AIR MAILS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 114, 25 February 1936, Page 5

AIR MAILS.

THE POSITION OF AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY PAPER’S COMMENT. /United Press Association—Copyright SYDNEY, February 24. The Sydney “Morning Herald,” in a leading article, commenting on the Empire air mail, emphasises that the control suggested by the British authorities is in the nature of a joint control by British and Australian interests. “It is to he a partnership for the mutual good. Uniformity, of course, is necessary in certain matters there must he one homogeneous fleet and not two separate fleets of different types. The final decision must lie with the senior partner, who in this case will not only he the experienced member of the firm, but also the one who has put the most capital into the concern. _ . “The British Government is willing to pay about half the cost ol the trans-Tasman service, while New Zealand and Australia each pay only one quarter. Under such an arrangement it would be absurd for British interests not to have a substantial share of the ‘ control.’ “India and South Africa support the Empire partnership in air mails, and it is Australia alone which is holding up this tremendous development —talking of ‘ control ’ and wanting to play in Its own little backyard all by itself. It is a quaint but ridiculous case of everyone being out of step but ourselves. “Finally, the Empire service would bring us into closer contact with England and the world at large. Perhaps the best argument for the Empire air mail scheme and its necessity is the manner of its rejection in certain quarters. It is the greatest step yet proposed toward the solution of our remoteness.”