POSTAL COMMUNICATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 304, 26 September 1857, Page 7

POSTAL COMMUNICATION.

(From the Wellington Spectator, August 29.) In the "Sydney Morning Herald" of the 4th inst., there appears a letter from the Secretary of the Board of Treasury to the Secretary of the Post Office, dated April 16, enclosing a Treasury minute of April 11, on the subject of Postal communication with the Australian colonies, j the importance of.wb.ich to this colony, and especially to this Province, can hardly be overrated. The Lords of the Admiralty \ say in their minute :—: — " My Lords advert to their minute of the 27th of November, 1855, upon the subject of the establishment of a Steam Postal Communication between this country and the Australian colonies, in which it is laid down as a principle that the entire cost oj the service shall be divided into equal parts, between the Imperial Government on the one hand, and the aggregate of the Colonial Governments on the other hand, the latter half being contributed by each colony in proportion to the number of letters despatched from each colony by the vessels employed in the service. The plan also provided that in the main branch of the service the vessels should call only at Melbourne, Sydney, and King George's Sound, but that branch steamers should be provided to ply between Melbourne and New Zealand, South Australia (Port Adelaide) and Tasmania, the cost of which should be added to the cost of the main service, and divided among the respective governments (home and colonial) on the principle already indicated. My Lords have received through the Colonial Office, copies of despatches from the Governors of New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, and Western Australia, entirely acquiescing in the proposal contained in the minute of the 27th of November. From Tasmania no reply has yet been received ; and from South Australia only has any objection to the plan been raised. Bequests also that a communication may be made to the Governor of Victoria, - calling his attention to the provision in the plan for the -various branch services, and requesting that he* will take means to carry into effect those with New

Zealand and Tasmania, suspending any arrangement with regard to South Australia, till tb& final decision of that government has been ascertained." The last quoted paragraph is repeated in the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, and may therefore be assumed to have been received by the Governor of Victoria, as the copy from which we have made these extracts has been received by the Governor of South Australia, and appears in Adelaide papers of dates prior to July 25, It is therefore possible that as the instructions are so very precise and positive, the next arrival from Melbourne may bring advices that steamers are engaged and the Mail service thus completed as far as the English Government is concerned. It is also clear that the whole cost of the service — including the main and branch lines — is to be borne by England and the colonies in the proportion of one-half by the former, and the other half by the latter "'in proportion to the number of letters dispatched from each colony by the vessels employed in the service," to ascertain which proportions accurate accounts are directed to be kept by each colony and transmitted to England. The expense therefore, whatever it be, is now to be box-ne by' New Zealand, and although it will be comparatively small, as the English Government contributes such, a liberal proportion, yet it will be considerable, as the cost of the main service alone is £185,000 per annum. It therefore behoves us to consider in what way this expense can be made most beneficial to the community that has to bear it. It will be observed that no port in New Zealand or Tasmania is indicated, an omission that can scarcely be accidental as in the case of South Australia, Port Adelaide is expressly named. If by New Zealand, Auckland should be meant, it is quite evident that as far as the Southern Provinces are concerned, the mails might as well be left in Melbourne. The proposition made by the Chamber of Commerce some months since was that the Branch service should be divided into two — one line to the North and the other to the South. This adjustment still appears a practicable and easy one, only perhaps requiring that this Province should take the initiative, and shows its willingness to provide for the cost of the service, and for the conveyance of the Mails to the other ports. Already we believe negociations are ia progress between the Provincial Government and the owners of the Wonga Wonga by which that vessel is to be made available for the Postal Service, and if this Province thus shows its willingness to do its part, we have no doubt that the General Government will at once yield to a demand so reasonable and just. Let us only show that, without wishing to injure any, we are prepared to claim our due, and if necessary to make efforts not only to secure a boon to ourselves, but also to share it with all the Provinces of the South, and we have the strongest conviction that if the Government of New Zealand should prove unreasonable (which we do not anticipate) the Government of England will favourably regard our claim.