PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2725, 10 November 1871, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

Further correspondence between Mr Webb and the Government relative to the San Francisco service has been published. On September 7 Mr Stewart, Mr Webb’s agent, wrote to the Postmaster General from - uckland. informing him that it is necessary that the contract should be modified in order that Mr Webb’s line should be enabled to compete with the opposition from Australia, and be placed in a position to secure the subsidy of L 25,000 offered by the Australian Governments. As those Colonies “ will not be content with a branch service, and are determined to have a branch service terminating at Australia,” and as the contractors had failed in their anticipation that Australia “ would be content with a branch service,” they deem it advisable to ask for such a modification of the contract, as “would harmonise with the views of other colonies, and prove materially beneficial to the Government as well as to the contractors. ” On the 30th September Mr Vogel wrote to Mr Webb, informing him that he had agreed to Mr Stewart’s suggestion for a modification of the contract for fmir months. Mr V ogel, however, thinks that Air Stowait’s last letter, which was wi den subsequent to that modification, virtually amounts to an expression of Mr Webb’s dissatisfaction with the main point of the conti act, and considers that it should have been written before Mr Stewart left Wellington Reminding Mr Webb of his promise to use his best efforts to get the American Congress to reduce the wool duty, to which matter he attaches as

much importance as ever, Mr Vogel goes on to -ay that he regrets that in consequence of Mr Webb not coming out, the Government is left without anyone to represent the contractors during the negociations, it will he necessary to carry on with the Australian Governments, and urges that either Mr Wehb himself or some other person possessed of full and absolute authority to represent the contractors should come out at once. Mr Vogel then adds :—“ Had I not confidently relied upon your promise to come to New Zealand, 1 should have hesitated to grant the request made by Mr Stewart, and I fear that through the contract steamers not proceeding to the southern part of .Vew Zealand in December, the Colony will be a serious loser in respect to the conveyance of «roc.l to the United States. I beg you to understand most clearly, that the Government of New Zealand will require that the steamer which L due in Auckland on the Ist January shall proceed thence to Port Chalmers, calling at tiie ports specified in the contract, and shall leave Auckland for San Francisco on the proper day, viz., January 25. . . You must allow me to add that all corrcspon fence on this subject will be useless, for 1 am able to inform you absolutely that, afierthe four trips on which the contractors are at liberty to run the steamers from Auckland to Sydney, the Government will require that the terms of the contract, unless varied by mutual consent, shall be strictly observed.’' On September 24, Mr Stewart writes from Honolulu, asking the Postmaster-General, in consideration of the fact that the contractors are losing money rapidly on account of the small passenger traffic and the refusal of the Australian colonies to subsidise the line, to harmonise Australian and New Zealand interests, so that the line can be made a first-olaes one. Mr Stewart points out that it is impossible tney can call at Fiji on account of the (.augers to navigation there, and states that it is of no use his coming out until the New Zealand Government make up their minds as to the liual terminus o l ' the line.