MELBOURNE AND PANAMA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1226, 23 April 1864, Page 5

MELBOURNE AND PANAMA.

(From the Melbourne Leader.) The initiation of a Panama mail route, through the action taken by the New Zealand Government, claims some recognition at the hands of this and the ■ether Australian colonies. Although Mr. Crosbie Ward may, in his zeal, have somewhat exceeded the letter of his instructions in the price he has agreed to pay on behalf of his Government, that is a question with which we have no immediate concern. If he can show that he has done the best that was possible under existing circumstances, having no opportunity for reference without a delay of months, his contract as agent of the New Zealand Government should not be ungenerously repudiated, even though the outlay exceed anticipation by a few thousands per annum. The most difficult point to settle will probably be the port of final departure from, and the first arrivals in, New Zealand. Each province

wil! findarguments in favor of its own metropoli lne obstacle must be overcome by regarding th at quest ! ou s ™P ] y in its geographical and flnancii ra aspects. 1 hat port which, from its situation, pre , ie tmses the achievement of the trans-Pacific voyage i >n time, whilst so placed as to attrac postal aid and passengers from the adjoining coloniei of permitted the desired distinction st . Regarding the Panama,mail route from the Vic m * in p A oint of view > ther e is much to be said in it of •!? 1 \ A 4 outset k w ell be frankly ad ie muted that it is not so short a track from Melbourn , k by several days as that via Suez. The contrac k , ime on ?. New Zealand to Panama, by the niai service which is to come into operation at the be r . ? lnnln g of 1865, is fixed at thirty days; a few hour , e £ onv 4 e - vs t} l e mail b »gs across the Isthmus, and abou ourteen days may be added for the passage fron k v e i j gres terminus t0 Southampton. From Nev r- f e » lan d to Great Britain, a letter might thus b< delivered m forty-four days, just about the tim< ' consumed in transmission by the Australian mai services through the Red Sea and Mediterranean But m dispatching our letters via the Americar Isthmus, we must add the time occupied between • this port and that in New Zealand fixed on as tht ocean terminus of the new route. It depends on tht ~ port selected whether from five to seven days be ' thus consumed, and this is about the sum of the disadvantage which can be urged against Panama * as a mail route to and from Victoria. Although, if > restricted to a monthly service, we should feel bound to prefer the Suez track on the ground of speed, there are strong reasons why an alternate mail via Panama should be adopted rather than we should be mulcted in further subsidies to the Peninsular and Oriental Mail Company for an intervening or fortnightly mail. A steam line to strike the great American highway of the nations, would throw us . into closer communication with countries which, at present, correspondence can only reach circuitously, and at irregular intervals. At Panama on the west

and Chagres on the east shore of the ocean-partinj ■ barrier, there are concentrating lines of communica tion from almost every point of the compass. North ward ply the west coast mail steamers to the ports o Mexico, California, and British Columbia. South ward stretches communication with Callao, Yalpa raiso, and the flour ports. The United States and th< West India islands are in constant connexion bj steam with Chagres. The New Zealand mail servici will thus draw closer the commercial links whicl connect us with every country of the vast Americar continent. In time of scarcity of breadstuffs instead of being dependent, as at present, upor casual communication by a dull-sailing merchantman, within a few weeks our wants would be known in the granaries of the Northern and Southern wheat growers, and California would vie with Chili in pouring in a Welcome stream of the grain which each can spare. Again, in time of warfare—when England might be involved in hostilities with maritime powers—it would be an immense advantage to have a second mail route open to us. A sudden coup in the Mediterranean—an interrupted mail in French-influenced Egypt—a capture in the Babelmandeb Straits by a continental Alabama, might leave us in blissful unconsciousness of impending peril for weeks. At such a time the advantage of having a second string to our bow would become obvious. If there be any sincerity in the opposition of British statesmen to the completion of the Suez Canal, on the ground that France would thereby secure the key to England's eastern possessions, our suggestion is not chimerical. Besides the postal advantages of the Panama route, a great boon has been bargained for on behalf of the travelling public. It is a condition of the contract that a first-class passage from New Zealand to Panama shall not cost over £55, or say £65, from Melbourne and Sydney. Estimating at a full rate the passage money from Chagres to Southampton or New York, one hundred pounds would frank the traveller from the chief towns of Australia to the capital cities of England or the United States. The Peninsular and Oriental Company, with illiberal greed, demands about seventy per cent more than this, for a shorter distance. The traveller by the Pacific route will not only enjoy a greater variety of scenery, but will have commercial opportunities afforded him which are wanting in the track of the present mail service. The call at a port in the Pacific Archipelago would gradually promote intercourse with islands which are at present unknown but through missionary reports. It is worth considering whether the additional £50,000 per annum demanded by the P. and 0. Company for fortnightly mail communication would not be better spent in aiding the New Zealand Government in the Panama mail undertaking. If Victoria consented to contribute, she would be entitled to a voice in the selection of that New Zealand port of departure which would best suit Victorian interests.