5

F.—4a.

By Route 2, from North-West Cape to Singapore the distance would he 1,618 miles, or ahout 300 more miles of cahle than Route 1, but no land line. It would require much less cable (over 250 miles) than the line proposed by Mr. Robertson, and about a hundred miles more than the present route, but, as I have said, with a saving of the land line. It would probably be better than No. 1, for it Avould be independent of the Java land line ; a mere transmitting station at Java would suffice. It would thus be a more complete duplicate of the present line, whilst the Java Government would perhaps make the terminal charge, if any, much less than the charge for using the whole extent of land line, and the saving would probably repay the extra distance of cable. Before proceeding to consider the third route, which proceeds direct to Galle from Australia, I will put in simple form the distance to Singapore from Australia by the various routes already referred to :— Ist. From Darwin by present route, through Java to Singapore —1,550 miles sea and 600 land. 2nd. Erom Darwin by Mr. Robertson's route, via Copang, to Singapore — 1,890 miles sea. 3rd. Route No. 1, from Western Australia, via east end of Java, to Singapore—l,3ls miles sea and 600 land. 4th. Route No. 2, from Western Australia, via west end of Java, to Singapore —1,618 miles sea. To the first two of these routes, about 600 miles of land line must be added, for the distance from Normanton to Darwin ; and to the last two, about 420 miles of land line must be added, for the distance from Geralton (Champion Bay) to North-West Cape. Route 3, that from Western Australia to Galle, is in some respects the best, if considered only in the light of a thorough duplication to India. The distance to Galle from Western Australia would be 2,673 miles. A convenient stopping place on the way might be found at the Cocoa Islands. The distance from Singapore to Madras, by way of Penang, is 1,641 miles. Adding this distance to the present route, the route proposed by Mr. Robertson, and Nos. 1 and 2 from Western Australia, we have, against 2,673 miles to Galle, these results respectively to Madras: — Present route —Land line, 600 miles ; sea line, 3,191 miles. Mr. Robertson's—Route by Copang, sea line, 3,531 miles. Western Australia, No. I—Land1 —Land line, 600 miles; sea line, 2,956 miles. Western Australia, No. 2 —Sea line, 3,259 miles. Possibly the Company may have reasons, in connection with their line to China, for preferring to duplicate the line by Singapore to laying a new line by Galle. Taking, however, the two minimums, we may conclude that 2,673 miles of cable can be made to form an entire duplication to India, and 1,315 miles a duplication to Singapore, exclusive of the land line through Java. In all cases, lam taking the distances roughly, without allowing for slack. The two lines just mentioned would probably mean a cost of £450,000 to Singapore, and £900,000 to Galle. Mr. Robertson estimates the cost by his suggested route to Singapore at £750,000. That from Singapore to Madras would scarcely be less than £550,000, unless the line was carried up the Malay Peninsula by land, a route to which there are insuperable objections. I am not aware on what grounds Mr. Robertson names £15,000 as the subsidy for a second line. I should consider it reasonable if it conditioned for a complete duplication through to India, whether by way of Singapore or Galle. If it only provided for duplication to Singapore, I doubt whether it is worth entering into the transaction; and I should be decidedly averse to it if the duplication did not include a second land line through Australia. If we do not disapprove of the amounts named, I do not think we should make it a condition to adopt the Western Australia route, however much it seems to be preferable. If it is still desired to use the Darwin route, let it be so, but only on the conditions of through communication from Normanton to Darwin, which would give a second land line throughout, and of an entirely separate communication from the point of departure in Australia to India. 2—F. 4a.