THE SUEZ MAIL SERVICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 986, 22 October 1870, Page 1

THE SUEZ MAIL SERVICE.

Nothing could be more calculated td provoke ridicule among commercial men abroad, at the expense of this colony; than the circumstances connected -with the delivery of the English mail which has just reached us. After lying for four or five days in Melbourne, the mail was despatched by a steamer which occupied eig-ht days in coasting round the island, calling at all the little ports !in its way for cargo. This sort of thing will remind old colonists of the way in which the English mails were delivered I before subsidised steamers were heard of, Among the « reminiscences of eighteen 1 years ago,' our early settlers might look back upon the haphazard style in which their home correspondence came to hand as not the least amusing-. The commeroe of the colony was not much influenced then by the state of the I markets in other countries j Chambers lof Commerce were undreamt of; and | foreign correspondence was altogether a matter of private convenience. It mattered nothing, from a public point of view, if letters from home were delivered b"y the humble agency of a coaster. But in the present day we' have learned to look upon ourselves as a commercial centre of some importance; We have got a full-blown Chamber of Commerce, which deals with all the 1 commercial questions of the day as gravely as they are dealt with in Liverpool or New York. We are particularly addicted to discussions on the necessity of steam mail services. We have already started two such services and we have expressed a solemn determination, to start a third, Aad vet, in.

the midst of all this commercial splendour, our English mails are again carried by a coasting vessel from port to port, and that, too, during a time of almost unparalleled convulsion in Europe. How will the fact be interpreted in commercial circles abroad 1 It is unfortunately notorious that we have a San Francisco service of so questionable a character that we don't know when to expect the arrival of the mail, and are not very certain indeed that the mail will arrive at all. The conclusion to be drawn from sixch premises is a damaging one. Such a state of affairs obviously indicates a disgraceful maladministration on the part of the Government, and at the same time a degree of lethargy among our men of business that could scarcely be credited in more active communities.

The most singular part of the affair is the fact that the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce is mainly responsible for the absurd transaction to which we have referred. Some weeks ago it undertook to move the Postmaster-General to subsidise one of the Australian steamers, and it also undertook to suggest that a subsidy of £100 should be offered for the service. The sum offered is so inadequate that we ask in wonder how the Chamber came to offer it. We take it for granted that the Chamber was in earnest in the' matter ; and being in earnest, it could have had no reason for risking the delivery of the mails in order to drive a hard bargain with, the shipowners. It belongs to the Postmaster-General, and not to the Chamber of Commerce, to drive bargains of that kind. We ventured to remark at the time that it was impolitic on the part of the Chamber to make any suggestion whatever as to the amount of subsidy to be offered by the Government ; and also that there was little probability of the mails being brought on 'within fifteen hours after their arrival in Melbourne,' for such a subsidy as that suggested. Events have confirmed our opinion. A steamer was leaving Hobson's Bay just after the arrival of the mail at Adelaide was telegraphed to Melbourne , but instead of waiting for thirty-six hours to earn the munificent subsidy which the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce bad put in its way, it positively sailed for the Bluff, and left the mails to be carried by the next steamer. It is true, indeed, that it waited off Queenscliff for several hours in order to bring our telegrams of the mail news, and that if it had not done so, the colony would have remained in ignorance of the news till the arrival of the following steamer. This was a service for which the thanks of the colony are due. But the colony wanted the mails as well as the telegrams ; and undoubtedly it would have got the mails if a reasonable subsidy had been offered. It is not clear that the Government is relieved from censure in this matter, by the fact that it acted merely on the suggestion of the Chamber. Mr Turnbull has said that the PostmasterGeneral deserves credit for having complied with the suggestion of the mercantile community. We take it that it is simply a part of the PostmasterGeneral's duties to provide for the conveyance of the mails, and that the public has nothing to be grateful for when its servants perform their duties, asked or unasked. Money has been voted by Parliament ior the purpose of subsidising the Australian steamers, and the money ought to be forthcoming without petition whenever the public service may require it.

We have now to consider how the carriage of our Suez mails is to be provided for in future. This is a question which the Chamber, not discouraged by its failure in the present instance, would do well to take in hand promptly. TJbe Postmaster-General can scarcely be expected to take much interest in the Suez service— still less to take anj step which, may have the effect of promoting its interests, unless some pressure is brought to bear in that direction. The state of affairs in Europe renders it indispensable that the colony should possess some reliable means of communication, and at present there is none, In the absence of an

efficient San Francisco service, there' is no alternative but to • avail ourselves of the Suez service. On that we can depend ; and as we are now situated, the interests of this province in particular imperatively demand that we should not be cut off from it. If the General Government will not recognise our claims to attention in this matter, the Provincial Governments of Otago and Canterbury are in a position to act. Our neighbours in the latter province are in the same boat as ourselves in postal affairs, and they are not wanting in public spirit. A subsidy sufficient to obtain prompt delivery of our mails via the Bluff might be easily contributed by the two provinces. To- some conclusion of this kind we shall sooner or later be driven by the current of events.