AUSTRALASIA AND AMERICA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 680, 28 July 1870, Page 2

AUSTRALASIA AND AMERICA.

The following extracts are from the News of the World of June 10 :— • The passengers of the Wonga Wonga as they passed through Chicago and New York, excited much interest. The press welcomed these pioneers of an Australasian trade ; and a favourable impression was made upon Congress in favour of the steamship subsidy bill now before it. It is somewhat difficult to always to describe our readers as " our friends in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania." For the sake of brevity, if not for absolute correctness, we propose to speak of them as Australasians. The wide significance of that title sufficiently includes the whole of the colonies. We are informed on good authority that the Queensland Government are anxious for a branch line bf Mr Webb's steamers to run to Batavia, so as to have a line to Europe every fourteen days. There is no doubt if the Queensland Government will pay a sufficient subsidy that Wm. H. Webb and Co. will run the line for them, and there is no one in a better position to do so. The Chicago Post of May 13 says : — '.'As an illustration of the revolution that has been brought about by the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad — the world's highway between the two great oceans and to India — we may mention the fact that last Wednesday evening's express train from this city on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, as we are informed by conductor J, P. Ames, carried the British East India mail, comprising forty sealed sacks from Auckland. New Zealand, Yokohama, Japan and China, all directed to the London (England) Postoffice. Amongst the passengers who arrived in San Francisco by the first vessel of tha new line we notice tbe name of Captain Baldwin. This gentleman was selected, we understand, to report upon the various industries of our state for the New Zealand Government, and has been busily employed in doing so, since his arrival in our midst. The New Zealand Government, by the inauguration of" this line, and by the anxiety they thus evince to become acquainted with the great' resources of California, are deserving of the greatest praise. Captain Baldwin's report, if thoroughly carried out, ought to be a valuable document, and that it will receive the careful consideration it merits, we have no doubt, judging at least by his antecedents. . . The Senate Committee on Post Offlceß and Post Roads on June 9 agreed to a Bill to aid in establishing and developing commercial intercourse, and to provide for carrying the mails between the United States and the countries lying on the west coast of South America. The Bill authorises the Postmaster-General on behalf of the Government to contract with W. H. Webb and Co., of New York, 'for the establishment and maintenance of a first-class mail steamship service between New York and Valparaiso, in Chile, and intermediate ports, via the Panama Railroad, or such other Isthmus route as may hereafter be found the most available and advantageous for the purpose. The Bill provides that the service'

shall be semi-monthly, and fixes the contract price at 31,250 dols. for the round trip. S Mr W. Gray, who came out on the Wonga Wonga as Mail Agent, representing New Zealand, has since his arrival here been to Washington and back and returns to Auckland by the outgoing steamer. He had no difficulty in at once completing arrangements for the immediate despatch of the Colonial mails across the continent to England. The Government at Washington expressed themselves as being only too glad to facilitate the matter. By the way, is it not somewhat unusual for a British colony to place itself in direct communication with a foreign power without the intervention of the British Minister ? This ignoring of precedents and red tapeisua may be taken as a sign of thoir times. Although no doubt no disrespect to constitutional forms was intended, it shows that the Colonists propose to do their own business in their dwa way. It is certain that ere long we shall have two more railroads across the American continent. Congress has adopted a Bill to donate a large land grant to a company which proposes to construct a railroad from the H Atlantic to Puget Sound, on the Pacific fl coast. This road will be proceeded with H forthwith. Another line is to be made from fl San Francisco, running in a more southerly fl direction than that which the present over- fl land line pursues. Tho Legislature recently fl empowered the City of f-an Francisco by afl popular vote to donate bonds to the value of H 1,000,000 dols. to a company to construct the fl " Southern Pacific Railroad." The vote was 8 cast on Tuesday last, and turned solely upon I the employment of Chinese labour. It was thought the company did not explicitly enough pledge themselves not to employ Chinamen, and hence "a cry" was raised by< the working men. The result was, to the - surprise of everybody, a small majority of 124 against the subsidy. Twenty-four years ago, California was inferior in population to Bolivia, less known, and poorer in actual and prospective wealth, with only 20,000 white inhabitants, with ex- • ports that did not exceed 100,000 dols. annually, and with no steamboats, telegraphs, ra s!---roads, factories, newspapers, or skilled industry. In the intervening quarter of a century, Bolivia has made no perceptible progress, but California has now 600,000 inhabitants, a total annual production of j 180,000,000 dols, 70,000,000 dolß of annuel ; exports, ocean steamer lines to Panama, \ Mexico, Australia, China and Puget Sound, j river steamers on a dozen different route?, > 600 miles of railroad in tbe State and com- ; munication by rail with New York, 2009 j miles of telegraphic wire, 200 newspapers, j well-established vineyards and cocooneries j that promise to equal or surpass those of j France, many thousands of tbe most skilfrl i mechanics, and a metropolis that controls a i capital of 300,000,000 dols, and rivals the capitals of Europe in luxury. Among the competitors who will tender for ; the subsidy for the Australian steam line so soon as the bill before Congress becomes law, is the North Pacific Transportation Company. Should this company get the U. S. subsidy they will build firet-class iron screw Bteamers of 2000 tons, with accommodations for 200 first, 200 second, and 500 third class passengers, with all modern improvements, to steam 12 to 13 miles per hour. Estimates of the cost of the steamers have been made, and the contract will be issued for building at an early day. The company are now carrying the mails to Honolulu, under contraot with the U. S. Government for ten years, which is one-third of the. distance towards Australia, and it is reasonable to suppose their chances for the subsidy are at least equal to tbose of any one else. The company have steamers that will answer for the through service until the new ones are built. The North Pacific Transportation Company have arranged to make close connections with Mr Hall's steamers at Honolulu, and will, if required, place on the route from Honolulu to Sydney, i steamers better adapted for the service. This > company is a wealthy Californian organisation [ owning some 16 steamers, and their ability to \ carry out any engagement into which they | enter is undoubted. \ According to the United States surveys and estimates, California contains 188,981 ; square miles, or 120,947,850 acres; of which 30,408,426 acres have been surveyed, and of these 16,466,422 have been disposed of by | the Federal Government before the Ist July, 1868 — the latest date to which we havea* report. For schools and educational purposes, 6,030,814 have been taken under Mexican grants; 500,000 hare been granted for internal improvements, 116,382 for railroads, and 6400 for public buildings; 198,874 have been sold, and 368,321 have been taken under the Homestead Act, 470,452 under military warrant, 580,572 under "scrip," 343,169 under swamp locations, and 28,120 under Indian scrip. Since June, 186t, nearly 2,000,000 acres more have been disposed of, and 86,000,000 acres of public land in the State are open to occupation. There are 50,000 square miles in the coast valleys and mountains, 50,000 in the . Sierra Nevada, 30,000 in the low land of the Sacramento Basin, 80,000 in the Utah Basin, whioh;has [j no outlet to the sea, 20,000 in the basin of !' the Colorado River, and 8000 in the basin of the Klamath. Much land in the Utah and Colorado Basins, three-fourths of that in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Basin, and a ■** third of that in the Coast District may be considered as too rugged or barren to pay for cultivation in this century, with the exception of small patches. There remain 30,000 square miles in the Sacramento Basin, 32,000 in the coaßt, 12,500 in tbe Sierra Nevada, and 2000 in the Klamath Basin; an aggregate of 95,000 square miles, or. 88,000,000 acres, as ! available for tillage— half of it still belonging to the Government. -No precise measurements bave. been made, but these figures are near enough to give a correct general idea. The area valuable for pasturage but unfit for tillage is half aB great. To Australia, New Zealand, and California "* the permanent establishment of the newly-

■ -■-■- ■ — opened route must be an earnest of the most cordial and hearty relations. Each has had an almost identical experience — each passed through the same difficulties and trials, to the same goal ; the result must be mutual fellow-feeling, sympathy, and friendship. Whatever train of events brings about so happy and desirable a consummation in California will produce the same effect in the whole United States, for, thank God, the Union is one and undivided. You cannot touch one chord in the nervous system, without influencing its whole network ; it would be impossible to win the warm hearts . of California's people, without touching those* of the whole American nation. May we not go further, and believe that England and the whole English-speaking nation may become one with us; one in the desire for permanent peace — one in the peaceful pursuit of commerce and common interests — one in a common Christianity. These are not the days for any nation to arrogate to itself the control of the world ; yet it would hardly be idle to cay that a permanent union of the Englishspeaking races might rule, not merely " the waves," but all lands, and rule them for their good. England has the Atlantic nearly to herself ; America may control the Pacific ; the chances at least, are favourable for us. We do not believe in any permanent estrangement between the United States and England. There are existing sores, we know, but time and fairdealing will heal them. No man in his senses in America believes in the possibility cf a war with the mother country. The thing is unnatural and impossible. We believe in a complete and lasting union of the whole English-speaking races, and should it come about, we shall never forget that it was the outstretched hand of Australia which grasped our own across the blue waters of the Pacific. . Discoveries have recently been made in New Mexico which reveal the existence of a vast deposit of silver ore that is said to Burpass, both in quantity and quality, all tbe Btores of this precious mineral yet found in America. From correspondents whose reliability seema to be unquestioned, we have derived some particulars relative to the ** Virginia silver mining" that cannot fail to interest our readers. This district is located in the County of Grant, New Mexico, near what are known as " Leitendof f er's Wells." some thirty miles east of the Arizona line, and about one hundred and thirty from Meeilla. It is in a chain of mountains, between the Burro and Chirricauhua ranges, in latitude 32, and longitude 108 J. The mines were discovered on t^9 2nd of February last, by Messrs Brown, Arnold, Harris, and Mc Allen, a company of prospectors in the employ of San Francisco capitalists. Brown and Arnold took seventy pounds of ore from different localities, and all on tbe surface, carried it to San Francisco, and bad it assayed. It yielded pure silver at a rate of from 20dols to 4000dols per ton— averaging 200dols per ton. The main ledges are from twenty to one hundred feet in width, and in many places crop out fully fifty feet above the ground. Unmistakeable indications prove tbat these mines have been worked a long time previous, but by whom is a mystery to the present generation. A cabin with cedar rafters and clay roof has been found, and also a tunnel, forty feet in length, from whence tbe ore has been excavated by the miners of a by-gone era. In richness and extent this district ia considered far beyond the Washoe region, and experienced persons declare that there is nothing to equal it on the continent. Water sufficient to supply one thousand people can be brought from Lielzendoffer's, five miles distant, and by digging the quantity can be largely increased. At the mines there is enough water for drinking purposes, and the Ceinega de San Simeon, a neighbouring stream, will furnish it to run at least five hundred steam mills. Building timber exists in abundance at tbe Burro Mountains, twenty-five miles distant, where saw mills will soon be in operation, and fuel can be had within a range of twelve miles. The excitement which these discoveries have caused in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, will be the means of directing the tide of emigration to that quarter; but men without capital may as well delay the going until the mills and furnaces now en route shall have arrived and ' gone into operation, although all that is ne- \ cessary to procure the ore itself is to put blasts in the face of the enormous ledges and tumble it down literally. by the cord. Rival companies from San Francisco have already staked out their claims, and as usual there .are conflicts in regard to the titles. Troublesome times are anticipated, and Governor Pile has been called upon to secure the services of the United States' troops at Fort Payard to interfere and preserve order, if necessary. Volumes might . be written descriptive of tbe many sights that may be witnessed -whilst making a pleasure trip along the great American highway. The valuable experiences that may be acquired cannot fail to be of much practical value to a colonising people. If the slightest doubt exists in the colonists' minda as to the perfect comfort and regularity with which the Pacific Railway is being run, they may at once give it to tbe wind. Nothing can be more admirable than the precision with which the trains adhere' to the advertised time. A train arrives in Ban Francisco from New York as punctually to the moment as does one in Sydney from Paramatta, or in Melbourne from Ballarat. During the winter lately ended there has been no delay nor stoppage whatever. The comfort and elegance of the Pullman dining and sleeping railway carriages must be experienced to be believed. The writer, who has had experience of railway travelling in England, Europe, and Australia, knows of ho invention in any country wbich bo excites his admiration as the truly wonderful "Hotels on wheels" constructed by Mr Pullman. The vibration is reduced to such a minimum and the comfort of being able to promenade, to dine, or to sleep at pleasure, is bo great

that the time occupied by the trip to New York is looked upon as a period of rest rather than one of fatigue. How little is thought of undertaking the journey cannot be better exemplified than by the fact that the teachers of San Francisco, to the number of 300, the majority of whom are ladies, are at present enjoying their usual holidays by a trip to their old homes in the East. They left on Monday week last, and arrived in New York at midday on the following Saturday. At present rates, the through trip from Melbourne to Liverpool, firstclass all the way can be accomplished for £76 103, and third class for jE4O. It will not be long before these fares are considerably reduced if the Australasian passenger traffic assumes any thing like the proportions which it promises to do. With an improved line of steamers sufficiently subsidised, the through trip will be unquestionably performed in 40 days. Taking into account the pleasures and valuable experiences of this route, together with its cheapness, the' short time occupied on the journey, and all its other advantages, can any one doubt that it will become the popular course of travel for those who are outward or homeward bound ? The North Pacific Company's steamer Ajax arrived on the 7th inst. with the Honolulu and Australian dates by the City of Melbourne. The new arrangement is for the California steamer to leave San Francisco in June, July, and August, so as to arrive at Honolulu between the 20th and 22nd of each month, connecting there with the Australian steamers which are to arrive about the same time. After August, the steamers will leave San Francisco and Sydney every twenty-eight days, so as to connect with and leave Honolulu on every fourth Saturday after August 20, namely, Saturday, September 17; Saturday, October 15, &c. This arrangement is made so as to furnish the colonies with a monthly mail conveyance to and from England, alternating with the Peninsular and Oriental monthly line. With tbe new arrangement, commencing September 10th, the fine side-wheel steamer J. L. Stephens will be laid on between San Francisco and Honolulu, which is capable of performing the trip in seven or eight days, as she ia a first - class steamer, formerly on the Panama route. She will probably leave San Francisco on the Sth or 10th of that montb, and every fourth week thereafter, so as to make thirteen trips a year. First class passage from New York to Liverpool will be 65 dols ; from San Francisco to New York, 112 dols 50 cents ; from Auckland to San Francisco, 175 dols ; and from Sydney to San Francisco, 200 dols, making tbe total expense from Sydney to Liverpool £76 10s or from Auckland to Liverpool, £71 10s. When it. is remembered that the fare from Sydney to Liverpool by the P. and O. route is over six hundred dols (£125 10s) tbe advantage possessed by this new route will be apparent. Regarding the time through, as soon as arrangements are in complete order and connections perfect, passengers may reach Liverpool in 46 or 47 days from Sydney. By the P. and 0. route the average time consumed is 52 dayß. Here, then, is a gain of time of nearly one week, and in expense of 250d015. It is certain however that larger steamers w.ill soon occupy this route, which wili perform the distance to New Zealand in 18 days. This is by no means an extravagant promise. Twelve knots an hour is not in these days deemed a very wonderful rate of speed. Steamers capable of averaging even more than that wili be required by the exigencies of the service. The through trip from Melbourne to Liverpool must and will be accomplished in 40 days. No one here looks upon the present arrangements as being other than temporary in their character. So soon as the contract is let under tbe Bill which is now before Congress and arrangements made by tbe contractor with the colonies, steamers equal to anything afloat will certainly occupy the line. When tbat result is attained, this route, despite any prejudices to tbe contrary, is bound to become the popular one.