The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-12-11


ager Of the Canadian Pacific Railway,
said recently, in connection with the
Pacific cable between Canada and
Australia, that the tenders in each
case was below the estimate made by
Sandford Fleming, says a late dis
patch.
Mr.. Hosmer stated that a confer
ence held in Ottawa last summer, at
which the Pacific cable was the prin-
cipal topic of consideration and at
which were represented the imperial
government, all the Australian colo.
nies and the Cape of Good Hope, all
were unanimous in the opinion that
this cable should be laid and the diff
ferent governments interested should
furnish the necessary means to carry
out the work.
At the time it was thought the most
serious objection to the work was that
no detailed survey of the Pacific
Ocean had been made, but the fact
that six leading telegraph construc-
ton companies are willing to under
take the work with the surveys they
now have, disposes of this difficulty,
so that the cost of the work to be ap-
portioned among the different govern
ments is now the only question to be
considered.
Mr.. Hosmer is positive that the
cable, from commercial standpoint,
will be a success and hopes within
two years to see the great bulk of
cable business between Great Britain
and Australia diverted to this route.
1t is proposed to lay the cable from
Vancouver, which point is now in
direct communication with CansO, n.
S., where the Commercial Cable Com
pany's main Atlantic cables connect
Europe with America, so that the
communication between Great Brit
ain and Australia would be almost
instantaneous, whereas by the present
route there is great delay owing to the
great number of repetitions necessary.
The San Francisco Examiner in
commenting on the cable says:
The cable that is to be laid across
the Pacific by Canada and the vigor-
Gus efforts that are being made to cap
ture the trade of the Pacific move the
New York Times to patronizing scorn
of California and San Francisco. The
commerce of the Pacific, it justly
states, is of far more Importance to
the United States than to Canada
vet we have relied on I" slow mail
steamers and "have not established
telegraphic communication even
with the Hawaiian Islands" "The
Canadians" it says, "have shown
great enterprise since the opening of
the Canadian Pacific in diverting
trade to that route, while the Califor-
10
thetic. The laying of a cable from
Vancouver instead of from San Fran
cisco will give the Canadians very
marked advantage in their effort to
capture the Asiatic trade"
The melancholy commercial situa-
ton is here correctly set forth. But
the enterprise our New York contem-
porary admires is not the enterprise of
British Columbia or Vancouver, nor
is the apathy the apathy of California
or of san Francisco. The cable is to
steamships find it profitable to start |
from that port because the Canadian |
Government thinks the trade of the |
Pacific important enough to spend the |
public money TO get il. The cable is |
to be laid under a guaranty of profits, |
and the Canadian Pacific steamers re- !
ceive large subsidies and profitable |
mail contracts.
San Francisco would show all the |
needed under similar cir |
San Francisco does sup |
port several lines of steamers in the |
Pacific trade, and so far from seeing |
them assisted by subsidies from the |
United States Government she has |
found the Government uniformly un- |
willing TO aid them even by paying a |
fair rate for carrying the mails. The |
Australian mail was able to run for |
years through the enlightened gener |
osity of New Zealand, New South |
Wales aud other Aust ALASKAN colo |
nies. They paid a subidy to the |
American line while -1e United |
States was making a pr"tit on the |
sea postage on the letters carried.
IF the Times and its Eastern con- |
poraries had supported the efforts |
of San Francisco to get the Ha" allan !
cable and 10 secure little encourage |
ment for the Pacific steamship lines |
it would have had no reason to COM |
plain of Canadian absorption of the
trade that ought to belong TO the
United States.