THE BONUS TO THE "TASMANIAN MAID."

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1401, 27 January 1860, Page 3

THE BONUS TO THE "TASMANIAN MAID."

The conveyance of the Mails between Nelson and the Wairau has never been of more consequence than the conveyance of the mails between Wellington and Napier, ■ Both these services, until recently, were Inter-Provincial ones, and carried on by local steamers subsidized by . the respective Provincial Governments;.,yet: the : Tasmanian Maid has been' receiving £10 00 a year from tlic General Government, while "tl}e " Wongd JsW^;was-leftr -to 1 shift for 3 herself best she could. ' ;

[By the la it Nelson , : Examiner, We learn that. on the Nelson Coast Steam Association applying for the .£SOO due for the half-year ended on the 31st December last, ' they were informed that the contract had ceased six months pre* viously and no payment could, therefore, be made. The engagement entered into with the Coleman Company not to subsidize any steamers but those of that line, is s?ated to be a bar to renewal of the Contract, although this may be overcome as Mr. Coleman has intimated "that he would throw no difficulty, in the way of the subsidy being continued ass heretofore." The renewal of the subsidy to the Tasmanian Maid is confidently looked for by h^pwners, ; .antl 4 if i#.js .necessary to keepjUieiv, gomgti we hope she Avill o- G t it. ■

How very different the conduct pursued by the General Government . with reference to the Wellington steamer. She runs altogether independently of the General Government, receiving no bonus but what comes from Provincial

• (funds. The Coleman Company failing fulfil their engagement to run their and _ Auckland steamer on to r Hawke's Bay, engaged the White Siv.in {to do it for them, but as the subsidy | they were prepared to give wav insufficient adequately to supplement the trade ; between the two Provinces, Wellington was added in the expectation of a Provincial bonus being forthcoming somewhere. Where this " somewhere " was, soon transpired, for Mr. Tancred, in communicating the arrangement to the Superintendent of Hawkes' Bay, states that " every effort should be made to retain the services of the White Swan, v and suggests "as the only means of doing so that the subsidy of tlie Wonga Wont/a (the portion granted by' Hawke's Bay) be withdrawn." This suggestion is not only speedily complied with, but an attempt is also made to drive the Wonga Wonga off the line, by granting a heavier subsidy to her rival so long a ; s they compete Avith each other. In the ca3e of Nelson the General Government and the Coleman Company work together to keep the local steamer afloat; in that of "Wellington they both combine to lay her up, The Company are of course alive to their ovm interests; but the General Government step out of their way when they thus abet designs, which not only involve diametrically opposite principles, but tend to support a monopoly, against the high rates consequent on which every Province is crying out. {From the Nelson Examiner, January', 14.) We understand that the Nelson Coast Steam Association have not yet been able to obtain payment, from the Sub-Treasurer of ll»o Gcno nil Government, of the subsidy to the T;is manian Maid, for conveyance of mails for the half year ending the-3lst Ddcembsr ; and that -'although the Sub -Treasurer until a few days .baM; considered himself authorised to piy it, 'ftnVPiffife* Provincial Government have, by the 'ttcrn'sta'ni use of the steamer for t'»c conveyance of prisoners free, and by -giving orders for free passages to all Government officers up to the end of the ye ir, evidenced that they also have 'never doubted the due payment of the bonus, it appears that, by a letter reoeived by them from the General Government by the last mail, intimating to them that as the original contract had expiied on the 30th June last, and no fresh contract had been entered into, n& payment would be made to the Association after that date. The contract with fie Coleman line. having in it. we believe, as one of its conditions, that no steamer other than those belonging to that line shall, duriug the existing 1 contract, be subsidized for conveying mails between eny one province aud another, may make some difficulty for the future in any subsidy to the Tastnanian Maid for carryiug mails between Nelson and the Wairau, or rather the new Province of Marl borough ; although we understand that ,Mr. Co'feinan, the Manager of the Royal Mail steamboats, has intimated that he would throw no difficulty in the way of the subsidy being continued as hitherto. But the p lyment to the Association of the £500 considered by them to be due also on the 3 1st December, considered to be due by the Sub-Treasurer and by the Provincial Government, who have availed themselves of the steamer as heretofore up to that date, must, .ye should imagine, be a matter of speedy arrangement when the General Government shall have the facts of the case properly laid before them ; and to effect this, We understand that the Association wait only a reply from the Provincial Government to their inquiry as to whether they will support or oppose their statement of the case and application, to the General Government for payment for the half year just closed. We have thought it desirable, In consequence of some apprehension existing in the public ,n}inj[ as to the possibility of the discontinuance of the Tasmanian Maid from ,tfig noB-p^yment of the bonus, to be thus particular in putting the facts of the case before the public