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PUBLIC RECORD

OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

8855 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE,

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

LONDON

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On the voyage from Suez to Adelaide very high temperature is met with; heavy weather is frequently experienced off the Australian coast; and encounter the great heat of the Red Sea.

passengers have to

By the Canadian route passengers. troops, stores, &c., can be conveyed between England and Australia in the above mail time, with the exception that, in the case of troops and stores, a small additional allowance must be made for transfer at Halifax and Vancouver. Should it be necessary in the event of war, or in case of emergency to make very fast time between England and the Colonies, the passage from Vancouver could be inade in 17 days or less, or about 27 days from England. On the other hand, European complications may render the London-Brindisi route unsafe and unreliable for mails and passengers, and in the event of war between any European Powers the Sucz Canal route may be absolutely blocked, leaving the Colonies dependent upon a Canadian service, or an infinitely longer one via the Cape.

From the above comparison it will be noticed that by the slowest and longest Canadian service (Table C.) the mails would be delivered in Brisbane in 5 days 10 hours, in Sydney 3 days 2 hours, and in Melbourne in I day 10 hours faster time than that tendered for by the P. & O. Co., and in Adelaide in 3 hours longer time only.

It is not intended in this statement to disparage in the slightest degree the Suez services of the Peninsular and Oriental and the Orient Companies; but it is thought that it will be more to the interests of the Australian Colonies to make provision for a Canadian service, which can be relied upon in times of war as well as peace, and which would be faster than the Suez services, than to enter into a 10 years' exclusive agreement with the Suez Companies for the transmission of all the mails.

It is thought that a fortnightly service via Canada would alternate satisfactorily with a fortnightly service via Suez, making a fast weekly mail delivery.

No. 31.

LIABILITY of AUSTRALIAN COLONIES on account of the IMPERIAL CONTRACT for the INDIA and CHINA SERVICE.

MEMORANDUM by the POST OFFICE.

At Tuesday's sitting (19 April), when postal questions were under discussion, inquiry was made by the Australian delegates whether. in the event of the two tenders for the conveyance of Australian mails, now before the Home and Colonial Governments, being accepted, a moiety of the subsidy payable under those tenders (170,0007, a year for 10 years contract) would be the only liability incurred by the contracting Colonies, apart from the land transit through France and Italy.

Mr. Rea, replying without the relative correspondence before him, and subject to verification, said that he thought some contribution would be expected from the Colonics towards the Imperial Mail line to China, on account of the partial use of that line under the amended tender of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com- pany, dated the 19th of January, inasmuch as the Company had offered a reduction of 15,000l. a year on condition of being allowed freedom of action with regard to tho transport of the mails between Brindisi and Colombo.

Mr. Rea thought that this "freedom of action Imperial Mail line to China (on the section between Brindisi and Colombo) for the took the form of utilizing tho conveyance of the Australian mails.

But on looking over the correspondence he finds it just the reverse, the Company explaining, at page 4 of their letter of the 19th of January, their desire to have liberty to transmit the China mails by the Australian steamer between Brindisi and Colombo or vice versa (at certain seasons) if they should think it advisable to do so; and it is for this liberty they offer the reduction of 15,000 a year, the advantage consisting in using ono ship instead of two ships at certain seasons of the year.

In these circumstances there can be no question as to any liability on the part of the Australian Colonies on account of the Imperial contract for the India and China service, and they may now be assured that if the two tenders in question be accepted,

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their liability will be confined to their share of the subsidy payable to the two com- panies for the Australian Mail Service proper, with the addition of such land transit charges as may be incurred in the conveyance of their mails to Europe.

No. 32.

NEWFOUNDLAND MAIL SERVICE.

MEMORANDUM by NEWFOUNDLAND REPRESENTATIVES.

THE mail service between Great Britain and Newfoundland is not on a satisfactory or defensible basis. Up to 1872 the Imperial Government paid half the mail subsidy to the steamers employed, retaining the postage received in this country. About that time the contribution was withdrawn, the Imperial post office still retaining the postage paid in England, while handing over to the Colony about one-fourth of the amount of this receipt towards the carriage of the mails, the remaining three-fourths appearing to be a profit to the Imperial post office.

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This arrangement was never regarded as a fair one, nor was it accepted as admitted settlement. As the question of the post service with the Colonies is now under the consideration of the Conference, the time seems a favourable one for the better adjustment of the conditions of the arrangement to which we are now directing attention.

We understand that the Australian mail service is to be placed on a footing that fixes one-half the subsidy each on Imperial and Colonial funds, with a corresponding apportionment of the receipts, and as we will not suppose that Her Majesty's Govern- ment would desire to place Newfoundland in a less favoured position, we respectfully request that a similar arrangement be made to apply to our Colony.

We now pay 15,9007 per annum for the conveyance of the mails between Great Britain and Newfoundland. The tax on so small a Colony is heavy, and as from the character of our trade relations with England this country is as much interested in the mail service as the Colony itself, nothing can be more equitable than that both should equally contribute to the charge on this account.

But aside from the immediate question, there is a special reason why this application should be favourably regarded. When the town of St. John's was almost wholly destroyed by fire some years ago, Her Majesty's Government voted 30,0007, to assist in relieving the distress. But provision having been fairly made from other sources, this amount was thankfully returned, and we feel the fact should have due weight in dealing with the Colony in any matter where financial considerations are involved.

London, May 2, 1887.

No. 33.

R. THORBURN. A. SHEA.

IMPERIAL PENNY POSTAGE. SUPPLEMENTARY LETTER

HENNIKER HEATON (received too late to be laid before the Conference, but from MR. printed by his desire).

GENTLEMEN,

To the PRESIDENT and MEMBERS of the COLONIAL CONFERENCE.

Ar the conclusion of my last interview, Lord Onslow courteously informed me

36, Eaton Square, S.W., May 6, 1887. that the Conference would be glad to receive from me any further statement I desired to send in on the subject of Imperial Ponny Postage.

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