The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1900. THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10635, 20 April 1900, Page 4

The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1900. THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

A cable message which recently appeared in our columns announcing that the Government of the United States had accepted th* tender ol Mr J. D. Spreckels for a threeweekly mail service between San Francisco. Auckland and Sydney, deserves more public attention than it has hitherto received in thin colony. The new service, if carried oat, would, of course, be an improvement on that at present existing. It would give us a mail every three weeks, instead of every four weeks, and tie time will be shortened by at least two days, and probably more. The contract time from Sydney to Auckland ie not to exceed 21 days, and according to a time-table being arranged by the* Company, the tim* to Auckland is to be 16 or 16£ days, which would bring the colony within about 27 days postal distance from London. It will also be carried on by new and more op-to-date boats than those at present in use. Evidently in anticipation of this tender being called for, the Oceanic Company, of ■which Air Spreckels is the president, placed with Messrs Cramp, of Philadelphia, • contract for building three steel twin■crew «t*amsh:ps, to be named the Sierra, Venture aad Sonoma, of about 6000 tons, with triple expansion engines of about 7500 horse-power. The contract speed is to be 17 knots, and the steamers are to be fitted with refrigerating chambers and the electric light. The accommodation for passengers, also promises to be on the most modern lines as regards comfort and convenience.

These are all points in favour of the new service. On the other side we learn that Mr. Spreckels intends applying to the New Zealand Parliament for a modest eubsidv of £30,000 a year in aid of the service. This is in addition to the subsidy which he is to get from the American Government, and wo presume that it is aiso in addition to anything which he may hope to extract from the legislature of New South Wales. The most regrettable point of all in connection with the new arrangement, however, is that henceforth the service will be under the entire management of a foreign firm. At present the contract is in the name of the Union Steamship Company, which runs one of the three steamers engaged in the trade and shares in the subsidies with the Oceanic Company. That arrangement will come to an end, presumably, when the contract between the Government of New Zealand and the Union Company terminates on the 31st March next. The new contract with the American. Government, distinctly specifies that only Asurieaa c&m&s or corporation* oaa b*

accepted as contractors. The vessels employed are to be "Ammcan-bnilt steamships, owned and officered and registered according to law." They are, moreover, to be built on a plan approved by the Secretary to the United States aavy, "with particular reference to prompt aud economical conversion into auxiliary naval cruisers," and

are to be "of sufficient strength and stability "to carry and sustain the working and " operations of at least four effective B.L.R. "guns of a calibre of not less than 6in." Under thie arrangement, therefore, our trade with San Francisco will be carried on under a foreign flag, and in steamers which in time of war would be turned into auxiliary cruisers and would be employed against ourselves should, unfortunately, hostilities at any time break out between England and the United States.

The whole matter, in our opinion, should receive grave consideration at the hands of Parliament, at any rate before they consent to pay so large a subsidy as £30,000 a year for the service. The care and attention given by the American Government in fos-

tering American shipping and mail services is in marked contrast to the. discreditable apathy shown by uur own Government in

this matter. Take this particular service for example. The contract with the Union Company has been merely renewed from year to year during the last three years, so that as the "Otago Daily Times" points out, there has been no encouragement to the company to build faster steamers, or endeavour in other ways to improve the service. Now the company lias been squeezed out of i the running. Everyone will remember the extremely shabby way in which the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company and New Zealand Shipping Company have been treated by the Government, after sinking thousands of pounds in establishing the direct steam service with England, which has proved lof such incalculable benefit to New Zealand producers. It is not too much to say that it raised the colony from a pitch of depression in which ruin seemed within sight, to a position of the most gratifying prosperity. The shareholders in the two companies named, however, have never yet received reasonable interest on their money, and not only was the small subsidy which the companies received some years ago withdrawn, but they have since had to contend against active interference on the part of the Government, and Mr. Seddon, it will be remembered, on one occasion went so far as to threaten to" in German competition. The "Otago Daily Times" very truly remarks .that the Government has adopted a '"shilly-shallying policy" with ! regard to the mail services. This particularly describes their action in connection with the Vancouver service. There we had an "all-red" service carried on in British vessels, and connecting us with the Mother Country by way of the great British colony or Canada, and the Government, in their apathy and indifference, so bungled matters that it was allowed to slip away, and Queensland now reaps the benefit of it instead of New Zealand , . The whole question wants to be thoroughly gone into, and we hope that the House will insist on the discussion being brought oa early, instead of being kept to the fag end of the {session, as it was last year, when resolutions on the subject were "rushed through" by sheer force. Certainly, before paying £30,000 a year to a foreign comnany, for j a service to be carried on in vessels built for prompt conversion into armed cruisers, we ought to see whether we cannot get a British service that will serve us equally well, and possibly be obtained at a less cost.