OUR STEAM FLEET.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 124, 28 December 1858, Page 3

OUR STEAM FLEET.

[From the Lyltelton Times. December 15.) The expression of opinion by. the Pi*ovincial Council, just before the prorogation, on the Steam Communication Question, seems to have been done at an opportune moment. All the provinces of New Zealand, stimulated by the abundance of steam offered to them, are on the alert to see that advantageous arrangements are made for the working of the boats, each province urging particularly the arrangements which will profit itself. Nelson and Wellington are loud in the expression of their sentiments, and the journals of those provinces discuss at length those points particularly in which they are antagonistic to one another. No■'doubt the unanimous expression of opinion, quiet though it be, which Canterbury has uttered ihiongh its council, will have it 3 weight among the turmoil. The question at issue between Nelson and Wellington is, of course, which port shall be made the centre of postal steam communication for the islands of New Zealand. Nelson has secured the Company's steamers so far as the existing contract is binding; but to Wellington the South Island Mail'is first taken, according to the Post Office arrangement which has long existed, backed -by the new steam line between that port and Melbourne. As it happened, though the September mail for the four southern provinces was taken direct and rapidly from Melbourne to Wellington, it arrived in that port but a few hours before the Lord Ashley arrived in Nelson from Sydney, with the mail for the northern provinces. Nelson thus had no mail for several days after she might have had it, and, naturally feeling aggrieved, came to the resolution that her mails for the future ought to be carried by way of Sydney rather than by the Wellington boat. If the Wellington boat may not call at Nelson for a few hours on her way (an arrangement which Wellington on its part does not seem utterly to refuse), and if Nelson is to remain the first port of call from Australia by the Company's steamers, and if the proposed plan of making up the mails separately for the several provinces is carried out, as it ought to be, we can see a great deal of sense in the Nelson resolution. The determination of the compound hypothesis is in effect the arrangement of the postal and steam services, an arrangement which it ought to be easy to make, considering the number of serviceable steamers which are at our command. We are not in this province biassed by considerations of honor or profit in having our port made a terminus or principal station of any line of steamers, and therefore our opinions on the general question may have the greater weight. Those opinions, as expressed by the Provincial Council, are, that the mails should be carried to ' and.from Melbourne and a central port of New Zealand; and that the communication between the proviuces should be fortnightly. It was scarcely the province of the Council to point ont any particular manner in which the work should be done, but they agreed to devote, if necessary, a considerable sum to aid in its performance. Tiie public might, however, with great. p opnety, express an opinion as to how the routes , of the steamers known to be on the coast at the present time should be disposed, and we should ' like to see a movement made, by memorial or pc- ; tition, to offer such impartial suggestions to the General Government as would no doubt influence them strongly in coming to a decision on the' claims of rival piovinces. Some comprehensive and equitable arrangement might be suggested, .of which, as they occur to us, we may briefly,point out the principal conditions. Though for the interests of the colony and of the company to \vh.ich we imve pledged our faith, we should have been glad to have seen theirvessels alone employed in the trade so long as they sufficed, we must look upon the Wellington ar-, rangement with Melbourne and the Australian, Company as one on a good foundation, likely to last and to prosper, and to do good service to the . colony. We feel sure, therefore, that the colony, that is the General Government and the New Zealand Steam Company, will willingly make their arrangements to harmonise with this ene. It is possible too that to some slight extent the ; Wellington plan will be.modified by its originators, if necessary to produce perfect harmony and simplicity of arrangement; to the extent for instance of that call at Nelson to which we have alluded. The other provincial contract we cannot look upon in the same light. The subsidy given to the Queen by Otago is clearly not sufficient to maintain the service properly with the trade which can be got; nor is the vessel such a one as: to compete in the passenger traffic with boats like' the Prince Alfred and Wonga Wonga. The Otago steam line, therefore, though beneficial to us as far as it goes, we cannot consider permanent, nor, on that account, to be taken into consideration for general purposes. The new company will, have a fine boat for the Australian service, two more for the. provincial service, and a spare one. The actual appearance of .two of their boats on our: waters, and the trial of their qualities, gives us a practical guarantee and a more favorable opinion I of the company than we icould entertain when their existence was only a matter of hearsay. In addition, there is that excellent provincial boat, -i the White Svvan, whose services are retained till at least March next. Here we have abundance of material, and to spare, for all purposes. With the imperial bonus and the colonial bonus and the Melbourne bonus, and the rapidly increasing trade of the islands, there should be enough ot the sinews of war to support whatever plans we may agree upon. And if alterations must be made—involving more work' than has been contracted for, which additional '■■ work must be paid for rateably—we have had an offer from Canterbury to contribute a share towards the expense; and no doubt Otago, should j her present project fail, will be glad that a portion ■ of the subsidy should go towards supplying her wants in another way. , . J If a steam route is chalked out, every beat must sail punctually, and calculations must be made as if punctuality would be observed, all proper latitude being allowed. As the starting point then, the Wellington boat might be instructed to leave Melbourne regularly a few days after the English mail is due. Under an improved system of ocean steam, she might then be pretty certain of having the mail. She would call at Nelson and proceed to Wellington. At Nelson a provincial steamer would be ready to go northward at once with the Taranaki and Auckland mails; at Wellington a similar boat would be ready to go to the south; and if the White Swan were maintained on the «.ist coast berth, the seventh province would be served in the same manner. Should the mails, however, not have reached Melbourne on the appointed day, they would be sent via Sydney, whence the company's large steamer would be appointed to leave at the half-monthly period, which would fall about the 25th of the month ; it would satisfy all Auckland's requirements if this secondary boat went to her port direct; and the mails thus forwarded would be ready for despatch southward, as may be calculated, by a provincial steamer then regularly due. We can do no more: we cannot secure that the English mails should always reach Australia on a certain day, arid we cannot keep oar whole steam service beating time to an irregular movement; two chances of our inward mail each month by steam, and a regular despatch of the outward mail on -stated days, ought for postal purposes at present to content us. If, in addition to this, we can secure fortnightly communication between the provinces, we shall have done great things for ourselves postally, commercially, and, not least, politically. We have said we should like to see a public expression of opinion on this subject. It is likely that such would have, as circumstances stand at the present moment, a practical influence of no small extent.