The Salina Cruz Passenger and Mail Route.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7085, 25 January 1907, Page 2

The Salina Cruz Passenger and Mail Route.

ITS FINANCIAL POSSIBILITIES,

I estimate that the cost of a pa*p»ge from Auckland to Salina Cruz will be M2x>. This is, of course, for ordinary saloon passage; upper deok cabins would be more. There are steamers now that take passengers for £21,firet saloon, from Liverpool, via New York, to Kingston, Jamaica. Thin is quite as far as the direct line from Liverp >o\ to the Atlantic terminus of the Tehuanfeptso railway. Then the fare across the Isthmus wnuld be about £2, for about 170 miles. This makes a to fal of £48, "tor an ordinary Baloon passige from Auckland to Liverpool, via Salina Cruz. Now, in my opinion, the right to convey passengers across the Atlantic from that terminus should be given to one company, and that company should give a commiesion of (say) £4 per passenger for the sole right; or, asi the fare ia low, an extra £4 might be charged, making the through passage rate £52. Passengers going by rail to New York should be booked over one continuous' liae at ordinary rates. The companies interested would then have to pay (say) £4 for commission for the sole right of carrying through passengers from Halina Cruz to New York. TheD, as none of (he Atlantic steamers are full up with passengers—th?t ip, each way -for more than five month", there is every reapon to think that one company—say the Gunard-—would give a commission of £2 per passenger for the sole right of carrying through passengers booked from Auckland to Liverpoo', or from Liverpool to Auckland.

So as to control all passengers, those booking only to -alma Cruz from Auckland, or those who travel as they please from Kurope to Salina Crug, would have to pay .£29 per passenger,

By this msans every through passenger wouli have to pay indirectly .£4, which would be raised in tha form of a commission from those companies which had the sole rights of conveyinsr passengers over the Atlantic section of the journey, and those who only booked part of the way would have to pay an extra .£4 over the Pacific,, This PA per passeager, in whatever way collected -under the eebeme I have in viewwould be placed to' subsidy account. Inoident*lly, I may observe that there are not les3 than 75 passengers each way every three weeks via San Franoisco ? so th«t about 175 per boat wo^d have't) be diverted from other lines, and I do not think tbu excessive, considering the J.arge number of passengers who travel. Assuming, thesis that ti^ere a fortnightly sero-ics, and that each sfceacafer carried 250 passengers, there would be a thousand passengers per month, or 12,000 pea year, at .£4 per head—.£4B,ooo per year. For a se'rkics? of this nature Jfew Zealand should pay £50,000; Mexico would pay— n( it was clearly pointed out where she would receive benefit—;£2R,f)oo ; and by subsidy aocount wo should have £48,000 5 or a total of £123,000. Then, if Australia would pay no subsidy, there should be a poundag ) fee on.letter?, that culd go to the reduction of tha New Zealand and Mfxioan subsidies on a pro rata basis.

Notp.—Since I find bhat £250,000 is an error published in two or three papers as the subsidy' For th<s v 15-knot steamers to Adelaide, and that" the' true subsidy is 4jl2g,oQQ for eight 15-knot steamers', asd tjjafc afc loast JHOO.QOQ of this sum mufst go to pay canal does, then if; appears as if iJ12",000 would be sufficient subsidy for four steamers th <t could maintain i»n average of twenty knots per hoar for the distance between SaliDa Cruz and Auckland, especially as these four steamers would have no canal dues. In other word", the oieht steamers would have to spend their subsidy iy 1 dues,, while the four steamers eonld epeudi theivs Is? oo&l t Further, as the Salina Crnz route, on fcne lines describpd, would be both the cheapest ans quickest roufe between Europe and the Far'Roafcb, &nd wlipn one considers the large numberof pnssssagap's th^fc ate ooustantly travelling, it"ia reasonable fco assume tnat the four steamers would always bay© tfreir full complement of passengers. ;: J5. Foudi Weight. December 19, 1906. '