THE OCEAN MAIL SERVICES

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 11578, 14 October 1901, Page 3

THE OCEAN MAIL SERVICES

The following is the text of the resolutions to be moved by the PostmasterGeneral : ,SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE. Mon. Sir J. G. Ward, in Committee of the Whole, to move the following resolutions :

" (1) That, in view of the temporary agreement with Messrs J. D. Spreckels and Company (the Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco), for the performance of a three-weekly service between San Francisco and Auckland for one year, expiring next month,— . (a) This House authorises the Government to enter into a contract with the said company for a renewal of the present San Francisco mail service for a term of three years, subject to the following conditions :

" (b) That the payment for the conveyance of mails from New Zealand to San Francisco shall be at the rate of 7s 6d per lb. for letters, Is per lb. for books, packets, etc., and 6d per lb for newspapers ; or

"(c) That in lieu of the foregoing payments, a fixed annual subsidy of £20,000 be paid, provided that one British-owned steamer, registered in New Zealand, be employed in the service. _" (d) That the time between San Francisco and Auckland shall not exceed 17 days;

" (e) That no bonus shall be paid for early arrival, and a penalty at the rate of £4 per hour shall be enforced only when late delivery exceeds 48 hours; " (f) That all mails tendered to the con-

tractors at Auckland and San Francisco by or on behalf of the Postmaster-General of New Zealand shall be conveyed by the contract; vessels, and sufficient and secure, accommodation provided for the same. " !g) That suitable accommodation and

lighting shall be provided for the purpose of sorting the mails on board the contract vessels; and first-class accommodation provided without. charge for a mail agent and an assistant, or, if required, two assistants ;

" (h) That diirinn; the continuance of the contract, and so long as the same shaP be faithfully carried out by the contractors, no' charge for harbour dues, dock dues, or other rates shall be made or levied -under 'The Harbours Act, 1878,' or any amendment thereof, or under any sj ecial act in that behalf, at the port of Auckland, for any of the steam vessels employed in carrying out the contract; .'" (i) That any agreement entered into between the Postmaster-General and The J. D. Spreckels and Brothers Conipanv shall, where applicable, follow the provisions of the agreement' entered into between the Postmaster-General and; the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), on the 14th day of August, 1895, and the renewed agreement made on - the 11th day of August, 1899; '(j) And that the terms and conditions of clause 7 of the agreement of the 14th day of August, 1895, providing for the detention of the' vessels at San Francisco for the mails from Great Britain shall be given effect to as far as may be consistent with the contract subsisting between the J. D. Spreckels and Brothers Company and the United States Government. MAIL SERVICE.

" (2.) That in the event of it being found impracticable •to arrange a contract for the three-weekly San Francisco service on the foregoing terms, the House authorised; the Government to enter into negotiations for establishing a three-weekly or a fourweekly Vancouver mail service, subject to the following conditions :

"a) That the contract shall be for aterm of not less than three or more than five years; " (b) That the payment shall not exceed £20,000 a year; " (c) That the service shall be performed by vessels of not less than 6000 tons, having first-class passenger accommodation, and fitted with all modern improvements, and also refrigerating chambers and chilled chambers for fruit and dairy produce; " (d) That the time shall not exceed 18 days between Vancouver and a New Zealand port, the selection of which to be at the contractors' option; " (e) That the terms and conditions of the contract proposed in respect of the San Francisco service shall be applied to the Vancouver service so- far as they can be adopted. "FEDERAL MAIL SERVICE. " (3.) That the Government shall also negotiate for a fortnightly intercolonial service, to provide prompt connection with the Federal mail service at Melbourne and Sydney: , "(a) Between Wellington and Sydney;

or " (b) Between Melbourne and the Bluff; and in addition, in the event of the San Francisco service not being arranged, " (c) Between Sydney and Auckland.

A VINDICATION OF DE LA KEY-

(" Press.")

The charge levelled against General De la Rev's Force, of having murdered some of the British wounded at Vlakfontem, proves to be only too true. In view, however, of the character of fairness and humanity that De la Rey appears to have borne, it does not seem likely that the brutal murders of which some of his followers were guilty were committed with his sanction. Those, acquainted with the Boer General appear quite satisfied that he would never countenance such a dastardly proceeding. The following extract from a British officer's letter shows that De la Key impressed the writer as a fairminded and even generous opponent. The l»tter referred to was published by Captain Thorn, of the R.A.M.C., who made De la Rey's acquaintance when he was a prisoner in the hands of the Boers at Liehtenburg. " He is much respected by the Boers," writes the captain, "and is iust in his dealings with the Kaffirs. Many of the field-cornets before the war werp* empowered to collect taxes from the Kaffirs. When a Kaffir was unable to pay, an ox of the value of £8 or £lO was seized and sold by auction. The tax, amounting to ss, "perhaps, was paid out of this, and the remainder, as a rule, found its way into the field-cornet's pocVet. De la* Rev, however, seized something: of about equal value to the tax owed, and any balance from the sale was 'landed back "to the Kaffir. Frequently he would pay the debt himself." This letter, attracting the attention of the late head of De la Rev's ambulance, prompted the latter to publish in the " Cape Times " a striking tribute to the Boer General's humanity. While the doctor was in charge of De la Rey's ambulance, his orders were "to do everything that was possible for the English wounded." It was also part of his duty to examine the prisoners, and to relieve those who were suffering. " even though it were only from sore feet." De la. Rev had a habit of visiting the prisoners himself, and seeing that they had been properly attended to. The writer relates how on one occasion the Boer General gave a handful of tobacco to a

mounded British " Tommy," whose only regret on hearing that it was " the great De la Key" was that he had not saluted :he General. When told of this, De la Rey smiled, and in his quiet gentle manier said, " Well, it is something to be called great by one's enemies; but it is something greater to be acknowledged good by them." The Tommy, it appears, had mistaken De la Rey for a parson. After arie engagement the General instructed his ambulance doctor to read the English burial service oyer " those dead heroes," is he termed the British soldiers who had lost their lives in the battle. De la Key's sympathy with Lord Roberts in the loss Df his son is also chronicled by the doctor. " To Lord Roberts his Earldom .must appear a very barren honour," said the Boer General, who had himself lost a son in the war, on one occasion. "To an old man like him what is the position of head of the Army other than a source of work, worry, and anxiety? This war has not made him a great man; it has reduced him to the position of one who has very little to live for; his thoughts now are of the past, and what might have been; the future has nothing to give him that he desires; the whole British nation cannot give him anything that he values, other than their sympathy." If accounts : such as these give a true idea of De la Key, it is certainlyy inconceivable that such a man would sanction the brutality of which his following were guilty at I Vlakfontein. " |