The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-27 00:00:00

THE TRANSMARINE POSTAL SERVICE.

A P 4

X paper, made public within

the last few weeks, contains an important, and
to many persons interesting, investigation into
the subject of the transmarine postal service,
or, in other words, the contract packet ser-
vice—a branch of administration of which the
magnitude may be estimated by this single
fact, that it absorbs 850,000/. of the revenue
yearly, and employs some hundred vessels,
many of which exceed in magnitude the com-
mon run of line-of battle ships.

- - - -
Two methods only exist by which the postal
communications of the country can be carried
on beyond seas :-1. By vessels of war em-
ployed as packets. 2. By vessels under con-
tract to perform that service. Both these
systems exist, but the latter is preferred, and
has gradually superseded the other almost to
its exclusion.
Contracts of this nature may be either tem-
porary, or for a long term of years. In ordi-
nary cases the first alternative is preferable,
as it allows Government to profit by any casual
reduction in the expenses of freight; but
where a new class of vessels had to be created
(and such were the ocean steamers), for the
performance of a new duty. it became evident
that an engagement of longer duration was
requisite, in order to compensate the parties
for the expense to which they were put in the
first instance.
It is, therefore, by the direct agency of Go-
vernment, and through the help of subsidies
largely granted, that the extraordinary speed,
certainty, and safety of trans-oceanic commu-
nication which now exists has been brought

AUGUST 27, 1853.

about. " The ocean," say the committee, " has
been traversed with a precision and regularity
" hitherto deemed impossible—commerce and
" civilisation have been extended—the colonies
" have been brought more closely into connec-
t' tion with the home Government—and steam-
" ships have been constructed of a size and
power that without Government aid could
" hardly, at least for many years, have been pro-
" duced. It is not easy to estimate the pecu-
" niary value of these results ; but there is no
" reason to suppose that they could have been
" attained at that time with less cost."

But the difficulties incident to every new
undertaking have ceased to exist. Ocean
steamers are no longer an experiment. Their
use has become universal, and the risk of loss
in their construction is not greater than that
incurred in and• other commercial investment.
Some change, therefore, may now be fairly
looked for in the amount and nature of the
Government assistance afforded to those who

build and own them.
There are three methods of determining the
amount of subsidy which should be granted
where the public interest requires the estab
lishment of a postal line on which the ordi-
nary traffic would not he remunerative for
steamers. Either the test. of public competi-
tion may be applied ; or an estimate may be
made of the probable loss, and thus of the
sum required to cover that loss ; or the ex-
pense of performing the same service by
means of war-steamers may be computed, and
the amount handed over to the contracting
parties. The latter mode of computation,
though the least economical, is that which
has generally prevailed. It was not an unfair
one at the first establishment of the new order
of things, but is clearly inapplicable now.
Doubts. indeed, are entertained by many per-
sons whether the principle of free trade
should not be applied to postal as well as to
all other arrangements. The outlay under
the present system is unquestionably heavy,
and its efl'ect is to check competition ; inas-
much as no unsubsidised company can pos-
sibly enter the field against those which are
receiving Government aid. It is even alleged
that more than one scheme of private enter-
prise, otherwise likely to succeed, has been
nipped in the bud by this too powerful rivalry.
The inference is obvious—and so far, at least,
indisputable—that. subsidies to private com-
panies for postal purposes, beyond the actual
cost of conveying the letters, should only be
conceded where private enterprise is insuffi-
cient to pay the cost of a line ; and where such
line is nevertheless required for commercial
or political purposes. Beyond this, we sus-
pect that most men will hesitate to condemn
the contract system. For to say that no line
shall be maintained except such as are self-
supporting is, in fact, to pronounce a ecasa
tion of postal intercourse with all nations be-
tween whom and ourselves no large exchange
of passengers and light goods takes place.
But, without carrying retrenchments to this
length, some minor reforms in the service are
not only practicable, but easy and safe. The
various provisions now intended, or supposed
to be intended, for the entoreement of postal
contracts, are in sonic instances vexatiously
restrictive, and in others expensively super-
fluous. By these the size and power of the
vessels employed is defined—the class of offi-
cers by whom they shall be commanded—the
rate of speed to be maintained. and the like—
while the reception on board of an Admiralty
agent is made a sine (poi non. The discon-
tinuance of these obsolete regulations is wisely
recommended by the conunittee a simple
stipulation being substituted. providing for the
delivery of the mails at their destination within
a prescribed number of days.
But the most lavish waste of money has
originated in that system by which it was
once imagined that the navy might be dimply
recruited, and the defence of the country pro-
vided for at the expense of individuals. Ac-
cording to this policy, every mail-steamer was
to be a man-of-war in disguise. capable of ear
lying guns, and thus adding. in ease of need,
to the effective strength of the national marine.
The idea was ingenious, but the result unsuc-
cessful. Experience has shown that steamers
built for speed can neither be efficiently
armed, nor even made capable of carrying guns