THE MAIL SERVICE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 70, 30 October 1862, Page 3

THE MAIL SERVICE.

(From the 2\ew Zerhanl Advertiser, Oct- 9.) This is a dry subject, and a costly one to boot : and one upon which a groat deal lias been said, as well as a great deal of monev expended. It is now proposed to expend a great deal more—not in opening up communication by the natural and proper mail route with England via Panama, but with England, vid Melbourne, Sydney, and Suez, The money could be much better laid out and the benefit we are likely to receive will not be at all equal to the expense incurred Nine-tenths of the settlers in this and the other Provinces—and they pay nine-tenths of the subsidy—are not at all benefitted by having the mail delivered a few days earl.er than they would do if forwarded by a sail-

ing vessel. At least twice within the last three months the mail steamer from New /Zealand has not arrived in time to catch the mail steamer from Melbourne, and, if the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce is an authority upon the subject, the mail under the new arrangements will always be a day too late. They say it ought not to leave Dunedin later than 17th, while Post-master General proposes that it shall not leave before the 18th of each month. The electric telegraph would be a cheap substitute for the interprovincial steam service, and the route vid Panama is the only steam service, in a colonial point of view, worth subsidising. .Tuese remarks have been called forth by the perusal of an able letter from the Chairman of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, on the new steam postal service proposed by the Post-master General, and the suggestions it contains are worthy of attention—seeing that if adopted by the Government, the service, while employing fewer steamers than the proposed one, and affording one-half more in number, could be procured at much less expense. The Chamber naturally look upon the service from a Dunedin point of view, but their suggestions are not the less valuable on that account. Mr. Pattrav says— The Chamber believe that the right principles to follow in constructing the desired sen ice, are—lo divide the contract into several parts, in such a manner as will induce each steam company to undertake carrying the mails at a moderate subsidy for the sake of securing the other traffic of that portion of the line it may be their interest to select. To so distribute the several lines of the service that no one can interfere with another, but that all may have exact points of meeting. To engage large and powerful boats for ocean service, and light easily handled boats for coasting. They would suggest, therefore, that in order to establish a thoroughly efficient mail service—the only course is to subsidise two powerful ocean steamers, one to run from Melbourne to Part Chalmers with the English mail on 11th ; the other to carry the homeward mail from Port Chalmers to Melbourne on 17th, delivering in the one case the inward mails for the Northern Provinces into a smaller Inter-provincial steamer immediately on arrival ; and in the other case, receiving the outward mail from the Inter-provincial steamer at Port Chalmers on the IGth, the .Southland mails being put into and taken from Dliiff harbor in passing, ihe homeward mail should leave Port Chalmers not later than 17th, at 2 p.m. lor the line between Auckland and Sydney tbc engagement of one suitable steamer would be required. I ortho communication between Sydney and Cook’s Straits, the Chamber advise a contract for an ocean steamer, to make a monthly voyage from Sydney to Nelson and Wellington andback. For the Inter-provincial service the Chamber would recommend the engagement of a steamer (of the class of the White Swan or QueenJ to make three trips between Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago, each mouth ; another lo do three trips monthly between Wellington, Napier, and Auckland ; another to run thrice a month from Manukau to Taranaki, Wanganui, Pictou, Nelson, Wellington, and hack. An arrangement could he made with the Guidinc) Star, no doubt, at small expense, to afford Invercargill and Liverton a weekly mail from Dunedin. The other la-ter-provincial mails should be arranged as nearly as possible to fall at regular intervals of ton days during the mouth. Wellington presents itself as the natural bead-quarters of tiie Interprovincial mails, and consequently as the terminus of the Sydney steamer, because of its central position. So Otago, the nearest point to Victoria, and at present the port most frequented by Melbourne steamers, offers the most desirable terminus for the Melbourne line.