THE VANCOUVER SERVICE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7585, 19 December 1902, Page 2

THE VANCOUVER SERVICE.

« A SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT. NEW ZEALAND TO SHARE THE'fiENEFI^S. ; In the course of a long article, flhe .(Melbourne i'Age" advocates the establishment of a thoroughly effioient Vancouver-Austra-lian-New Zealand service, in place of the ', present line, which, it says, can hardly be '. called up-to-date, and fails to attract that support which, under improved conditions, , it might fairly claim. The trade between 1 the Pacific Coast of Canada and Australasia is as yet limited, but (continues our con- ' temporary) there are fair reasons for assum- ' ing tfhat, as the means of communication im- | piove, it will expand!. The Dominion,al- '. ready supplies these States with agricultural machinery, timber, tinned fish, and various other lines, whilst Australia has been sending wool, sugar, meat, butter, 1 cheese and other products to Vancouver. A good deal more, however, might be done ' by both. Canada, should be able to pro- ' vide Australasia with all the printing paper required;— an. item which runs into large figures— whilst British Columbia should draw from us supplies of jams, fruits and 1 other articles of food, as well as manufac- ' tured woollen goods. k It is not, however, solely from a trace ' standpoint that an improvement in the pre- > sent mail service to Vancouver 'has become a necessity. A igood deal ihas been -written • and said as to the duty of Australasia re- • spending liberally to the expenses of the % k naval squadron located in these "waters. l Without discussing the" question, itunay. be • claimed that our contributions would' be' • handsomely supplemented if the new mail • contract for the Vancouver line contained t conditions making the fleet of the company , performing the service available for naval purposes in war time. The lowest possible c cost of building three steamers suitable for , the proposed service would be about' ' £750,000, whilst they aftig'ht involve the f outlay of £1,000,000. The'intffrest cbaiged on the hurrs alone, ib will be seen, would ' be from '£37,000 to £50,000 per annum, ' whilst tine up-keep and working expenses ' would be largely in excess of these amounts. A good deal will naturally turn, on the 1 matter of route, it being accepted as a fore--1 gone conclusion that the contract speed of '' the steamers to be employed shall average • 18 knots per foour. further, the mails will 1 have to bo delivered! in Liverpool in twentyeight to thirty -days to enable the publio to 1 obtain equal, if not superior, advantages to • those derived from I'he Eastern lines. Again, ' it is necessary that all the States should 1 , as . far as practicable, share directly in the • trade. With this view it is suggested that i Brisbane should be the first port of dei parture and the final port of arrival for the ser.vice. The mails, passengers and cargo from the southern States would be taken on board or discharged at Sydney, which, for postal purposes, would be the' .port of departure and arrival. ' The two routes available and the distances between' the various places of call are as follow:— . No. 1 EOUTB. Miles. Sydney -to' Wellington ". . . . .1280 "Wellington to Honolulu, via Samoa, . '4163 Honolulu to Vancouver . • »• • 2370 Total • .-.,.'. • 7813 No. 2 ROUTE. Sydney to Auckland . . • • 1284 Auckland to Fiji J: . • • • 1500 Fiji to Honolulu . . • • • 2736 Honolulu to Vancouver « • t .2370 Total . . • • \ •. ... 7890 No. 1 route is preferable,- being shorter, whilst it does not involve any of the navigation difficulties that are attached to No. 2. (It might be pointed, put that the Union Steamship Company's Shipping Guide and, other publications give the distance, between Sydney and Auckland as 1281 miles, as/ against 1&33 between Sydney and Wei- i lington, -which is still more in favour of fto. 1 route.) An eighteen-knot service would work but something as follows : — Steaming.— Sydney to Vancouver, 18 days ; detention, 12 hours, three ports, 1 j day 12 hours; overland, 3 days 12 hours; Sydney-Cape Breton to Liverpool, 5 days. Total mail tame^ 28 days. The time taken for the overland smice is based on the most recent report of the Canadian Pacific' Company, whose officials i state that the contemplated accelerated ser* ' vice will reduce the time of transit twentyfour hours. The Sydney-Cape Breton service is the new trans-Atlantic one which the Imperial and Canadian Governments are establishing, and which has been subsidised at a cost of £225,000 j>er annum for a period of ten year3. The latter, it is claimed, will do the passage in less time than is stated in the estimate given above. If this expectation prove correct,:' then tie, gain will be on our side. As matters nowstand, a twenty-eight day service between Sydney (New South Wales) and Liverpool may fairly be expected. .As to the highlyimportant matter of cost and the contributoriesj an estimate recently furnished! to the officials in London. and Canada indicates that an annual subsidy of £120,000 secured for ten years — the same currency as the British-Canadian contract — would be required. The sum looks large, but it cannot be ignored that substantial firms will not involve themselves in the- expenditure of perhaps a million sterling xmless they obtain some fair security that an interest return will be obtained for their money. How this subsidy is to he made up is another matter for consideration^ If ' the contributions were distributed in the following manner they would not press heavily on any of those interested: imperial . . . £25,000 Canada . .' • 40,000 i Commonwealth . 30,000 New Zealand - .. 25,000 Total . . £120,000 As Canada would receive the largest benefit from the establishment of a modern mail service to connect her railways with Australasia, the heaviest contribution should come from that quarter. The Imperial contribution is based on the same policy as that applied to the Cunard service. New Zealand, by adopting the Vancouver for the San Francisco line, would, save what she now pays to the latter, and get a better service under the British flag. The Commonwealth may take £20,000 off the P. and O. and Orient subsidy when ib comes up for renewal, obtaining new advantages without injuring existing services.