MEMORANDUM OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 4147, 28 November 1870, Page 3

MEMORANDUM OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL.

The following is published for general <nforniatfoii i— I The Postmaster-Genettil records with much j gratification, that, after cotisideTable diffi- { culty and protracted negotiation, fte lias ; succeeded in arranging the terms of a new contract for si mail service between New Zealand and San fVaricisco, with Mr. W. Neilson, the confidential representative of the North Pacific Transportation Company (Messrs. Holladav and Brenham, Baa Francisco), between which company and Mr. Webb, o£ New York, ihere has been an amalgamation of interests, &nt! an arrangement entered into by which Mf. Webbs ships are to perform the service. The following is an outline of the arrangement entered mto :— _ | The contractors are to establish a line of f mail steamers, under the style and title of "The United States, New Zealand, and Australian Line." The ateamsrs to be employed are the 'Nevada,' the 'Nebraska/ and the ' Dakota ;' with the proviso that the •Moses Taylor may be temporarily used, in the event of accident to any o£ the three vessels named, and further that, should any of the three vessels become unserviceable, others are to be substituted, -to be approved by the Postmaster-General. The contract vessels are to be, in every respect, fir3t-class mail and passenger steamers, and to be maintained as such. The contract is to be for ten years, subject to the condition ,that, within six months from the arrival of the first boat at Wellington (say about the beginning of September), the Assembly may decide that the duration of the contract shall be for three years only ; but the Government are to use their best endeavours to secure that the ten-years' period be accepted by the Assembly. The service first commenced is to be a temporary one; and in the contract it 18 described as " Line No. 1." Three alternative lines are provided for, one of which will have to be finally adopted, under conditions set forth in the contract, and which the Postmaster-General proposes now to indicate. To all the four lines, one feature is common — That the main boat runs from San Francisco to Port Chalmers, calling at Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton. Line No. I.— A steamer to leave San Francisco once in every calendar month, commencing on the 16th February next, and to proceed to Port Chalmers, calling at Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton ; and to return from Port Chalmers to San Francisco, once in every calendar monbh, calling at Lyfctelton, Wellington-, and Auckland. Between San Franoisco and Auckland, two ports may be visited ; those porfes to be selected by Mr. Neilson, but to be within the Hawaiian, Society, Navigator, or Fijian groups. The ports so selected are to be visited for coaling purposes only ; and there is an express prohibition against any connection being effected between either of the coaling ports and any port in New Caledonia or in Australia. For this line the payment is to be forty thousand pounds for twelve complete services ; and any subsidies received from Australia or New Caledonia are to be equally divided between the New Zealand Government and the contractors. Within six months of the date of the arrival at Wellington of the first contract vessel, the Postmaster-General may give to the contractors notice that he adopts, as the alternative of the initiatory line (No. 1), the line described in the contract as — Line No. 2.— This line is for a service precisely as described under the heading, "Line No. If but thirteen complete services are to be performed within the year, instead of twelve, and the contractors are to establish a branch steamer between Auckland and Sydney, and any other branches they please from Now Zealand ports, but they are not to be at liberty to run any branch steamers except from New Zealand ports. For line No. 2, the payment is to be sixty thousand pounds for thirteen complete services, including the branch line ; and all subsidies received, whether from the Australian colonies or from New Caledonia, are to belong wholly to the New Zealand Government. If, within six months of the arrival of the first contract boat at Wellington, the Post-master-General does not give notice to adopt line No. 2, the contractors may elect to carry out line No. 3 or line No. 4. Line No. 3~ls similar to Line No. 1, only that the contractors are to receive the subsidies fcom. the other colonies, less ten per cent to the New Zealand Government. They are to be at liberty to establish branches to any Australian colony or to New Caledonia, from New Zealand ; but ; they are not to run any branch boats except from New Zealand ports. The pa\ uient for j Line No. 3 is to be forty thousand pounds ; the contractors receiving all subsidies paid by other colonies, and retaining tha amount less ten per cent., which they are to pay to the New Zealand Government. Line No. 4— ls the same as the others, in regard to the main boats running to Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Chalmers ; but the contractors are to be at liberty to run brauches from the Fiji Islands to Australia, and to make such arrangements aa they please respecting subsidies from colonies other than New Zealand. The payment for this line to be thirty thousand pounds per annum. Time : In each of the four cases described, the contract time between San Francisco and Auckland is to be twenty -four days ; and the contractors are to use all diligence to perform the distance between Auckland and Port Chalmers within one hundred hours, subject to a penalty of two pounds per hour for unnecessary delay. If the Government adopt Line No*. 2, the contract time between San Fronciaco and Sydney is to bfi thirty days. If the contract time is exceeded, the contractors are to pay a penalty of two pounds per hour for such excess, unless a reasonable cause can be shown for it, and they are to receive a bonus of two pounds for each hour less than contract time within which any service is performed between San Francisco and Auckland, or San Franoisco and Sydney. The Postraaster-Geiieral is to have power to make and to vary time-tables. The yea« sels may be detained twenty-four hours in New Zealand, and twenty-four hours in Sydney. They may also be detained fortyeight hours in San Franoisco, whenever it may be necessary so long to await the arrival there of the mails from Europe. The contract vessels are to be exempt from all port, light, or wharfage dues or charges in New Zealand. On board each vessel, first-cabin passages are to be provided, without charge, for a mail agent and his assistants. The conti actors are to eater into bonds, to the amount of twenty-five thousand pounds, for the due performance of their contract. The contractors agree, subject to a penalty of one thousand pounds per annum, to procure from the United States an exemption from all the charges for mails between San Francisco and London, and between New York and San Francisco, which are now imposed under the convention between the United States and Great Britain. The contractors also agree to' use their besb endeavours to secure a concession under which wool, the produce of any colony contributing to the mail subsidy, and the fibre of the phormium tenax produced in New Zealand, shall be admitted into the United States duty free. These are the principal features of the contract. Some details still have to bo settled between the contractors and the Postmaster-General. Until it is known what the United States Government may decide to do in respect to some of the open questions, it may not be desirable that specific offers should be made to 'the Australian colonies., TliB contract contains ample provision for securing payment o£ subsidies from other colonies. It may be observed that the Post-Office Act No. 2, passed. last session, and the terms of the Convention proposed to' the United States {which "Mr. Neil»on announces that the authorities of that «tmntiy >»*» ftgM>ed to). We been fe]st&y tiisM to goeribJefi m M% oi lite

most difficult features of the contract — that of dealing with non-subsidising colonies. The Postmaster-General, in accordance with the Resolution's of the Assembly, made it a condition in every case that the mainline sfceameis should coino on to New Zealand, and should call afc" Auckland, Wellington, Lytfcclton, and Port Chalmers. There was a great difficulty in procuring fho' consent of the Contractors' representative to the main-line boats visiting so many New Zealand ports ; and the arrangement in respect to time between Auckland and Port Chalmers, with penalty for delay, is the very best that the Postmaster-General could succeed in effecting- The repiesentative of the contractors declined to make any arrangement as to Napier, and whether the contract vessels will call at that port must depend upon future negotiations. Every one of the lines will substantially comply with the conditions laid down by the Assembly in the resolutions of last session ; but Live No. 4. in permitting the diversion of tiiC Australian traffic at the JPijis, will be Ipsiof U ?Ti »,. "ordance with the spirit of the resolutions. TW* Uliate ly, ** may betaken for granted that, i£ the co>y d-Td -T ?°* a J?P* Line No. 2, the contractors wiJ adopt Lme No. 4. They would, by it, in all prOba J. uir> y» obtain much larger subsidies from the Australian colonies than by the New Zealand route. In the case of the other lines, if the vessels call at the I'ijis, they are to do so for coaling purposes only. The main steamer is to proceed to New Zealand, and no branches are to be run' except from New Zealand ports* A subsidy of sixty thousand pounds may seem to be a large one-^and especially so as compared with the amount indic&ted 1 in the resolutions of the Assembly. Cafe 0 fca», therefore, been taken to give the Assembly time to decide whether the colony shall adopt Line No. 2, or leave the contractors their choice between Line No. 3 and Line No. 4. But as the point is certain to be immediately discussed, the Postmaster-General takes the opportunity of remarking upon it, withoutj however, committing himself to a conclusion as to which choice will be recommended to the Assembly. Line No, 2 is, in effect, not widely different from the service contemplated by the resolutions. It is true that the araoitnt named in the resolutions is forty thousand pounds ; and that the Assembly understood that subsidies from other colonies would go in reduction of that sum. But it must be remembered that, for the sixty thousand pounds, thirteen complete services ayear will be secured, and also a branch line to Sydney \ while the line for which the Assembly approved oi paying forty thousand pounds would have been merely a line to New Zealand. The Australian colonies would have had to arrange for branch services, and would have contributed to the line only as far as New Zealand. Under Line No. 2, the colony will be able to offer to lay down the mails in Sydney. If Line No. 2 is adopted, the sixty thousand pounds a year will be reduced by the amount of all subsidies received from Australian colonies ; and if the concession as regards j the Convention between the United States and Great Britain be secured — (the contractors binding themselves in a penalty of one thousand pounds per year to obtain it) — the postages in England and Australia would, alone amount to a very handsome contribution from the Australian colonies for the carriage of their mails. In any case, the Australian colonies should, unitedly, pay not less than from twenty -five to thirty thousand pounds a year; and, supposing the concession above mentioned to be secured, New Zealand would save a very large sum per anuum in regard to her own mails, for the Imperial Government would hand over to the colony the postages collected on the other aide, but which are now detained to defray the charges payable by Great Britain to the United States, under the Convention. It must be added, that the adoption of Line No. 2, by placing the whole service in the hands of New Zealand, would secure that the traffic between Great Britain and the United States on the one hand, and the Australian colonies on the other, should permanently pass through New Zealand, instead of passing by it, as would be the case were the 'contractors enabled to -adopt line ISo. 4, and SO to run branch boats from Fiji to Australia. Still further, if the colony should adopt line No. 2, not only will ib include connection with Sydney, from Auckland, but, by lines of steamers already existing, there would practically be direct communication between Melbourne aud the mam line, at Dunediu, Lyttelton, and Wellington. The Postmaster-General believes that the contract-times are such, that it would bo impossible for the 3 ustralian colonies not to come in and to contribute fairly in reduction of the sixty thousand pounds subsidy. The rontractors have assisted in maturing arrangements by which the journey between San Francisco and New York, and from New York to San Francisco, will be performed in five days instead of seven ; and a steamer is always to be ready at New York to start with the mails for England as soon as they arrive. The transit from San Fiauciscoto London will thus be effected in fifteen days : while from Sydney to San Francisco the time will be thirty days. Thus mails from London to Sydney, or from Sydney te , London, would be delivered in forty-five | days, and mails to or from Melbourne would | be received and delivered in forty-seven j days. Those times, indeed, would piobably be materially reduced ; for the contractors state that they would be able to save two days, should it be worth their whilo te do so. Supposing New Zealand adopts Line TSfo.2, the Government would be able to choose, under the thirteen-servicea condition, cithei Sydney or Melbourne as the port at which to make the times correspond with those of the boats of the Peninsular and Oriental Company ; or the Government would be able te give to eithor Sydney or Melbourne an absolute fortnightly service to England, Whichever of those courses might be adopted, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that there would be a mail service te which public opinion in the Australian eolo; nies would demand that contribution shoulr be made j whilst it is alao impossible not te conclude that, as a passenger route, the service would be unequalled. There are raaay other considerations to be taken into account in choosing between the services. Line No. 2, with contributions from the other colonies, aud with the Eug. lish postages which would be set free by th< United States foregoing the transit charges, should not cost much, if any, more that twenty-five thousand pounds ; whilst, undei similar circumstances, Line No. 4 would cost about the same amount, with far less advautages. Line No. 3, with nearly equal advantages, would cost about the same, bul with less risk of costing more through the colonies not contributing. But the contractors have the option, if Line No. 2 is noi adopted, of choosing between Line No. 3 an<j Line No. 4, so that No. 3 cannot be countec on. It will be for the Assembly to decide whether Liae No. 2 involves so much risk as to make it desirable to be prepared for th< substitution of Line No. 4, which, after all. would be a very good service. It, or any ci the other lines, would give New Zealand s service which would coat much less than tht Panama service, or than the Suez service (with inter-colonial and inter-provincial dis tribubiug boats) has cost, whilst, as com pared with either, it would confer immea^ surably greater- advantages, direct aud indirect. The contractors propose to charge-eighty' five pounds for the through passage to Eng land, including railway fare across the American continent ; and to leave to eacfc passenger the option of proceeding direct, oi delaying at duYevant places as long as maj be desired. The Postmaster-General is informed—although it is not a condition of the contract; — that a uniform rate to E»gland is to be charged from all ports of New Zealand, Should effect be given to the provision foi the admission duty-free into the Unitec States of Few Zealand flax, and of wool, the produce of New Zealand or of any colonj contributing towards the service, another inducenwnt to the Australian colonies to do»

f Tt can scarcely be cW theeatabI lishment of the line will leu * the developI meat of the New Zealand coalfi^s m which I ease it would be no exaggeration «> regard the subtly as being more than recoup 60 - «> the colony, by the money-payments u*>r its coal, and by the employment to labour .Mia capital which would be afforded. The time table fixed for the commencer*nt of the service is as follows :— To leave Vti\l> Chalmers, Sydney (if required), and London, oh the Ist of each month ; Auckland on tkti 7th ; and San Francisco on the 16th. This ■Will enable letters despatched from London on the Ist of the month to be delivered in Port Chalmers on the 15th, and in Sydney on the 16th, of the following month. There will be about a fortnight for answering ; and replies leaving Port Chalmers or Sydney on the Ist, will reach London ou the 15 th of the following month, thu3 giving a "course ef post" of about one hundred and five days, or three months and a half. The same will apply to answeis to letters sent from Port Chalmers or Sydney. In the case of Wellington or Auckland, the time here stated would be reduced by several days. t In conclusion, the Postmaster - General would observe that the contract appears to be one of an eminently satisfactory nature. i£ will stand the >t of meeting the requireS^hCSK £U & efleet;po Q the much-discussed separate mt^osta i of the different parts of the colony, the? ,c, c0 ™ do must be that no service more h * e $ £ JJ justice to those interests could be oJl»ww a » even if one could be devised. Julius Vogbl, Auckland, November 24, 1870. Tlitf following description of the vessels to be employ*** i* taken from the American Lloyds, for 1870 >— * • Nebraska. '— Tlitf steamship ' Nebraska,,. 2 143 tons register, b&tffc in 1865, und e<l official supervision, specially suvveye d, an classed as extra Al in 1869. Built of oak and hackmatack, on iron frame, three decks and beams j 15ft. draft. Falf *>"§-"& Dimensions— 37oft. length; breadth Mt. T depth, 20ft.; beam engines, 81-inch cylinder j stroke of piston, 12ft. Double-planked, witfe 4iil. oak. Made 15i knots on her trial 1 '—The steamship « Nevada ' was built at the same time as the • Nebraska. ! Her tonnage is the same, and she is in every respect a similar vessel, except that her cylinder is 4in. larger. ' Dakota. ' — The steamship 3 * Dakota, 2,153 tons register, was built in 1865, and specially surveyed and classed m ISoU, aa extra AL She is similar in every respect to the 'Nebraska.' At present, she is employed in the trade between New York and the West Indies. , « Mosks TAYLOK.'--The ' Moses Taylor is 1,354 tons register, w^s built m 1857, and was re-surveyed and classed aa extra Al, m 186?.