Indecision.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 859, 17 August 1888, Page 28

Indecision.

\From, the Slew Zealand Times, August 15.) Evidently the Cabinet was unable at its meeting yesterday morning to arrive at any final decision as to its course respecting the ocean mail services. Judging from the resolutions tabled by the Premier yesterday, all that appears to have been agreed upon was to drop one of the four alternative plans which Ministers bad under consideration. We explained very fully in our last issue the nature of those plans. It will be remembered that the four alternative schemes were (1) a weekly service via Brindisi; (2) a fortnightly service via Ban Francisco; (3) fortnightly via Vancouver; (4) fortnightly Direct, Jo the premier’s resolutions the

first of these is discarded, and the House is aßked to give Ministers plenary power to deal with the other three at discretion. Even these very wide proposals, however, were not formally moved yesterday, as set down on the t Order Paper, but were postponed until to-day, the object of the delay evidently being to give Ministers themselves a little more time to come to an agreement. It i 0 specially desirable that the Ministerial vote should be a united one on this question, as the opinion of the rest of the House is believed to be so evenly divided that probably the Government’s vote, if unanimous, will turn the scale either way. Two meetings of private members to consider the question wereheld yesterday,but hadno very definite or practical result. It is quite possible that the wearied House, to save itself trouble, may ultimately agree to leave the full discretionary power in Ministers’ hands, as suggested by the Premier’s resolutions. But, as Sir Harry Atkinson explicitly stated some time back, that the question would not be made a Ministerial one, there is no reason why members should not claim the right to exercise their own judgment in the matter, and to decide which of the three alternative plans now indicated by the Government shall be adopted. It seems to us that this course would be much fairer to Ministers themselves than to throw the whole onus on their shoulders. The issue is one which clearly ought to be settled by the House itself, and the House ought not to shirk its plain duty. Influences of a cogent kind are sure to be brought to bear both inside and outside the Cabinet, , and unless the Govern- | ment as a body be strengthened and guided by a distinct instruction of the House there will i always be a danger that the decision j may be affected by pressure from I within or without. We have from the [ first advocated a fortnightly Direct Ser. vice, if this can be obtained on satisfactory terms—terms, that is to say, very different from those at present in force. We still consider it, on the whole, as the most practically useful of the four available routes. But we by no means ignore the advantages of a Vancouver-Canadian line (if subsidised by England and Canada) or the convenience of a weekly Suez mail, Jf this could be had, on the terms mentioned, which we are inclined to doubt. The terms for a Direct Service, as specified in the Premier’s resolutions, include, it will be seen, the shortening of the transit time by two days each way and the abolition of all bonuses for early delivery. This service, if obtainable for theamount of the postages, would be a verv good and useful one, and as fast as we really need, although a whole week slower than the proposed time vi& North America—whether by Vancouver or by San Erancisco. We hope that the Hoijse will weigh the whole question very carefully; that, without rushing to any hasty conclusion, it will give full consideration to the respective merits of the Direct, the I Vancouver and the Brindisi services ;i and that in the end it will pase a dis-j tinct resolution definitely adopting one of the three most eligible lines, among which we do not, of course, include that via San Francisco. Other things being &qual, we give a decided preference to the Direct Service on the score of its value outside of mere postal uses, bub we also fr,eej.y recognise that the merits of the Vancouver and Brindisi services should be thoroughly weighed before “ the fatal lot is cast," whose effect will be to tie the Colony down for a period of five years. And in any case a rule should be strenuously insisted upon that the j cost of the service shall not exceed the present amount of the postages.