The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1604, 12 July 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1872.

It does not always answer to be too clever. Mr Vogel's bargain with the ' Victorian Government about the Californian mail service seems likely to fall through, chiefly because the Melbourne people have made up their minds that the terms agreed upon between Mr Yogel and Mr Duffy were too favorable to New Zealand. Our Australian cousins rather pride themselves on being " sharp," and the suggestion that the Is r ew Zealand diplomatist had succeeded in getting a little to windward of the , Victorian Chief Secretary in the negotia- 1 tions, was quite enough, as soon as the j public mind had fairly got hold of it, to imperil the ratification of tbe bargain by the Victorian Parliament. Even if the Duffy Ministry, supposed, at the time of Mr Vogel's visit, to possess the confidence of the country, and to command a good working majority in the Legislature, bad continued in power, it seems very questionable whether they would have suoceeded in obtaining the assent of the Assembly to the arrangements agreed upon. Now that they have been, in the most ignominious and unexpected manner, ejected from office, it becomes almost a matter of certainty that their successors will make a point of washing their hands of the whole affair. To make matters worse, the Californian steamers have never managed to come up to time, or anything like it, since the bargain was made ; while on the other hand, by a curious coincidence, the P. and O. vessels have uniformly anticipated the contract dates of arrival. It is in- . etructive to remember that when tbe P. and O. Company first undertook the Australian mail service, from G-alle to Melbourne, ten or twelve years ago, the performances of their steamers on that line were quite as unsatisfactory as those of the Californian vessels have been for the last few months. While the service to India and China continued to be performed with unremitting regularity, all the unforeseen casualties of wind and weather and accidents to machinery seemed to exhaust their fury on the Australian branch of the service. Even the comfort of the passengers, it appeared, could not be provided for, by any means at the Company's command, and many and bitter were the complaints on this score that appeared in the Melbourne papers. The remonstrances of the colonists, through the Chamber of Commerce,, were calmly replied to by the Secretary of the Company, who stated that the directors would willingly give a large sum for the means of foreseeing the unavoidable contingencies which led to the irregularities complained of. Shortly after the establishment of the Panama service, however, a marked change for the better took place. The elements were less unkind, the engines grew stronger, and did not break down so often, and the steamers managed to come into port a day or two, at most, over the contract time. The improvement seemed even to pervade the arrangements of the steward's pantry and the state rooms ; at all events the passengers ceased to grumble. As a matter of course, it soon became understood in Australia that the Peninsular and. Oriental line was the right one after la 11, and that no other route was worthy of much attention. This feeling has prevailed in Victoria up to the present day, and of course has been materially strengthened by the very enthusiastic manner in which the Peninsular and Oriental Company have lately been doing their work. A moderate subsidy to the Californian line might perhaps have passed the Victorian legislature without, much opposition, but the very advantageous terms secured by the diplomatic ability of the New Zealand Treasurer could not be entertained for a moment. The fall of the Duffy Ministry, the conspicuous failure for the last two or three months of the Californian service, and, as a finishing stroke, the refusal of the American Congress to subsidise tbe line, seem to point to the conclusion as inevitable that the enterprise will not long be continued on its present footing. It by no means follows that it will be abandoned. The commercial advantages which must eventually result, and have already to some extent been realised, from the establishment of this service, have attracted the attention of the mercantile community both in Australia and San Erancisco. It is a fact that the steamers, in leaving New Zealand ports, have repeatedly been obliged to refuse cargo. Since it became evident in Melbourne that the proposed arrangement with New Zealand was not likely to be carried out, a movement has been set on foot to establish a direct service from that port to San Francisco, and it is stated that offers have been made to guarantee freight to the extent of 1,000 bales of wool per month. A project for a similar steam service from Sydney has also been initiated by the Chamber of Commerce there, and favorably received by the Government. The question will soon have to be considered by our own Assembly, and though the failure of the Victorian bargain may almost be assumed as a certainty, the special interest of New Zealand in this route is so great that an effort will certainly be made to keep it open. The amount of the subsidy hitherto paid by this colony has been objected to as disproportionate to the benefit received, and it cannot be denied that the service has hitherto been very imperfectly performed. But the failures of which we have had to complain have certainly not been more serious than those which attended the first attempt to establish direct communication with Australia by a connection with the Peninsular and Oriental Company's Indian service, while the resources

' of the promoters of the line have been incomparably inferior. The completion of railway communication across the American continent, and the ease and convenience of the ocean passage, combine to point out this route as the grand thoroughfare between the Australasian colonies and Europe in the future. Now that the interest of commercial men iv the three colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and New Zealand, as well as in the western states of America, has been thoroughly awakened, the permanent establishment of a Pacific steam service can only be a matter of time and equitable arrangement.