MAIL STEAMERS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 30, 5 February 1935, Page 14

MAIL STEAMERS

xVERIAL COMPETITION

WILL IT AFFECT STEAMSHIPS'

REVENUE?

How far will the development of Empire air-mail services affect the position of mail-carrying steamers, particularly on the Australian run? The question is one that has aroused- considerable speculation on the part of interested shipowners (says the MeK bourne "Age"), and already the position is being closely studied,by the London owners of vessels in the Australian mail service. The competition of the aeroplane, "while not destroying the present optimism of the shipping ■ industry, will grow enormously, and' it is the uncertainty of the re-sults-that is puzzling the shipowners. It is a significant' fact that while Scott and Black' were 'making their-record-breaking flight six ocean-:.liners were in the course of a voyage to Australia. And, with their mails, they took five weeks to accomplish what an aeroplane did in under three days. In the light, of the■ cabled remarks recently of Sir Kingsley Wood, referring to the new Empire mail service, there is, much ground for speculation. ' Sir' K. Wood said he hoped, •with the co-operation.of the Dominions concerned, that in 1937, for the sum of, say, lid,' an'lmperial correspondent in this country (England)' Would have his letter transported half-way round the globe within a week, instead of in the time hitherto taken./ In embarking upon suchT-'a project, he said, he had been fortified by the belief that the reduction of time taken, in the exchange of:• correspbridence,, and the introduction'at the same time of a flat cheap postal rate, would cause the traffic to grow to a high level. ■ In' such a case the air ■mails' gain will be the mail steamers loss. FIVE TONS OF FIRST-CLASS MAILS. The P. and' O. and Orient lines, which jointly .maintain a weekly steamer connection, between Australia and the United Kingdom, carry approximately five tons of first-class mail matter each week, which is landed in Western .Australia : .' and : distributed overland. In the ;.recehtly-established England-Australia .air service the largest quantity, of mail carried was two tons, by the airliner Hengist. This service, it is hoped,-will"shortly~ be run to an eight-day but a few years t will surely see the advent of more aeroplanes, and consequently faster time-tables. Even if the carrying capacity of the' aeroplanes is not increased, three • aeroplanes' to Australia per week would more than cope with the mail, matter now being carried by the steamers. If the forecast of Sir IC Wood is established, and cheap postage rates are secured! the mail steamers will lose practically all their first-class mails. Furthermore, larger aeroplanes, carrying passengers and parcels, would intrude deeper on preserves of the steamers.

In reply to a question asked by a shareholder at the annual meeting last month of the P. and O. Company in London, the deputy chairman, Sir William Currie. said that with regard to the question of the ■air' service the company, as yet had no interest-in it, but the air .position was before the board, and was being carefully watched. This at least shows that the P. and O. Company appreciates the fact, of the air service being a leading contributor to world transport. LOSS 6F MAIL GRANTS? • For the carriage of mails the' Commonwealth Government, makes an annual grant" of £130,000. During the past few years of the depression the company has .voluntarily relinquished £20,000 yearly from this amount. The P. and O. Company receives a grant on much .the, same c basis •from the British. Government, but its contract is of a more complex nature, including provision for the extended mail service to China. Should the carriage of mails by aeroplane prove , expeditious on the' larger scale which . the promoters of the,service, hope for, the mail steamers in consequence; would lose their quota: of first-class matter,and the greater portion of the essential subsidy 'will be withdrawn. The two companies operating in the mail services are dependent •on the subsidies for' the maintenance of the. present weekly schedule, and their loss would be regarded in 'the gravest possible light. One' Melbourne shipowner "expressed the.opinion that ii such were to happen, the immediate result would be a readjustment of schedules. It would be-rid longer possible to have a large vessel arriving weekly with only passengers and freight, unaided by the mail grant. Time-tables would have to be revised, and it was quite likely that there would be a general swing of patronisation to the cheaper one-class mode" of travel.- The" fact was also emphasised that the passenger trade, outward and' homeward, was only a business proposition for six months of the year. For the remainder the mails, principally, and freights, to a lesser degree, helped to maintain a fair _ average. To what extent the- depletion of schedules and the omission of ships from' the service would have to be carried is a matter of conjecture and speculation by the shipowners. It would certainly be considerable. CO-ORDINATION OF SERVICES. From the passenger viewpoint alone there is a good deal of co-ordination of sea and air services being undertaken overseas.;, The Cunard White Star Atlantic service has linked up with the Imperial' Airways service across Europe, .and throughout, the Empire.; These two organisations were not in direct: opposition', but the 'steamship company realised the obvious fact that it was to its. advantage to recognise the air service, as an adjunct. Thus transatlantic passengers from New, York going to Europe can take an aeroplane '■ from Cherbourg orSouthampton^ and save fifteen, and a half days on a trip-to Singapore. Aliready travellers, from England can make connections by sea and air to reach Australia, but there is no definite basis of co-operation between the two.modes of transport. There is an opportunity for a- further development here when air-passenger services between. Australia and England are firmly, established.