STEAM COMMUNICATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 406, 24 September 1856, Page 3

STEAM COMMUNICATION.

VIA TORRES STRAITS. (From the ' Sydney Empire.') The following correspondence between Messrs. Beit and o Sons, and-the Government, on the subject of establishing a postal steam service between Sydney and Singapore via Torres Straits, has been handed to us for publication. Sydney, 11th July, 1856. Sib —With your Excellency's kind permission, we have the honour again to submit the proposal for re-establishing a Monthly Mail Communication between this Colony and England, via Singapore, modified in accordance to the views your Excellency expressed on the former occasion, as regards the remuneration to the Company, and, at the suggestion of the Company, increasing the tonnage and power of the boats to be employed. The directors have furnished us now with full power of Attorney, &c, &c, to make a binding contract on their behalf with this Government, and they will be prepared to begin the service within a very short period (to be stipulated) after receipt of a concluded contract. We take this opportunity of bringing under your Excellencj''s consideration, first, the peculiar and important advantages which this route offers for New South Wales ; secondly, a plan conferring upon all the Australian colonies, the greatest benefits obtainable, to which they are respectively entitled by their importance and geographical position, without favouring the interests of one, at the expense of another; and lastly, the actual position of this Postal Communication with the Imperial Government, and the probability of its ready concurrence in the scheme now proposed. For New South Wales it is of the utmost importance that the Torres Straits route should be adopted, in preference to any other, even if the mails could be brought within the same time, or even one or two days quicker, by the latter, on account of the importance of bringing the Northern ipart of Australia in direct communication with the Indian Archipelago and China; from whence a labouring population, for the tropical portion of Australia, must be obtained, and with which a beneficial commercial intercourse would rapidly be established, as soon as a settlement can be formed at Port Albany or its neighbourhood. 2. That superiority of the navigation for steamboats hns been so fully established, by

repeated reports of Sir J. Beaufort, the late Admiral King, Captain Stokes, and others, that it may be justly supposed that passengers from all India and China intending to visit Sydney, will prefer to come by this generally smooth wateijgpassage, than to go by the western route via Cape Lea win and Melbourne. 3. This route can be established with the least delay, and at the smallest expense, being the nearest to the well established trunk line from England to India and China, and 4. It is the only line upon which it can be calculated with any degree of certainty, derived from actual experience, that not only the mails can be carried within 60 days either way, but that an answer may be received in or from Sydney within 125 days, allowing sufficient time for correspondence between arrival and departure of the mails.

5. That Sydney would be the first port of arrival and last of departure is an advantage which may very fairly be likewise claimed by Melbourne ; we should therefore feel a serious difficulty to overcome, if our scheme did not provide a perfect equality in that respect; only we think it would scarcely be fair or consistent that New South Wales should be absolutely placed in that respect at a disadvantage, and in fact we believe that the scheme to adopt the Eastern route from Pointe de Galle, via Melbourne to Sydney only,\s absolutely impracticable, as we shall show presently. In establishing the line from Singapore to Sydney direct, we have calculated that bringing the mails within 59 or .60 days to and from London, not more than 5 days could be allowed for despatching the return mail from Sydney, to be in time for the next return mail to Europe from Singapore ; to go on to Melbourne, and allow time for correspondence from Victoria and the other colonies, would require an additional delay, which would bring the mail necessarily over to the next half-monthly mail, so that a return correspondence could not be obtained in less than 140 days. We believe that precisely similar calculation will apply to the proposed line from Pointe de Galle to Melbourne and thence to Sydney ; so that by a combination of these two colonies, to either one route, both would be placed to a great disadvantage, the question in the choice being, not which should have the greatest advantage, but which should have the least disadvantage. We believe that the following scheme if adopted, and initiated by your Excellency, would be hailed with satisfaction by the several' colonies and approved by H.M. Government. 1. Mails should be despatched from Southampton by the established overland route on "the sth of every month, and supplemented on the 9th via Marseilles, on to Singapore, and thence by the Torres Straits route direct to Sydney, and forwarded to New Zealand. And on the 20tli of every month, supplemented on the 24th., to Point de Galle, and thence direct to Melbourne., touching at King George's Sound and Kangaroo Island, ""and leaving the ruails for Western and South Australia, while the mail for Tasmania would be forwarded immediately from Melbourne to Launceston. Both. Melbourne and Sydney should reciprocally forward any European mails which may be forwarded "by their respective routes, without any additional charge. By this arrangement both Melbourne and Sydney would each have monthly a direct arrival and departure of a mail within sixty days from London, and au indirect one within sixty-three and sixty-four days, -\vhilo all the other colonies will partake fully in all the advantages which their geographical position will permit. 2. The entire cost of this service should be borne equally between the Home Government and the colonies, and we estimate the expense as follows: — a. For an additional payment by the j Home Government to the P. and O. \ Company for carrying- all the Australian

Mails between Southampton and Singapore, and Point dc Galle, and for a reduction in the charge to the East India Company • £20 } 000 (We believe that this estimate is very liberal." TheJJ. mid O. Company is under their contract obliged to carry an}' mails put on board, deliverable at any port on the line; but the Home Government would not take advantage of that stipulation, and would grant a reasonable compensation for the additional service; calculating therefore, that in forty-eight trips per annum, the P. and O. Company would have to carry 5 tons, or 250 cubic feet extra mails, and allowing £40 per ton extra freight, £10,000 per annum would very liberally remunerate the Company; and the East India Company would probably be well satisfied with, a redaction of £10,000 in its subsidy). b. For the service between Singapore and Sydney as per tender 36,000 Transmission of the mails to and from Xevr Zealand 2,400 c. For the service between Point de Galle and Melbourne ... 50,000 (We believe that the P. and 0. Company will readily undertake this service for the proposed sum, after receiving £'10,000 for the mails as above, "when the service is disencumbered of the conditions to proceed to Sydney, which involves the necessity of employing three boats, while the service to Melbourne only, as'specified, can be effected by the P. and 0. Company, ■who have always reserve boats on the Indian line, with two boats). Steamer between Kangaroo Island and Adelaide ... 600 Steamer between Melbourne and Tasmania ... 1,000 Total cost of service ... £110,000 The Home Government being prepared to bear one half of the total cost of the service, i would therefore be chargeable with £55,000, and as it may fairly be calculated that by the more frequent communication of twice in every month, the postal revenue "will increase to at least £50,000 per annum, and the Home Government retaining all its receipts, "which may be computed at £25,000, the actual loss to the Imperial Exchequer will be reduced to about £30,000. c. The service of the two Australian branch lines should be under the immediate control and management of the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria; and the subsidies they, would have to pay being respectively as estimated £38,400 and £51,600, they should receive the following fixed contributions: — New South Wales. From the Home Government £15,000 " New Zealand 6,400 £21,400 Probable amount of postages receivable in New South Wales 7,000 £28,400 Annual loss to the Treasury of New South Wales 10,000 The estimated cost of service £38,400 Victobia. From the Home Government £20,000 „ Western Australia 1,000 „ South Australia 3,600 „ Tasmania , ... 4,000 -n i „ £28,600 Probable amount of postages receivable in Victoria 10,000 £38,600 Annual loss to the Treasury of Victoria 13,000 The estimated cost of service £51,60(3 The Colonies of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, would thus contribute a ■ total of £15,000 And receiving in postages about ... 8,000 Would in the aggregate only have an annual loss 0f... IM ,„ IM „, £7,000

d. Prepayment of all letters and newspapers, &c, &c, should be absolutely required, and each colony, as well as the Home Government, to retain the amounts received; there only remains to make some provision in respect of letters posted in the colonies for continental and foreign countries, which we apprehend will be better left entirely to the Homo Government to receive the whole of the additional postage, and to account with sxicli Foreign countries.

Respecting the position of this postal communication with the Imperial Government, we believe that your Excellency need be under no apprehension that any definite steps will be taken to establish the route proposed by the Lords of the Treasury upon the strength of the despatches of your Excellency or those from Victoria. Our private information perfectly coincides with the official announcements in the Treasury Minute of the 27th November, and by the Duke of Argyll upon the interpellation of the Earl oi Hardwicke, on the Ith April last. Their Lordships say, in alluding to the offers of contributions from the several colonies: " that although they place the utmost reliance upon the spirit in which they have been made, yet it is most desirable there should be no possible misunderstanding." Again, in Section 5, of the proposed plan, their lordships distinctly state "in the first place it -will he necessary to obtain from each of the colonies named a duly authorized? Legislative acquiescence in the arrangement proposed Sec, Sec, and my lords, relying upon the correspondence before them from the Governors of New South Wales and Victoria, have decided to take immediate steps to secure the earliest possible commencement of the service after the receipt of communications from the different colonies acquiescing in the proposed arrangements." The Duke of Argyll states, *' that the advantages of several routes remain an open question, and that before any plans could be carried out, the general assent of the colonies looutclbe obtained." Our private information goes to the effect that the Lords of the Treasury will not authorise any permanent arrangement to which the interested colonies shall not have given their distinct assent through their newly established legislatures. That their lordships find extreme difficulty to devise any plan to do justice to tiie several interests of the colonies; and would favourably receive any plan by which the colonies would themselves undertake the management and responsibility of the service from any point of the Indian line, as the Colonial Governments would be better able to control that portion of the service ; while also the contracts would be more simplified; as- the Imperial Government would only have to contract for delivering and receiving the mails, at and from the two points of the established Indian line ; while a tender to the Imperial Government for the entire service would include a separate line all the ivay. In every way the authorities at the Post-office and the Treasury appear to favour the proposal that the Colonial Governments should contract themselves for the services to the southward of the Indian line, and send their own officers to take charge of the mails [from the Imperial officers, and to deliver them those they bring from Europe.

Your Excellency will observe that in the above estimate, we have only approximately divided the contributions of the several colonies upon the basis proposed by ib.3 Lords of the Treasury, to divide the whole cost equally between the several colonies and the Home Government. We believe that the total cost will be found substantially correct; for New South Wales we speak of course positively, and we think thatit would be more convenient for New South Wales and Victoria to accept from the other colonies, a rather moderate, and to

them favourable, fixed contribution, than to ascertain every two years the letters despatched by each. We have abstained from entering upon any comparrison with other routes ; and beg leave only to observe that no other would produce in equal degree that cohesion of the British possessions, so desirable in commercial, social, and political points of view ; your Excellency and the Legislature will decide between them, when any clear and distinct offers are made. We hope that your Excellency will see sufficient grounds to communicate our general proposal to the Governments of the sister colonies, and to bring our offer to effect the service for this colony before the Legislature of this colony, immediately after its re-assembling. We remain,respectfully,your Excellency's most obedient servants, BEIT AND SONS, j