Political Notes.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7907, 24 August 1905, Page 3

Political Notes.

The position in regard to the Vancouver mail service was incidentally explained the other night by the Postmaster-General. The House hail authorised that *"-20,000 shouM be ofiered to get tin. service extended to New Zealand. That offer was iua.le to the Union Steam Ship Company, side by side Willi which the Queensland Government, it was understood, expressed its willingness to give up the right oi the .steamers calling at Brisbane, for which it was paying £IO,OOO, whereas the New Zealand Government offered £20,000 to get the steamers to call here. The Queensland Government afterwards changed its attitude, and got the Federal Government to spread the £IO,OOO over the whole of the Commonwealth. The result was that the steamers could not be withdrawn from Queensland, and although the New Zealand Government offered £20,000 for three years to the Union Companv, which was subsidised by the Canadian Government, it was unable to accept the ofier. Therefore, until jijob (he Union Company was tied to Brisbane and could not conic on to New Zeaand. Sir Joseph Ward assured members that everything had been done to get the service extendi | 0 this colony, and he had hopes that it might still be done. The colonv eMwrmli £100,001) for an independent mail service to Vancouver. * • • .

Although removed f or <f w present' from active politic#. lhe v ouch , r i h 'rge by Mr Kistier againgt j tha l.ovefniiicnt continues to he in. 1 JTStipu.tcd. Messrs West, Willis, nnd •arcombe. the th M Christ church lost Ollict. officials who swore nffidavits on the subject, have «ivcn evj u (ltnce before the Audit»r-(!rner„l in which they to the*- original statements that they had seen anfl handled and commented or the vouch. or, anil that it no eonnection with the Sneddon Voucher, similar documents to which thev see almost weekly, Two more witnesses arrived from Christchurch on Monday morning to give evidence, and there arc' two more to follow, nil having evidence to jfiVe which l>Cirs directly on the voucher incident and Uic evidence in cawtton ther«H'UJt. jfr I

Pisher sajs he is more confident i haii be/oie that the voucher exists or did exist. Jit is expected that the AuUitor-Cfneral will make his report on Friday, hut this is uncertain.