MAIL CONDITIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 631, 7 October 1909, Page 5

MAIL CONDITIONS.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PROTEST. . ißy TcloersDh.-SDcr.lal CnrrMnonacnt.r . Auckland, October , 6.. A special meeting of the Executive. Council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce was held this afternoon. . .■ . Mr. Bart Kent, the chairman, said that the reason of their meeting was to consider the lamentable condition, of, our mail service to and? from Great .Britain. Since the cessation of the 'Frisco service no quick steam servico had' existed between'• Great . Britain and. New Zealand. The promised service, via Tahiti had failid, and the /result, now/was that, notwithstanding our greatly increased trade importance, wo were .worse off than we were 25 years ago. In 'fact', it took now 35 .days for mails to travel ;,from - Great, - Britain _to Now Zealand. Thosteamers ;bdtween ' Tahiti and Now Zealand'/ might: be',|!'o3d for. a general cargo, passenger,* .and- fruit/' service, but "were utterly inadequate, fpr .an ,uprt6;dat6',niail scrvied. A■■ cargo", steamer only- recently, reached Auckland before the mails nptifying,consignees of -shipments, ftp" the confusion. of things generally. He (the chairman) considered that 'the' Government should be urgently approached with tho view of ' quickly doing, something to improve tho present deplorable conditions. Tho Primo Minister had recently, agreed that something would have-'to be-do.no,- but what wo want and must/have was either a quick service via Fiji as suggested-by the Prime Minister, or that efforts should' be mndo to get the 'Frisco mnil reinstated.-' Ho-cOnsidered that the 'Frisco service ■ was' ; the best that thev could get., and ,he suggested that now was the tiirie to approach the United States Congress with -tht! end of the reinstatement of tho old 'fpfvice,"'' Thero were plenty of good boats, in 'Frisco harbour, and if our own Government would only be liberal enough, in conjunction with '.Congress, he. felt sure that we .-could again get this ;'fast, good, and eftdent mail service to New Zealand. Mr. Kent moved: " That the ' Government be requested by this chamber to reopen'negotiations wi'U the Congress of'the-United States of America .with the object of : reinstating the ,'Frisco mail service between 'the: TJnitodj, States and -Auck* laud, New Zealand,-and. that ill'the event of failure to obtain the 'Frisco servico the Prime Minister be requested to-lisc'every endeavour to obtain a .'fast service-betweeniNew Zealand and Fiji. -In connection with ; the CanadianPacific mail service,: thfe service. I .to. take not more than.;2BV.days,'',v •' ! . -. Mr. J. Eeid - seconded the. motion trhich wa3 ■carried Unanimously.-.