NEW MAIL SERVICE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 121, 31 August 1910, Page 3

NEW MAIL SERVICE

AUCKLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANTAGONISTIC. By Telegraph. —Press Association. Auckland, August 29. The proposals outlined by the Prime 'Minister on Friday night for the establishment of an AucklaTid-vSan FranciscoWellington mail service were considered at a special meeting of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce this afternoon. The President (Mr. J. H. Gunson), in opening the meeting, said that the •fact that the service involved a 22 days' run between New Zealand and San Francisco was sufficient to the chamber in condemning the service from an Auckland standpoint. This was a most important question, and in his opinion it was simply an attempt to take the San Francisco service from Auckland, to which it properly belonged. What the Prime Minister indicated would happen in the event of a restoration of the service afforded, in his opinion, very strong grounds for a protest by the chamber. Mr. Nathan: I think that for a £20,000 subsidy we should get a veryj much better service. Mr. L. Myers stated that personally he felt very disappointed with the proposals. There seemed to him to be no justification whatever for giving Wellington the advantage of having the incoming service. Mr. M6nnie remarked that the greatest advantage seemed to lie with the Union Company. After further discussion, the following resolution, moved by the chairman j and seconded by Mr. Leo Myers, was! ■ earned unanimously: "That this chamber strongly disapproves of the proposed mail 'contract from New Zealand via Kara tonga and Papeete to San Francisco, which in its opinion is unsuitable, and for the following reasons would urge upon the Government the wisdom of giving the question further consideration with a view to providing an adequate and up-to-date, service; the service now proposed, which is 01 cm inferior character, is premature until negotiations for a first-rate service via Vancouver are concluded, and more j>«:tieularly as there. ;s new a reasonable probability of the Ships Subsidy Bill fceir." iwsWa next year by the United States "Congress enabling the establishment oi a first-rate san Francisco service; *2) that a- service between New Zealand and San Francisco should not ooeupv more than 17 days, and no service that requires a longer time would be satisfactory to the Dominion; (3) that the vessels with which .it is proposed to inaugurate the service are out of date and unsuitable for the anticipated traffic and mail carriage; (4) Auckland being the natural commercial •eoTaphical port of arrival and departure. no change in this respect is justifiable.''