The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1869.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2594, 29 April 1869, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1869.

In a recent article we drew attention to the Torres dtraits as a promising postal route, and we think it will be admitted by those who consider the

dispassionately that the advantages likely to accrue from the establishment of a service in this direction have not been exaggerated. The value bf this route, in a telegraphic and commercial point of view, was fhlly recognised by the Postal Conference held at Melbourne in 1867. And when we come to enumerate all the results which may be reasonably expected from its establishment, our only wonder is, that the question has not been more; energetically urged, upon the attention of the govern meats 1 and people chiefly interested. The Terres Straits route hdlds out the certain prospect of a closer telegraphic connection with Europe and the East, and it promises—not without good sound reasons —an extensive field for commercial enterprise. Under the somewhat fanciful title of “ The Western Eoute to the East,” the Anglo-American Times, a journal of considerable standing, discusses the changes which will probably follow the completion of the Central Pacific Eailway. New York papers had stated that the difference from London to Japan was fifteen days in favour of the Pacific Bailway. The Anglo-American Times contends that even this is under the mark, and gives figures in support of the statement. The Peninsular and Oriental Company make their time forty-one days from London to Hongkong, to Shanghai forty-six, and to Yokohama fifty-two, and as thirty-seven is the outside estimate by the other road to Yokohama the difference is clearly fifteen days. When the San Francisco Boad gets into working order the time will be reduced, as this estimate is high. On the contrary, the figures now put forward by the Peninsular and Oriental Company are under the mark, fortyfour days being a very good passage from Southampton to Hongkong, and the time-books of the company make it still longer. Their own table shows that a vessel leaving Southampton on the 4th January arrives at Hongkong on the 23rd February, and at Shanghai on the Ist March; This for midwinter, and for mid-summer the vessel which leaves on the 4th July is due at Hongkong on the 23rd August, and at Shanghai on the 30th.

Time alone will not lead to a decision in favour of any particular route. 1 Other matters, of comparatively greater importance, will be considered. The number of transhipments, for instance, will exercise a very considerable influence. The transhipments by the Eastern route are three—at Alexandria, at Suez, and at Qalle. By the Western route they are hut two—at New York and at San Francisco. Nor does this represent all, for the nature j)f the transfer is a material point when passengers and luggage, and valuables or bulky goods, are considered. Not at one of the Oriental ports does the vessel get alongside a wharf, the means of communication being by boats or small steamers. If Suez in this respect is very bad, Q-alle is worse in another, for there the communication depends on the regularity, of another line, the passengers having the double risk of a break dotfn. Then, again, as to cost. If we examine this point shall find that the difference is already greatly in favour of the Western or American route. Thfe expense to Yokohama, booking from Southampton now, via New York, and thence by Panama to San Francisco, is £lls, and from Liverpool £108; to Hongkong from Southampton £125, and from Liverpool a few pounds less. The Peninsular and Oriental Company’s rates are upwards of £125 to Hongkong, and £135 to Shanghai, and some £2O more to Yokohama. But the difference in cost will be much greater when the Union Pacific Railroad opens. ' We have seen that tinae, transhipments, and cost, are in favour of the < entral Pacific route. Other material questions enter into the calculation, such as health,, comfort, and safety. The Panama route, it will be rernetn bered, was rather dreaded on account of its alleged unhealthiness, and a good many people object to the Suez route on the same ground. As far as health is concerned, it is sufficient to observe that the American route varies little from one parallel all the way through—from London, say, to Yokohama — and that this parallel is the most temperate on the globe. And if we come to examine the question of comfort, it will be conceded that the fleets'between Europe and New York are the finest in the world. The. leading place «moh§ steam-packet companies is admittedly held by the Cunard. The vessels 'on the other side of the American Continent, from San Francisco to China, are also allowed to be of a very high character. Four of these are vessels of five thousand tons each, and of three others the lowest tonnage is thke thousand. Their general equipment is also excellent, and their passenger accommodation unrivalled. Between New York and San, Francisco, we- are told, the trains will be supplied With sleeping cars, and all along the line hotels will quickly spring up. The advantage in time, health, and comfort, seetas, therefore, to be decidedly in favour of the Central Pacific route. The question of safety will depend, to a great extent, on the manner in which the Americans manage the railway. Hitherto, railway travelling in the United States has not been conducted in such a way as to induce confidence ; but, alive to the great importance of the route as a means of communication between East and West, and fully aware that a great deal depends on security to life and property, it may be reasonably supposed that the Americans will pay greater attention to the management of the through line from New York to San Francisco. Altogether, the Times has not, we think, formed an extravagant estimate when it expresses a belief that travellers to China and the East generally will find the route by New York quicker, cheaper, and more comfortable then the route by Suez. Admitting the importance of the Central Pacific route, it may be asked in what way it bears on the establishment of a postal service by way of

Torres Straits. The connection is, we think, very obvious. It can hardly be expectef that, the Panama route will be agaiU attempted. There are no practical intermediate feeders to a line of ocean steamers running between New Zealand and Panama, and the other disadvantages of the route were made apparent by the spirited experiment which recently collapsed. A ready, certain, and speedy means of communication between America and Australasia is desirable for many obvious reasons, and although a service from San Francisco to New Zealand direct has been mooted, the project does not appear to have met with much favour. But the trunk line of steamers which the Americanshaveestablished between San Francisco and China is only the beginning of which will ultimately embrace the whole of the Eastern Archipelago and Polynesia. The company now working the line may, it is true, fail in the lealisation of their intentions; they may even fail altogether. But the capabilities, the rich promise, of such an enterprise will never be lost sight of, and the enterprise itself will not be abandoned. The Anglo-Saxon race is gradually over-running the East—a term which includes a vast expanse of territory open to colonization, and it should never be forgotten that New Zealand, from its geographical position and climate, ought to derive substantial benefits from the interchange of commodities which must follow the advance of settlement. For commercial, telegraphic, postal, and other reasons, therefore, it is highly desirable that any proposition made by Queensland with regard to the Torres Striuts route should receive the most favourable consideration of the Government and people of New Zealand.