SYDNEY TO LONDON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1775, 13 June 1913, Page 6

SYDNEY TO LONDON.

PLEA FOR FASTER SHIPS,

AUSTRALIA'S DISADVANTAGES

IN ENGLAND

Mr. Holman, tho New South Wales Attorney-General, who it-turned to Sydney from London last week, in an. interview, criticised tho inordinate length ot time taken up by a voyage from Australia to England. "Tho mail steamers travelling at tho averajo rate of about 350 miles a day, occupy five weeks on the journev from London to Sydney, -this, ho said, "makes it practically impossible for anybody to make the journey Home unle=s ho has about five months to spare, for it is not worth while spending two months and a half on the water unless about the samo period can be spent at tho destination." "People who havo five months to spare in tho course of a year are very few, both in England and Australia. Tho result is that in Australia the idea of visiting tho Old Country presents itself as rather a crisis in a lifetime—a thing to bo done when a man lias retired from business or withdrawn from active life, and is beginning to settle down to leisuro anil moderate affluence. . "On tho other hand, Canada is only six or seven days away, and a visit to Europe is a thing that can bo TeaciilJ undertaken by people* who have tiis moans, each year, as part of an ordinary liolidav. Tho consequence is that there is n far keener interest taken in England in Canada than in Australia— a more living aitd continuous interest—and English opinion is very much more affected by the presence of shoals of Canadian and American- visitors than it is by tho very infrequent incursions of Australians. The Cinderella of the Colonies.

"English peoplo with a wandering turn of mind go to Canada probably 10 times —probably more than 10 times—as frequently as thoy do to Australia for tho Fame reason.' Tho veyaßO is so much shorter, and, therefore, it comes about that when an ordinary Englishman interested in colonial affairs _ talks about the colonies ho has unconsciously in_ Ins mind's eyo the picture of Canada, given to him either as the result of a visit he has nude himeelf or received froM Caiudiani visiting, Enjknd, or indirectly from tlws same source through, some third person. . "It se-oms to me, speaking with some diffidence and as the result of a comparatively short experience, that the Australian Government should,_ as far as nos.«ible, unit© to shorten tho journey to En eland in every reasonable way. The ■postal authorities should insist upon'a considerably higher rate and speed in the mail shin's. It is a disgusting state of things that Australia should bo the Cinderella of the colonies, compelled to put up with an.- obsolete standard of speed, and I believe, also, of accommodation, in coinpnrison with her nearer and more favoured sisters. . "This wo shall bo told, no doubt, m a matter of money only, but it is such an important matter from the point of view of the general interests of Australia that I think all tho Governments, of the Stafo and of the Commonwealth, would make a good investment if they met some portion of the additional cost _ between by contributing to an increased nibsidr. The railway to Frc-mantlo will, no doubt, Shorten the journey bv some davs. and I understand that the Panama Canal may open 1 up an advantageous route, but that is a point on which I cannot speak."