THE VANCOUVER MAIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10671, 21 January 1911, Page 6

THE VANCOUVER MAIL.

TO : COST £20,000, A YEAR. , (Per Press Association.) AVellington, January 20. The Vancouver mail service-was the subject of an important statement by. the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward), to a'New Zealand Times reporter tonight. Sir Joseph reminded the inter- ' viewer, that it is. 16 years since a contract was. sighed between the Prime Minister of the * Dominioh "of ■ Canada and himself, subject to the ratification of their various Parliaments,- which would have brought the Vancouver service £.ith a New -Zealand port of call into existence;, continued Sir Joseph, "the agreement was not ratified by the New ZealancL Par> liament, and since 1895 there have been continuous but unsuccessful efforts made to have the service established between these two great and growing Dominions,' the trade development between'-which ■must, in the ordinary-course-as j'ears: pass, greatly expand. I have en-, deavoretl for many years to secure a call, at 2iew Zealand for the Vancouver steamers, and.it gave me considerable pleasure to be able to send hy wireless to the Ulimaroa, bound from Sydney to Wellington, a message of congratulation to Sir James Mills upon success having, been achieved.'-'.

Sir Joseph spoke hopefully of the prospects of securing some friendly arrangement with the Commonwealth Government ; oyer the service. "I can quite understand the difficulties the Federal Government has experienced, 'as their seaboard, from Sydney to Brisbane on the one side, and Melbourne on the other, is very extensive, with three principal ports, all expecting to have a call from the steamers. Up till now the chief difficulty in getting a reasonably fast service has been the number of calls. At the same time it seems to mo to be distinctly a case where the cooperation of two countries to secure the best and most effective service for themselves as well as for Canada is eminently desirable. New Zealand, with its active and alert people, could not be expected to .stand aside and quietly allow itself to be left outside a steam service to- Canada, aud it appears to me that there could be no loss to Australia in joining hands in a triple agreement, seeing that it was patent to all that New Zealand was bound to make provision for the requirements of its people in that direction. As the service is from Vancouver to Auckland and on to Sydney, with Canada, New Zealand, and Fiji alone contributisig, it will be quite apparent to our Australian friends that there is nothing but a most friendly and .cordial desire on the part of New Zealand to work in accord with the Commonwealth, and I sincerely hope, after the Federal Prime Minister's conference in London; with the Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada a solution satisfactory to Australia in the matter of trade and traffic affairs will be brought aboilt." ■ And what is New Zealand to pay for the realisation of its ideals ? queried the interviewer. ■-..-• "We will enjoy the advantages of the Vancouver service," replied 'the Prime Minister, "for a subsidy of £20,000 a year."