The Press. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1901.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11096, 15 October 1901, Page 4

The Press. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1901.

THE MAIL SERVICES. The hysterical shrieks that Auckland has been emitting since Sir J. G. Ward made public the Government* proposals in regard to the mail services, were unfortunately onJy vrhat might have been expected from that part-of the colony. One's confidence that, true to her past attitode, Auckland would bitterly resent any pSnoposal* contemplating the abolition of the subsidised San Francisco service/ was strengthened vhen at a recent Ministerial caucus an Auckland member declared that, service to be his city c "one w. lamb." and threatened that unless the House acreedto retain it "the whole of the Auckland members would go into opposition." A!]

Auckland's parochialism stood revealed in thai shameless attempt to browbee* the Government. "Why the northern city should aaojpfr this extraordinary attitude passes tha comprehension el all «aye Aucklanders. They most be supposed to be guided in their action t>7 wane reason, bat they have never succeeded in convincing the rest of the colony of its justice or wiedorn. It is not as if the money vaiue of the service to Auckland wae great, or that the city was the terminus of the line. Outgoing and iv- ' coming steamers lie there no longer than they can help, and doubtless procure in Syd- | ney most of the stores bought at this end of the round- trip. Sydney is thfr terminal , port; Auckland is only a port of call. And yet Auckland bangs on to the service ac if i its removal meant the absolute bankruptcy of the city and its return to wilderi cess, and is willing to sacrifice the interests of the colony to retain it. It is a case of I provincialism run mad. In the face of the announcement that Messrs Sprecfcels will not accept the New Zealand Government's proposals, it is not , worth while considering them at any great ! length. Few people thought they would be accepted, though they were a good deal more liberal than they need have been. Two of the clauses were in direct' opposition to each other. One stated that the time between San Francisco and Auckland should not exceed seventeen days; the other mentioned i that penalties for late delivery would only be enforced when the mails were niore»tban \ forty-eight hours late. Being under no compulsion to make the trip under nineteen j days, it is exceedingly unlikely that Messrs Spreckele would have driven their boats to ; do it in seventeen. They would have been fooljsh to do so, considering how greatly j increased speed adds to the consumption of coal and the cost, of a voyage. The f*ro- , poped rates of payment for the conveyv anee of mails in the PostmasterGensraVs resolution, though on a less liberal scale than those now in force were too generous, being double, ordinary ' Postal Union rates, whereas New South Wales, the terminus of the service, would only pay much less than those rates. With regard to the Government's alternative pro- | poealp for a service via Vancouver, it is. possible that a larger subsidy would have to be offered to induce the owners of the line to enter into any such contract as that pro* ' posed. In any case, for the reasons given by Mr Gribbsi in the interview which. w« ! publish in another column, it would be impossible for the Canadian-Australian Company to run a Vancouver service to this colony until the end of 1905. He sbojre i clearly, however, that if the Government intend to enter into a contract with the company at the expiry of two years the present time is none too soon to begin negotiations, ac the required steamers would have to be built. In the meantime, the proposal, to make regular connection between a New Zealand port and the Federal mail service, ' so that New Zealand and .London mer* chants could rely on the punctual despatch and delivery of their correspondence, d«. ! serves consideration. Jt -trould probably cost comparatively little, and we ehould be in a much better position than we are at present, - . ■ . > . ■ ', ' . Whatever is done, we trust the, .Government will, pay-iit» attention to, the piled-up agony of Auckland's protestations against the cessation of the San Francisco service. New Zealand, in spite of all that ie said to the contrary, receives practically no benefit from ihafc service, "which, under the. pre=sent American shipping , laws, is directly hos-, tile to British trade. The trade that New Zealand does with the States through its agency is almost solely in, the way of importation. We cannot hope to. build-up an export trade by it* means. The passenger traffic increases very slowly, and America has taken care that no British shipping company shall reap any of the profits of.the service. With a Vancouver' service in operation we should hay« some chance of opening up profitable trade relations with Canada, and we should be giving employment to British shipping and seamen. Surely patriotism ie not so dead in this colony that we shall announce to the Empire our preference for a. connection with America, in which the advantages are all on the one side, to ene- with another portion of the Empire, whose interests and ours are based on the common ground of race and sentiment. Are we to giye assistance to England's commercial rivals and deny it to Englishmen? Auckland , , with her narrow Eelf-ceritred views may wish to., do so; resigning all thoughts of patriotism and loyalty -to the colony's best interests in order to clutch the visionary benefits conferred on her by the fleeting visits of a line oi foreign, steamers. In this she has , the rest of the colony arrayed against h«r, ' from no motives; of. jealousy, for there is nothing of which to be jealous, but from a conviction that a British colony's subsidies . should be for British; steamships. The Government's duty lies dear before it in this matter; and they will find that in arranging for an "all-red" line, to foster British trade, as against one intended to injure it, they will have the support of all patriotic j New Zealanders.