The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1903. THE PACIFIC CABLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 124, 27 May 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1903. THE PACIFIC CABLE.

The Pacific CRble, the all-red cable, as a commeicial specula'.ion his no' proved very successful. I 1; is too early to be despondent about it, however,, bub what has t&ken plica shows how d fficult it is to get people to act from patriotic mo tires if there is any gaii in the other direction. The loss on thr first yeir's working by the Pacific Oab'e Board promises to be pretty heavy, and our Austral an friends are bacoming rather concerned about i 1;. It is sa i ■ mated that the Commonwealth's share of this deficit will run into close'on £32,000, while New Zailand will prob-' ably have to pay some XI 0,000 towards balancing the account. In Australia profess the greatest ignorance regarding the work of tho Board, which, to say the least, is extraordinary, considering the Australian colonics have their representatives on tha B'ard iu the same proportion as other oontrit u oiies. Canada and New Zeilani hive both been kept posted with what has been going on, and hive learned with very deep regret thatthe I S3 is largely caused by the neglect of the Commonwealth to keep faith will the other contribu'ors. To attempt, as Sir Edmund Barton has been doing of latp, to impute blame to the Board and ac;uge it of treating one or other of the contributors more favourably than others is absurd, and quita unwarrantable. No doubt a portion of the loss is due to the special expenditure incidental to starting a new venture, and probably a considerable portion of the expeadi-, ture is in connection with rem?' which are non - recurring. It would b9 interesting, however, to know how much of the loss is due to the ictioQ of the Federal Government in entering upon a new arrangement with th> Eastern Extension Cable Compiny which, in the opinion of tbcsj who should know something on the subject, has placed the litter Company in a more favourable position, and increased the competition the Pacific Oible Board has had to centend with, It is hard to understand, when the importance and value of a State owned cable was so unanimously agreed to, and in the prosperity of which each and every one of the contributors had so muoh at stake, how any oce of them, instead of throwing in the whole weigbtof its business and influence, c.uld be induced to throw its associates over and enttr into a new arrangement with tha old company. The break-down of the Itnpe> ial idea which was embodied in the association of the contributors is not the least unsa'isfactory feature of the aff i-. It was hoped that this would give a very favourable opportunity of seeing how far it was potsible for the different Governments cocorned to work together on a fundamen'al question of policy. The fact that each (f the contributors was pledged financially to the scheme, led to the hope tint all would pull together to make the Pacific Cable a success. All the contribu ors, excepting the Federal Government,, stuck loyally to the agreement but the Commonwealth broke fii;h, and yet, strmge to say, is the first to make an outcry at tha loss, brought about largely by its own desertion and breaking fauh, The experience gained on this cccas : ou will co"; encourage any agreimant wish the Government of the Oamm-nweil-h in the fu'ure, and it is to b< regretted that the head of the Fader iti on should ba so small-minded as to sink the chances of supporting a gri at princ'p'e for the sake of a slight temporary gain and advantage. We are soriy to see the same smell mindedness isd:spkyed in other thing?, Sir EJmund Barton being aloae amongst the Premiers if Australia who failed to congratu'a'e Mr Seddon on his ten yeira Piemi rship, and we notice he is taking up the same s-lfish stand regarding MrUh in-bet-kin's momentous proposal ragardiug prtferen iul trade between the various parts of the Empiie,