THE Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1879. STEAM SERVICE TO ENGLAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 50, 7 March 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1879. STEAM SERVICE TO ENGLAND.

Towards the end of last session of Parliament, the Hon. James Macau* drew introduced a series of resolutions into the Lower House, with a view to promote a direct mail steam service to England. He proposed that the vessels should be of such draught as to enable them, to enter the pm<aj^srt£^'tW^colony; that foriy^five days, he. flllpwqd for fhd^ voyage } that the Government should guara^(jee u ,^) ship 500 or 1000 statute fbimigrauts each month j for five years, aird~Bhould also subBi^r^mtfo/jtoei eitepfeiof (bos £50,000 per, a^^^Jn^lhp course of hij> speech lritroduciiig the sub- 1 jetct, Hr Macanflrew stkted^thaUpro^ posalswereto to the Government hx 'an Engjjsh, firm who were willing to build suitable vessel^iir^Oiiff tb'ns/burilwn- f dbm ! b r iv% i ing the three -great requisites of carrying oa^cjty,, sjeed. and light draught of Vater: The vessels proposed would be constructed in such a way as to carry grain in bulk, and would be generally suitable for the direct trade with New Zealand. Regarding the bubsidy, Mr Macan"* drew said : " I believe* that the service would be well worth £50,000 a year to the colony or even more. We should not stick at a fewr thousand pounds in connection with a j mattsp* jofctl&ilrfiubl, )I would point out that if the line is established it Will 136V6 UH/thte iJoTohy a great ; (Jeil more than £50,000—1 should WV £lOO,ftOo^itfdis^uttemto for coal provisions, &c, ia.-fact, one of the ne, tnat the 1 ships should be provisioned with New Zealand produce.'' Mr Macandrew further pointed ou (

that " If such a line were started we should very soon find that, instead of being a monthly service, it would bo a weekly line ; and the number of people who would travel by well appointed stearneis would be something beyond our present comprehension." The journey be shortened from 90 or 100 days to less than hnlf that time ; whilst this rapidity of travelling would induce the most desirable class of settlors to visit our shores, and would also tend to develope largely female immigration. It will doubtless be remembered by our readers that o^ving to tho lateness of tho period when the subject was introduced, being as Mr Macandrew said, "at its last gasp," it did not receive that consideration to which it was entitled. However, with the substance of the motion the few remaining members were thoronghly in sympathy, and i when " progress waa reported," it ; was with the understanding that the matter should come up in a more complete and distinct form during the ensuing session. It is wellknown that the Minister of Public Work 3is an absolute enthusiast in support of a direct steam service, j Many years ago he startled the people of Otago by a proposal made by him as Superintendent to the Provincial Council, that the province should undertake such a service, and build . the necessary steamers for it. Con- j sidering tho great and important re- ! suits likely to flow from direct steam ; communication r with the Mother , Country, the news of an actual start j having been made in that direction has given great satisfaction. The ! question of whether it will pay is, in fact, just now being tried. When the present depression settled, down upon the agricultural and midland counties' /off TSuf Julius Vogol, 4ffM v iGgnorJilv for New Zealand, at once sa\v the opportunity of reaping a harvest', 1 of immigrants, and as a consequence, the Stud Haarlem, a steamer of Im!\ monse caraying capacity, was chartered by tho Now Zealand Shipping Company, an.l is at present on tin? Yoyago out with GOO immigrants, who will probably arrive in about a month from the present date. The steamer I will first make Port Ohalmers, whence she will proceed to Wellington, and thence to L)tiellton, ut which port she will load for London with wool, grain, &o. In the debate which took place in tho House of Representatives on tho question of a direct steam service, some members questioned whether the immigrants could be got in sufficient numbers together at one time to keep up the required supply. On this point no great difficulty need be anticipated, we think. Let thero once be a goneral knowledge diffused in the old country of New Zealand's vast resourses, and let a beginning be made in the shorter method of transportation per steamship, and we believe the difficulty would be solved. People move in masses, and it is extremely probable that the result would prove the truth of Mr Macandrew's romark that if a direct line were organised, the number of people who would travel by it, "would be something beyond our present comprehension." The great and wide depression at home would give the immigration scheme per steamers 11 a start," and once under weigh it would be successfully carried on, wo doubt not. Referring to the advantages of a direct steam service, the Evening Post says : — Nothing would do more to raise the position of New Zealand in English eyes, and to bring its importance and advantages prominently before the public, than the establishment of a direct line of steamers to and fro. It is scarcely to be expected that such a service should be self-supporting at the out • set, even although the first, steamer may bo made to pay ; but, if the first one demonstrates the practicability of the service, there w no doubt that the Colony will be prepared to support its continuance by even more direct means than the guarantee of a certain number of immigrants. There is every reason to believe that direct steamers would afford an even more rapid, and decidedly more satisfactory, mail service than the present one via San Francisco ; and the subsidy at present paid for the carriage pf our mails would certainly help reiy considerably in solving the question of making the direct line profitable to those undertaking it.