SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2824, 19 August 1890, Page 2

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE.

(l'.Y TKLKCKAI'H.— I'HESS ASSOCIATION'.) iVuLi.iNin'ON, Last Night. Tim Government have received a cable message from Air Creighton, Govemagent in San Francisco, that the Tonnage Subsidy Bill has not been passed but that the United States Government offer a subsidy of £12,000 for one year. The Government do not consider this enough and it 13 regarded as impossible that New Zealand could bear such a heavy burden unless the contractors consent to a very large reduction of tho amount hitherto required for the carriage of the mails. Last year New Zealand paid for the San Francisco Service a subsidy of t'2o,fiiSl> and a bonus of t'l,i!lO, Now South Wales contributed subsidy and bonus of about £17,000, and the United States gave about €5,000, while the British Government paid the cost of the carriage of the mails between London and San Francisco and vice vers?.. This latter arrangement the British Government has declined to continue, and New Zealand would therefore have, in order to ensure a continuance of the service, to vote a sum which the Government are not prepared to recommend and unless tho contractors consent to carry the mails under a reduced subsidy, it is regarded as conclusive that the Service cannot be continued after tho expiry of the contract in November next.