STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH ENGLAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 168, 16 July 1881, Page 2

STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH ENGLAND.

A return to an ord-r of the Honse, on the motion <>f Mr Shrim?ki, was laid on the table of the Ronse of Representatives on Tuesday, being e pifs of a'l correspondence which had passed between Mr Macandrew, when Minis ter for Public Works, and some shipbuilding firms in Scotland, relative to the esiablistiment ef direot steam service between Great Britain and New Zsala d. The most important portion of the correspondence is a letter from Mr James Gaibiaith to the AgentGeneral, dated 3rd D:cember, IS7B, in which it is stated that the speed of the steamers was to be 12} knots, and the time fixed for the outward voyage via Cape of Good Hope. 42 <iays, an.i thf homeward voyage, via thf Su r z Canal, 40 days. Aa alternate monthly service was considered iu the estimates formed as Biifficing for all our need?. First- class passensfrs were to be charged £70; second, £35; steerage £10; cargo, 703 per toD. Homeward steerage pas sengers were to be charged £20, the other fares being the same as on the outward voyage. It was estimated that two full carg-oes of wool could t c obtained yearly, and » hat during the remainder of the year the steamers would have to rely chiefly upon wheat as homeward cargo. The estimated earnings of the service were £118,130 per annum, and the yearly expenditure at £114,222. The cost of the steamers of the size and power stated, of the best construction that the Clyde can produce, would not be. he states, under £115,000 each, involving a capital of not, less than £305,000 to work the service. After some remarks about depreciation, the writer pays :— " The yearly expenses connected -with the management and the administration of such a concern as that cannot be put down under £10.000, and thus a subsidy of £80,000 per annum would be needed to carry out the proposed service. The contract time sought to be obtained was eight years "