THE SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2268, 13 August 1870, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE.

In the House of Representatives, on the Bth instant, Mr Macandrew moved his San Francisco Mail Service resolutions in a comparatively brief speech. He stroudy advocated New Zealand going in for an independent service, arguingithat the subsidy required would be more than recouped to the Colony by the expenditure consequent on some New Zealand port being made the terminus. He then went on to prove that Otago was the only port fitted for that position, and gave a very flattering account of the capabilities of the port and dock now in course of construction, saying that both were suitable to the largest steamers which could be employed on the line. Practically he considered thatjjno mail service would be of any use or value to Otago unless some such arrangement as the one he proposed was made. The blanks in his resolution he filled up by filing the number of hours to be occupied between Auckland and Otago at 20, and by proposing to increase the present subsidy by LIO,OOO. Mr Creighton seconded the motion without re : ark ; and Mr Vogel intimated that he expected jin a few days to be able to lay on the table some valuable correspondence on the subject, from Sydney and the United States. Mr Bunny thereupon moved the adjournment of the debate, and, in doing so, said that he would not oppose such a resolution as the one proposed, merely because Wellington was not to be the port of call. He thought the action recently taken by the people of Wellington in; reference to this matter, did not reflect much credit on their discernment or sound sense. Mr Birch, in a few words, extolled the capabilities of the port of Otago; and then Mr Borluse, referring to what Mr Bunny had said, denied that the recent agitation in in Wellington on the subject had bbenf 'the action of the people of Wellington. He, the

member /for ijthe City of Wellington, had taken no part in the matter, had not attended any of the meetings, or been asked to attend any of them. He wished the House to understand that the people of Wellington had not taken action in the matter. All that had been done was a sort of an affair got up by a clique. Mr Hall thought it would be a very desirable thing for New Z ;aland to have a mail service of its own, but did not think such a service would pay, as the traffic would not be sufficient to keep it going. Passengers from Australia would not like coming to New Zealand in small steamers, to take their chance of getting berths in the larger ones, when they could go at once on board of the Suez boats. Nor was it likely that the United States, while willing to give a very large subsidy to establish communication with New Zealand and Australia, would give a subsidy to a line terminating in New Zealand. The House should be careful that it did not act so that direct line would be estab ished between San Francisco and Sydney ; while this Colony would have to be content with a branch line to Fiji. Mr Rarff said he knew it was contemplated to place some large steamers now engaged in the West Indian trade on the line between New Zealand and Australia. If that was done, a portion of Mr Hall’s objections would be obviated. Mr Fitzherbert made a very exco’lent speech, saying he agreed with the Colonial portion of the resolution, but not with the local part. The question of the port of call ought to be left to the decision of those best tilted to decide —the contractors. New Zealand, be thought, now had the ball at its feet, and was quite able to subsidise a line of steamers from San Francisco. Such a line would do more to give practical effect to the large financial proposals now before the House, thon almost any qther step that could be taken, and it was absurd to say the Colony could not afford. Lop,ooo a year, when it was dealing -with millions. For that sum, it was well known that a mo.-t efficient line of assured permanency could lie established, and he believed the expenditure would prove abundantly reproductive, if the Colony had the courage to undertake it. Then New Zealand would have the contract to itself, would be able to make better terms with the other Colonies, than if it was only a partner with them in the first place. It was cheese paring to say we could not afford the expense, and he did hope that a great Colonial enterprise of this sort would not be marred by any local jealousies. Mr Reader Woo l thought that the tone of the Auckland anl Wellington papers regarding the port of call had rendered those Provinces extremely ridiculous to the rest of the Colony, and thewhole Colony ridiculous in the eyes of the world. He w;ould vote for that place being the port of call, which could be reached in the shortest time, and at the least expense. Mr Williamson thought that-New Zealand ought not to play second fiddle to any of the Colonics in this matter. Instead of sending delegates to Sydney, they ought to make Sydney send to New Zealand. - He -implored hon. members to drop the question of the pert of call, but, at the same time, lie proceeded to argue at some length in favpr of Auckland, winding up with the assertion that if any attempt was made to deprive Auckland of the privilege, the Province would be blind to its own interests if it did not take the carrying out of the matter into its own hands, He did hot think Mr Ha'l's line could possibly last, but it had opened the way. Mr Vogel made a few remarks, and the debate was then adjourned for a week. In an article on the subject of this service, the A njHi says—“ A serious mistake appears to ns to be made by those who argue that Melbourne has not as much interest in the service as Sydney, for instance, and that Melbourne could afford to stand aloof from it altogether. On the contrary, the commerce and trade of Melbourne maj r fairly calculate upon receiving as great an impulse as that of Sydney by a service that shall tap such a fertile source of traffic for all the Australian communities y and it is as a traffic, and not as a postal service, that v. e maintain the new project presents the greatest attractions, at least for ourselves, Our neighbours may not allow ui to throw this consideration into the balance when thq time conies for weighing out the subsidy that will fall to each of the partners in the transaction to pay, but, nevertheless, to ad* vanee it as an argument in favour of holding aloof from the scheme, that we are already served to our satisfaction by the Peninsular and Oriental Company, is simply suicidal and absurd.' If tfie scheme is a tenable one, we arejbouud by the instincts of self-preser-vation to take’part in it; and to the extent we takcjpart in it, we are bound to benefit by it. If New Zealand and New South Wales find that they can be better accomodatedjby the San Francisco line than by the Suez line for the conveyance of their postal and passenger traffic to Europe, they will adopt it on that account. Our contribution to the subsidy will not b« made to it for mail services, but it is not the less calculated to be remunerative; and it certainly will not be earned on easier terms if the projectors carry out their project with the good faith and energy which seem to have characterised their movements so far.