POSTAL COMMUNICATION WITH ENGLAND.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1972, 31 August 1869, Page 2

POSTAL COMMUNICATION WITH ENGLAND.

The Select Committee of the House of Representatives appointed to inquire into and report upon the steam services, which it may be desirable to subsidise, with a view of maintaining efficient postal communication between this colony, the Australian colonies, and Europe, have submitted a report. The questions considered by the committee were—l. The arrangement which it may be most desirable to adopt for the conveyance of the New Zealand English mails to and from Australia, and the probable cost of the same. 2. The advantages to be derived by this colony from the establishment of a mail service via Torres Straits, or from the establishment of a mail service between New Zealand and San Francisco, and the relative cost of such services. With regard to the first question, the committee reported that, in their opinion, practically the choice to be made lay between a single inter-colonial service, similar to the one at present in operation between Melbourne and Hokitika and Wellington, but continued to Port Chalmers and the Bluff ; and a double inter-colonial service, having one steamer running from Sydney and Auckland, and the other between Melbourne the Bluff, Port Chalmers, and Wellington. By the single service the mails would be delivered earlier than by the double services by three days at Nelson, Napier, and Wellington, and by eight days at Hokitika and Greymouth ; while, by the double services, they would be delivered earlier at Auckland by three days, at Port Chalmers by five days, and at Lyttelton by one day. At New Plymouth the time of delivery would be the same in both cases. The value of an acceleration in the delivery of the English mails at the principal ports in the Colony is, however, greatly lessened by the fact that in every instance the outgoing English mail will have been despatched a few days before the arrival of the inward mail ; no practicable acceleration can, under the existing time table of the P. and 0. Company’s vessels, afford to New Zealand an opportunity of an early reply to English letters. The probable cost of the two schemes would be :—By one inter-colonial service Melbourne, Hokitika, Wellington, and Bluff, L 12.000 ; one inter-provincial service and a half, LB.OOO ; Wellington and Napier, L 650 —making a total of L 20.630. From this has to be deducted the amount of a probable Imperial contribution of 16,000, thus making the net total cost 114,650. By two inter-colonial services Melbourne, Bluff, Wellington an! Hokitika, 112,000 ; Melbourne and Sydney, 12,000 ; Sydney and Auckland, 17,800 ; one inter-provincial service and a half. 18,000; Wellington and Napier, 1650 ; total, 130,450. Deducting the probable Imperial contribution of 16,000, the net cost would be 124.450. The committee were of opinion that not less than two regular mail services per month (as at present) should be kept up between the several ports of the colony. Accordingly both of the schemes provide for two complete interprovincial services, the southern half of one of them being, however performed by the intercolonial steamer. The committee abstained from making arty recommendation as to which of the two schemes should be adopted, as to them the question appeared tobeone of expense mainly. Wehavehowever the assurance of the Colopial Secretary that if the question had been put to the vote, the Hokitika route would have been adopted. The most valuable part of the report is that which refers to Postal communication with England. The Committee considered three routes—viz., via Torres Straits, Suez, and San Francisco. That via Singapore and Auckland does not call for any notice at our hands. It is in a postal point of view, totally unsuited to the Cob my, and what commercial advantages it may offer is a matter of considerable dispute. The Committee appear to have been unanimous in deciding to reject that route as being unsuitable. According to a time table adopted by the Committee, the mails by the route could be delivered in Auckland in sixty-two days, at Wellington in sixty-six days, and at Port Chalmers in sixty-nine days. But this calculation was based on the assumption that the voyage from Loudon, via Marseilles, to Brisbane could be accomplished in fifty-two days ; while the result of six experimental voyages made in 1866 gave an average passage of C6| days. It may therefore be fairly estimated that the passage to Auckland would on an average occupy seventy - two instead _ of sixty-two days, and an additional time to the other parts of the colony, in proportion to their distance from Auckland. The choice then lay between the Suez and Sail Francisco routes and the committee were unanimous in adopting the latter. In addition to almost immeasurably greater postal facilities it possesses comm-rcial advantages which are thus fairly stated m the report. “That by way of Brisbane and Torres Straits would afford regular and easy access to Queensland and the Eastern Archipelago with the latter of which New Zealand now communicates by way of King George’s Sound and Ceylon. The San Francisco route, on the other hand, would bring New Zealand into immediate communication

with the populous and important of California, and, by means of the fjoihc Railroad, with the whole of the North American Continent. ” The following tables illustrate the comparative utility of the tw services.

Via Melbourne and Hokitika.

The San Francisco route would afford a delivery of letters in Auckland twenty days earlier than the route via King George’s Sound. The dates in the table referring to the San Francisco route are based on the information given to the Committee by Lieut. Woods, of the Colonial Survey Department, with regard to the Pacific service and the ascertained time taken by the Atlantic steamers for the performance of their voyages. The Committee were unable to obtain any precise data as to the cost of the different services. The Torres Straits route would have cost about L 14.400 per annum. The total contribution of the Colony to the P. and 0. Company’s subsidy would probably remain as at present. The subsidy for the present year may be estimated at about I 26,000, in addition to the cost of the mail service between Australia and New Zealand. The report concludes thus : “Your Committee cannot pretend to say what the cost of a Mail Service between this Colony and San Francisco would be. They desire to point out, however, that in the event of its establishment, the greater part of the subsidy now paid by New Zealand for the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s Services, would be saved, as well as the cost of the Intercolonial Mail Service, which it would not then be worth while to keep up for the sake of the small amount of correspondence which would continue to be sent by the comparatively tardy and circuitous route via Galle. There can be little doubt that the Colony of New South Wales (if not Victoria) would contribute to the support of a Postal Service which would be s much more expeditious one than that by which she is now supplied with her English mails. Some contributions would also be received from Tahiti, which would lie in the direct route of the steamers to San Francisco. Provision already exists in a Postal Convention (of which a copy is attached to this report) between Great Britain and the United States, jor the transmission of British mails through the United States at a verv low rate of transit postage ; and the Critish post-office, even if it could not be induced to furnish any contribution to the cost of the Pacific Service, would _ probably be willing to afford, as it did in the case of the mails via Panama, free transit by the Atlantic Mail steamers for the New Zealand mails. The above facts appear to your Committee to furnish good grounds for the conclusion that the net cost to New Zealand of a Mail Service via San Francisco, after making allowance for probable contributions from the Australian Colonies, would not much exceed the saving which would be effected through the comparative disuse by this Colony of the existing services via Melbourne and Galle. Under the above circumstances, your Committee cannot recommend that any contribution should be made by New Zealand to the cost of a postal service via Torres Straits ; but they susruest that the Government should he requested to institute inquiries with the view of ascertaining the expense at which, and the conditions on which, a mail service via San Francisco could be established ; and also to what extent those Australian Colonies which would be benefited by such a service would be prepared to contribute to its cost. ” As our readers are doubtless aware, the A ssembly has adopted a resolution requesting the Government to advertise for tenders for a monthly steam service between San Francisco and New Zealand; and that, in the event of their receiving a suitable offer for the performance of such a service within the sum of L 20.000 per annum, the Government are empowered to close with the offer for a term of years : in which case the contribution of this Colony towards the Suez line will be discontinued.

Ports. Dates. No. of Days Jin transit. London via Marseilles d June IS ...+ Melbourne a Aug. 5 48 Hokitika a „ 11 54 Wellington a „ 13 56 Lyttelton a „ 14 57 Port Chalmers a ,, 15 58 Bluff a „ 17 60 Picton a „ 13 56 Nelson a '14 57 Taranaki a „ 16 59 Napier a „ 14 57 Manukau a „ 17 §0 Via San Francisco and Auckland. London d June 18 New York a „ 28 10 San Francisco a July 3 15 Auckland . . „ a „ 27 39 Taranaki a „ 29 41 Nelson ... a „ 30 Aug, 3 42 Hokitika a 46 Picton a July 31 43 N apier a Aug. 2 43 W ellington a „ 1 44 Lyttelton a 9 9 3 46 Port Chalmers a „ 4 47 Bluff a 6 49