THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4193, 28 August 1874, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

The Sydney correspondent of the Melbourne Argus , writing on the 14th inst., furnishes the following particulars as to the interruption of the mail service between New South Wales, New Zealand, and San Francisco ; The talk of the week has principally revolved round the mail contract. . It was known before Mr. Hall’s departure that the Tartar had been recalled by her owner ; indeed I am informed that she would not have returned from San Francisco without an express guarantee from the Government of the charter money for the return voyage. Had everything gone on as was originally designed, the Tartar would have proceeded to New Zealand, and the Cyphrenes would have come on to Sydney. But-the withdrawal of the Tartar necessitated replacing her by a Colonial boat. Mr. Hall had negotiated with the A.S.N. Company for one of their vessels to go to New Zealand, and the terms had been all settled, but when the company demanded security he was unable to give it, and he left without making any provision for the New Zealand line, and without its being known whether he proposed attempting any arrangements at Kandavau. Since his departure instructions have been received in Sydney from Mr. Stephens, the owner of the •Cyphrenes, not to allow the contractor to employ the vessel again without a guarantee for payment. It appears that Mr. Hall has been unable, to remit the charter money ' agreed upon a state of things which the owners by no means approve of, yet his books are said to show that the receipts have equalled the normal expenditure. The drain has been caused by the unanticipated outlays. In the first place, the accident. to the Macgregor has cost within a little of £12,000, in addition to the necessity of employing a fifth boat till she was available. Then, again, the late arrival of the Mongol in the first instance, which was stupidly sent all round by way of Dunedin for the sake of a few hundred pounds of freight, necessitated the chartering of one of the A.S.N. Company’s boats. The late arrival of the Cyphrenes compelled the chartering of another. These charters have been very profitable to the A.S.N. Company, which has just declared a good dividend and a bonus, principally, in virtue of the proceeds from them. But their gain was Mr. Hall’s loss, and he has been unable to remit the charter money to England as he promised. He has left a power of attorney with his agents, but in the absence of money to buy coals or provisions, this power is of no practical use. ‘They, therefore, are not in a position to despatch the next boat, and having been pressed by the Postmaster-Gene-ral, have admitted as much. The Government, therefore, finds itself obliged to take action. It has quite resolved that the service shall not be stopped, but shall be kept on, coute qui coute. There may be some loss involved in keeping up the service under the present difficult conditions, but Hr. Forbes, Mr. Cunningham, and Mr. De Booscho are jointly and severally bound in a very stringent bond to the amount of £25,000, to carry out the temporary service, as well as in another bond of equal amount to carry out the permanent service, and they have been advised tlirough the Agent-General;. that they will be held strictly to their bond, and there is therefore a good margin to protect the Government against loss. At the same time the Government is somewhat embarassed in having to act for New Zealand without any direct authority for doing so. New Zealand, ns an equal co-partner in the contract, is eneutitlod to an. equal voice in all new arrangements, and cannot bo made liable for any additional risks without its consent. Mr. Vogel has, therefore, been urged to send up at once a duly-qualified plenipotentiary, and meanwhile our Government will act to the best of its ability on behalf of both parties. But tho question arises, shall the; Government act directly, and Work the contract pro tern on its own responsibility, or operate through the agency of the A.S.N. Co. ? It would very much prefer the latter alternative, but the company does not very much approve of being made a cat’s-paw of. It tendered', for the service, and its tender was rejected, and the directors do not care to be made use of simply to bridge over a difficulty for rival contractors. They are willing to continue the temporary service on condition that they can also liave the permanent service at the ‘ price , named in tho original tender; and in anticipation of [some such contingency as the present arising, they have; their arrangements made in England for the purchase of three new vessels, fitted with compound engines, guaranteed, to go twelye knots, and with sufficient capacity to carry the traffic. But tho Government is not in a position to hand over the service in this manner, because the contract for the permanent service has not yet been broken. The bonds for tho temporary and the permanent services are separate, and although the former could at once bo enforced, tho latter could not. There is a report that ono or more of the new vessels have been sold on the stocks to Messrs. Bright Brothers for employment on tho Capo route, but the report wants confirmation. Another report is that the contractors are merely putting the screw on to the Government, and al-o trying to extort a larger subsidy. The A.S.N. Company, however, though not prepared to work the temporary contract by itself, is quite willing to lease to the Government any one of its boats on the same terms as those on which they were, chartered to Mr. Hall, and that is as far as the’negotiations have gone at

present, except that the City of Melbourne will leave for this month with the mails. She is to sail under the company's flag, but this by no means [implies that she will sail at the company’s risk, although it does imply that Hall’s contract has fallen through. The Government is already assured that it can continue the services of the Cyphrenes, the Macgregor, and the Mikado, and it also has the run of the fleet of the A.S.N. Company, so it cannot be left in the lurch for want of vessels, and the worst that can happen will be the trouble of having to become its own contractor. Although this unexpected denouement has been very annoying in Sydney, the known facts connected with the traffic on this line, so far as yet developed, prevent any fear of ultimate disappointment. The service cannot possibly be abandoned, and the impression here is that if the capitalists involved were fully in-, formed, they would not hesitate to go through with their contract, certain that they would more than recoup all present losses. A temporary embarrassment there may be, but as to the future of the service, there is less doubt than ever.

The Sydney llcndd of the 12th inst. has the following remarks on the same subject Various rumors respecting the stability of the San Francisco mail service have obtained currency during the past ten days owing to the departure of Mi'. H. H. Hall, per, R.M.S. Mikado. From Mr. Hall’s own statement, prior to sailing, we learn that he was summoned home by telegram from Mr. Forbes, who is his co-partner in the temporary service, and is in fact the capitalist of the concern ; and who, it is to be presumed, becoming anxious in consequence of the unexpected outlays, was desirous of fuller discussion with Mr. Hall than was possible by telegrams or letters. We are not aware what arrangements were made to conduct the service in the meantime, , but it is now known that since Mr. Hall left circumstances have arisen endangering its regularity and affecting the interests of the other contracting parties who, we need scarcely say, are liable in a penalty of £25,000 for the due fulfilment of the temporary service, and a like amount for the permanent contract commencing next December. It is reported that the owners of the chartered steamers are dissatisfied that the promised remittances for their use have not been forwarded, and that their representatives in Sydney have received instructions to act in their interest, and decline further risk. Of the delays, mishaps, and misfortunes of the line since it started, the most has been made by our neighbors as well as by local opponents p£ any trans-Pacific mail service, so that it may not be out of place to remark upon good authority that, irrespective of the expenditure connected with adapting the steamers for a passenger traffic and repairing the Macgregor, the income has equalled the disbursements. Accepting as correct the statements which are being made that the steamers at present employed are to be withdrawn, it does not necessarily follow that the service must stop. The difficulty our Government have to contend with is that, being only one party to the contract any action taken must be in conjunction with that of New Zealand, so that although they could make arragements for having the mails carried until the temporary contract terminates, it must necessarily be subject to ratification by Mr. Vogel. There is unfortunately no telegraph to New Zealand, and our Government has had to act each month on its ownresponsibility, doing the best it could in the interest of both Colonies. This difficulty and responsibility seems likely to bo increased, and it is very much to be wished that the Government of New Zealand would despatch hither some confidential representative, or appoint some one in Sydney to act on their behalf. The owners of the Cyphrenes are represented here by a gentleman of the highest commercial standing ; and we feel sure that, while conserving the interests of his principals, he will as far as possible endeavor to meet any emergency that may arise. Apart from any extraneous aid whatever, wo have the A.S.N. Company to fall back upon. Its hist dividend was swelled by profits arising from contracts connected with the Californian line, and "we can scarcely imagine that any ungenerous motives on the part of the directors will allow our mails to be detained for an hour. We have no official information on this subject, and are, therefore, unable to say what has been done, or what is contemplated by the Government ; and what we say is based on information gleaned from private sources. We have, however, heard a portion of one side of the story, so that to profess profound ignorance would serve no useful end. Admitting this much, we may be pardoned for asking if the Government, aware of the rumors current, have officially asked Mr. Hall’s representative if he is in a position to say definitely whether this month’s mails will be conveyed hence in the terms of the contract, and also whether provision has been made for the New Zealand mails, and if not perfectly satisfied with the reply, whether it has made arrangements to take such steps as will ensui-e their transmission. The temporary contract must be demonstratively broken to secure the enforcement of the bond ; but it would be broken if the Niw Zealand mail is not provided for. In any case, it would be better to lose the whole of the penalty than that a sendee, which promises such brilliant results both for mails and passengers, should lapse, and Victoria have to say, “ told you so.” There are very few persons aware of what an amount of money has been expended in connexion with the A. and A. Company’s boats since they commenced running. The reputation of the Government is so involved in this matter, that we cannot suppose that it will fail to act promptly as to any contingency that has arisen or that may occur.