The Westport Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1870

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 704, 30 August 1870, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1870

The irrational jealousy that has existed in other parts of the Colony towards Auckland in respect to the San Francisco mail service appears to have been removed by a proposal that the service should be extended to the provinces of the East Coast, enabling them to embark and disembark their mails and passengers direct. Subject also to some. New Zealand port becoming the terminus of the line, the Assembly have voted a subsidy of £40,000 a year for an efficient steam service. There is no doubt considerable wisdom in the service being undertaken by New Zealand alone, in place of looking to the neighboring colonies to carry it out. Victoria does not favorably regard a line via New Zealand, neither does the Colony of New South Wales appear williug to bear her proportion of the cost, though deriving benefits equal to, or greater than, those enjoyed by this Colony, from its establishment with Sydney as a terminus. Under the circumstances it was doubtless the wiser course to disregard the convenience of the neighboring Colonies, and in place of continuing the service to Sydney, to arrange for the steamers to proceed to Port Chalmers and intervening ports, calling again at Auckland on the return voyage to Honolulu. It is very true that the greater portion of the passenger traffic of the steamers up to the present time has been from the Australian Colonies, and some doubt may be felt whether, with the terminus in New Zealand, the Suez line would not be used in preference to the San Francisco steamers. On the other hand a very large proportion of the Australian passengers have proceeded from Melbourne, and these could with almost equal ease join the steamer at Dunedin or Auckland as at Sydney, so that the fears that the passenger traffic would be seriously diminished by limiting the service to New Zealand may not be well founded. It will be a matter for after consideration if Melbourne or Sydney were desirous of joining New Zealand, and once having established the line this Colony would be in a position to make terms of a more favorable character, than when seeking to obtain their cooperation in Jj3ifciiitin£T ibo homtico. Clearly, so long as Australia can reckon upon New Zealand as an.outlet for ' her commerce, and while the passenger and goods traffic between New Zealand and the rest of the world is chiefly through Melbourne as an entrepot, we can hardly look for a cordial support from the neighboring colonies in establishing a route of steamers which would at once place New Zealand in the highway of commerce. The step already taken has been a right one, end there would appear a very reasonable probability that, with the extensive system of immigration and public works about to be undertaken by the Colony, the amount of passenger and goods traffic by such a service would quickly become sufficient to reduce the subsidy to an amount such as we should be well able to afford. The facilities possessed by the Colony for docking vessels of the largest tonnage and supplying them with fuel, w r ould also warrant the Colony having a terminal service, and there appears no reason that the advantage should be given to Sydney when, without prejudicing its commercial success, it could be retained by New Zealand. The great stumblingblock in the way of treating the subject from a colonial point of view has hitherto been the provincial jealousies as to the port of call and departure, but this difficulty has been at last settled by a proposed arrangement which will enable the various sections of the Colony to participate on nearly even terms in the advantages of a direct line of steamers.