SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13693, 8 September 1906, Page 6

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. •' SOUTHERN MEMBERS' CRITICISMS. PREMIER'S PF.FENCE OF THE • SEP VICE. (Fapv Oub Own Correspondent,) ;•> .TOLINOTON, September 7. A discussion regarding the San Francisco mail servico took placo in tho House this afternoon during the discussion of tho Postal'Estimated,-which contained tho item of £20,000 as tho yearly subsidy to the Mir-, vice.

Mr Ailkeii (Wellington),, who oncneil tho. discu«ion, yefencd to tlio vo.uuvvks made by him on the question last week. The Pest-niaslei-general had then staled that tho cause of tho Sonoma's lato arrival at Auckland on her"repent'trip was a detention of two and a-half- days at San' Fraiicisco through a striko on the wharf. Ho (Mr 'Aitkcn) had , since been crcdil;ly ( inforine(l that this wqs. not- the case, and that tho Sonoma had left San Francisco on her duebut '.thbt when' gonie-12 hour* out Ramp porlion'of the machinery bibkc down, which necessitated the steamer's return 10, San Fiancjfco for:repairs, which took up the tipie referred' to. The condition of tho service wa<i vbrv unsatisfactory froin cvpry point of vip\v, and the colony should cease Subsidising it. Tho scrvicc was an American one, and the lioals belonged lo a counlry that w;oul<| not al|ow us to do what •wo allowed ihom |q do.

Sir .losepli Wuid said that'Mr Aiiken wus misinformed as lo the circumstances of •(In*- Soiloqut's • dcpnrtnr.fi from San ■ Francisco. The steamer left < two and a-half days lulu, o.wing, lie liolioved, to a lumpers' strike. He/did. not think this tyas tho time to. discuss tho service.. ' '

. Mr Aitken sail) they tycro uskod to pass another year's subsidy.

. 'Sir .V. G. Ward: f#tcr on I propose to submit resolutions In regard In_the service. . .Mr Ailkpn interjoclcd something in rotorioneo to an American servicc.

Sir J; fi, Ward said this qitcslioji should not be raised. The service gave thein ppnnection with England, and unless ll|q • American Government subsidised tho service we could not get it at all. It was pp good'our cutting off our lioso to spitq our face. From a colonial point of view ho thought thoy should keep th.e service going. It wis the quickest route, and it was .proposed to 'build larger and faster vessels'. The : £70,000 received in subsidies did not seem to have been nearly sufficient to make Iho service pay.', '

Mr Izard (Wellington) asked whether a belter San Francisco wrvjeo could not bo obtained by adopting another port of call. Ho bclievc<l that tho proposed new 'steamers were to be of the liifbino type, and ho understood tliat, the (lifllculty in regard to Mich steamer* was that tliey" would not run at a high rate of,SDeed when the' water was vpry 'wari|i.-(I ; oud laughter.) Well, i memliPM might Itiugli, but he belioved that when (lie Mnheiio rail into the Kquator her speed immediately went down.—lßevowed laughler.) This was a well-known fart,, and if the steampr's head after leaving San Francisco was turned further south j than Auckland sh«i wbuld probably roach ■the colony in less lime. j Mr Jarhej Allpn (Otago) asked whether j the rostnmiilerrgcneral would take a vote for tho conliinianeo of tho 'service tip till November only, when tho present contract woul(| expire; If the Hptisp then decided to continue the service tlio reniaindci of ihe-year's subsidy pouUl bp votpd. Hq bad iibyitys votfuj for flic San Francisco service, but (tp thought tlipy slioqld have a distinct lindotftamliqg with America regarding t|lo hitter s navigation laws, which now precluded our own boats frorj trading oyer u portion of the. route between this colony and San Francisco. As soon as a New,

Zealand boat touohed Honolulu ehe could not carry 'merchandise beyopd port, liefore renewing the San Francisco service they should also asCortaiu • what' arrangement might bo made in"regard to thi now servico between tho' Commonwealth 'and England, or jn rcspqct..to improving the Suez service. "' . ■ .. . Mr Davey (GhrjMehurch) suid he was opposed to subsidising Ainericaii. fijijp-qwncM to carry our mails, l(ut ho.wouljl not oppose the vpte if-it was understood tliat- an opportunity would (jp given to recoTisider the whole' 'matter.' . . - . Mr I'oolo (Aucklandj said it \yould he very to swap horses when, qrossipg a sjrpaTji.'. Tjie prpsfjf»(. Trjsco scrvjce >yas •WP w®st d|roct servjee available botiyeen New Zpah(pd and Luiulon. Although thp ■ t'risco.sprvice was pot all flmt cquld'ho dqsireil, it ljat) beep satisfactory mojt ;oi ,1 IP tllnc. As for i[r Izard's remarks alxjut the. reqiiclioii .(if spceij-at the 'Equator, tins 1 osiniaster-gencral qiigtit arrange for p|ac : ing a refrigerating plant theri>.—(Laughter.) It would be pnwisc to give up the 'Frisco servico before tnov had anything better. Iq take its piaco. - , , Sfr Remiuston (Kangi'tikci)- said 'llio t'risqo service hac] liccn very .unsatisfactory. lie quoted from the oflicial correspondence to show that the Ventura did barely .13 kliois on opp of her tripi, Sir J. G. Wiii-d: What was the date of that trip? Mr Upiiiiinton: Tht; daio o[ tho letter referring lo it is Ifqrch 8, 1006. I think we could get a'much, better Service than" by' 1 yi'iy ourselves up tu the' Oceanic Com. pap'y. . ' ' ■

Mr Ait ken said he eiitirely endorsed the criticism of Iho.smicc thai had been passed by other members. There were other ways to Kpgland besides by way of 'Frisco. For instance. t|m' ",'All-red" route. Qn Juno 21 the San Francisco mail steambr left for this colony 'with'mails. ; The 'day following, Juno 22; the steamer left Vancouver with mails, and arrived in ijvdney (after deliver l ing her inuiltj at' Honolulu. Fiji, and Brisbane) a day , and* a-lia!f before tho Kan Frapcisco stoaiper arrived in Sydney; 'Tins wept to show'.that tho' Vancouver servico could be nsetl to more advantage, a'nd 'if tho nmltfii- wjji'o token up by miii'ter-genoral it. .could be madp 'a, much 'bett«r sei-vieb tiiau they could over hope -to make of the San Francisco aejvice.. ■ We .were pow -subsidising ApipHcan-biiilt. steamers,, .iiutl went 011 bolstering up-' si service whop ->vp cquld have a very much more satisfactory oiie. The. Sutii' service should bo Uken-jqprp iidvantnge of by tip's State, - steaniors leaving Wellington. on a Sal Onlay, arriving ip Sytlney 011 t|io following Wednesdiiy moriiing, just contriving to get to fiydiioy a fo\y ; . hours too late to catch the mail steamer ,for v Knglap(l. Mr W. Fra:jer: You can't b|iipjq them. ' Mr Aitk'en: I don't blame thcin, beciipse they, don't get :a subsidy. '

. Mr 15iiddp..(Kaiapoi) thought they could 'got an equally good connection via Vpij.couyer, and hp .said'that if they adopipd tliat scrvicc or any 'urfiinfjrojncHt in connection with the' now Australian service Auckjnnd v.quld still be the most cqnveriienl port of call. The .Vancouver serviceto Auckland seemed to be 'tlie bp3t,' 'but.'' what wanted was fast, steamers' instead of"fruit, steamers fropi'jiuvii. If : they had hotter strainers fqG'tliip'run tho Vancouver majl coijlcl be delivered quite as quickly a! the 'Frjsco majl.. ' • •. '' , SIR J. CJ, WARD. IN REPLY. . Sir Joseph Ward, in replying, asked tyhat >va3 tho use of arguing for tho Vancouverservice—oho that: could not bo gotv Thp Union Company had beoii olFored £20,000 a year, and the'same sum had boon oftorcd when tho matter was being dismissed with thp Federal Government, in.Mr Mills's pre;senco to bring tho Australian boats 011 io ; Now Zealand. The Federal Government ;iio\v objected lo tlio Vancouver boars leaving Brisbano out, and'coming' dn to' Naff Zealand, so tho £20,000 a jear which', had been _authorised- by Parliament wis-'still standing. "That disposed of tho Vahcoiivcr service. Then . tho.momber for ICaiapoi proposed thai; a subsidy should' b<; piiid for transhipping at Siiva Tho mails from Vancouver. In the first place', lie would point out that it'would talo the mails, tour days longer .to read) England by Vancouver than by San Franciscol Ho .would much prefer tp pay a; straight-out subsidy for a mail service than subsidising a service that would require transhipment of this kind;-. He was' opposed to. paying for transhipping letters for thp Vancouver or any other line. People, who .were travelling coiild not bo bothered transhipping at Fiji, leaving tho boat.at San Francisco,' and,taking boat again at New York. That meant a lot; of additional inconveniences and expense. What tho colony jWantfd' and. what tha • Government had been asking for, was that thp mail steamers, .should be under contract to tpu'ch at the I 'colony, not' transhipping. at. another place at all. Tho suggestion had'been mado that becaifso tho San Fran- ■ cisco ; steamers .wore subsidised ■ by t|is Amorican Government and wero American owned wo. ought' not to support i'noin.' Well, if the House was prepared to dp . they.could get oyer tho difficulty; but he did. not think it was. Tho idternfttivo.waa. to .pay for a lints of steamers under tlio Now Zealand, or the British flag,' Tint they could not get. such a. service under £120;Q00 a. .year. personally, lio *w*aa strongly opposed to tlio prohibition an foreign ships''tarrying lietwepn Honolulu aiid San Francisco. It would be' much bettor if • our steamers .were allowed to carry, between those ports. But'..(hey would, under existing conditions, have to leave Honolulu opt, and consequently for tho sentiment pf having our o\vri steamers we -should 'hjtfii to :'T-'ijy the full subsidy both ways, It; would be ;i lyomlor fully' gcod' piepe; pf. business tq gft tjip/stcamprs for £100,000 on these'conditions. .'Ho very much regretted . Jliat every, tinic; tho San Francisco service crpppod up (Ivoyfl was an extraordinary desire on the part, pf some members to introduce provincial animosity because the steamers touched at Auckland, (dries of "NoI No!"] Ho might bo wrong, but that was tho impression ho had formed. Yet ho assumed Iho House'they could npt get a faster" .and cortaiiily Tipt' a chopper, teryjeo. There was no mail sjir« vice 111 tjic world, hound to.run tq tiniotablo that rccpivpd so small a sum 'as £20,005 11 j;ear. That was tv inorp bagatelle, and it appeared to him thoy were being rather fasticjiou's unless they could get a better service.' As for tho Commonwealth, service. Xe\y Zoala-ud had pot been communicated >yith at al(, but it|was intimated jn thq, Fipiinpjul, Statpincpt that tho Government proposed to ask. for Iha steamers to come op to Now Zpaland. The Federal Postmaster-general, however, said, they wanted the stfamois to call at Sydney and Melhpurne, rattier tlian go direct from Adolaicjp toNew Zealand, and that, 'of course, would not be of. so much advanlage •lp New Zealand- It would he 18 inopuisi before tliesq steamers wero running, ami lip (|uc3li.onptl jollier wn should b» nble tp got them to' cpnip hcrft ill alj. ■' Mr Aitkon: Tlio.v won'i. copio.i,' . Sir .lose] h Wijrd agreed that they .would prqbably pot ropm, anil (hat simply brought thein I'ack to Vancouver or San I'raheiscpj Member?: Whitt about the Supz roiilot Sir, Joseph: 'fill, yes, ihe i|ew route. Tint, tljat would mean subsidising lines of steamers between tfprp and. Australia. A jTemhcr: Well, whv don't you do it? , Sir Joseph \Va-rd: It i-$ a matter worthy of consideration, and I am w'ljing Jo coii< sider it.

Mr Alley dented (hat lie had ever exhibited any provincial jealousy. ■ Xlc hatl voted fpr tho San Francisco service >up to now,'but unless sodiq. arrniigomeiits cquid W WBflO with tl(o Ampyraiis to treat us {airly, .hq wa<s -nflf prepared to ntbsidue their boats any lqngoi. . T|ip cost, of the service tq -Key Zealand \f«s £14,855. The postage collected in- llio colony amounted to £16,453.

Sir Joseph Ward Tpf.-|jp(| 'bat flip scrvjco cost New Zealand £14,000, whichl was tliq spafe (iiiiount, iiqid fpr any tcrvioc of t|ie kind. As for Mr AHfiu's tc redufn the v(i|e lit!-pointed out (hat thq volo did not conii|ijt thp colony to renewing tho service.- liqforq that : could be do.no tho authority of Parliament would havo to he obtained iji thq form of a, resolution of thq If that resolution was not carried, then they would pa; HP ffl, November, and tho balance of tho vpto would not. lie expended. Merqbcr^ vrero pot l>ping plied to cpinuiit lo ronpwing tho service. Proposals with that object would bi; brouetit down later in tlio session. Ik- was just as strongly opposed to the Amprican laws as th'p niein'i ber for Bruce, bui lie was not insensibly to tho fact that we could not ctwnge' those navigation laws. That was no legitimate reason Jor saying wo were not going to havo a (mod mail snrvico to Engird. If they could get a. better service, by all means let ihnm do so; but 'at prcsenti tliero was no bettor onq in view. Mr Aiiken: Wlmt about Suez? Sir Joseph Ward replied that the average iimo from fowlon lo Auckland by San Francisco tyas 31 days, and from Anck« land fo London 30 days. The avorago from Bluff lo London by Suez was 39 days by tlio T. and O. and-41 days by the Orient. • Mr Aitken:' Tulcu seven days (iff front her®,to Australia. Tho debalo wa3 tenninatrd l>y the dinner 'adjournment. tho vote being then passed! without further discussion. , ' ' .•