THE PROPOSED NEW MAIL SERVICE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2087, 23 May 1907, Page 4

THE PROPOSED NEW MAIL SERVICE.

A number of the loading mercantile men of Christchurch were interviewed by a member of the staff of Truth as to their idea of the proposal of Sir Joseph Ward that New Zealand should pay a subsidy of £IOO,OOO per annum for a fast mail service of twenty or twenty-one days. The general consensus of opinion was "to the effect that there was no need for tlio expenditure of such a sum. “It would lie,” said ono gentleman, “paying far 100 dearly for our whistle. There is not now'such urgont necessity for a fast mail service as in years gone by. The greater part of tho mercantile ordering which had to be done by correspondence formerly is now done by cable. The coding of cablegrams has now been brought to such a pitch tin one can put half a page of letter writing in a word or two. What is wanted is a reliable mail service of say twenty-eight dyys. By reliable I mean, one which can be depended upon absolutely, bar accidents, as regards regularity. If we can 'get this it will be sufficient for all our mercantile requirements for some time to come. Therefore, I do not think the expense of £IOO,OOO per annum would bo warranted.” Another mercantile gentleman put the case thus:—“You see a service such as that spoken of by Sir Wilfrid Laiirier and Sir Joseph Ward would he essentially a mail service only. Tho passengers travelling by such a line would—from the cost of the passage by such a speedy route—bo merely wealthy men visiting the colony. They would not bo men who were coming to the colony with a view of settling. This class does not care to be* whisked from England to New Zealand at express speed. There is no reason for it. They would prefer to come by a boat that would bring them here, say, in 45 days at a reasonable cost so far as passage money is concerned. So we should simply be paying £IOO,OOO per annum to have our correspondence delivered in twenty or twenty-one days from which we should derive no proportion advantage. The cable services aro now so generally used that 1 may say they have almost ontirely superseded correspondence. Wc should get no cargo by tho proposed line, hence there would be no advantage to our trade. The rapidity with which the steamers would have to ho pushed oil to the terminal port, Sydney, would not afford any time for working cargo at the New Zealand port touched at. The benefit of cargo carrying if any were taken would be reaped by the terminal port, i.e., Sydney. For these reasons I do not see the necessity of the expenditure of so large a sum as £IOO,OOO per annum. A service on which mercantile men could rely for punctuality say of twenty-eight days or even thirty days would be quite commensurate with our wants for some time at least.