VANCOUVER MAIL SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13490, 17 May 1907, Page 6

VANCOUVER MAIL SERVICE.

818 JOSEPH WARD'S

I; PROPOSALS.

"AHEAD OF THE TIMES."

VIEWS OF LOCAL BUSINESS MEN. The 'remarks made-by Sir' Joseph Ward at the Imperial Conference on the proposal to establish a faster mail service between London and Australasia, via Vancouver, appear to have met with' general approval amongst Auckland business men, the consensus of opinion being that such a service is eminently desirable,'j and '. that something must be - arranged' to" take the • place of the j 'Frisco route. i Doubts, however; are expressed as to whether the advantages to J be derived from a 20 days' connection would I bo commensurate • with the expenditure of £100,000 by the colony as suggested by Sir Joseph Ward. In some quarters a 20 days' service to London is regarded as being ahead of the times, and it is suggested that a 23 or 24 days' connection, while not so.costly, would meet present requirements' ■. , ';'•,.■-,"■ : ■-■"■ ■'■■' '.-.'■■"■ "■'■' STATEMENT BY MR. SPROUL. When asked to give his. views upon the proposed 20-days' service between here and London, Mr. V. A. Sproul, head agent for the Oceanic Steamship. Company in New Zealand, stated that his educational figures hardly enabled' him to deal \ with such a fast service. "Speaking- roughly," he saiu, "I should say that for such a service you would require to put on steamers similar to tine Lusitania for the voyage between Liverpool and Halifax. The Lusitania has just been launched by the Cunard Company, who hope that she will maintain 25' knots. Then from Halifax to Vancouver you would want an average rate of speed of about 42 miles an hour, while from Vancouver to Auckland you would want 24knot steamers, which would cost an enormous amount of money." " You think, then that a 20-days' service is beyond the times?" queried the reporter." . " A 20-days' service is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but from the limited information which, has reached us of the various Premiers' proposals, I venture to think that it is a few years ahead of the times."/.; '~ ' j : _'. '■ . , THE ATLANTIC STRUGGLE. Mr. Sproul went on to refer to the Titanic struggle which has been going on during late years for the blue ribbon of the Atlantic, ;■ a,; struggle, he said,' which has drawn great European Governments into competition, ■ and called into requisition engineering genius, technical skill, and money— heaps of money. - To an extent, the struggle was the natural outcome of - the exigencies of the trade. • At least 160,000,000 of people were within hail of the two j great terminal\ ports, New York and Liverpool, and ; for six months out of every year the strain on. the passenger-car-rying fleet, of the Western Atlantic had been near to the breaking point, v I. Companies had i ihurriedly ordered, huge leviathans which would cany as many as 3000 passengers, and yet to the present day the tonnage was insufficient. ; : "Now," continued Mr. Sproul, "all this has something to do with the present proposals,, and just in this way: The speed of that great Atlantic fleet is required on the Pacific if we are to get within 20 days of I^btidoh;" ' •■- '•■•"- -- -. * > •-• ESTIMATES' OF TIME." -~ ;'• Now, suppose wo figure a little bit, arid /apportion out the speed on the proposed trans-Empire route according to trade and -population.. ,Sir Wilfrid ' Lau'riePs 1 offer of subsidy 7 if carried out, should, really deliver ' the expected goods, and the following time-table might be given effect to: ' , , -i'v':i ■'■'■' ■!. , •

■■■ From Liverpool to Halifax, 2342 miles; approximate speed per hoar, 23 knots; approximate trip time, 4 days 16 hours. .; ' __ .;■..-. _ .-„, From Halifax to Vancouver,' 3662 miles; approximate speed per hour, 38? miles; approximate trip time, 4 days. . . „„- .-~ ; From ; Vancouver ■ to Auckland, 6330 miles; approximate speed /per hour, 20 knots; ap< proximate trip time, .13 days 5 hours. I From Auckland to Sydney, 1281 miles; approximate speed ; per hour, 20 knots; approximate trip time, 2 days 16 hours. , Total-number of miles,.. approximate time,-24 days-,13 hoars* .•;.' :... *.., .-/tV.:./,,.;

i-> Now," declared Mr. Sproul, "there you have a service any country might be proud of, say;; 1 a 25-day one./ The Atlantic; pace is a good one and the Canadian trip cannot, I think, ever be bettered. You must re T member that from Calgary there is nearly j 600 miles, of [ mountain line, and the man who wants to;go.round corners or through snow, sheds in the, winter time : at even 35 miles an hour has either a little more or less "under his hat than, an insurance company * would /.take risks, on/ //Sir' • Joseph! Ward is no dreamer, t and I should say be-1 fore, very j long ;he J will arrange for. a 25day i service, and /the country ought; to honour him for hie' courage and thank him for his foresight. The walls of out own Parliament must have blushed oft times to hear members stand up and say that it did j not matter whether our mails took a week more orlJess. time .to '.. reach London. / New! Zealand must snuggle up as close as pos-l sible to the great • centres of i population,} or the progress of the country is being re- j tarded.f' . . j • WHAT IT WILL COST. ( j ' ■ "Can you give an idea as to what this j is going to cost, Mr. Sproul?" i "Well, yes, I suppose now, that I have figuredyou out a time-table, you want the bill. Well, I will give you a fair idea. We have put down our Pacific steamers as 20- J knotters. You will want them at least | 8000 tons—that- is big enough; for five years,! should say. . Such a steamer .would burn about 350 tons of coal a day, her power being, probably, 9000 i. h.p. She would carry about 200 of a crew, and have room for 300 first class passengers; 200 second class, and from 400 to 500 third class. ! The owners will, of course, name you the subsidy needful, and it may be in the region of £150,000 for the various colonies benefited, certainly riot less. This would be only,' however, for a monthly service, and the cost of " a weekly or fortnightly" service would, of course, be increased proportionately." : "What about the trade of steamers of this class?" ■■■'".". ■■'■ •••-•- " ■ •; ", - /: --/ ; "The trade will come with the steamers. The Suez route would especially be robbed. The passenger traffic should be good from the start, but the,cajgo,would take some years before it-grew • into much volume, The trouble is the railroad freight, and the fact that years the. freight must go east' after reaching the western seaboard of America. For four months of the year the cargo would be considerable from Vancouver to New Zealand and Australia,; but the steamers would have to fill up principally with sugar from Fiji to Vancouver, which is not a good paying freight."

SAN FRANCISCO VERSUS VAN- ;, COUVER. ' "Now, you have not said anything about the 'Frisco route." "No, I haven't, and have dealt with the route from the present popular view. Sentiment figures largely *in ; the Vancouver route. From a plain business point of view it is not the geographical route, and can never become so. San Francisco for all time will beckon us to the short route to' England, and some day, when Canada has stepped on a pet corn, we will go back to the old gateway which was,' and is, andever shall be, the geographical route. Some day, also, the United States will wake up to the folly of not supporting a great export route for their own flag (sentiment again), and will pay the lion's share for a 22-day service from - New Zealand to London. The San Francisco service has stopped purely for want of. support from the United States Government, and if it had received even £40,000 per annum from this colony it would have guaranteed, and strictly maintained, a 26-day service. The transcontinental journey.is about 500 miles shorter than.the Canadian, goes through a highly interesting country, and the trip is readily conceded by all our business people ito be a business education. .■ However, the proposed service is a splendid idea, and we should "be thankful that our Premier .is so wideawake to the necessity of quick transit, for it cannot be said of everyone." .