TRANS-PACIFIC SERVICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 285, 1 December 1936, Page 6

TRANS-PACIFIC SERVICES.

When it was suggested that a possible effect of the Bill passed by the New Zealand j Parliament to protect British shipping in the Pacific would be to cut the call at Auckland out of the itinerary of the Matson Line, the Australian opinion was that this was unlikely, as the through passenger and cargo traffic would not be affected. Now Mr. Stevens, Premier of New South Wales, has revived the suggestion with .the added emphasis which comes from his official position. He is convinced of the great value to Australia of the tourist trade, and, believing that it_ would be assisted by the shorter run from' Suva direct to Sydney, instead of through | Auckland, is perfectly ready to sacrifice, whatever New Zealand may stand to gain so that Sydney may benefit. To this end he seems prepared to use the New Zealand Act, the complementary Australian Bill not yet having been introduced, as a means of inducing the company to amend its route. The proposal should be vigorously combated m New Zealand, which has need of every available means of communication with the outside world. Undoubtedly the loss of the San Francisco service would be very .seriously felt, not only from the point of view of the mail connections, but also because of the large ; number of tourists- from America who stop over in this Dominion on their way to ( Australia. We have spent large sums in | advertising New Zealand in the United States, and the Matson Company has' supplemented this by a very substantial campaign. The expenditure would be nullified by Mr. Stevens suggestion, and th- large amount of money, which tourists by the Matson Line at present: leave in New Zealand would be lost. It was not intended that Australia should gain at the expense of New Zealand by restrictions on shipping lines between Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, but that the three should take combined action with the object of assisting British shipping. A subsidy to which all contributed would have that effect) but to j suggest as an alternative that New Zealand should be cut out of the existing service is | I hardly playing the game. 1