THE PANAMA ROUTE. (From the Otago Witness.)

Otago Daily Times, Issue 273, 4 November 1862, Page 6

THE PANAMA ROUTE. (From the Otago Witness.)

Tub publication of the proposals for, the establishment of a line of steam mail service via Otago and Panama, has, it would appear, excited to the full as much interest in Auckland as it hasirvDunedin. The SoutJ e-n Cross of October 11, in a leading article devoted to the subject, gives expression to the fears en'ertained in Auckland as to the results to that city of Dunedin being constituted the dspot of a line of ocean steamers, and frankly says of the Otago men, " they know the value of time, and they also understand the advantage of securing for themselves the first fruits of a traffic on a line which must ultimately be the great world thoroughfare b2tweenEurope, America, and the Australian continent. If the Panama steamers could be got to call at Otago on their way to Australia, however great the natural facilities Auckland might afterwards plead over her southern sister, it would almost be a hopeless task to set about effecting any change in their destination. Great ex* peme would have to be incurred to establish a depot for the steamers, and the business connection formed would not be lightly broken up." Exactly so,—it is evident that our Auckland contemporary has a lively appreciation of the advantages that Otago would reap from 'Dunedin -bein^ made the terminus, so far as New Zealand is concerned, of the Panama route: and it is, therefore, not surprising to find thatthe writer proceeds, by a most elaborate process of reasoning, to prove that it would be much better for all p irties concerned, Ocago only excepted, for Auckland to be made the terminal depot instead of Dunedin. The only fault of the reasoning is that it is inconclusive, as we think may be easily shown. Our contemporary lays great stress upon the fact that Auckland lies exactly in the " great circle track,'1 or line of shortest distance on the earth's, surface, between Sydney and Panama, and that the distance from Auckland to Panama by that line of route would be '356 miles leas than the estimated distance from Port Chalmers to Panama. This cannot bo gainsaid, and if the whole object of the establishment of the Panama service were to bring Sydney as near as possible to Europe it would, ccßter'uipunbus, be a powerful argument in favor of the preference of Auckland to Port Chalmers as the depot, although even then the question would remain to be decided whether the shortest route would also be the best and quickest. But it so happens that the convenience of Sydney is not alone to be consulted, the other colonies of Australia—Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, —have an equal interest with New South Wales, and have an equal right to be considered, and there can be no doubt that Port Chalmers would in every way be more convenient to them than Auckland. Not only is the actual distance from Otago to Victoria and the other Southern colonies of Australia less than that from Auckland, not only is the voyage easier and more expeditious, but, and this after all is the chief consideration, there is already a large trade between these colonies and Otago, while there is comparatively none between them and Auckland. Now where a large traffic of goods and passengers exists, mail steamers can be got to run at comparatively small cost, because the receipts of the traffic are sufficient to defray the greater part of their expenses, leaving any mail subsidy that may be paid as clear profit. The Southern Australian Colonies would thus be able at small cost to their respective governments, to place themselves in connection with a line of Panama service of which Otago was the terminus in New Zealand; whereas, if they had to go to Auckland, it would be a very expensive affair. In the case of Sydney and Queensland, it is true the proposition would, to a certain extent, be reversed ; yet by the Panama and Otago line they would still get their letters much earlier than they at present do by the existing mail service, and they would have the advantage of getting them as soon as their neighbors, instead of as they now do, two or three days after Melbourne, and perhaps a week after Adelaide. So that by the Otago route, while Sydney and' Queensland would derive rather less benefit than by that via Auckland, they would yet be much better off than they now are, while the other colonies would find the Otago route by far the most convenient and economical.

We have hinted above that there may in navigation be other considerations of equal importance with that of shortness of route. We alluded to the winds and currents," which' as everyone who has, sailed the deep is aware,' are frequently of far more importance in bringing about rapid voyages, than the mere choice of short routes. We have reason to believe that, in this respect, the advantage is rather with Port Chalmers than Auckland" as a port of departure for Panama; but not having the means of reference at hand, we advance" the statement with diffidence.

But besides the considerations of distance and of convenience to the other colonies, which must, in a great degree, affect the willingness of those colonies to bear a share of the cost, there is the very important question of the convenience to the Provinces of New Zealand itself, and here it cannot be contended that Auckland would be the preferable port. In point of geographical position Wellington would be the most suitable, without doubt; but the Southern Cross dismisses Wellington at once, on the score of its liability to earthquakes. This is, doubtless, a grave objection, but commercial men will regard as still more fatal the objection which applies in an almost equal degree to Auckland, viz.,thatthe smallness of its trade would make it necessary to subsidize a steam service far more heavily than if the mail depot were also the principal depot of commerce. It is the same with a mail service as with anything else, forcing is an expensive and wasteful process. There is another consideration that our contemporary seems to have omitted in his calculationo, and that is, that the offer from the Pacific Steam Navigation Company has been made in the first instance to Otago, and that the idea of having the depot at Auckland has evidently not occurred to the minds of the persons making the offer. They do mention Wellington, but only to say that in the case of Wellington being selected, an increased subsidy would be required. As matters at present stand, Qtago might conclude the bargain on her own responsibility, and the other colonies and provinces would have to fall into the arrangement to share the beuefits and bear a portion of the cost. It 13 an ingenious idea of the Southern Cross obidfoi the support of New South Wales and Queensland to the scheme of making Auckland the terminus of the line, by affecting to ignore the other Australian Colonies; but we can hardly believe that the shallow artifice will be successful. All the Colonies of Australia and New Zealand are interested in the mail service by way of Panama, if only to divide the risk with that by way of Suez, and all must, therefore, be considered in its establishment. We quite agree with the-Southern Cross, that "as the Imperial Government will " after all have a voice in the matter, we must " not go to them to sanction a purely selfish " arrang-ement," and we therefore say that' ii s hopeless to expect the co-operation of the. home authorities in an " arrangement" contrived to give to Auckland arid Sydney special advantages to the prejudice of the other. colonies and provinces of New Zealand arid Australia, ;

Of course some place must be made the port of arrival and departure, and equally, o course, the port so distinguished will derive a considerable beuefit from the trade nnd from the prestige that it will acquire. All that we contend for is, that the selection be made on grounds of public policy, and not as a " purely selfish arrangement."