The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-26 00:00:00

'AUSTRALIAN POSTAL CO VIAIWNICATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—" Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." In
common with many others deeply interested in Austra-
lia, I have been waiting in almost breathless expectation
to see the announcement by the Government of an ac•
cepted tender to convey the Australian monthly mails,
via Suez to Melbourne, in 45 days, and to return in same
period ; but no, although this is not only possible, but
has been demonstrated over and over again as eminently
practical, and ardently desired alike by British interests
.and by Australian colonists, the Government, as usual,
is most provokingly slow to put the long-desired line
again in motion, but I trust it is not deterred from im-
mediate action by persons who are constantly proposing
other and far less eligible routes, among which, as ap-
pears in the money article of the Times of the 18th inst.,
a Mr. Laming may be mentioned, whose proposed rente
measures 3,019 miles longer than that by Suez, and the
vessels for his project are yet to be built ! The British
public, however, may rest assured that any such scheme
as Mr. Laming's, even if it could be set in motion within
a reasonable time, would be almost certain to break
down in practice ; and after the lamentable experience
we have had of ocean steamers and Cape routee, such a
proposition would cause the greatest dissatisfaction to
every one interested, if subsidised to the smallest extent
by the Government to the exclusion or even delay of the
Suez route, which latter alone is capable of immediate
action, and of proved desirability. Great Britain and
the Australian colonies have long required a quick and
certain route for their postal correspondence ; and as the
parties interested are willing to pay for it, and have
pointed out the means, they justly consider it a great
hardship to be so long deprived thereof.
I may mention that I hold no shares in any Steam-ship
Company, but that I have resided for the long period
of 13 years in the capital of Victoria, and for 3 years
was a Member of Council for that colony—it may,
therefore, be presumed that I am not unacquainted with
the feelings of the colonists on this important subject.
Whilst the public meetings, the petition and memorial
of the Australian Association, lately presented to Par-
liament, and also the press of this country, sufficiently
indicate that nearly all parties on this side who have in-
terests in Australia are unanimous in favour of imme-
diately subsidising the Suez route in preference to all
others—yet the Government still hesitates, and by this
and similar neglect does its best to convert loyal colon-
ists into the wildest republicans. How long will this
state of things be enforced by the opposition in Parlia-
ment am, Sir, your obedient servant,

WM. F. SPLATT.
Combe, Honiton, 23d June, 1856.
P.S.---Since the foregoing was written, another letter
has appeared in the Times of the 23d instant, the pro-
duction of Mr. Bayhe, ex-Mayor of Geelong. This
gentleman strongly advocates the Panama route, which
is 2,338 miles longer than that via Suez ; besides which
the entire Pacific side is totally without the means of
immediate action, and this line is also diametrically
opposed to the report of the Select Committee of the
Legislative Council of Victoria, and confirmed unani-
mously by the Council of that colony, as appears by the
Melbourne Weekly Herald of the 7th Mar 6, and equally
opposed to the views of South Australia, as appears by
the Mebourne IVeekly Herald of the 21st March, where
there are Mr. Baylie and thousands who think with him
on the subject.

PUNCH-THE SPOILT CHILD.

" He certainly deserves a clout on the head."

Our merry contemporary Punch must accept our feli-
citations on the completion of his thirtieth volume,
which we can truly say has, like its predecessors, been
characterised by frolic wit, and the whimsicallest
humour directed to the promotion of the general wel-
fare, as well as the supply of a perpetual fund of amuse-
ment. The concluding number contains, among other
things, a humorous preface, in which the volume is
offered as a peaoe offering to the nations, and a clever
cartoon descriptive of the existing relations between the
people of this country and America. The former is
headed by a woodcut representing Mr. Punch's national
school. The amiable'pedagogue appears seated at his desk
in the act of seizing his birchen emblem of sovereignty,
as he indignantly contemplates the offensive attitude of
that bad boy Sam towards his jovial and plethoric school
fellow John Bull, because the latter has been amusing
himself with his box of soldiers. The two characters are
happily hit off, as in the back-ground are the heavy-
headed Emperors of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, who
are endeavouring to comprehend the contents of Vol.
XXX., and dunce Bomba, who is represented standing
blubbering beneath'his appropriate crown of foolscap on
the form to which his demerits have elevated him. The
cartoon represents John Bull, a forbearing and much
meditative elderly parent, watching with restrained in-
dignation the brutal vagaries of "the spoilt child "--to
wit, American Satn—who, seated on a table amid the
general wreck of his playthings, is represented, lash in
one hand and revolver in the other, beating in with the
latter the head of his big drum ! Pareut—"l don't like
to correct him just now, because he's about his teeth
and sickening for his measles ; but he certainly deserves a
clout on the head!" Most certainly.