THE NEW MAIL ARRANGEMENTS.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue II, 24 December 1858, Page 3

THE NEW MAIL ARRANGEMENTS.

(From the Sydney Herald, December '-14.) . : The telegraphic announcement we have received of the new arrangements for the postal service will have been probably received with general satisfaction. The Peninsular ami Oriental Company are quit* competent to perform the service in a manner to give satisfaction to the colonists, and under the pressure which has been applied to them they will probably exert themselves adequately so as to avoid just cause for censure/ They are freed from the .effects of competition in their own peculiar domain, for the present at least, and monopolies unquestionably tend towards degeneracy.. But the warning they have-recently'had in this respect will perhaps opei'ate as a salutary corrective of this tendency. At any rate, they promise to begin well. The vessels named as set apart for the service are not worn out or of doubtful capacity. They are all new and first-class steamers,' and their performances on their trial trips justify the expectation that they will do the Australian work in a better style than that in which it .has-been hitherto performed. " ' '"■ ■.-' ' : The adoption of the Mauritius route is not in strict accordance with the terms of the .tender, but has been consented to, we j)resume,, to suit the company. It will cut off the direct .communication between" Australia and India, and will slightly lengthen the distance to be travelled. But the 'prevalent winds, it is said, will be more favorable, so that the voyage, will be performed in less time, or at least with more certainty. The outward passage from Suez to Sydney, by way of Galle, has 'been complained "of as very trying. .Even the most successful steamersha've found'it hard .work to make headway against the monsoons witli sufficient regularity, to deliver the mails in tinie, while the less efficient have been sadly retarded. If this difficulty is avoided, and the irregularities occasioned by it disappear, in consequence of the detour by the.Mauiutius, it will be some compensation to, us for losing dinect ©ostal.communication with: India and China. There will probably be a change of steamers at Mauritius. Some time ago a echeme was drawn up by the Company to arrange, for the Australian service by this plan :—a vessel, fresh docked, to leave Bombay with the homeward Indian snail,' and then to go from Suez to Mauritius with stheloutward Australian mail, returning to Suez with the homeward Australian mail, and thence (to Bombay; again with an putward Indian raiail, and, after redocking, to repeat the tour:; the- service between Mauritius and Sydney to be performed by separate vessels, which could be overhauled in iSydneyY Possibly fhe -new .contract is the .realisation of the scheme. , . : . .'- The acceptance of tlie Company's tender, we suppose, must be taken as a confession that the Government has found it impossible to establish a satisfactory competition, in the Eastern seas. Perhaps the change of government has had something to do with the surrender of this point. The Whigs, who had committed themselves to a policy, might have been more obstinate; while the Tories could more gracefully recede from aline of action they had not initiated. - Whether the competition, if it had be&v established, would have been a benefit, would have depended on the amount: of stimulus -given to the trade 'by the additional accommodation. Experience seems plainly to show that, where competition is profitable, it gives a permanent advantage to the public and often "'- even injury to those who are subjected -te it 5 but where :it iis unprofitable, no party gains, the speculators .suffer^ and the public ultimately get less convenience than before. For the past two years the Australian postal service has been sacrificed in order to promote a competition deemed desirable by the British Government in relation to Indian affairs; but this jumble of imperial and colonial interests has only injured Australia without benefiting India. So far as Australia Is concerned, there will always be the competition of the Cape route, in addition to that of Panama. We trust that nothing will occur to prevent the speedy establishmerit of a steam sei-vice across the Pacific. The Royal Mail Company., extruded from the Indian Seas, will now :be free to expend their energies en a field that more naturally falls within their sphere. It has often nappenofl that monareha ■instead of argumentang Chair opulence bytlioroughly developing the Tesaurees of the territory under their control, have wasted wealth in an attempt at aggrandisement "by annexation. Directors of Companies ;are subject to similar failings. The 'Royal Mail Company has a fine opening before it in the natural extension of its present main trunk line; and perhaps they may find that a«pirited and well-sustained effort to open up the traffic that there awaits development will better repay them than "casting longing eyes on the trade opened up in other 6eas by -a rival -company. \ ■ ■ The last pile of the jetty extension was driven on Saturday, and the whole of the contract will "be completed in about a week,' having occupied •little more than half the time stipulated. This rapidity is due to the exertions of the ccmtractory Mr. Hughes,,who has spared no pains to reduce the inconvenience which the public suffer from the jetty being closed. The old portion of the jetty was only closed for about a month; though the repairs which have to be maSe on it will necessitate its being shut up for a period after the extension is The length added by<the work, now nearly finished is about. 136 feet, including the breadth t)f die T end, which outlaps the line of the jetty 16 feet od each side. The piles stand in rows 16 feet asunder, and are braced together so as to ensure mutual support to the greatest amount. They have been : a«yen into the bottem by a ram half a tori weiglit, and the upper timbers are of a Very massive description j so that strength and permanence is'ensured:so far as can be provided for by material; the whole is ■of V.D.L. stuff. The depth oT water at the end is not so great as may have "been looked -for, as a flat extends in that spot with not more than about 9 feet at low water springs; and the increase of depth is not proportionate to the extension. Lyttelton Times, December 15. Town Lands.—A sale of town lands took place at the Land Office, Bunedin, when 67 quarteracre sections, situated in Dunedin and Port Chalmers, were disposed of and realised the handsome sum of i' 1605, averaging X'l6 11s. each. For many of the sections there was considerable competition, especially for several in Pelichet's Bay, the teghest fetching £33, the upset price being £12 10s. A number of the town sections in Port Chalmers also underwent competition, some of which were sold at from £15 to .£2O : 1 at £25, and 2 at £26 ; thus showing that the land in our port town, as well as of that In Dunedin, is vapidly improving in valne. There are 81 sections in Dunedin and Port Chalmers to be sold next month ; and there are already 50 more applied for, to be disposed of on the 26th Jauuary. Those parties recently arrived amongst us from home, and who intend purchasing a piece of town land, should if possible lose no time in making application, as it must be apparent that the demand for town lauds is rapidly increasing.— Otdffo Witness. Centknary of thb Birth or BifßNs.—The directors of the Caledonian Society of Melbourne have resolved, at a late meeting:—"That the 25th of January nex# being -the centenary of the birth of Burns, be held as a'fete day, and that steps be immediately taken to'obtain out-of-door accommodation for all classes of the community who mayfeel- disposed to devote an afternoon "in honor o*"' the bard of Cakdonia."—- Age.