STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA. [From the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, Jan. 10.]
For the first time we have something like a certain prospect of steam communication with our most important colonial possessions, the " Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company" being the first to put an end to our apathy re T specting those colonies which it is no hyperbole to term the "brightest jewels of the crown." This company, ss our readers know,' has already obtained the contract for the conveyance of mails by steam to the Australian Colonies, and in pursuance of this object, a number of gentlemen, comprising some of the highest names in the mercantile world, are taking steps to enter upon the re--quirements of that contract with all possible speed, and with every prospect* both of immediate and lasting success, Of the importance of the Australian Colonies, we in the present day can form no coriect estimate, rapidly as they have risen and are rising. In 1849, the imports and exports of New South Wales were £2,943,800. In 1852, they are estimated by those well able to judge, at •£4,000,000. What they will become, as the goM mines beco^ne developed, is past -reasonable calculation. Certain it is, that whatever wealth may be amassed will not be hoarded, but every lump of gold raised will find its way home in the price of some manufacture. If without gold the Australian Colonies have shewn inherent powers of progress beyond* all colonial precedent, what will that progress be with the addition of such wealth as they possess in their mines? If, then, the expectation of profit by the Australian Mail Company were even closely calculated, their eventual profit would be beyond a doubt; from their occupancy of the field. Long since we have written, and the fact will be apparent, 'that, in a few years, ordinary sailing vessels must give way to screw steamers, as Continental, Indian, and Transatlantic passenger sailing vessels have given way to paddle-box steamers. Freight will demand its conveniences as well as" passengers, and those that -ship merchandise by sailing- vessels wijl find that it will arrive in a market which has been glutted by more rapid competitors. Simply, then, to establish screw steamers is to secure cargo, the owners of which will only be too glad to pay a higher rate of freight, in order to gain an earlier market and more speedy returns. These direct pecuniary advantages will more than counterbalance any additional charge for freight. But unlike the onco» projected Torres Straits route, which as far as passengers were concerned was useless, the mode of transit adopted by the Australian Mail Company will not only prove beneficial to themselves, but also to the mother country and the colony. Theirs will essentially be a passenger line, as well as a mail line, which will supply exactly the want _ under which the Australian colonies are now labouring. There is a class — and a large one too — in England, abounding in intelligence, and possessed of no small aggregate capital, the raera- ' bers' of which, though well enough inclined to become denizens of a colony, will not face the ordinary modes of emigration from its inconveniences and delay, real or imaginary, Few of this class emigrate to America, from various causes ; not the least of which is the absence of English and the rudeness of American society. Such men, now that the means of speedy and eligible modes of migrating to another England are about to be placed within their Teach, will avail themselves of it, and will become new elements of * refine- ; ment in a country wlich, however much it possesses of genuine English feeling, yet wants some of those amenities of life which at home render EDglish society superior to. all other. A mode of communication with the Australian colonies which shota'd not offer inducements to ail classes of emigrants, would badly fulfil its mission, and would be comparatively unprofitable to itself, and of little or no value to the colonies. ,Yet this was at one time contemplated by the government, and the project is not even yet laid aside. Against such a course we have long ago set our faces, as productive of nothing but expense to the nation, without adequate 1 reiuin. We* gladly, therefore, hail such an enterprise as the one now b"efore"us, as being the best adapted to the mutual
interests of the home and colonial public. The day is coming when thele interests will be looked upon as mutual, and we shall cease to behold the spectacle of vast masses of our industrial population living on the produce and energy of Australian colonists, without possessing any definite idea as to even where those colonies may be situated. A direct steam communication will do,, more to dispel- this ignorance than all the book-teaching in the world ; and with -the knowledge thus imparted, mutual relations will spring up which will lead, to extended intercourse and redoubled commerce. 'We shall watch Ihe efforts pf the new company with pleasure, and; we doubt not lhat these will be commensurate with the importance of the undertaking, and the standing of its projectors. More we would not ask for, and less we do not auiicipate.
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New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 719, 23 June 1852, Page 4
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871STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH AUSTRALIA. [From the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, Jan. 10.] New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 719, 23 June 1852, Page 4
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