OCEAN MAILS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 693, 18 December 1909, Page 4

OCEAN MAILS.

-The ■ long .and'.interesting.'! statement mado ; to , the, House, of. Representatives yesterday by.'the Prime Minister.onthe subject of ocean mail services' was not by "any means satisfying, , Sir /Joseph Ward' told ;the House a good deal that.it already ' know abqiitlour mail connectionswith the outer world, /and, supplied figures with which they probably were unacquainted. -But he left the. position exactly whore it was. '. It is true that he sjjokc Boraewhat ■ vaguely about jbossibilities in; the , way of. a .now.: San-Francisco serTJce, arid a little more definitely about connection with' the Vancouver service at Fiji.but it must be quite evident that ; at tho present ■■tiino': the .Government's ideas aire very shadowy. New Zealand has been fortunate in;..having, a neighbour whose. Government pays better attention to. theso things than, her;own,-Ministers. We are practically, dependent on the ocean mail services contracted for by the ■Commonwealth Government, and until very xecently 'we' did not oven take, proper advantage of /this; ViThe' weekly connection at Auckland with, the Main Trunk ex-: press was so repeatedly missed that -it became a standing'grievance with business people,south of Auckland; \A faster boat lias been put on recently, and the position' is now much better in' this respect. The mail connection, via Tahiti has , also been of some benefit! On the whole, however, the question: of ocean rinail services has boon neglected. New Zealand, instead of; being in the van, has been very much behindhand, 'and ■to all appearances is : prepared to stay in that position.; , ~.':'.