THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 1895.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9990, 29 November 1895, Page 4

THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 1895.

At last we have the satisfaction of knowing that the first practical step lias been taken in giving efiect to the desire for the laying of the trans-Pacific cable. The dilatory action of the Imperial Government appeared'to be the last remaining obstacle ; and now that the Secretary of State for the Colonies has intimated the intention of calling together a Council or Conference of delegates from the Australasian colonies, the Dominion of Canada, and the United Kingdom, the decision of character for which Mr. Chamberlain is noted may be taken as guarantee that the project will be carried through to completion. It has been pretty well understood in these colonies and in Canada, that the personal influence of Sir John Pender, the Chairman of the Eastern Extension Cable Company, has been the paralysing "power behind the throne" that, operating on governing circles in England, has prevented the Home Government from falling into line with the Governments of the Dominion of Canada and the colonies of Australasia in this matter. And though suspicion will still attach to the possibility of the owners of the existing monopoly effecting their purposes in some other way, there is good prospect that the Conference or Council co-operating with the energetic Minister who is in charge of colonial interests at the centre of the Empire, will be able to protect this enterprise from the traps that may be strewn in its way. Such a Council as this was that which was recommended by the Conference last year at Ottawa, as the requisite preliminary to joint practical action, and as it has since been endorsed with the assent of all the colonies interested as well as that of Canada, we may regard this first step virtually in the light of an accomplished fact. A small variation appears in Mr. | Chamberlain's proposal of two represen- ! tatives each from Australasia, Canada, and England, instead of a single deleI gate each, as contemplated at Ottawa. This may enable the Government of this colony to have a representative more specifically charged with New Zealand interests, as insisted on by Mr. Seddon in his communications with the other governments on the subject. The point is not an immaterial one, nor to be determined on the basis that all the colonies have a common interest, For New Zealand has not in all respects an identical interest with the continental colonies, inasmuch as among the various sohemes proposed, suggestions have been included that the route should not take in this island colony, but that the cable being laid across the Pacific to Australia, New Zealand, might bo served either by our present connection or by a branch line connecting us with the Australian continent. This is a proposal that should not bo entertained by this colony, and the fact that it has been proposed, and that the tenders received have shown that route to be one of the least expensive in construction, is sufficient reason for our Government insisting that New Zealand should have direct representation at the Conference.

Now that this project is beginning to move, the principal interest attaching to future proceedings will be with respect to the question of the connection of tiie united Governments with the construction and working of the cable. Three schemes have been proposed by which this cable may be established: through tho agency of a private company subsidised by tho Governments; through the agoncy of such company with (i, Government guarantee j and, thirdly, directly by Government as a public work, retained and managed ai tho land lines service is conducted by the State in these colonies and in England. We venture to say that on the decision of this point will depend the efficiency and success of this great undertaking. It is true that enter prises such as this have usually beei carried out by private companies. Bu apart from tho fact that its Itnperia character is a dominant feature in thi proposal, the analogy of the {State sys tem of land' telegraphy is a practice admission of the principle as on equally applicable Jo telegraphy b. sea. But the reasons for retaining thi enterprise in the hands of the Goverr men are, when fully considered, in perious. Oa the guarantee of tl Governments,, the, money could I raised at less than half the liabilit for interest that ' would attach

•y • - —- —5 ■■■!!«—■ I Jney borrowed by a private com%,ttnd the surplus earnings over ' i%st, instead of going in dividends WQ come, to the State to improvi Develop the service, or to reduce J' 10 %fi ot charges to a minimum, I„ company, the piosp&, 0 f such reduction in th. intei-esvjof the public would be nil whilei mt perilous still would the*. ■ Slblhfc y iif not the probability. tlia k sooner or iter the Pacific cable would fall into tli hands or under the control of the holers of the present cable monopoly, v, owi ll sto p at nothing to retain their lsp of the cable services of the colony When we consider that to escape fr« this monopoly is the principal rad.ye prompting colonists to favour an Iternativo route, it will be an unpardcfcble oversight if rov j sion is not rode that will absolute!, preclude the possibility of the new service being %ked into the hands or under the con til, of the old monopoly It may with cobaiuty be affirmed that there is no wajof securing this but by retaining the taific cable service m the hands of til? State; treating it i n the light of beig merely an extension of the land tcegraph services of the colonies, J In this way he Governments having possession of ill the land telegraph services, can Intimately and without any right of callengp, transmit every message between England and the Australias bytheir own cable, an d thus secure 'eyond any possibility of a doubt the absolute success of the cnterpse. If it is considered that this wild be hard on the owners of the Existing cable service— I although the cronies owe them nothing

for the mannj l in which they luve exercised thei monopoly, A satisfactory settlement of the objection could be arrivtjl at by purchasing the existing cablesat their present values, and working ,hem in harmony and conjunction wih the alternative route by the Pacific. A few years ago it was estimated thjit lie value of the existing cables was abos £600,000. As one of the best tenderers for the best route across the Pubifii—that from Vancouver to Panning Jslaijd, Fiji, and Norfolk Island, branching to New South Wales and New Zealanl— to lay the cable and keep it in working order for three years for a sum a little over a million and a-hilf sterling, the cables east and west ould be held by the Governments f<t a little over two millions sterling. As this would put an end to* the competition as well as to any' possible intriguing on the part of \he existing cable combination, would satisfy any scruples felt regarding interference with the claims of a private company, and would give to the Government the possession of a service )f cables circling the globe for a sun? till recently estimated as required fop the Pacific cable alone, the idea is veil worthy of consideration. But wjiether the existing service is purchased and absorbed or not, the interests of the public, not less than the Imperial Character of the proposed trans-Pacifjc cable demand, that it should be constructed for, and held and worked by the representative authority of the povernments of the Australasian colonies, Canada, and England, ,