THE PANAMA ROUTE.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVIII, Issue 1633, 15 October 1862, Page 4

THE PANAMA ROUTE.

To-morrow the committee of the Chamber of Commeice moot ag.im to consider the ofloi toi esfcabhshlns,' a steam soivice to Panama, the paitieulais of which weic detailed in this journal on Monday last Fiom the Mioit discussion caiued on by the members at the meeting, at which they decided to adjourn the consideiation of the question, we aie glad to think they appear extremely favom.ible to the proposal The chief objection, if objection it can bo called, appeals to be that the price mentioned is so low, that they cannot conceive the service can be efficiently can led out for the amount, i' 50,000 certainly doos seem a small sum for a soivice that will leqwie the use of thiee large steamers, and especially docs it seem small when it is considcicd for how many years the pi acticabihty of establishing a line to Panama has been the subject of the mingled hopes and fears of a laige poifcion of the Australian colonies What will New South Wales think when it loams that only £50,000 stands between itself and the object of its many yeais ambition ? Yet, wo believe thattheie is not the slightest mistake, and that the company will be glad to receive a subsidy of £.50,000 a year for a seivice which, without any giatuity, might be made self-suppoiting. New Zealand raei chants have been so much accustomed to look upon mail subsidies as the only thing on which steamers should depend, that they aio apt to foiget that a good trade is bettor than a subsidy. They do not quickly lecogimo tho changed encumstauces which a few yean have produced For instance, a couple of years ago, a heavy bubsidy would have been a poor inducement to any company to mil a steamer betweou Sydney and Otago Now there is one put on without any giatiuty whatever, and that boat is likely to pay better than tho steamer between Auckland and Sydney, subsidised to the extent of £14,000 per annum. To follow out this comae of reasoning, it is easy to suppose that the Pacific Steam Company, aheady very successful in its vcntuieB, sees a profitable chance of extending its operations, and asks of the Otago or New Zealand Government a moderate oncoiuagetneut for doing so. Let us suppose tho company to possess good means at its command, and to desire to extend its trade, and we think that tho inducements offered by tho proposed line to New Zealand are such as aie very likely to have attracted the attention of the shareholdeis. Before considering the various resources on which the pioposed line may calculate, we think we aie safo in drawing tho deduction that the company does not by any means place its chief rolianco on tho £50,000 subsidy which it asks, Wo do so on the grounds that if the lino wei c to be one chiefly for postal purposes, a small class of vessels would be used, whereas it is proposed to employ hteamers having a capacity of 1,800 or 2,000 tons. This wo consider a convincing proof that the company looks to other sources than the subsidy. Now let us oxamino into these sources. They may bo stated as first, passenger traffioj secondly, carriage of trea-

sure ; and thirdly, a limited nmounb of oidinary fieight, and a considerable amoimb of live stock freight. In regaul to tho passenger traffic, it ir not to ho doubted that tho Panama, ronto will he tho favourite ono for lussengeis to aud fiom tho Australian colonies Tho overland routo costs about £W<jl, and tho inconvenience, to families especially, notwithstanding all that the most costly caie can devise, is something seiious. Tho time occupied is fiom Melbourne to Southampton 52 days, from Sydney 56, and from Otago 58 days. By the Panama route Otago would be 48 days from England, Melbourne 54-, and Sydney 55. Melbourne would thus be two days behind, Sydney would gain one day, Otago would gain ten days, and the other poits of Now Zealand tho same. But the saving of time sinks into insignificance in comparison with tho saving of money and inconvenience. Instead of the vauable uncertain weather between Melbourne and Suez, the voyage acioss the Pacific is almost, without exception, like a summer's d.iy yacht exclusion. The voyage could be pei formed with punctuality to the hour, and the passengeis would seaicely undei stand the moaning of sea-sickness Tn puce the saving would be immense. We do not hesitate to s\y that the passage thiough fiom England to Melbourne would pay the companies w ell at £'85, and to Olago £80, and for steerage passengeis the cost would be some t'3s. The inconvenience of cio<-smg the Isthmus is moiely tufting, and except for two oi three months m the year there is no danger fiom malarious influences Even during those two or tlnee months tho lisk is greatly diminishing. When we come to consider the immense advantages the route offers, it is easy to undei stand that before long the company have a right to expect a full load of passengers by every vessel. A saving of time and money will both bo oflected What more could pas sengeis desne. In these remarks wo should add we have left on one side the passenger ti affic betu ecu Cahfoi ma aud British Columbia and the Australian colonies This is by no means inconsideiable, and the Panama line would have all the advantage of it. The company would be able to lely on a toleiablc levenue for the carnage of gold dust The diminished nsk of tho voyage and the saving of time au* sine to make this the favouiite means of sending gold home, and a consideiable levenue will arise fiom it In regai d to freight, a large quantity of heavy and valuable goods is sure to be scut by this way, as also many of the pioducts peculiar to South Ameuca We have alluded to the cainago of live stock We lefcr to the veiy useful animals for which South America is famous; but inoic especially to the Llamas and Vicunas, the ccpoi bation of which is about to be peimittcd by the Pemvian Government When all these somces of levenue aie considoied, it will be seen the subsidy will by l o means form the most unpoitant item the pi omoteis of tho lmc will have to depend on, and tho Committee ot the Cham her of Commeice may abandon then doubts as to the bona fide nature of the otter. We may mention also, as stated by Mr. Reynolds, that he has confided to us the name of his conespondents, aud that they aie a icsponsible film, having an extensive house both in Liveipool and Limn —Daily Tunes, Sept. 29.