New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4889, 22 November 1876, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22.

The exact position of the San Francisco mail contractquestion seems to be scarcely understood. Some misconceptions seem to have arisen as lo its cost relative with that of a service via Suez, and the matter in dispute, as to whether Auckland or the Bay of Islands should be made , the port of call in this colony has in many instances been most unfairly put before the public.' And yet any person who chose to give himself the trouble of reading the thirtyfourth number of Mansard might have found the whole subject so clearly stated in the three pages as to place it beyond the boundary of a mistake. In the first instance, the Hon. Mr. Whitaker read to the House the following tables showing the exact cost to the colony of the San Francisco and Suez services as they are now carried on : SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE. Dr. £ £ : Subsidy to Pacific Mail Company .. 45,000 Interprovincial Services 2,000 Mail Agents 1,000 Cr. Postages from London Post Office .. 10,600 Postages collected in New Zealand .. 11,232 Recoveries from non-contracting Colonies .. .. 1,500 Net cost .. .. .. £24,068 SUEZ SERVICE. Dr. . £ £ Payments to Victoria .. .. .. 8,490 Intercolonial Service : .. .. .; 5,000 Gratuities, 4tc 610 Cr. Postages from London Post Office ~ 3,711 Postages collected in New Zealand .. 3,680 Net cost £0,609 should the colony determine to give up the service via San Francisco, and to trust solely to the Suez service, the cost was shown by the following estimates : Dr. £ £ Payments to Victoria 34,119 Intercolonial Service (Melbourne, Bluff and Wellington) 5,000 Intercolonial Service (Sydney and Auckland) .. .. .. .. 3,000 Interprovincial Services 2,000 MaU Agents .. 1,000 Cr. Postages from London Post Office .. 14,311 Postages collected in New Zealand .. 14,912 Net cost ...... £16,800 On the other hand, if 'the San Francisco route were alone adopted, Mr. Whitaker showed that the result would work out thus: — Dr. £ £ Subsidy to Pacific Mall Company .. 45,000 Interprovincial Services 2,000 Mail Agents .. ■ • 1,000 Cr. Postages from London Post Office .. 14,311 Postages collected in New Zealand .. 14,912 From non-contracting colonies .. 2,000 —— 81.223 Net cost .. .. .. £10,777 The cost.as stated above, however, it must be borne in mind, presupposes the payment of a subsidy by New Zealand of £4.5,000, but as a matter of. fact, if the service is to be continued, that subsidy is to be considerably reduced, so that in fact, as Mr. Whitaker points out in his speech, the San Francisco service, if all the letters came by it, would be a cheaper service than that by Suez, if all the letters came by that route.

In addition, Mr. Whitaker showed that the material [advantages are all on the side of the San Francisco service, because as a matter of fact every additional letter wo have by that service reduces its cost, whilst every additional letter via Suez increases the cost. Then as to the time occupied by each service. Mr. Whitaker had a short table prepared, which showed that via San Francisco the contract time from London to Sydney is 48 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 46 days; the contract time from London to Auckland is 45 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 41 days; the contract time from London to Wellington is 49 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 45 days; the contract' time from London to Dunedin is 51 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 48 days. Via Brindisi, the contract time from London to Sydney is 49 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 47 days, as against 46 days via San Francisco; the contract time from London to Auckland is 60 days, and the' shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 55 days, as against 41 days via San Francisco; the contract time from London to Wellington is 56 days,! and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 51 days, as against 45 days via San Francisco; the contract time from London to Dunedin is 53 days, and the shortest time in which the mails have been delivered is 49 days, as against 48 days via San Francisco. If the mails were brought by way of Southampton there would be a much greater delay in their delivery. The contract time would then, instead of being 45 days to Auckland, be 67; instead of being 49 days to Wellington, it would be 63; and instead of 51 days to Dunedin, it would be 60. As regards the cost of each letter sent by the different routes: via San Francisco it is 6d., and via Brindisi Bd.; and each newspaper which comes in the latter way costs 2d., as against Id. in the former. Therefore the San Francisco service gives a saving of 100 per cent, on newspapers. Besides, there is a great saving of time by the San Francisco Service in the Northern ports of the colony, and a considerable saving in the Southern ports. Then comes the proposal on the part of the Pacific Mail Company to accept a diminished subsidy, abandoning the coastal service. The exact position of that proposal has been very correctly stated by the New Zealand Herald. The contractors in the first instance offered to run their boats to San Francisco, “calling at Auckland,” for £75,000 a year. This offer was accepted by the Government without demur, and they decided to employ the vessels of the Union Company to collect and distribute the mails at the different ports at a sum of £SOOO a year. But now it appears that the contractors demand £BO,OOO, probably for the reason that the New South Wales Government have expressed a decided opinion in favor of the Bay of Islands being the port of call. But there is a difficulty which is not at first sight apparent, yet a little consideration might have anticipated it. The Union Company require £12,000 for the service of distributing the mails from the Bay of Islands. Assuming that the contractors were content to take £75,000 for the Bay of Islands route, the Government would have to pay £12,000 for the coastal distribution, making in all £87,000. The reason why so large a sum is required by the Union Company from the Bay of Islands as compared with Auckland is that they would have to keep their vessels in waiting upon the arrival of mails for several days at great additional cost. Now these are the exact facts in connection with the San Francisco Mail Service question, and it will he well to bear them in mind.. The subject too, it may be remarked, is of particular interest at this moment, in view of the telegram from Sydney, which appears elsewhere, and from which it seems that after all the New South Wales Government will not act unreasonably.