THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 310, 16 September 1874, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

(Sy-'nqr Morning Herald, Angust 28.) Sin«e ihe departure of the last mail eteamHT by : the Pacific route, the or *$W£ iion 9* the mail service has i undergone an important change. Mr Ha]J, the contractor, left by the Mikado, bat without leaving any sufficient prcvinoD'forA'the continuation of the seWicei^-HStf attorney has fall powere, bat was without the sinews of war. It has since transpired that owing to the u'nforsVen expenses occasioned by casualty, .Ihe charter money for the different vessels engaged has not been pnncttallyt reraittcid, aod thai Ihß ownßr8 8 nt out inatructions to wHttdi^w 1 the 'vessels; The contractors' agent having been formally applied to ! > l r ,^fe?.^| WI S n » e »* to koovr if he was JOift.posscion to continue the service, and. baVicgadmi tied that he was not, the Government undertook to supply the/omi&sion itself, and has accordingly n*Me * special contract with the Anstralasisn Steam Navigation Com" pany to carry the mails for the present trip. The service, therefore, may be considered .as in . a transition state; the contract previously existing is in suspense, but it may not have been absolutely terminated. The Government has confided itself, for the present, to a temporary arrangement for two reasons. First; because New Zealand is* equally^ wtth ikself a party to the contract, and New Z_ aland is not represented in Sydney by anyone with whom the Government could take counsel, nor is there at present a telegraph line talhat colony that would enable the Government to be communicated with direeflyj' Mr Vogel has been appealed to to send up a plenipotentiary, and has promised to do so. Under the circumstances, the Government of New Sooth Wales has acted to the best of itß judgment in the interest of both parties; but, at the same time has done only what was necessary, pending communications by latter with the Government of New Zealand. Another cause that operates to keep the service in a temporary condition is the fact that i* is at present unknown how far the English capitalists, who are parties to the perm/ipeot contract, are desirous of vacating ifpaud until their decision on that point i&iitowa, no fresh contract can be well entered into. The misadventures which have befallen the service by the stranding of th~e Maegregor and the Tartar are greatly ? -to lamented, bat such accidents might happen to any service, afcd in faet they happen in most services. The opinion that prevails in Sydney is that the English capitalists who are parties to the contract have been unnecessarily alarmed, and have done themselves a wrong by backing out of. an enterprise which contains within itself an abundant promise of a future profit. It is thought that if they had been in full possession of all the fapts of the case they would have seen that the unanticipated loss incafredin the first instance would be more than redeemed by spirited persistence in the enterprise. The paasengfir.,'. traffic that has already been diverted to the new roufca has astonished everyone, aad it would have continued to increase if the veaßels had all been adapted to the service, aod the arrangements ' for the comfort of the M?«^j?fJ:« h«d been satisfactory. But fliie vessels having" been hurriedly sejected an,d brought on to the route, and having been originally designed more for cargo' than for passenger traffic, it was impossible to improvise such accommodation as passengers are entitled to expect. With vessels adapted fto the; line, however, and the drgßQjsaUoQ of the line completed so " ff^^^o'he voyages to be performs t V«" i. regularity, no sooh complaints would arise. By the almost universal testimony of those who have taken the Pacific route, it is is? every; way preferable to that by way of Cape Horn, being both less disagreeable and more interesting; and as the flow of passenger traffic to and fro bt tween Europe, America, and Australia, is yearly increasing, the trade, large bb it is, has already shown that it muat stefdily increase. It will be a matter oTpnsiderable regret if (hose gemle»en who took up this contraot should pfematarely drop it and lose their mo6ey, because we should desire that those who come forward to carry out a Cettefe£»F4>n our behalf should find afair reward for ihdr capital and their tfattr^f&e. If, however, they withdraw, the service itself will not lapse. There are others who have been watching its development with no little intert-st, who are perfectly cognizant of its capabilities, and who are quiie ready io accept its responsibilities. So far as the Government of this colony is concerned, it has announced its resolution on no account whatever to allow the service to lapse, snd we have every reason to hope the Government of New Z-akod will be equally resolute. The local steam flest, whh the r asßiatauce of such of the vessels now running in the Pacific service as j can Je retained on the guarantee of the Government* will suffice to keep the service going for the present, and until new arrangements can be made; so tbat^oor English readers may be assured lbs*" whoever else is dismayed the Govflronfent of this colony Is not. but will either arrange to have the service temporarily continued or will carry it on iißeU^putit a fresh permanent contr*o*st*n)b* entered into. No doub* whatever exists, in Sydney as to ihe policy tff'tnfciaurtßiag tKislinfe of mail roftuaaioatioo, got Is r there anything