The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1876.
In the whirl of Election excitement, the complication that has arisen in I respect to the San Francisco Mail Service has attracted but little atten- j tion. As is already known, the s.s. Oyphrenes took the last outgoing mail from Auokland to Kandavau, and the b,B. Oolima, which brought the last inward mail, sailed from Auckland to ; Sydney, to take up the service from that port. A few days after her sailing, however, to the surprise of everybody, the s.s. City of Melbourne arrived at Auckland, having been chartered to convey a Mail to San Fran* cisco by the New South Wales Government, at a cost which is said to have been at the rate of £100,000 per annum, the charge for which is to be made against the Pacific Mail Company, the contractors for the present service. It appears that the Sydney Government refused the offer of the Agent of the Company to despatch the 0.8. Maogregor with the mails. It was at first thought in Auokland that this had been done on the ground that the Macgregor was under the size of 3000 tons specified in the Mail Contract, but from information to hand per the City of Melbourne, it appear that the Macgregor required some repairs to her machinery before she could go to sea, and that until these were effected her engineers declined to sail in her. Under such circumstances the Sydney Government appears to have acted quite in the public interest in the action they took in chartering the City of Melbourne, and whether their action in sending that boat vi& New Zealand in case anything should have happened to the Oyphrenes was suggested by general doubt of the efficiency of the boats employed in the present service or not, it was extremely fortunate that they did so, as it is stated that the the Oyphrenes was to proceed to Sydney for repairs from Kandavau. Another authority, however, expresses an opinion that as the passengers would not like to be left at iCandavau on the chance of being; taken further, the Cyphrenes would go right on to San Francisco. This, of course, would depend on the condition of her machinery on arrival at Kandavau. As is well known, the steamer left here with machinery in a defective state, and now we know of two other of the Company's boats being in a similarly inefficient condition. To say the very least, this is a bad beginning for the service, likely permanently to injure the San Francisco as a passenger line, and to do away with all reliance upon it for mail purposes. Sir Julius Yogel and his co-negotiators seem to have made a mistake in allowing anything in the shape of temporary expedient in the commencement of the service, and of the employment of any but brand-new English-built steamers, in which both the travelling and corresponding public would have had that confidence which should always be felt in the boats of a steam )jne employed for mail purposes.
On arrival at Auckland, the City of Melbourne was instructed by our postal authorities to go on to Ivanda* vau, and she departed aoordingly. We presume by this, that our Government approve the action of the Sydney authorities, but whether they will join with the latter in what appears to . be their desire to cancel the present contract, and take steps to obtain another, which shall be carried out in a more satisfactory manner, remains to be seen, and must very shortly be decided.
The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1876.
Star (Christchurch), Issue 2431, 7 January 1876, Page 2
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