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F.—6

THE PROPOSED ALL-RED ROUTE.

No. 103. The High Commissioner to the Hon. the Prime Minister. Sir, — Westminister Chambers, 13 Victoria Street, London, S.W., 21st .June, 1907. I beg to enclose herewith a printed notice relating to an Imperial route from Great Britain to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The statement appears to have been issued with a special view to benefiting Ireland in connection with such a service. I have, &c, W. P. Reeves. The Hon. the Prime Minister, Wellington. [Van. Conn. 07/46.] - Enclosure in No. 103. The demand for closer relations and improved communications between the distant parts of the British Empire is the question of to-day, and each important step in that direction will be welcomed by all who desire to see the consolidation of Greater Britain Some of those who for years have been considering how the rapidly increasing traffic between Great Britain, Canada, and the oversea colonies can be best developed so as to benefit all have come to the conclusion that this can be effectively attained by the following project, whilst at the same time helping Ireland, across which it is proposed to bring a large amount of both passenger and high-class-goods traffic at present passing from and to Canada through the United States. The proposals embraced in the project are as below :— No. 1.—The establishment of a service between Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Blacksod Bay (on the west coast of Ireland) of a line of first-class steamships capable of crossing the Atlantic in three days and a half, at an average speed of twenty-five knots per hour. No. 2.—The establishment of ferries between the east coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland and England by means of steamships so constructed as to be capable of conveying passengers and goods trains entire from port to port without disturbing passengers or unloading trucks. No. 3.—The construction of such railways in Ireland as may be necessary, in conjunction with ■existing lines, to provide for an express passenger service between Blacksod Bay and the east coast at a speed of not less than fifty miles per hour. The railways in Ireland would be constructed on a mixed English and Irish gauge, and would connect with the Midland, Great Western, the Great Southern and Western, the Sligo and Leitrim, and Great Northern Railways. The distance between Blacksod and Halifax is 2,113 miles, and with twenty-five-knot steamers the trip would be made in three days and a half. The distance between Blacksod and London, 551 miles, would be covered in fourteen hours, and between Halifax and Montreal in eighteen to twenty hours, so that mails could be conveyed from the Post Office in London to the Post Office in Montreal in less than 5 days, from London to Chicago in less than 6 days, and London to the Pacific Coast in 9 days. With proper steamers on the Pacific Ocean it would be possible to deliver the mails in Japan in 17 days, to Hong Kong in about 22 days, to Sydney, Australia, in 26 days, and Auckland, New Zealand, in 25 days. The increased importance of the trade with Japan calls for much better postal and transport facilities than are now available, while it is still more important to get in as close touch as possible with Australia and New Zealand. The growing intercourse between Canada and northern Europe, and the increasing emigration to Canada from Belgian, German, and Scandinavian ports, call for improved facilities in this direction. The establishment of an efficient through train service between the ports on the west coast of Scotland and England, and the ports of Newcastle, Hull, Grimsby, and Harwich, which are connected by numerous lines of steamers with the Continental ports, would divert a large portion of the passenger traffic now going by German liners to New York. The shortness of the ocean passage would certainly be a great inducement to all classes of passengers to select this route. It is hardly necessary to point out the advantages to Scotland and the North of England of the establishment of this route. Although there are ports in Canada nearer to Ireland than Halifax, it is thought best to make that the Canadian port, as it can be reached at all seasons of the year without the slightest trouble from ice. The largest vessels can come alongside the wharves at any stage of the tide, and it is the great eastern terminus of the Canadian transcontinental lines. The Intercolonial Railway (the Government line) extends to that port; the Canadian Pacific also reaches it by running a short distance over the Intercolonial; the Grand Trunk Pacific will reach it in the same way ; and the Canadian Northern, the third transcontinental line, will also have similar facilities. These three lines are all seeking to bring settlers into the country ; during this season Canada has been receiving 1,000 settlers per day, but that number is likely to be doubled or even trebled within a very few years, and it is necessary to provide the requisite transportation facilities for them.

- Enclosure in No. 103. The demand for closer relations and improved communications between the distant parts of the British Empire is the question of to-day, and each important step in that direction will be welcomed by all who desire to see the consolidation of Greater Britain Some of those who for years have been considering how the rapidly increasing traffic between Great Britain, Canada, and the oversea colonies can be best developed so as to benefit all have come to the conclusion that this can be effectively attained by the following project, whilst at the same time helping Ireland, across which it is proposed to bring a large amount of both passenger and high-class-goods traffic at present passing from and to Canada through the United States. The proposals embraced in the project are as below : — No. I.—The establishment of a service between Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Blacksod Bay (on the west coast of Ireland) of a line of first-class steamships capable of crossing the Atlantic in three days and a half, at an average speed of twenty-five knots per hour. No. 2.—The establishment of ferries between the east coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland and England by means of steamships so constructed as to be capable of conveying passengers and goods trains entire from port to port without disturbing passengers or unloading trucks. No. 3. —The construction of such railways in Ireland as may be necessary, in conjunction with ■existing lines, to provide for an express passenger service between Blacksod Bay and the east coast at a speed of not less than fifty miles per hour. The railways in Ireland would be constructed on a mixed English and Irish gauge, and would connect with the Midland, Great Western, the Great Southern and Western, the Sligo and Leitrim, and Great Northern Railways. The distance between Blacksod and Halifax is 2,113 miles, and with twenty-five-knot steamers the trip would be made in three days and a half. The distance between Blacksod and London, 551 miles, would be covered in fourteen hours, and between Halifax and Montreal in eighteen to twenty hours, so that mails could be conveyed from the Post Office in London to the Post Office in Montreal in less than 5 days, from London to Chicago in less than 6 days, and London to the Pacific Coast in 9 days. With proper steamers on the Pacific Ocean it would be possible to deliver the mails in Japan in 17 days, to Hong Kong in about 22 days, to Sydney, Australia, in 26 days, and Auckland, New Zealand, in 25 days. The increased importance of the trade with Japan calls for much better postal and transport facilities than are now available, while it is still more important to get in as close touch as possible with Australia and New Zealand. The growing intercourse between Canada and northern Europe, and the increasing emigration to Canada from Belgian, German, and Scandinavian ports, call for improved facilities in this direction. The establishment of an efficient through train service between the ports on the west coast of Scotland and England, and the ports of Newcastle, Hull, Grimsby, arid Harwich, which are connected by numerous lines of steamers with the Continental ports, would divert a large portion of the passenger traffic now going by German liners to New York. The shortness of the ocean passage would certainly be a great inducement to all classes of passengers to select this route. It is hardly necessary to point out the advantages to Scotland and the North of England of the establishment of this route. Although there are ports in Canada nearer to Ireland than Halifax, it is thought best to make that the Canadian port, as it can be reached at all seasons of the year without the slightest trouble from ice. The largest vessels can come alongside the wharves at any stage of the tide, and it is the great eastern terminus of the Canadian transcontinental lines. The Intercolonial Railway (the Government line) extends to that port; the Canadian Pacific also reaches it by running a short distance over the Intercolonial; the Grand Trunk Pacific will reach it in the same way ; and the Canadian Northern, the third transcontinental line, will also have similar facilities. These three lines are all seeking to bring settlers into the country ; during this season Canada has been receiving 1,000 settlers per day, but that number is likely to be doubled or even trebled within a very few years, and it is necessary to provide the requisite transportation facilities for them.