MAIL ROUTES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 201, 20 May 1919, Page 4

MAIL ROUTES

WHY ORDINARY MAILS ARE NOT SENT VIA PANAMA. During the post few months there lias been a good deal of promiscuous criticism as to ivby the postal authorities in London do not take greater advantage of vessels coining out to New Zealand via Panama to carry His Majesty's mnils, and similarly why the postal authorities hero do not make more extended use of the vessels traversing Homeward via tha Panama Canal. This matter was touch, ed on yesterday by Mr. A. P. Drydon (Chief Postmaster), who pointed out that tho Vancouver and San Francisco routes were .still nuicker than the Panama route, providing there was a reasonably good connection at New York. mora cogent reason, however, and one which appears to havo been lost sight of, is the one of cost. Both the Saw Francisco and the Vancouver services (maintained b,y the Union S.S. Co.) were heavily subsidised by the Government for the conveyance of our mails. Why, in that case, should they send the mails via Panama and'.pay poundage rates (even if tho vessel were timed to arrive in England two or tliTee days ahead of the Vancouver or 'Frisco-routed mails) when they had their own steamers running regularly? Moreover, such subsidies ensured as far as possible a regular service, and had a bearing (in the public interest) on passenger and freight rates. The English, •postal authorities had also been blamed for not utilising more generally the transports as mail ,6teamers. Tlie . chances were that, they were paying subsidies to Atlantic lines for the carnage of the, mails, and saw no reason why. they should, in addition, incur poundage rates as well. After all, there was a limit to the expense incurred in tho conveyance of mails, and it was tho duty of the authorities to curtail expense as much as possible without loss of efficiency.