THE VANCOUVER SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 April 1921, Page 5

THE VANCOUVER SERVICE.

QUESTION OF TERMINAL PORT. SHOULD IT BE AUCKLAND? By Telegraph —Press Association. Auckland, April 1. In a letter to the Chamber of Commerce, replying to the suggestion that in the new contract for mail servic?s with Canada, Auckland should be the terminal port instead of Sydney, Mr. Massey said that, although Australia did not contribute towards the subsidy, the passenger traffic between Vancouver and Sydney always exceeded that between Vancouver and Auckland, and cargo carried between Vancouver and Sydnej was also considerable, and the value of the Australian business had been one factor weighing heavily with the company carrying the mail service.

It was to be anticipated that if Auckland were made the terminal port many advantages would accrue to New Zealand merchants, who would be able to cater for the trade of Western Canada and Hawaii, without competition by Australian shippers on the same vessels. Under such an arrangement it might b£ expedient to send the vessels south as far as Lyttelton, enabling cargo from that port, Wellington and Auckland to be shipped at a flat rate of freight. Other contingencies that would require consideration, Mr. Massey said, would be dock accommodation and fuel oil for steamers of the Niagara class or larger tonnage. Was Auckland equipped with the. necessary accommodation in these respects? He would be glad if the Chamber would go into the whole matter and give him its opinion whether sufficient cargo could now he obtained from New Zealand and Vancouver to fill these vessels; also whether the transhipping of passengers at Auckland for Australia would have a detrimental effect on the passenger traffic now carried by these steamers. The letter was referred to the shipping committee of the Chamber.