New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4966, 21 February 1877, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1877.

The late Cable Conference at Sydney has so far' as we can see achieved little in the way of useful results, owing to the very evident intercolonial jealousy which • unfortunately exists among the Australian colonies. Although the .occasion was one of great importance, and the subject of pressing urgency, it was impossible to get the rivals to work harmoniously together: South Australia is looked upon with jealous eyes by Queensland and New South Wales, whilst Victoria, in her antagonism to her northern neighbor, is thrown on her south-western friends for allies ; consequently wo see Queensland, backed by New South Wales and Victoria, aiding South and Western Australia. . The Conference, we take it, met primarily for the purpose of devising means of establishing more reliable cable communication with Europe, and it does seem strange to us that the Australian delegates could not for once agree to the best route, independent of local jealousies. The present cable communication through the Dutch-India settlements is so intermittent as to he almost useless; and from our own knowledge of the physical geography of the route over which the cables

are laid, our only wonder is that the communication is ever of a week’s duration at a time. The cables are laid in most instances on a bottom studded with coral reefs, from the pinnacles of which the rope hangs in graceful though dangerous curves,' swaying backwards and forwards with the eddying tide as it sweeps, with at times mill-race rapidity, through the narrow straits across which some of the lengths of cable are laid. It is impossible that any cable, no matter how strongly constructed nay, strength would but increase the evil, as a heavy rope would cut quicker than one more buoyant—can last long subjected to such wearing influences. . To keep such a line open at all means the heavy expense of constant repairs, and we have had a taste of what a broken cable means in the way of repairs, as it took we are afraid to say how many thousands to repair the short length of line across Cook Strait the other day. Perhaps in our case it was an instance of too many cooks spoiling the broth, but, whatever the cause, the result was an expenditure which startled those who thought a broken cable had but to be underrun from each end and spliced at the break without trouble. The present route of the line connecting Australia with Java is perhaps as good as could be found; but anyone who has sailed those seas kno ria full well that they are singularly unfitted for a cable route. But this is not all. The messages have to pass the hands of so many of so many different languages that it is simply a miracle to us that a message sent from London and filtered through so many tongues ever reaches Australia in an intelligible form. Mistakes are of course endless, and frequently so absurd that telegrams costing pounds are worse than useless to the receiver. To cure all this the only thing the Conference could agree to was that it is a desirable thing to keep a repairing steamer between Bangoewangi and Port Darwin, and that permission should be got to employ English telegraphists on the Java land lines. True, also they resolved that each colony should open up negotiations for the construction and laying of cables from different starting points to their shores, with a view to discovering which colony could get the best line at the least cost, which in itself was about as sensible a resolution as the members passed. New Zealand, under this arrangement, is to see what can be done towards arranging for a line from the United States to our shores, which, we take it, is a very roundabout way of putting “ a girdle round the earth,” We do not suppose, judging by our mail experience, that the Government of the United States will do anything towards inaugurating and completing such a means of communication, and it is quite out of the question to expect the colonies to pay for it, or even to guarantee the interest on its cost to a cable company, should such a body feel inclined to undertake a work of such magnitude. As far as we can see, the best route for a cable would be from Ceylon to a suitable point on the northwest coast of Australia, which would give a direct and deep-water coarse for the wire to be laid over. The distance, roughly estimated, allowing for slack, would not exceed 2300 miles. A line so laid would avoid all the dangers of the Java sea, and would get rid of the Dutch operator nuisance effectually, and cheapen the cost of transmission greatly. The petty jealousies of the Australian Colonies are the only real obstacles in the way of such a line being laid, as the cost would not be prohibitory, as even though it were a little heavy at the start, it would soon pay for itself by the smallness of its cost in maintenance. In fact, what it costs to keep the Java cables in repairs would go a long way towards paying for a Ceylon-Western Australian line. The necessary estimates and terms for such a line could soon be procured, ks the Telegraph Extension Company are always willing to lay and maintain lines for a moderate guaranteed interest on their cost. Western Australia being but a poor and straggling settlement it is almost useless to expect its Government to undertake the preliminary work, and it would be better that the Agents-General of the other colonies should be empowered to act conjointly in the matter at Home. They would have no difficulty in getting all the desired data and submitting them to their respective Governments. In this way no time would be lost in establishing a cheaper and more reliable telegraphic connection with India, and we should imagine the various colonies interested in so desirable a work would have no hesitation in joining heartily in an undertaking fraught with so much good to them individually and collectively. We have no hope of an American line of communication, and we are disgusted with the present one. We therefore look to our Australian neighbors to devise a better, towards which this colony will, we feel sure, contribute its fair quota.