THE TAHITI SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 342, 31 October 1908, Page 4

THE TAHITI SERVICE.

ANOTHER. AUCKLAND PROTEST. (BI TELEUUAI'II. —SI'ZCI AI. CfJUIIF.Si'UNIJSNT.)

Auckland, October 30. In with the Government subsidj of £7000 for a mail steamer service between Wellington .and Tahiti a controversy is raging here. In a letter from Messrs. Donald and Edenborough, published to-day, tho writers enter a protest. They say:—"We have before us the original contract made June 10, 1885, between the Postmaster-General (Sir Julius Vogel) and our firm for tho first steam-servico to the Eastern Pacific. We had to make eight trijis per year,' including Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, and Raratonga (thus practically performing two distinct services), and the subsidy paid was £4200 per annum. It must further be borne in mind that in 1885 the trade .was small, and had only been carried on up to that time by schooners, and in order to make a steamer pay a very large increase in the trado had to be secured. We were prepared to take the risk, and carried the contract through successfully. After a fow years it T was decided between ourselves and the Union Company that wo should retire from the. Tonga-Samoa trade, and the Government agreed to the arrangement, but reduced tho subsidy for tho Tahiti-Raratonga trade to £1200, and no moro. than this' amount, has ever been paid since. Now, when the trado has assumed large proportions and been brought to a paj'able point, our Wellington friends want to come in and' share, and very naturally, too, but are they content with legitimate opposition? No. They work on the Government to such an extent as to obtain a subsidy of £7000, nearly double the original subsidy after the service has been running 23 years, and has been brought to a profitable point. This may be justico, but it is certainly not justice to Auckland.. In fact,_ we are asked to contribute towards a subsidy to cut our own throats. The worst feature of tho case is that the Government put tho voto on the Supplementary Estimates just beforo tho session closed, so as to avoid all discussion, and wo are informed that it was not intended that anything should ba said till after the elections, as it was inevitable that there must be a row. We da not believe that there is any necessity what« over for any direct service to Wellington, but if the Wellington people-are determined to have one, let it be done in a fair and just way by the Government paying the same subsidy as is paid to Auckland, and not by robbing the Auckland merchants, who have built up the trade."

The whole agitation is pooh-poohed by the Hon. Geo. Fowlds. During his political address last night, the Minister declared that tho new service had been promoted in response to a demand made all over Now Zealand, and it had been decided to try as an experiment a line of steamers trading, from Wellington to Tahiti; in order to make a mail connection, pending the negotiations going 011 for the establishment of a service between Auckland and Vancouver, as part of the All Red route. It was perfectly • ab-surd,-ho added, for the people of Auckland to howl out with indignation whenever it was proposed to do anything in connection with another port of the Dominion. It was this kind of thing that made it so difficult for Auckland _ representatives in Parliament to get anything for Auckland. A THIRTY-SIX DAYS' SERVICE. |BI TEr.fGEiPH—l'll: i ASSOCIATION.) Dunedin, October 30. It has been decided that one of the Union Company's stoamers will leave Wellington overy 36 days, so as to arrive.' at Tahiti in time to connect with the Spreckel'a mail steamers. The latter will tranship passengers and mails to the Union Company's vessel returning from Papeete to San Francisco, the Union Company's steamer coming back to Wellington via,Raraton'ga. According to .present, .arrangements... the run from Wellington : to\!Frisco ,will' not' occupy -more than 23 days. 'The service will be inaugurated about 'January 3.. \