STEAM COMMUNICATION.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 553, 2 August 1851, Page 2

STEAM COMMUNICATION.

Tin following is tho latest official letter on this subject: — Admiralty, 25th January, 1051. Sir, — I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, fur the information of the Lords Commissioners of Ihv Majesty's Treasury, that, having called for tendeit. for the monthly conveyance of her Majesty's mails between Singapoie and Sydney for a period terminable in seven years, they havo received the follow ing :—: — 1. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, though not willing to undertake the branch line between Singapore and Sydney by itself, yet tender for it, ii there bo given to them in combination with it, the conveyance of the bi-monthly or Bombay mail, and also n new monthly line between Calcutta, Penang, Singapore, and Hongkong. They state the number of miles contemplated by then 1 tender at 33(2,000 a-year, and offer to do it for £105,000. This aivangemont may be expected to be profitable to the Company, since the poitioa of the line between Bombay and Singapore is already occupied by their vessols, and tho amount to be paid by government would be compensated by the saving of the expenses incurred by this department and the East India Company between Malta and Bombay. They offer vessels able to kepp up an average speed of 8} knots an hour, and to perform the distance from Singapore to Sydney, by the western coast of Australia, in 27 days nnd 12 hours, and back in 31 days, which by the average time of the voyages to and from Singapore dvi ing tho last year would make 72 J days outwards, and 79 days homewards. 2. Mr. Beamish tenders for the line between Singapore and Sydney for ,£.30,000, but the vessels he mentions are only of 00 horse-power, and from 300 to 500 tons, and able to go at an average speed of JO knots an hour; and neither his calculations nor his means of performing a contiact of that magnitude are such as can be relied on without further investigation. My Lords having also made known their willingness to receive tenders for other routes besides the abovementioned, have received the following oilers : — 1. Fiom the (joneral Screw Shipping Company, for conveyance of mails by the Cape of Good Hope, for .£60,600 in auxiliary bcrcw steamers of 1200 tons and 200 horse-power, in 70 days, including five days of stoppage at tho Cape. These vessels are stated to keep up an average speed of 8J knots. The experience of this Company, and the success of theii lines to Constantinople and Holland nfford a presumption that they may be depended on in coping with the difficulties of a regular traffic through the Southern Indian Ocean. 2. Mr. Beamish has also offered for this line at £40,000 a-year, but with vessels of only 60 and 80 horse-power. ! 3. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company tender for a lino between Panama and Sydney for 4?48,000, in screw vessels 600 tons and 130 horso-powpr, and at an average speed of eight knots, and uudeitako to perform the voyage in 41 days nine hours out, and 40 days six hours home ; and assuming that by better arrangements the voyage from Southampton to Panama may be perfoimed in 26 dn}9, the whole journey would be accomplished in 67 days 19 hours out, and 65 days 6 hours home. My Lords have therefore before them proposald from competent parties for the throe routes by which Australia may be reached. Neither of them has a very preponderating advantage over the others in respect of distance or spoed. The distance from Southampton to Sydney, by Singapore, Swan ltiver, and Adelaide, is 12,555 miles; and the company who tender undertake that it may be done in 72 J days out, and 79 homowaids, and from tho facilities of navigation and of coaling, the chances of delay are not gieat. The distance from Southampton to Sydney by the Cape of Good Hope, by Adelaide and Port Philip, is 10,780, and the time in which it is proposed to be done is 70 days out and home. The distanco from Southamp-"' ton to Sydney, by Panama and Otabeite, is 12,000, and is proposed to be done in 68 days out, and 66 days home, but the spaces to be traversed across the ocean without coaling places, render it more doubtful whether this speed can bo permanently maintained. In considering the cost of these lines, it must be remembered that the proposal for the Singapore lino would render unnecessary an expenditure at present falling upon the Government and the East India Company, equal to the amount demanded, and that the line round the Cape of Good Hope would supply a good steam communication with that colony, an object of much importance. The pioposals for the employment of screw stejmers have the advantage of furnishing an experiment on a useful scale, of that mode of propulsion, of which the extension is very desirable. The selection to be made can hardly be decided on nautical grounds, but must be influenced mainly by considerations of commercial and general policy. The first route providing a direct intercourse by steam between Australia and India, and a bi-monthly line between Southampton, Bombay, Calcutta, and Hongkong; the second giving a new lino to the colonies of the Eastern hemisphere, that does not pass through the territory of a foreign power, and affording important facilities for emigration ; the third assisting a maintenance of a good direct line to the Gulf of Mexico. And my Lords have not felt called upon, without further communication from the Louis 0/ her Majesty's Treasury, to state their opinion as to whether any of those tenders should be accepted. They havo informed the parties tendering that answers will bo given to them, and they transmit copies of tho letteis accompanying the, tenders. — I am, &c, (Signed) W. A. B. HAMILTON. Rigbt Hon. W. Hayter.