THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1882.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6567, 4 December 1882, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1882.

All our Home readers will fed *■ ierested in the steps which are being taken to establish a direct steam «m» between the colony and the Mother Country. The colomes on the continent of Australia have enjoyed thegreat iadvantages of direct steam communication ; with England for a number of years, ana , New Zealand would long ere this have had direct steamers, as her rate of progress, her imports and «P«*!'.™" Emigration to her shores, justified it, but for the exceptionall en> cumstances of her position E^« the other colonies has bat one through which all her foreign commer« passes Everything that come J Victoria, or that fronds f ro ß the great world mart of Londm, t» the harbour of Melbourne m " terminus, and the huge co South Wales and Queensland JMJJ foreign business exclusively^gjj the ports of Sydney and But New Zealand has a large sea.cog with numerous ana the colony of another has bsAJ thing to do with delayue establishment of a direct semce. probable, however, that would not have been strong prevent the establishment ot a service, but for the fact that the of steamers to Australia have" light goods swiftly, wluch speedily transhipped at ports and conveyed to New , Wβ have bad within the past ml two or three steamers comang «B . this colony, but these are not J -ountiuff, and it may be said .thai toect coerce has beea carWJ Hitirely by sailing siups 100 days on the passage. Avao*/ ;ircum S tances pr ?S3 upm J I ; [li-ect steam syi'vice. ihe * , -.00 line, admirable as it has ,s a mail service, and so a means onveyance o£ passengers wlio j afford the payment of a . ;um i-i passage money, does 111 the requisites which Sfew Zealand is now in * - { a considerable r ° , ieeking it to make _*omea ;m * ielves and their fiuailwe are people m

— accustomed with thei and children to the comforts o i w i lo hesitate to undertake ; life Months' voyage, the hardships o in these days of superb steamers ,» thought of than they used t< ®£ ch people s.re the most valuabl, be- njmraigrants, and it is worth wlnl< them. They might corn. as q uickl y b y the Au f; l | ai 1 the inconvenience and delaj transshipment at Melbourne and ot ; c forms a'barrier to tins class oj gydney AvhQ uaua ii y bring less or their effects. Another argum°re °: r a direct service has re m eat ar isen in the establishment meat companies There ef TTno doubt that the export ■■*> t a nd dairy produce will b« ' flf % promoted by a regular line of calliu"- at the principal ports. wool. would no doubt be G "?'ble *it em 3of the Home cargoes, the demand in Loudon for meat bD j Lirv produce is practically unTiie statistics of the AusnWe show that ths proportion to England by steamers 0 increasing. During the «>ars 1579-Sl, -1,622,000 bales -were sent to England from * Smith Wales, Victoria, and South SrJia, and of these only about SoC halos present by steam ; but 1 Inial growth ct tue percentage of tonnage to the whole is shown !S bate «»' to E»si«°a by in 18S1 there were more fVjOOO bales, increasing the „ r L t a-'e ox steam to the whole from 747 per cent, to 12-79 per cent. As r ds the trade from England to the the proportion carried by has of late greatly increased, a «n"ll no doubt continue to increase. *. n , the time when the Agent-General UP his report on the direct serSfS M»y. 18 52 .) th « e Lnty-eight steamers, having a tonnage Jclose on 99,000 tons, on the berth ? r Australian ports to sail between , U time and the middle of July. In 1881 the steam tonnage clearing tor Australian ports showed an increase, of lUOOO tons (25 per cent.) over ISfcO. ll)e'proportion of steam to the aggregate tonnage is growing erery day. A number of causes combine to this, one ef them, no doubt, being the rapidity of mail communication and the use of the cable. When a letter can reach England from Auckland by San Fran<js£ in forty days, and an answer can be returned in the same time, it is lrkiome and almost intolerable, that the »oods which may be the subject of the correspondence should be put on board » ressel which is to be three months at s(a It may therefore be confidently anticipated that a large proportion of the light goods coming from England Trill be sent by steamer when the direct service is commenced. Previous to last session the Governnent had obtained from the AgentGeneral a full and exhaustive report oh the subject. The effect Tas to show conclusively that a direct mail service was out of the question. Parliament therefore igreed to a resolution, moved by the Postmaster-General, to empower the Government to renew the San Francisco mail service, and to call for tenders for a direct steam service. The sum which Parliament authorised the Government to offer as a subsidy was £20,000. The Government have, by advertisement, called for tenders, but have since extended the time, so as to allow all parties, both in the colony and in Europe, full time to make arrangements. The service is intended to be monthly, each steamer making the pissage within fifty days. The New Zealand Shipping Company, whose business his been successfully conducted during the l&'it few years, are expected to tender for the service, and announce that they have already made ar-. r&ngements. They have contracted for the building of a line of steamers of 40C0 tons gross register <ach, of steel, fitted with refrigerators. Pending the completion of their own steamers, they are chartering suitable vessels to begin the running at once. The first steamer, the British Kicg. to leavij London on J"anuary "20. lis zqz going speed of the vessels '»ifiei>are being fe'uilt •wiH be 12 knsis;, ' vfticb. is amply sufficient for a mercantile service. The subject has been well caarasaed in the colony, and there is little doubt that the establishment of a direct line of steamers will be a success, and will tend to extend the commerce of. the colony.