THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Morning. Nelson, Saturday, July 21, 1906. THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL CONTRACT.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 44685, 21 July 1906, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily— Mo rning. Nelson, Saturday, July 21, 1906. THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL CONTRACT.

The existing Australian mail con tract is with the Orieufc Company, andjit. provides for the delivery of mails from London, by way of Brindisi, at Adelaide, within twenty-nine days, as against twenty-nine and a half days under the former agreement with the P. and O. Company. This contract expires in about eighteen months from now, in February, 1908, and the new contract, concerning which sorue particulars have reached us through the cable, provides for the delivery of the mails, which wil be sent from London to Brindisi, and there placed on board the steamer, at Adelaide in twenty-six and a half days. The mails, we are told, are to arrive at the last mentioned port in time to natch the Saturday's express, so that they may be delivered in Melbourne, and also in Sydney, on the following Monday, so that practically the service will provide for the landing of the mails in those cities in four weeks. Under the existing contiact the Orient Company receives .£120,000 a \ ear, and under the new contract, for the service above mentioned, the payment is to be £125,000 a year, but there is a provision in the contract for so accelerating the speed that 24 hours may be saved betweon the Italian port and Adelaide, and if that is done the steam ship company is to receive an additional £25,000 a year. A remarkable provision has been inserted in the contract, to tne effect that the Commonwealth of Australia may either purchase or charter the steamers employed in the service. It should be mentioned that the new contract is lor ten years, and though this condition may simply have been embodied with a view to gratify those of Socialistic tendencies in Australia, it may also be regarded as a safeguard against the clangers of combination, for although the ships are to sail under the Australian flag, they might, nevertheless, be so run as to give facilities to foreign traders. Should such a contingency occur the Commonwealth will, under this condition, have power to protect its own interests and those of the

; Empire. It has been said that the New Zealand Postmaster-General, Sir J. G. Ward, had something to do with arranging the contract while he was in London, and it is suggested that the service is to be extended to New Zealand. That suggestion appears to be borne out by the statement that the actual subsidy receivable by the! steams company will be "a good deal nearer a quarter of a million." ;ifc is not at all likely that any very£large sum] has been mentionedfas a possible payment by way of subsidy by this^Colony, and a heavy subsidy would be out of the question that could onlyjfprovide a mail service of over thirty-two days, while the Vancouver or San Fran- 1 cisco routes are available. j

It. might, however, be well worth while for New^Zealand co secure the call of steamers ; belonging^ to the new mail line, and it ia extremely probable that Sir J. Q. Ward, on his j arrival, will have information to impart and suggestions to make. There | is ample time for consideration, and great care is necessary £beforo the Colonyftbinds itself to any'contract, for the best interests of the Colony have to be considered, and these cannot be disassociated from Imperial considerations, for it is within the Empire our great interests lie. From an Imperial point of view the new service has much to recommend it, but bo also has a service by way of Vancouver.