BLUFF TO MELBOURNE

Southland Times, Issue 19898, 17 June 1926, Page 7

BLUFF TO MELBOURNE

DIRECT SERVICE IMPERATIVE. MATTER TO BE BROUGHT BEFORE PARLIAMENT. (From our Special Reporter.) Wellington, June 16. One matter which will engage the attention of Sir Joseph Ward this session is the need for a direct and regular steamer service between Bluff and Melbourne. “I think every effort should be made to get such a service,” he told a representative of flte Southland Times, “and I will certainly bring the matter up in the House as soon as a suitable opportunity arises.” He added that he thought there should lie a weekly direct service from Melbourne to all ports between Lyttelton and Bluff. He thought the lack of such a service was having an undesirable effect on the development of the whole of the South Island, particularly as regards trade and immigration. “Of course,” he said, “one cannot expect steamer companies to run their services at a loss, but 1 think that in a vital matter like this, the Government should be prepared to grant a subsidy if it proves necessary. At all events it is my intention to urge such a course upon them.”