OVERSEAS MAILS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15552, 9 March 1914, Page 9

OVERSEAS MAILS.

AUSTRALASIAN SERVICES.

DOMINION COMMISSION'S REPORT.

NEED FOR GREATER SPEED,

QUESTION OF SUBSIDIES. [FROM or» OWN CORRESPONDENT.] London, January 30. "We regret that we cannot take an equally favourable view of the oversea postal facilities now enjoyed by Australasia, and we feel compelled to draw attention to the inadequacy of the postal service." This is a statement in the second interim report of the Dominions' Royal Commission, which was issued as a BlueHook this week.

The commissioners continue :—" Whilst we recognise that the system in force ensures regularity in the arrival of mails, and that the service is punctually performed, and whilst we admit, as will be shown later on, that the shallow draught to which the use of the Suez Canal is restricted has hitherto rendered really high- , speed difficult of attainment, we think tliat there is a general feeling in Australia and JSow Zealand, and it exists also amongst the commercial community in London, that a considerable improvement in communications between the United Kingdom and Australasia is desirable, and indeed urgent, in the interest of the development of Imperial relations and trade. "It is a noteworthy fact that the present system does not give the Empire a angle ship complying with the minimum conditions laid down by the Admiralty when appointing the Mercantile Auxiliaries Committee in 1902, to consider the cost at which vessels could be secured combining greater speed with a large radius of action. It was then expressly stipulated that no Admiralty subsidy should be given for a lower speed than 20 knots. The total subsidies now paid by the British and Commonwealth post offices to the Peninsular and Oriental, and the Orient Companies for the Australian, Indian, and stern services amount to an annual sum of £475,000, but the fleets subsidised do not contain a vessel capable, in the opinion of the British post office, of maintaining a service to Australia, even of 18$ knots! It is difficult to bwieve that the requirements of the two departments are not susceptible of better co-ordination than, now obtains.

" If the cost of the necessary acceleration is thought prohibitive, we should prefer to see no subsidy giveu, bnt to see mails carried at the usual statutory rates by the fastest vessels running to Australasia, and to devote the money thus economised to the improvement of Imperial communications in some other direction. We see no reason why absolute regularity of departure and arrival should not be attained under this scheme after a orobational period. High Freight Bates. "Taking into account the present net cost of sea carriage, together with that of overland carriage, we find that if the principle of sea transport at statutory rates were adopted for all the mails now carried to and from Australasia by the Suez route, there would be an approximate saving of £165,000 per annum. Yet the statutory rate of per article of correspondence from the United Kingdom works out in the case of letters and postcards at the extraordinary rate, as compared with that of ordinary freight, of £224 per ton, and the corresponding Australian rate is fixed at the same amount. At these rates over £1000 would be paid for the average weekly mail of letters and postcards only to Australia and "New Zealand, and £600 for the average homeward mail from Australasia. "These are obviously valuable prizes for -shipowners, and should lead to the construction of faster and more powerful vessels.'' Incidentally they would help to encourage more rapid carriage for produce, in which both Australia and New Zealand are largely interested. Thera are few countries where the development of rapid transit is of such importance, or where it affects so large a section of the national exports. Cost' of Acceleration., "On ' our return from Australasia we i made inquiries of both the. Peninsular and Oriental and the Orient Companies, as to the additional cost to. the Governments which would be likely to result if the speed of their mail ships were increased (a) to 174 knots, (b) to 20 knots. In their ; replies the companies stated that they were unable to give us even an approximation of the increased expenditure necessary.

"The conclusion of Sir John Biles is, that it is impossible to drive a vessel of a length of 600 ft or less up to as high a speed as 18 knots, unless a large additional passenger revenue may be expected on account of increased speed, or unless the Governments concerned are prepared to spend very large sums in increased subsidy.

" We then come to the following result: —That high speed on the Australasian service, by which we mean speed of 18 knot* ana oyer, is not economically possible without vessels of great length; that great length is not economically possible without corresponding draught, and that deep draught is not attainable without adequate depth of water in terminal ports, in intermediate ports of call, and in the waterways through which the vessels are intended to pass. It would seem that the wise and only practical course is to create such harbour and waterway accommodation as may render possible vessels of the size asd draught requisite. The Suez Canal,' if selected as the best route to Australasia, or as one of the routes, must be deepened rapidly to render possible the passage of high-speed mail vessels having an acceptable proportion of draught to length." New Zealand Mails. Following are the distances "between London and the natural terminal ports" of the various mail routes to New Zealand, and the time that would be occupied if a sea speed of 15 knots and a railway speed of 30 knots were maintained: —

Distance reduced Time. Via. to knots. Dys. Hra. Brindisi to Bluff ... 11,974 39 0 Gibraltar and Suez to Bluff ... 12,904 39 22 Capetown to Welling

ton 13,045 37 13 Vancouver to Auckland 12,201 31 2 Panama to Auckland 11,414 33 6 Cape Horn to Wellington 11,998 33 21

It will be seen that though the Panama route is the shortest of all to New Zealand, it would take two days longer than by Vancouver, owing to practically the whole of the journey being carried out by sea. But if 18 knots is allowed for sea speed on the Atlantic, and 40 miles an hour on the railways of England and Canada, the time by Vancouver is further reduced to 28 days 13 hours.

In dealing with the various routes, the report states that 75 per cent, of the outward traffic to Australasia already uses the Cape of Good Hope route. "This rout© would have obvious Imperial advantages, and its use would lead to the creation of a fleet of fast mail steamers which might render great auxiliary service in time of war." Finding of Commission. The Commission find: " That with new possibilities opening up for transport of the mails, and in view of the advantages possessed by the alternative routes, notably the Cape of Good Hope, the Panama Canal, and the Trans-Canada route, it would be unjustifiable to bind the State for any prolonged period to a new contract for the conveyance of the Austral? Asian mails by the existing Brindbi and Sties Canal route.'* i ■ ■ i