The Fielding Star. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1, 1882. DIRECT STEAM SERVICE WITH ENGLAND.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 39, 1 November 1882, Page 2

The Fielding Star. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1, 1882. DIRECT STEAM SERVICE WITH ENGLAND.

In the norifidtion published by T be Government in the Gazette o l 'the 'JO.h Octolvr, r^g-anling- tenders for Direct Commercial Steam Sor v ice between England and New Zealand, the original intention of calling for tenders in the Australasian colonies, as well as in London, has been abandoned, as it would cause a serious loss of time, and postpone the initiation of the service indefinitely. It has been determined that the Agent-General in London shall call for and receive tenders. The service is to be once every calendar month, each way, commencing in Apri', 1883, from London, and from New Zealand in July, and to continue for three years, the vessels employed to be not less than 3,000 tons utoss tonnage. But now follows the most extraordinary condition : "The contractor to have the option on each vuya^e ot makingAuckland, Wellington, Lyltelton, or Port Chalmers the first port of arrival in New Zealand, and the last port of departure, with liberty to call before departure ai as many of the ports as the contractor may think fit." In leaving to the option of the contractor the port of arrival, aod giving him the right of conferring his patronage on the port which bids the highest for his favor, the Government displays no ordiuary amount of shrewdness in shirking a difficulty which would certainly be raised if they had the courage of their opinions, and selected one of the above-mentioned principal ports as the first purt of arrival in iNew Zealand. If unhappy Wellington was favored by being chosen, the representatives uf the other three ports would be up in arms against her as a common enemy. Let the splendid harbor of Auckland be selected, and Wellington would call upon Lyttelton and Port Chalmers for assistance against Auckland, and the same changes would be rung if Lyttelton or Port Chalmers were selected. By leaving the choice to the contractor, the " trouble-avoiding Government" is saved a lot of bother and worry, and when upbraided by their constituencies, each individual Minister will be able to give the naughty schoolboy's reply, <■ Please sir, it wasn't me." Ministers have reduced the question to its finest point when they tacitly admit, by their shirking the responsibility of selecting a port, that any mere contractor (who for all we know to the contrary uray never have seen New Zealand) be better able to judge which is the best port for the steamers to arrive at or depart from, and consequently to judge which is the largest commercial centre in the colony. Ministers are supposed to have a superior knowledge of the colony — its requirements and capabilities — and should surely be able to decide so vital a question. Yet there is a saving clause in this objectionable proposal which, in our opinion, will have a worse effect than any other part of it. It is this, " The contractor to have the option on each voyage of making Wei- , linoton, Lyitelton, Auckland, or Port Chalmers the first port of arrival, ifec" That is to say, each port will be left to bid egainst the others for the honor and profit of being the port of arrival each trip. If this has been dono with the intention of pleasing everybody, ie will meet with the fate generally experienced in such cases. — nobody will be p eased. The inconvenience that will arise to shippers of goods or passengers cannot be estimated. A Wellington contemporary thinks that a well-known lar-e shipping company has had^a considerable voice in the n?akin«- of these conditions of tender, and that the said company will largely ben fit by their being fulfilled. The other portions of the conditions are admirable, and no fault can be foun i with them. The p:issen«fer rates ano rates for cargo are very reasonable. The provision made *or the refrigerating machinery

for freezing meiit and dairy produce >hu\vs that the Guverument is alive to the progress the colony is niftkinp in this direction and are determined to k<>e[> uj> with the times, but they are equally determined to cling- to their seats on the Treasury Benches.