The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News end The Echo. THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1907. THE ALL-RED ROUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 170, 18 July 1907, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News end The Echo.

THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1907. THE ALL-RED ROUTE.

For the cause that lack* eeiiataoce. For the wrong that needs nxitiamce, for the future i> the distance. And the good tkat toe can do.

The decision of the committee appointed by the Home Government to consider the proposal for a subsidised " All Bed " mail route between. England and the colonies has now been made public, and as might have been expected, it amounts to a blank refusal. This subject has been under discussion more or less informally, for the last ten years, and it was brought up at the Imperial Conference by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the shape of a definite resolution. The Canadian Premier proposed that a fast mail service should be established' between England and Australia and the Far East, via Canada, and that " such financial support as may be necessary " should be contributed by England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, "in

equitable proportions." He pointed out that the distance from Liverpool to Halifax is nearly 900 miles less than from Liverpool to New York, and he urged that it should be possible to cross the Atlantic with 24-knot. boats by this route in four days. Four days more by rail would take the mails to Vancouver. As for the remaining 6800 miles to Sydney, or 6500 miles to New Zealand, Sir Wilfrid Laurier spoke hopefully of 18-knot boats, which would bring down the time for the whole service to twenty-five days. For snch a purpose the Canadian Premier stated that his country would be prepared to make a liberal contribution; but while nis suggestions were sympathetically criticised by his colleagues at the Conference, they met with very little support or encouragement from the representatives of the British Government.

The strongest comments on this scheme from the side of the colonies were made curiously enough by Sir Joseph Ward. It wa3 stated by Sir William Lyne that with an 18-knot service, including stoppages, it would not be possible to bring the mails to Sydney via New Zealand in less than 30 days from London. Sir Joseph Ward at once pointed out that it is quite a common event for New Zealand mails to reach London within 27 or 28 days by the San Francisco route; and he was not prepared to rest content without a great improvement on the 30 days' scheme suggested by Sir W. Laurier and Sir W. Lyne. He agreed with Sir W. Laurier that every effort should be made to secure a 24-knot service between England and Canada. But he insisted that it should be possible to get a 21 or 22----knot service between Vancouver and New Zealand that would cover the distance in 13 days. This would mean only about 21 days from London to Ne w Zealand, and 24 days or a litUe over to Sydney; and such' a scheme of course would be expensive. But even if it cost England and the colonies half-a-million a year or more;- Sir Joseph Ward holds that it would be well worth the money, whether as a commercial convenience or a " bond of Empire," and he informed the conference that New Zealand is prepared to offer a far larger subvention than she has yet paid for any such purpose to establish a fortnjghtly mail service with England that would reduce the transmission of mails to 23 or 24 days.

The bold and enterprising schemes suggested by the Premiers of Canada and New Zealand have naturally been discussed at considerable length both at the Conference and in the outside world. The general opinion seems to he that while Sir W. Lanrier's 24-knot Atlantic service is a possibility, Sh: Joseph Ward' 3 demand for a 21-knot Pacific service hardly conies within practicable limits at present. As Six William Lyne said ai the Conference, the difference between 15 and 18 knots nearly doubles the coal consumption, and this must increase rapidly for higher rates of speed. The coal difficulty is, of course, a most serious obstacle, though, as Sir Joseph Ward explained, with coal depots at Honolulu, Suva, and Auckland, this should not be an insuperable obstacle. But the expense of such a service would" certainly be enormous. To run from Vancouver to Sydney at an average of 21 knots, and to carry sufficient coal and passengers, boats of something like 20,000 to 25,000 tons would be needed —probably as large as the Lusitania or the Mauretania, the new monster Cunarders. But it can hardly be claimed that there is enough cargo or passenger traffic on the Pacific to pay for boats of that size; and the scheme then becomes a question of what the colonies and England are prepared to spend on annual subsidies for the privileges and advantages represented by an "All Red" mail service.

"Wihen these proposals were submitted to the Imperial Conference, Mr. Uoyd George anJ Mr. Churchill strongly objected to being asked for an immediate decision; and though a vague resolution in favour of a fast mail service -was, carried, the -whole matter -was really pat aside for subsequent consideration. In the interval, and while the committee set tip for the purpose was investigating the matter, a strong opposition against the scheme was worked up in various quarters at Home. Apart from the practical difficulties on the Pacific side, w&ieh were vigoronsly emphasised in ,tn§ f Engineering lirags, 1, it sras «rge4

that as England lad already agreed: to subsidise the 25-knot Cunaiders on the Atlantic service, it would not be fair to the Cunard Company to subsidise a Canadian line of similar steamers. Then again it was pointed out that the British capital embarked in the P. and O. and the Orient lines deserves some consideration; and "vested interests" in this ease, as in connection with the proposed Australian mail contract, are vigorously engaged: in blocking the way.° But the'advocates of the "All Red" route have an even bolder enemy to face in the invincible Free Trade prejudice against "Government aid""" lo any form of industry or enterprise. It is an article of the Cobdenite faith that shipping subsidies are wrong in principle because they conflict with the sublime doctrine of "laissez faire." And so we find the "Daily News" inveighing furiously against the "All Red" scheme, insisting that a Free Trade Government cannot venture to subsidise such an undertaking, and denouncing the proposals of Canada arid Australasia as "full of mischief and danger." Under the circumstances it is very likely that the "All Red" mail service will share the fate of the colonial offers of preferential trade. We admit that the proposals for a 21-knot Pacific service are very ambitious, and that possibly they might involve heavier expense than the results would justify. But what is most disappointing and discouraging about the whole episode is the manner in which the proposals have been received. Apparently the Imperial authorities have determined that it is their duty to take no active steps whatever in response to colonial invitations, lest they should be accused of violating the pure integrity of Cobdenism; and this from our standpoint is certainly a most unsatisfactory and unworthy attitude for the rulers of the Empire to adopt toward us.