The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1875.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 4465, 5 June 1875, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1875.

The recurrence of the day of departure of the European mails reminds ns once more of the curious anomaly that, though we have two lines • of mail steamers to Europe, yet they leave here on two consecutive days, and as the second of these days happens to he Sunday, for most practical. purposes both mails may be said to leave on the same day. For twenty-seven days in the month we are without postal communication with the Mother Country; on the twenty-eighth, like the ddnkey placed :between two bundles of straw, we are troubled with an embarras de richeases, and have to choose between the Suez and the American route. The former ‘route is subsidised chiefly by the Colony iof Victoria, the latter by her rival New South "Wales as well as by New Zealand. We suppose that mutual jealousy has hitherto prevented these colonies from reaping. the full advantage of this ■ double service, for, to citeour own case, it is clear that as far as the outward mails are concerned we might almost as well be dependent on only one line, and other parts of New Zealand must be in almost the same condition. We believe, however, that an , arrangement has been made between the Governments of Victoria and of New South Wales, by which the two mails will run so as to about equally divide the month for those two colonies at any rate; we hope thiat the interests of New Zealand have not been overlooked in this arrangement, for if we contribute our due share of the subsidy to the San Francisco route, we have quite as good a right to see that our convenience is consulted as New South Wales to see to hers. It is plain that if the times of departure are arranged so that one mail leaves Sydney a fortnight after the other leaves Melbourne, the times of departure here will be inconveniently dose. To take a case in illustration: Suppose, for instance, it happens that one mail leaves Sydney on the fifth day of any month, and the other leaves Melbourne on the : nineteenth day of the same month, then the San Francisco mail would have to be closed here on the sixth, and the Suez mail on the ninth of the same month; an arrangement not very desirable for this city. Moreover, this state of affairs would be made worse if, as is the case now, Messrs M’Mechan and Blackwood were allowed twelve days to carry our letters to Melbourne; we should then have our Suez mail closing on the next day after that via San Francisco. We believe that by a little exercise of ingenuity, a great deal of this awkwardness might be avoided, and . that we might have our month divided in a more reasonable way. It will be observed that when both inward mails keep time they divide the month exceedingly well, and so we may be said to enjoy a fortnightly mail service from Europe, though certainly not to it. We call attention to this subject partly because of the arrangement which we have above alluded to, and also because entirely fresh arrangements are being made for the conveyance of the mails from San Francisco to these colonies; fresh tenders are being called for oh behalf of New South Wales and ' New Zealand. Our old friend Mr Hall is trying to beguile our representatives into giving him the contract again, under the shallow pretext that he has obtained some special advantages from the American Government for the transmission of the mails across their Continent. We are not for one moment afraid, that he , will, be the successful, tenderer ; we should think both colonies I concerned, have, had quite enough of i him. But we do hope that the contract will not this time be given to men of straw, merely because they happen to be the lowest tenderers. If the mails are

to be carried .with ,anything like regularity ,'pbwerfttl steamers must be employed': pimUat l to those which run across ' the ’Ajtlaatio dr those belonging tp tlie. Peninsular and Oriental Company, and the owning of these steamers implies a large capital. We trust that some of the owners that run steamers between Liverpool and New York may Be (induced to take up the; contract. The most satisfactory settlement would be that either the Ounard or the Inman line should take the contract right through, and make their own arrangement with the American Government, just as the F. and 0. Company are responsible for the mails that are sent via Brindisi, though part of the journey is performed by rail. The owners of the lines of steamers to which we hpve referred dare not, for their own credit’s sake, perform their wort badly.

The American mail routes have always been unfortunate. The Panama route promised great things, but ended in a collapse; hitherto the San Francisco route can hardly be said to be a success. Not to mention the miserable failure of the contractor last year, the irregularity . of the present service is a great nuisance. When the steamers do not break down, or show themselves too weak to contend with adverse weather, some accident is almost sure to happen to the railway through America; at one time the line is snowed up, at another, inundated or partly washed by the sudden melting of' the snow;' The Suez service is i just as remarkable for its punctuality. Any London merchant or banker who has dealings with these colonies, knows that every fourth Monday his business letters will reach him,; not once in the course of the year> is there any delay. In the same way, the steamers generally reach Melbourne about two days under their contract time. At the present time, therefore,’when the question of a fortnightly mail to Australia; vut Suez, is being agitated, and’we are making a new contract for the conveyance of our Emails, we cannot help thinking that it would have been only wise on the part of our Government to have adopted the Suez route. At an influential meeting ;held in London, with a view to the establishment of this fortnightly mail, it was said that, by leaving out Malta as a place of call, and by steaming direct from Aden to King, George’s Sound, letters could be regularly delivered in Victoria in forty days from leaving London. Therefore, our letters would reach us in this island in forty-eight days after they were posted. The agent* who attended the meeting as the representative of the P. and O. Company quite agreed that the proposal could be ’earned out; the only question was one of money. Had this colony, therefore, contributed its subsidy towards the establishing of 'ithis,,service, it would appear that the only obstacle to its being carried ont would ham been, in great measure, overcame, ; for ,of . course, Victoria and its coadjutors would be i willing to increase their subsidy for the increased convenience.

But Sir Daniel Cooper, who represented New South Wales, and spoke also for this colony, said that these two colonies had al&ady deoidfect that the American route .. .was. to he still maintained, and so*-jre suppose, this golden opportunity o i / establishing a mail service leaving little to be desired, is lost for some time to come. No doubt it is a very desirable thing that there should be regular arid- direct communication between ourselves and America, but the question is whether, at the present time, such advantages are likely to compensate for the serious inconvenience and annoyance caused by the irregularities which seem inherent in the American route, , i

Thebe has been much talk of 'late about the proportion the worklngexpenses of the railways bear to their receipts.. It has, been asserted, with perfect truth, that the proportion in Otago is 58 per cent, while in Canterbury it actually amounts to 84. Inferences have been drawn, very from these facts, to the discredit of the . Canterbury management. Upon this point Mr Buckley threw considerable light on Wednesday evening, during the discussion on the Bailway Tolls and Management Ordinance. He began by telling his hearers that to Otago, the wharves at Port Chalmers, and the station arrangements generally, are of a superior character to those ip Lyttelton. This.is true, and as the superiority is due to the features of the country at Port Chalmers, and the facilities that Harbour presents, the difference bah never, we fear, he remedied. This will he always a disadvantage to Canterbury, and though the. loss from,this Cause may he made lees—indeed the Government, following the examples of their predecessors, are turning their attention practically to the subjaotrritill the management in this direction must always coat a little more in Lyttelton than it dole in Fort Chalmers;. Mr Buckley pointed out another advantage that Dunedin enjoys frbm its possession of water communication. . Owing to this, the Dunedin and Port Chalmers railway is not troubled with the conveyance of the bulky articles, chiefly coal and timber* which tell so heavily against the Lyttelton and Christchurch railway. These goods trave l to Dunedin from Port Chalmers by lighter and thp railway is rid of them. In process of time, when the harbonk works at Dunedin are completed by the . Barbour Board, which is pushing them at the present moment with great vigour, there will be even a greater redaction in the chargeeon goods; When all vessels will be brought up to the city the greater part of the chargee between Dunedin and Port Chalmers will be saved to the province. Therefore iniuturt, the difference of chargee from this cause will be in favour of Dnnedin CT.eh more than it’is now. It will not be fair then to take Uw Otago railway management as, a criterion by which to judge that of Canterbury.

There srepther difference!, howerer, opemting in favour of Otago, which may be aboliihed here with advantage to tbecountry’e interest!.; In Otago, the storage of goods at the railway station is discouraged by the imposition, at the option of the authorities, of a charge of two shillings per ton pet day. The same practice; here would produce like results. • The general charges again in Otago, bare bead Very much, higher than they are or have over been here. The maximum ratos prorided by the schedulee to 'the Kailway Tolls *and Management, Ordinance,, and not intended to be fully charged, as we understands are the same as those in constant practice in Otago. The question of raising the rates here to the Otago standard, or even higher, must be discussed here sooner or later. Indeed,

qp! 1 ; the time wems oppdrtnnefor discussing them at onoe. Until the chargee are equalised both plaoee, it ie obvious ; that no comparison between the management of the two provinces oan be fair,! eren if there were no other dieturning elements in the calculation. When the question of ratling the charges comes to be considered, it will have to be first shewn whether the country generally benefits from the reduced rates to the extent which it ought to do.' It has been freely asserted that the reduction is so small on individual articles, that it is difficult to appraise it exactly ; in consequence of which difficulty the-importers are said to be the only gainers by the reduction. If this is proved to the satisfaction of the Council, there should be no hesitation in at onoe increasing the rates* If it is shown, on the contrary, that the importers do not benefit by the reduced rates J then the question of increasing the charges can be discussed on the ground of whether or not the country can bear any increase. It seems to us that Canterbury can afford to pay what Otago pays, and that it ought to do so.

There is another aspect of the question which we are surprised that Mr Buckley, and indeed every member of the Council, seems to have overlooked. In Canterbury the lines comprise the Christchurch and Lyttelton line, which paysvery well; the North and South main lines, which are not ao profitable; and several branch lines, which are worked at an actual lose. In Otago, the lines on which the calculation of percentage has Been made are in very different circumstances. There is the Dunedin and Fort ; Chalmers line, which does a larger carrying trade, and one which we haye seen is more : profitable. The only other line ia the Green Island line, of six or seven miles in length which taps a large coal district. The coal is good, and most extensively need by a city of 20,000 inhabitanta, and comprising many manufactories. The circumstances of this short line to Green Island are therefore, it will be seen at a glance, most favourable when compared with the bulk of o.nr railways. Tins aspect of the question, we are very much surprised to see, has entirely eacaped the notice of the Provincial Council. It supplies satisfactory reasons, in addition to the others mentioned by Mr Buckley, for a great deal of the difference between the railway managements of Otago and Canterbury. The break of gauge on the Canterbury lines is another great cause of expense, which only needs mention to be recognised. The fact is, not. altogether that our railway managers are worse than they are in Otago, but that the fact of our neighbours being better off than we are at present in regard to the locality and circumstances of their railways, has a great deal to do with their more successful management. Odr management can be better, that no dtae will deny. We are glad to see that both the Government and the Opposition are using their best endeavours to this end. Whatever they do ; towards it, we hope never to hear any more invidious comparisons between ourselves and our more fortunate neighbours of Otago.