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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4466, 13 July 1875, Page 2

The Southern Cross, in an article on the proposed Californian mail service, remarks that from the debates in the New South Wales Legislature it is not likely the contract will be ratified, and expresses a hope that the New Zealand Assembly will also withhold its ratification. The objections, to our contemporary’s mind, are twofold, so far as this colony is concerned. it says: “Indeed, the promi- “ nent error is the New Zealand coastal “ service, which is a pure excrescence “on what should be an ocean route. “ The next blunder is the calling at Fiji. “ Both are worse than unnecessary, they “ are costly, and one is dangerous for “ the class of vessels and causes needless ‘ ‘ delay. Altogether, we cannot com- “ mend the terms of the contract, and we “ hope the Parliament of the colony will “ not consent to its ratification.”

Following our contemporary somewhat closely, we find his argument to be in favor of subsidising a colonial mail service in preference to the Pacific Mail Company, which is an American association. And there is a great deal in what the Cross says on the subject. The A.S.N. Company deserves well of the two contracting colonies, and if they can do the workj as well for the same money, it is a pity not to let them have it. But the Cross forgets that the mail service does not end at San Francisco, and that the co-operation of the railway companies across America is essential. This point, it appears to us, influenced Mr. Russell in his negotiation ; but this apart, we are aware that it has been the desire of leading politicians to attach American capitalists to the fortunes of New Zealand. While not going the whole length of the Cross, however, we certainly think it is hardly fair to make a convenience of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company. The Cross objects to the coastal service by the main boats, as we had previously done. We see no advantage, but serious drawbacks, in employing the large ocean steamers on the New Zealand coastal voyage ; and we think it would be an unnecessary interference with private enterprise to do so., New South Wales, it will be borne in mind, does not bring the ’Frisco steamers into competition with its coastal boats, while it gains considerably by calling at Fiji. These islands ‘ ‘ are out of the direct line of route from “ Honolulu to Auckland, while the dan- “ gors of Kandavau, as a port of call, “ have been such that we can only “ express astonishment that it should “ still have been maintained as such by “the contracting parties.” But this is not the only reason for objecting to the Fiji loop. The Auckland Steam Packet Company runs a subsidised boat to Fiji, and the colony, by subsidising a second steamer will compete with and divert the trade of the former. This clearly is not business, whatever it may be. Indeed, with the recent addition of the Lewellyn to the Auckland company’s fleet, it is well able to perform all the necessary mail and passenger traffic between this colony and Fiji. Now, it appears to us that the solution of the difficulty lies in a nutshell. Let the main service be so arranged as to make the fork to New Zealand at Honolulu. The steamer to Sydney, after transferring her mails and passengers at Honolulu, would proceed on her voyage, calling at Kandavau, while the New Zealand vessel should steam direct to Wellington, as the central port, whence the mails for North and South could be distributed within forty-eight hours from arrival by the really excellent steamships in our coastal trade. The return voyage would be made in the same way. As a mail service, this would serve all parties best. It would, moreover, leave Auckland to develope the Fiji and Islands trade, and give a chance to New Zealand steamship companies to live, which. would not be the case running against the subsidised lino. We trust the Cross and other New Zealand journals will treat this question from a colonial point of view. In that case, they are pretty certain to support our proposal.