FROM VANCOUVER TO AUCKLAND.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3590, 2 April 1886, Page 4

FROM VANCOUVER TO AUCKLAND.

The proposal of laying a cable from Vancouver to Auckland hus been under tho consideration of tbo Agents-General for tho several Australasian Colonies, and, though it does not appear to have awakened much enthusiasm, the Tact that it has been discussed at all, must yet count for a good deal. Tho idea aeems to havo been first propounded by Sir Charles Tupper, High Commisioner for Canada, who m this matter may bo said to rcpreresent the aspirations of tho leading mind m tho Dominion. Tho Canadians, long deprived of faculties for communicatinon with the Pacific, expect m tho courso of tho next month to be brought, by means of their transeotinentttl railway, within sig'at of the ocean. And the near prospect of tho consummation has begotten m them an intense desire to bo eonnectod with Australuisa, not only by means of swift steamers, but also by direct intercourse. The latter of these modes of fellowship between remote nations come to the front quite opportunely, while the exorbitant charges made by tho Eastern Telegraph Company havo imposed upon tho Australasian colonies tho necessity of coueidering the advantage of possessing a cablo lino of

their own. It would certainly give strength to the movement, and groatly lessen the eo«t for these colonies, if the Canadian Dominion were to unite with them m carrying out so grand a project. It cannot be doubted that Canada would contribute liberally towards the expense, and the Imperial Government would m all probability do so al-o. Indeed, so important is this enterprise for tho furtherance of their common interests m the Pacific, that both the United Kingdom and the Dominion ore bound to see it carried out with as little delay as possible ; and tho timej" is j not for distant when Britain, Caivida, Vancouver, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia will be placed m rapid communication with each outlier, both by steamship and by cable.