PANAMA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 51, 19 June 1862, Page 5 (Supplement)

PANAMA AND NEW ZEALAND.

[From the Lyttelton Times , May 21, 1862.] The distance between Wellington and Panama by a sailing ship’s route either way is under 6300 miles. The distance from Southampton to Panama by the route of the West Indian Mail steamers is 5612 miles. The distance from Wellington to Southampton by the Suez route is at least 2000 miles greater than the total of these figures. The time occupied in traversing the distance from Southampton to Panama is 19 days, which may bo called 20, inclusive of the railway transit across the isthmus. A steam vessel making nine knots across the Pacific would reach Wellington in 29 days fi’om Panama. Thus the voyage between Southampton and New Zealand may be completed in less than 50 days. By this route, the course of post between the mother country and this colony would cover four months, with ample time for replies at each end. At the present time, the course of post between England and New Zealand is five mouths ; and not only so, but the dates are so arranged that replies can be sent from England to letters received in any mail only by the 3Tarseilles portion of the return mail. Thus for a lai'ge portion of the correspondence the course of post is in reality six months. New Zealand, under the existing arrangement, receives and despatches her correspondence with the United Kingdom by means of a chain of communication, consisting of a great number of links and passing through the whole Australian group of colonies. It was at first agreed between these colonies that the chain which bound them together, and linked them as a group with the mother country, should be paid for by the whole number, each contributing a share in proportion to the work performed by it; that is, in the language of the Post-office, in the ratio which the number of letters conveyed between that colony and the United Kingdom bears to phe whole number conveyed between the United Kingdom and all the Australian colonies. But it has since seemed good to the Imperial Government to alter this proportion, and to substitute a combined ratio of letters and distance taken together; so that the most distant colony—New Zealand —is henceforward to pay an enhanced proportion of the cost of the P. and O. line from Sydney to Gallo' because it gets its letters last, enjoys a return mail a month latter than any other colony, and generally derives least advantage from the expensive service. New Zealand receives and despatches far more letters in proportion to its population than any other colony of the Australian group. The proportion is three of New Zealand to one of New bouth Y ales, and to two of \ ietoria, per head of population ; or in other words, the people of this colony write and receive twice as may letters as any similar number of people throughout the neighbouring colonies. This fact is disclosed by the last official returns. The figures may bo found in detail in a table printed in the Lyttelton Times of January 4, last. As, therefore, our correspondence is twice as largo, so our proportion of contribution to the expense of the mail service is double (hat of our neighbours on this account alone. Inking, then, these throe facts into consideration that New Zealand makes a remarkable use even of the imperfect mail communication now existing ; that on this account, and because of her position at the end of the last link of the Suez line, she has to incur au expenditure doubly increased ; and that she labours under many serious disadvantages due to the route by which the mail is carried —taking, we say, these three facts into consideration, and applying them to the years and events through which this colony is now about to pass, we ask, confident of the answer—ls not this tiio time to enter upon the establishment of the Panama route ? Assuming that all persons interested in New Zealand will answer this question with a general affirmative, but that, prudent people will demand to know how and at what oxpcnce the Panama route is to be established, we proceed to arrange in order the main facts of the ease, so far as they can bo accurately given. The Most India Royal Mail steamers leave Southampton on the 2nd and 17th of each month and, by way of St. Thomas’s, reach Colon, at the Atlantic end of the Panama Railway, on the 6th and 21st of each month. The railway about 40 miles in length delivers passengers at Panama on the 7tli and 22nd of each month. At present, this railwaw is used on these dates by the passengers on the Pacific line of steamers running from Panama to Callao and Valparaiso and back leaving the former port on the 9th and 24th of the‘month, and returning to it on the sth and 20th, in time for the homeward M est India mail boat, which leaves Colon about the Stli and 23rd. The Pacific Company’s steamers achieve the distance to \ alparaiso, about 3,700 miles, calling at a large number of ports in 20 days, under penalty ; and the return voyage in 19 days, employing nine boats from 600 to 1,600 tons register, and from 250 to 450 horse-power. The whole mileage accomplished in a twelvemonth is 177,120 nautical miles, and this is performed under contract with the British Post-office for a subsidy of £25,000 a year. Wc arc part icular in giving these details, because the Pacific Company tendered, so long ago as 1851, to perform a monthly service from Panama to Sydney via New Zealand and back, for £50,000 a year ; and, although possibly the sum now required may be increased since the experience of those who entered upon the Suez contract, yet the same company is now probably in the best, condition to undertake and work out the service which wc require, of all the steam-packet companies on the Post-office register. At any rate, the regularity with which they work a long line in connection with the West India service, across the Isthmus of of Panama, proves the possibility of a similar arrangement being entered into on behalf of the Australian colonics. It should be mentioned further that the Panama railway is in use for the weekly conveyance of passengers on the steam line between New York and San Francisco. The Panama Railway is the property of a United States Company, and is under guarantee against injury from any hostile power; not only from the local government and the surrounding states, but

also from Great Britain and France. The passage across the isthmus is performed in four hours, and the latest accounts state that the service is performed with the greatest regularity' and the utmost convenience to passengers. The Australasian colonies which desire communication with England hy way of Panama, have, then only to form the connection between New Zealand and Panama, a distance of 6,300 miles, by either course which a ship would take coming out on the homeward passage, in order to sebure the most favourable winds. The distance is great, and would be justly open to the objection of being too long a passage for steamers having no intermediate port of call, were it not for certain tacts of which wo prefer to take evidence from the mouths of unprejudiced nautical men, rather than from any opinions which may be fornpjd on this side’respecting them. ■ ' " ' About the time when, as we have stated, the Pacific Company tendered for the service in. question, that is in the year 1851, a committee of the British House of Commons, generally known as Lord Jocelyn’s Committee, was appointed and sat to take evidence as to the best means of establishing a regular and speedy communication with Australia. Among many' conflicting opinions and surmises, as to cost, traffic, and remuneration of each and every line, which have been either proved or disproved by the development of events, and accompanying a very curious enquiry as to the powers of screw steamers, then scarcely tested, there arc to bo found in the minutes of evidence taken before the Committee some striking facts testified to from personal knowledge and long experience of navigators upon the Pacific Ocean. The value of these facts has not passed away with the eleven years which have elapsed, full as” those years have been of incident, but has rather gained strength and importance from the development of these colonies, in which at that time even the presence of gold was not yet known, and though many committees have safto consider the question of mail communication between Great Britain and Australia since 1851, and much which was doubtful then respecting the power, qualifications, expense, and returns of steam vessels in these seas, lias been long ago set at rest, we can find nowhere any opinion as to the navigation of the Pacific contradicting that then unanimously expressed. The Committee was engaged in comparing the merits as a postal and passenger line to Australia, of four propositions : that by' Suez, Gallo, and King George’s Sound; that hy Suez, Singapore, and Torres Straits; that hy the Capa of Good Hope and long sea ; and that by Panama. As regards expedition, certainty, and extent of postal communication, the Committee did not consider that any' one of the lines had £i any advantage over the others in these respects of so decided a character as to lead the Committee to recommend it solely on that ground.” As regards accommodation and economy, the Committee expressed a more decided opinion. They say : —“ in point of accommodation the Panama line promises a tranquil and regular passage across the Pacific Ocean, the trade winds securing regularity both on tin; outward and homeward route. They add that “ the inconvenience attendant upon the transit of the Isthmus of Panama, though not wholly removed, will be materially diminished when the railway shall bo completed.” This railway is now constantly employed in carrying passengers to and ,vom the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in connexion with the Californian and Pad ’c line of steamers. The Counnitt eo recomm ended the lin e by the Capo of Good Hope, but added “In arriving at their conclusions your Committee are not blind to the merits of the Panama line ; they believe that it would afford a regular and sufficiently rapid postal communication, securing to the passenger a voyage comparatively' free from storms, and at the same time it would bring the rising colony of New Zealand into the main line of communication.” Finally the Committee left it to the House itself to judge from the evidence how tho interests of the various colonies of the Australian group might best be consulted, and they make the following special point:—“ and in such arrangements your Committee consider that the interests of New Zealand should not be neglected.” The evidence given before the Committee contains many differing opinions on many points, but all witnesses agree about the superiority of the Pacific navigation. One witness. Captain Sir J. Stirling, R.N., depreciates the merits of the proposed postal route by Panama in the following manner :—“ I think that as far as the wants of commerce go at present, the line of communication between Panama and the Australian colonies might with great advantage be carried on by sailing vessel.-, by choosing a proper latitude to make the voyage a fair wind may be secured to and fro. The trade winds blow in a certain direction within certain limits of latitude ; the westerly winds, on the contrary, blow almost constantly within other limits, so that by choosing a proper line for each voyage both might be made with a fair wind; therefore the voyage might he made with as much advantage hy fast-sailing vessels as by steamers.” From the gallant officer’s premises we should bo disposed to draw a different conclusion. It must be recollected also that at this time tho powers of the screw-propeller wore in dispute; maritime faith was fixed upon paddle steamers, to which any but a dead fair wind was rather an inconvenience than au advantage. Wc cannot resist, however, quoting another opinion from the same authority. Captain Bir J. Stirling is asked : —“ Do you think that the object of bringing Now Zealand into communication is of great importance ?” He renlics : —“ New Zealand is at present in its infancy', but wo are justified in looking forward to it one day play ing a very distinguished part in those seas. I think it would bo an act of great injustice to exclude New Zealand from the general consideration of communication in that part of tbs world.” Another witness, Mr. Bogue, an Australian merchant, repeats the same opinion. Ho is favorable to the Panama line for other reasons, but particularly because “ it combines rapid postal communication with economy and comfort for genuine passenger traffic. The smoothness of the seas to he traversed, the mildness of the weather and salubrity of the climate throughout the entire line, the notorious general safety, the facility, and

freedom from danger of tlie navigation of the Pacific, would hold out the greatest inducements to passengers with their families.” Another naval officer, Captain F. p. Blackwood, E. X., strongly objects to the Panama line because “ it leads to nothing: it is not the route which our commerce and trade require.” But a letter from Captain Fitzroy is read to him containing the following passage : —“ Between Panama and Sydney the ocean is unequalled for the facility afforded to navigation. Steady moderate breezes, regular currents and clear weather arc everywhere prevalent. The precise situation of every island near the proposed route is known ; supplies may be procured and coal can be carried cheaply from ’Western America, New Zealand, or Australia, if not from the Northern Atlantic. Perhaps in no part of the world would screw steamers be employed to more advantage;”—and the witness is asked if he concurs in that opinion? He replies ; —“ To a great extent I do. If there were any object in the Panama route, the question would he a very ditferent one; but it leads to nothing.” Perhaps the course of time has supplied that “objectwhich Captain Blackwood believed to be wanting in the Panama route. Captain Hamond, of the Royal Navy, is quoted in the course of the examination to the following effect, from a letter published by him in the ‘Times.’ lie states, in the first place, that he has had experience in all parts of the globe, and has had charge, for a lengthened period of a man of war steam vessel in the Pacific Ocean. He says “ The advantages of the Panama route are many and great; and I may especially refer to the certainty that, with the amount of attention at present being directed to' .Central America, the traffic across all that region, will soon be conducted with perfect ease and celerity.” It is so now by means of the railway. He goes on : —“ Thoughout the entire range of this route across the vast Pacific Ocean, both going and returning between Panama New Zealand and Sydney, fine weather, smooth seas, and a pleasant temperature almost every where prevail, and the trade winds, generally speaking, blow with such gentle force and constant regularity, that the seaman acquainted with them is enabled, even at the present time, to shape Ills course from port to port with certainty and confidence, thereby dialing enabling him even without the advantage'of steam, to calculate upon his arrival with accuracy, and precision,” Captain Fitzroy, already quoted, adds a word or two on the same subject:—“Persons who are canversant only with. European or even Atlantic steam voyages scarcely realize to themselves sufficiently the long runs that arc made in trade winds or in the southern ocean under sails alone, where for weeks together, no steam power is required. It is in such extensive tracts of ocean that the screw steamer will be most advantageous.” Captain Hamond adds the following just observation : —“ In looking upon the advantages of establishing a lino of steam communication to Australia by the Panama route, the important point must not. be overlooked of its being a resource in the event of any interruption to ourcommunication wifh India by the Isthmus of Suez, a point, which I consider ought fo form matter of the highest consideration. One powerful company at present connects ns by steam with India and China rhl Suez : it is our policy to encourage the formation of a similar one 1o unite us with our rapidly rising colonics in Australia and Now Zealand by a shorter route.” Captain w. ir K. Belcher, E. N. being asked which of the proposed routes he thinks most advisable, replied without hesitation, that he preferred that by Panama, and being examined as to his reasons for this opinion, he relates : —“I think that the passage is secure and smooth, and that the return (homeward) is not liable to so many dangers either to the machinery or to (he vessel as cither of the other routes. 1 consider that by the other routes you would have in most cases the outward passage to perform before the wind, and the passage back dead against the wind. I think you are mere liable to be influenced by the different monsoons; whereas in the Pacific I think in either case you would have a leading wind, which is the best wind always for a screw steamer, or you would have an opportunity on the return passage of having what is called a soldier's wind, and that the breezes which blow there would enable a vessel to go faster than she would even with strong breezes on the other side.” Wc have now quoted amply from the evidence, as to the advantages of the Panama route for certainty and comfort, and will only add the recapitulation of Mr. W. Just, managing director of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company above referred to. Ho is asked by the Chairman to state briefly the favorable points which be considers to attach to that route above all the others. Ho then recapitulates:—“The advantages of the Panama route appear to be briefly as follows. First, —It is the speediest, the most comfortable, and the most certain in regard to regularity, whether viewed as a postal or as a passenger route, between England and those colonies ; points which must he considered of paramount import ance. Secondly, —it embraces, not only without detriment but with advantage to the other Australasian colonies, a mail service between the mother country and Now Zealand. Between these colonics there is a considerable commercial intercourse greatly on the increase, which wQidd bo promoted ami matured by the adoption of the Panama route. * * • * * In the fourth place, the Australasian colonies would thereby be brought into direct and regular intercourse v<ith South and Central America, Mexico, California, the West Indies, and North America : facilities being thus afforded for commercial connections with those important and rising colonies. From the foregoing considerations it may safely be argued that were the merits of this route fairly brought before the colonists in the tangible shape now presented to the committee, they would gladly give it the preference. Of the many political advantages of this route, the following may be noticed:—First, an increased occupation by our steam fleet of the waters of the Pacific, tending to the greater encouragement of British enterprise,, and the better protection of British interests in that part, of the world ; thus placing a barrier to further encroachments on the part of foreign rivals. | Secondly, the opening nn of an additional route I to India and Chinn, if, in the event of a war, the

Isthmus of Suez should be closed against tin 3 country.” It is .worthy of remark that this company, when tendering for the Panama service, based their calculations upon the price of coal being 555. 6d. per ton, at Panama, sent out from Cardiff, in Wales. We believe that they now obtain an excellent coal from the Lota mine, in the Bay of Oranco, near Conception, in the South of Chile, at the price, of only 20s. per ton, delivered on board. How wdiild this supply of coal or that in New Zealand, equal in quality, affect the computation ? It is noticeable also that, in answer to a direct question from from the committee, the Manager of the Pacific Company said, “It will be quite unnecessary to coal anywhere between Port Nicholson and Panama”! ! The concurrent testimony of the most eminent nautical men is thus given to establish the fact that the voyage across the long stretch of 6,300 miles of ocean between New Zealand and Panama is one most comfortable to passengers and most easy for a steamer, provided she can make use of canvass. There are one or two facts about steam mail contract services which are sufficiently proved by experience to be used by landsmen for the purposes of calculation. One is that to obtain an average high rate of speed, such as the Cimard and P. and 0. vessels are under contract t 6 maintain in their •"oyages across the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, the ship must always be kept under steam ; and another is that under steam, the last knot per hour is obtained at the expense of a very disproportionate consumption of fuel. The direct conclusion which we draw from these facts is that a moderate rate of speed only must be required in order that a steamer may make use of favorable winds, and carry coal for a long distance. If, then, we are content with an average of nine knots an hour on the voyage, there seems reason to believe that a suitable vessel may cross the Pacific .Ocean, running at the stipulated speed for half the distance under sail alone, and carrying coal sufficient not only for the remaining half, but even for the whole voyage, in case of accident or unforeseen necessity. We venture to say that a nautical man’s imagination would at once picture to him as the proper vessel for the service a full power screw steamer of six or seven hundred tons steamer’s register, with a lifting screw, and. fully rigged. Such a boat would afford ample accommodation to passengers, and, (there being no bulky cargo) could carry thirty days coal calculated at 91bs. per horse-power per hour, without putting any on deck. The route which such a vessel would take from Wellington towards Panama would lie well to the eastward as far as about Long. 130 W., and then, meeting the trades, by a north-easterly course to Panama, passing not far from Easter Island. The outward route, or that from Panama to Wellington, would lie to the northward ol the former, and would pass in some cases not far from Tahiti, in others close by Gambicr Island, but generally between (lie two. It is clear that, the expenses of such boats being comparatively small, a much less subsidy per mile would suffice for them than is required by Luc P. and 0. Company for the service which their boats perform round the Lewin, and tor which New Zealand pays a yearly sum very disproportionate to the advantage which she obtains. Adding therefore the consideration that a very large number of passengers would unquestionably move along the Panama lino, it is clear that its establishment is bv no means too much to hope for, nor beyond the moans which may he calculated on as available for such a purpose, and this brings us to the question of finance. In the first place the Panama route would be for postal purposes the whole and sole communication between England and New Zealand. A few Indian and Australian letters would remain the sole occupants of the mail rooms, where our highly-prized, far-fetched, and dearly-bought European boxes arc now stowed. The proportion of the expense of that route falling upon New Zealand—under the established system of apportionment between the colonies would then he reduced to insignificance, because no correspondent would dream of sending a letter between England and New Zealand, via- Suez, while the Panama lino is working. And if the phantom fleet ot Cape steamers, of which some Melbourne merchants have talked, should ever become a reality, the Panama route will still bo without a rival for our purposes. The relief which New Zealand would obtain on this account would this year be already considerable, and would largely increase as years roll on. Further, at the expiration of the existing contract for the New Zealand and Australian mails, the Imperial Government would no doubt be willing to transfer their expenditure for the postal benefit of this colony from one hemisphere to the other. Nor would this, ior obvious reasons, affect the communication between this coly and Australia, which is of too great importance to be neglected. The colony which would go hand in hand with New Zealand in the enterprise, and which lias awaited our readiness for at least three years, is New South Males. This colony has by act of the legislature devoted fifty thousand pounds a year, for ten years, to the purpose of opening and maintaining the Panama route. New Zealand ought to grant a sum of twenty-five-'thousand pounds for the same purpose. Queensland is in a position to do as much.. Victoria, though averse ■to the proposal at present, as a general scheme, canid not refuse to facilitate its own jarge American mercantile relations, by contribution on the established postal apportionment basis. This is quite enough. "Wc have scarcely alluded to the Imperial Government. Jt is said, wo know not will’what truth, that for political or diplomatic reasons the British Government .object s to so close a connection between the United States and Australia. It is more likely that the questions oi finance have caused the discouragement which has been thrown at home on the Panama route. -\\ o cannot believe that either of these reasons is proof against the determination of the colonies themselvos, especially if little aid be asked for. Surely the mother country will not, restrain her growing Australasian dependencies from s(retelling out their arms to the cast as well ns to the west, and strengthening themselves by commerce with all quarters of the earth.