THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1886.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7786, 4 November 1886, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1886.

A meeting of the executive committee of the Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon for the purpose of considering the deadlock which has occurred over the cable question. On Monday last the resolution of the company to raise the rates on mesaages between Australia and New Zealand to ten shillings for the first ten words, and one shilling for every word additional came into operation; and so also did the retaliative decision of the Government to impose a terminal charge on all inward messages of four shillings for the first ten words, and firepence for every word beyond that number. The effect of these unwelcome arrangements will be that ordinary and Press messages alike will be charged fourteen shillings for the first ten words, and seventeenpence for every word additional. And a further consequence will bo that, leaving altogether out of view the loss to the public owing to the limited cable information that must now be supplied through the newspapers, a serious inconvenience will be caused to the trading portion of the community, to whom the cable has become indispensable as a medium for negotiating business. It was this latter consideration especially that evidently attracted the attention of the executive committee. These rates are almost prohibitory, and to prevent the commercial derangement which they must necessarily lead to, the committee haveetrongly recommended the Government to adopt speedy measures whereby this threatened evil may be averted. Before coming to this decision, however, they very properly placed themselves in communication with the Government. And, though informed that the Government wore not disposed to depart from their position in refusing to renew the cable subsidy, they yet felt it incumbent on them to let their view of the matter be known, and urge the expediency of at least something ueing done, without presuming to say what it should be. In this they showed iheir wisdom. For the natural inference is that the Cabinet, which seems to have been unanimous in resisting the Cable Company's demands, will not readily yield to clamour, especially if that has the appearance, as a the circumstances it must have, <f being fomented by those articles from the Melbourne and Sydney papers w iich the company, with very questionujle taste, have caused to be dissemiuated in New Zealand. As we have before pointed out, the Government, apart from the right and the wrong of the dispute, are bound to have a regard to public convenience, and the committee therefore acted discreetly in simply emphasising the fact that this convenience was being seriously interfered with by present cable arrangements, and in leaving it to the Government to devise the means by which it may be obviated, or at all events greatly ameliorated. This, it is true, the Government have to some extent already done, by exempting all outward messages from the terminal charge. But of course that does not meet the difficulty which is sure to arise when the mercantile senders of messages from the Australian side insist, as they are sure to do, on the half at least of the terminal charge being borne by the recipients in New Zealand. This, even if there were no other reason to urge against the present arrangements, will impose on the Government the necessity of reconsidering the whole situation, with a view to satisfy public exigencies. It would serve no good purpose, and might only serve one of an opposite character, to enumerate again the various stages in this unfortunate dispute, or to endeavour to apportion the blame between the contesting parties. The real state of the case is that, while the company have been doing their utmost to secure an advantage to themselves, the Government have been exerting themselves no less to secure an advantage to the colony, with the outcome that both have overshot the mark, and the public are therefore obliged to suffer. It would therefore in no way tend to improve matters by indulging in recrimination as against the one party or the other. The question is: How can they both be brought once more into negotiable relations; and what is the ground on which they could honourably meet and terminate a state of things which cannot be otherwise than unpleasant to them as well as to the public at large % Now, a solution of this point,

strange to say, is suggested in the somewhat offensive article of the Melbourne Argus, an extract from which appeared in our yesterday's issue : and as that article seems to have met the approval of the company's agent, it may be inferred that the suggestion referred to has more or less distinctly received his sanction. It is as follows : " That the present rates on ordinary messages remain as things are now; that the rates on Press messages should be reduced to threepence a word, on the Press guaranteeing to supply a revenue equal to the average of Press payments during the last three years ; and that the Government undertake to give twelve months notice before any newcable is opened." The writer in the Argus may not have been aware of it, but the aforesaid proposal is in principle and in wording substantially the same with the last proposal made by Sir Julius Vogel to the company, and which appeared in our issue of the 19th October. The following are his words: "If you leave the present rates on ordinary messages unchanged, and reduce Press rates to threegjpee on a guarantee of the Press to supply a revenue equal to the average of Press payments during the last three years, we will agree to give twelve months' notice before opening for use any new cable." These words were unfortunately embodied in a reply to the company's formal notice to raise the rates, and in which there was a responding notice that if the rates were raised the Government would impose a terminal charge. Their suroundings were thus sufficient to deprive them of due and dispassionate consideration. But the chances are that they might now be regarded as a probable basis of agreement. And this is the more likely that the suggestion as made in the Argus, in so far as it differs from that of Sir Julius Vogel, makes in favour of the company. The idea of Sir Julius Vogel was to leave the rates on ordinary messages as they were before they were raised to their present figure by the company; whereas the proposal of the Argus seems to be that the increased rates in ordinary messages should remain as they now are. This, of course, would not furnish to the commercial or general public all the relief they might wish ; but it would, nevertheless, be saved from the inconvenience and burden of the terminal charge of four shillings on ten words, and fivepence for every word in addition. Ordinary messages of ten words would still, it is true, be charged at the rate of ten shillings instead of seven shillings and sixpence, but there is a considerable difference between ten and fourteen shillings ; and this, in the circumstances, might fairly be expected to satisfy the public if so be that the present difficulty could thus be got rid of. Thereafter, when the tension which now exists had disappeared, these advanced rates on ordinary messages might be altered to the advantage of the general community by an agreement to renew the subsidy from year to year; and we are Btrongly inclined to think that a proposal to this effect would meet with approval on all sides. But what is urgently wanted now is that both parties to the dispute should, by a slight concession mutually acceptable, be in a position once more to approach each other and arrive at an understanding such as would meet the " present distress;" and we feel persuaded that this can be best brought about in the way herein advocated. The question of the pilotage was again brought under the consideration of the Harbour Board at its meeting on Tuesday, and reference was made to some of those points which, when last commenting on the matter, we stated would demand attention to ensure the efficient performance of the service. A letter was received from Mr. Compton, in which he formally abandoned the agreement which practically gave him a monopoly of the service, alleging as the ground of his withdrawal that other pilots had, with the permission of the Board, continued to compete with him in bringing vessels into port. At the same time letters from Messrs. Sainty and Cooper were produced, requesting that the sanction of the Board might be given to their services by placing them under reasonable bonds as a guarantee for the due performance of their duties. This shows that these parties are prepared to accept the obligations which the Board, in the interests of shipping and the port's reputation, are entitled to impose. In order that they may the more efficiently perform the pilot service they also propose to charter from the Board, at a moderate rental, the pilot schooner which at present is virtually unemployed. This request will, no doubt, be readily granted, as such an arrangement would benefit the harbour revenue. Accompanying these requests is another, to the effect tkat they should be allowed a small subsidy as a slight recognition of their services in piloting mail steamers and other vessels, which, according to the usage and regulations of the harbour, are exempt from pilotage. This proposal is manifestly fair. It appears that the masters of the steamers and vessels in question, while not bound to accept the services of a pilot, may yet demand these; and, though accepting them, are nevertheless exempt from payment. It would hardly be reasonable to expect that all the monetary burden of this duty should fall exclusively on the pilots. These and other similar matters are demanding immediate consideration and adjustment; and we make no doubt that the Works and Tariff Committee, to whom they have on the motion of the Chairman been referred, will in their report recommend their being placed on such a footing as will tend to make the pilot service a credit to the port.