THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1872. AUSTRALIA AND THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL ROUTE.

Colonist, Volume XV, Issue 1501, 13 February 1872, Page 3

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1872. AUSTRALIA AND THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL ROUTE.

Beyond the fact that New South Wales declines to enter into any arrangement with New Zealand, respecting sharing in the cost of maintaining the San Francisco mail route, we know nothing of the resulb of Mr. Vogel's mission to Australia. If Victoria should happen to be of a like mind with New South Wales, the mission of the Colonial Treasurer will be fruitless so far as it concerns the main, if not the sole, object of his visit. That there are symptoms of non-succeas in Victoria, we gather from the Melbourne Argus, which in an article on the subject, pretty plainly indicates that Mr. Webb and Mr. Vogel will not be more successful with the Government of Victoria, than they have been with that of JNew South Wales.

Supposing this should prove to be the case, what will be—what should be the course New Zealand ought to pursue ? Shall we continue to support an expensive service, which, unaided by the joint consent and subsidies of the other Colonies, must be a tax ou our strength and resources too great for them to bear, and to keep up which is to burden for what, after all, is a luxury too costly for a solitary Colony having our population, and our large liabilities? Seriously, we are disposed to answer this question decidedly in the negative; and the more the question is considered by the public at large, the more will thevgbe likely to answer it as we have done. While there was hope that the two leading Colonies of Australia would be induced to join in the enterprise, and thus relieve us of a large share ot the cost, we had no serious objection to the experiment being tried, especially as the opening of a trade with America in wool, flax, and other New Zealand products, was a desirable objt cttoattain, for which theexperiment with Mr. Webb's boats was well worth venturing. Our readers know, however, that from the first we have steadily argued that no decision as to route could possibly be permanent which did not embrace the most densely peopled part of the region concerned in the traffic. The progress of commerce, the advancement of colonisation in new fields of the Pacific, cannot be overlooked in the arrangements for a service that shall connect permanently Ihe Australasian Colonies with, the old country through the American continent. Commerce and population will not be overlooked, subsidise howevermuch we may. We have repeatedly expressed these views. Considerably more than a year ago, when Mr. Vogel published his Memorandum containing the terms of the first contract for making New Zealand the terminus with alternate proposals bearing on Australian co-operation, we wrote as follows : —

"The real lines of commerce may ultimately change the current of the postal route, because the inevitable tendency of commercial relations is to take advantage of the shortest lines between the chief centres of population. Hence, perhaps, in years to come, Fiji may be the port of call between San Francisco and Melbourne, and New Zealand be visited by a branch steamer instead of the chief mail boats, whose voyage downSouthasfaras Otago must be considered a very costly part of our inter-provincial service."

This was written under the expectation that by means of co-operation in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, the cost to New Zealaud would have been reduced by £25,000 a year. Unless something like that amount is saved by such co-operation, which certainly does not appear probable at present, we cannot see how the line can be continued. It is too great to be carried on at the sole expense of New Zealand. Mr. Webb, it ia said, is losing £50,000 to £60,000 a year by his bargain, and by the last arrangement, in spite of his protestations against it, he was still held bound to take his large steamers down the Coast from Auckland to Otago, a most expensive detour precluding his direct connection with Australia. Wise in his generation, Mr. Vogel, doubtless, saw clearly enough that by thus binding Mr. Webb to these terms, he was placed in a far better position to negotiate for our Government with the Governments of Australia; and, moreover, that failing such negotiation being effective, Mr. Webb would be liable in the penalty for any breach of contract, such as the refusal longer to perform the coasting Bervice from Auckland to Otago. Mr. Webb is not satisfied with the terms of his contract, neither can this Colony be satisfied if we are longer to continue to pay £50,000 to £60,000 a year for this service, and Mr. Vogel audhis colleagues in the Ministry must lay this latter fact to heart, and be prepared speedily to act upon it if "Victoria shall decline the connection on its present terms, as New South Wales has done. Withdrawal from the contract as a last resource, may be accomplished with satisfaction to each side, and if, as a means of found economy, we must reßt contented with a branch line, there is no other course than to submit as best we rcay.

fJhe country and Parliament have been patient and ready to pay for the experiment, anc* it is a noble ambition of New Zealand the attempting to establish this line by its own unaided efforts. We do not undervalue the good that experiment has already been the means of accomplishing. A connection has been opened with the United States. Our wool, flax, kauri gum, have all had ample opr ortuuities of being known, and, as the prices of the first two products show, have secured a high and promising appreciation in the American markets. The needs of commerce will not allow the demand for these to

fail, even if, for our present direct communication with America, the less direct, but not much slower line by the Fijis should be adopted. At all events, it seems to us that the present price paid for these advantages is too great, because it produces loss of means which might better be applied to permanent internal advancement. A saving of £25,000 a year on this Postal service means the construe!ion of fully one hundred miles ofraihvay,rollingstockincluded inasmuch as that sum represents the annual interest of £500,000 afe 5 per cent., our securities at that rate being negotiable at par. This, at the rate of £5000 a mile, would, as we have said, make and furnish with stock a hundred miles of such cheap lines as are necessary in New Zealand. The railway policy.is the great policy of the Ministry. Is it wis§ to impoverish the means of its extension for the sake of a too costly Postal service beyond the fair reach of our growth and our resources ?