Orient Mail Service.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 32, 12 January 1884, Page 5

Orient Mail Service.

The contract rocently entered into by tho Now South Wales Government with the Orient Steamship Company fora fortnightly mail service with England has dealt the final blow to Victoria's attempted monopoly of the Suez mail service. That colony pledged itself to pay the P. and 0. Company £86,000 a year for a roundabout service via Colombo, and thought to force the other colonies into compliance with any demand she might choose to make for the conveyance of their mail matter. New Zealand, however, in conjunction with New South Wales, maintained the San Francisco service, and so broke doM'n the threatened monopoly. But the Suez route was still attractive enough to earn a large sum for postages, which reduced the burden of the subsidy, and Victoria induced New South AVales, South Australia, and Tasmania to guarantee a share of any loss. By these means, though the colony obtained no advantage whatever from the liability it had rashly incurred in the vain expectation of getting the terminus for Melbourne and ictating to Australasia, the loss was not very heavy. Last year the other colonies contributed about £45,000 towards the subsidy, and the Victorian postages were worth another £20,000, leaving only about £21,000 to be made good from the Colonial Treasury, a portion of which was payable by the contributing colonies, pro rala to the amount of mail matter despatched by them. But the Orient service, which avoids the Colombo deviation and leaves out Adelaide, will deliver its mails in Melbourne much quicker than the rival service, and the postages collectable by Victoria will suffer proportionate diminution. South Australia, which is cut off from the Orient service, is the greatest sufferer next to Victoria, and the Adelaide press has emitted an anticipatory wail. The Melbourne papers do not attempt to shut their eyes to the unfortunate position in which the colony is placed by its contract with the P. and O. Company. The "Age" says: — "However much South Australia may have to complain of the possible contingencies arising out of the Orient Company's contract, Victoria is in a for worse position. Year by year the contributions of the other colonies towards the P. and O. Company's subsidy will decline, and the deficiency thus created must be made good out of our public revenue. In fact, all the objections we raised at the time when the contract for the transmission of our mails to Europe was under consideration to the ; roundabout service are now shown to have been based upon solid grounds, and there is the fear that we shall "yet see our heavily subsidised service to Colombo engaging in carrying, net the mails of the Australian colonies, but a few duplicates of merchants' advices."