The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1870-02-16
Australian Mail service.

ALTHOUGH the stOppage OF the Panama Mail Ser.
vice was acQuiesced In as unavoidable necessity,
there arr signs thatt Is beginning TO be Missed aud
fortunately, they all want something different, and,
therefore cooperation Is rather difficult while So
paratc action is rather expensive.
The present service gives US all monthly mail
and 50 far Il eonfers great though not an equal
benefit. ON ALL Two of the colonies arr unable to
send replies by return Of post and It Is they there
FORE that are the most dissatisfied with the existing
arrangement At the same time the subsidy, though
heavy In ITSELF Is not burdcnsome one on any Sc
parae colony, and the malls are carried with pune
tuality. though it would be quite possible 10 cxpe
dite the delivery sti further BY the aid OF the cleo
trio telegraph, however, the chief items Of political
aud commercial news are made known simultane-
ously in all the colonies except New Zealand, I'm
medistey on the arrival of the branch mail al Port
Adelaide, and on the last occasion the latest telcg
phic news from Europe was only twenty-onc DAYS
old, which is the quickest transmisson Of intci
gence from the Old World that We have yet had.
Telegrams do not supersede letters yet they some
what mitigate the necessity for extreme speed In the
mail service. II is the opinion of some that the real
solution Of our intercolOuia dscord In the matter
Of mail routes will be found in the completion Of
the telegraphic communication between England
and Australia. When that is thoroughly established
and felt TO be reliable. and perhaps duplicated and
Implicated as to diminish the risk of any total
rupture Of the communication, there may be no ne
eessity to give high subsidies for an ocean postal
service. Not that lines of steamers viii cease TO
run. On the contrary, with growing commerce,
It Is probable that they will be multiplied But they
will look more for the profit TO their passenger and
freight traffic. and will be run on commercial and
economical footing. and perhaps at a lower speed.
At the present time, however, and pending the
advent OF new state Of things, subsidies arc stl
under discussion. In the Parliament Of New Zea-
land resolutions have been recently passed. direct
ing the Executive to make inquiries into the posi-
bility of postal line between that colony and san
Francisco. The opening of the Atlantic aud Pacific
Railway hes of course drawn fresh attention to the
North American route between England and Aus
tralia. Up TO the present time passengers not
sufficiently assured as to the safety Of the line or the
comforts Of the passage but for mail purposes Il
undoubtedly be made quite equal In efficiency TO the
Panama route, and will have some special advania-
ges which that line did not possess. Sydney, how
ever. rather than any port In New Zealand win be
the natural Australian terminus for such a line and
there are singularly convenient stopping places
along the route, which will be divided into three
stages, namely from Sydney to the Fills, from the
Fills TO the Sandwich Islands, and from the Saad-
weh Islands TO San Francisco. This last section OF
the route Is already iraversed by mail steamers sub
sidized by the American Government All that Is
needed, therefore, 10 restore that complete circuit
ofsteam communication round the world which was
interrupted by the withdrawal Of the Panama Com
pany. is line of steamers rruning between Sydney
and the Sandwich Islands, and this service can be
performed by vessels of moderate size capable Of
carrying about twelve DAYS coal.
Our present Government, however, has not shown
any special desire 10 develop this route but Is rather
throwing its energies into an effort to assist Queens
land to develop the service by the way Of Torres
Straits. The Premier, on recent visit 10 the capt
tai Of the Northern colony, has entered into some
preliminary negotiations with the Government there
on this matter, and the plan they have agreed 10
adopt Is to combine the Eastern colonies in the sup
port Of the Torres Straits route and leave the South
crn and Western colonies TO support the Suez route
the two being worked so as to a fortnightly
mall letters for all colonies being receivable by
either route aud forwarded the terms Of an ami
cable Arrangement. Resolutions to that effect will
probably be brought before Parliament In the ensu-
tftfrz he rha1a he.
seousiy referred TO a Select Committee Before the
colony of New South Wales withdnws from its con-
neeton with the Suez route II will have to be made
clear that by 50 doing IL puts itself in pO-
sion aud that II IL gains nothing, al least Il does
not lose The New Zealand Parliament has never
favOurcd adhesion 10 the Torres Straits route and
has recently pronounced against II, while ia Vie
toTa the disposition at present Is TO subsdze large
steamers by way OF the Cape Of Hope, 80 rs 10 en-
courage immigration. There Is however 10 be an
conference before long on various sub
jects Of common interest, when the whole question
Will be discussed and when II viii be possible see
whether any general determination can be arrived
at more likely 10 be lasting than that which resulted
from the former inter-eOlonia conference held AZ
MeloouIhe, ana winch arrangement was upset al
most soon as II was formed. The last Conference
certainly not encouraging for the scarcely sup
pressed inter ealouses broke out as soon as
the delegates had separated but Il NAV be possible
To do better next time. As II happens no great
harm resulted from the non-adoption Of the scheme
by Mr.. Parkes, because il must have been
modified by the breaking down Of the Panama Com
pany but il had the advantage Of intending the three
routes, and they must all be included u any com
plete scheme, unless the American Government,
With view to increase its maritime predOminance
IN these seas will undertake the work Of subsdsing
a trans-Pacifc line Of mail steamers. II has been
intlmaied that such a scheme s In contemplation
and If 80 the Australian colonies might be kIad to
their own expenditure, and accept this
assistance from the American nsg.-Sydaey Rerold,
SsPf s, 1859.