ; only require" at most two days in Tahiti, and ;. ilariposa ".remains four days. There j would- thus be an-interval.'of ; six days' between the departure \of our steamers - from-'New-Zealand and; four days'from, • Papeete.-'-. -Doubt whether-.it would- be possible to accelerate the service, for prev: • sent .subsidy,, : 'as;; more'i expensive l'steam-'; ers'would be required.; ; Will, however, look' into this. - If you-' wish ,to know >*' what Auckland' fruit - importers think ' about 1 matter, you might; tliink it worth : ' while' to ascertain" views ■ of' Mr. • Glover, • M.P., :''who is '.laTgely.'.interested;iii';Rarotonga fruit trade."