Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress with the Annual Message of the President, December 4, 1871
Mr. Peirce to Mr. Fish
Sir: In the belief that no law has as yet been enacted by Congress for the establishment of a monthly line of steamships for transporting the United States mails between San Francisco and the Australian colonies, and in view of the beneficial importance of that measure to the interests of the United States in this hemisphere, and particularly so in our commercial and political relations with this archipelago, and that much depends upon the designation by law and proper selection of the terminal and way ports of the proposed mail service; and thinking the information herewith transmitted may have some weight in determining the several questions above alluded to, I have the honor to inclose—
Copy of an unofficial letter addressed to myself by his excellency J. M. Smith, Hawaiian minister of finance, of date January 16, 1871, containing much that is interesting and suggestive in regard to the subject-matter, worthy of consideration by the United States Postmaster General and others.
Printed slips from Taranaki Herald of November, 1870, containing terms of a recent contract between Mr. Vogel, postmaster general of New Zealand, and Mr. A. Neilson, for mail service from and to New Zealand and San Francisco.
Slips of Hawaiian Gazette of January 4, 1871, containing correspondence between the Hawaiian government, Mr. Neilson, and Mr. Vogel—same subject.
Slips of Hawaiian Gazette of January 11, 1871. Remarks on the [Page 552] Australian steamship line to Honolulu; and on the correspondence above named. Also a statement of comparative distances from San Francisco to Honolulu, Feejee, and New Zealand, and San Francisco to Sydney, via Honolulu and Feejee; and articles entitled “Across the Pacific,” “Hall on the rampage.”
From my stand-point, and with full knowledge of the subject, I am strongly of opinion that the mail route of the steamers should be fixed by law to run on the great circle or shortest line from San Francisco to Honolulu, thence to Feejee Islands and Sydney, New South Wales, and return the same way; New Zealand to be rejected as a terminal port, on account of small population, and Sydney selected as having ten times more population and commerce, and proposing to grant large subsidy for the service. Besides, the region about New Zealand and thence to Australia is tempestuous in the general character of its weather, while the route from Feejee to Sydney is comparatively free from severe storms.
New Zealand would, no doubt, ultimately have a connecting line to Feejee if the main line is established by the United States in the manner proposed.
Two other things I beg leave to suggest:
The agent of the contractors’ steamers at Honolulu should be a citizen of the United States, for the reasons named in my dispatch No. 57.
The existing contract for mail service between San Francisco and Honolulu should, if possible, be annulled, and the work and subsidy of $75,000 per annum be arranged so as to transfer both to the new line from San Francisco to Honolulu and Australia.
I have, &c.,
(Inclosures.)
No. 1.—Letter from J. M. Smith, minister of finance, to H. A. Peirce’ January 16, 1871.
No. 2.—Slips from Herald at Auckland, New Zealand.
Nos. 3 and 4.—Slips from Hawaiian Gazette of January 4 and 11, 1871.
No. 1.—Unofficial.
Mr. Minister: The establishing of a proper steam service between San Francisco and Sydney is a matter of so much importance that I gladly give you such information as may be in my power to communicate.
It is assumed by steamer-owners and those interested that to run steamers on the route large subsidies will be required, and that the countries whose ports are connected or visited by the boats should join their subsidies on the same line.
The Eastern Australian and New Zealand colonies, whose interests in this Pacific route are identical, as compared with the route occupied by the Peninsular and Oriental Company, have so far joined together as to subsidize the line of English steamers at present running from Sidney, via Auckland, to Honolulu, and connecting here with the American line of Messrs. Holladay & Brenham. Their subsidies (New South Wales £10,000 and New Zealand £15,000) are granted for five years to H. H. Hall, esq., (United States consul at Sydney,) for a monthly service. His steamers commenced running in April last, and have made their trips regularly up to this time, transferring their passengers and mails at this port to the San Francisco steamer.
The steamers employed are the Wonga-Wonga and City of Melbourne; both are iron screw propellers, 700 tons English measurement, able to steam on the round voyage ten knots per hour, and of accommodating one hundred first-class and one hundred steerage passengers. The two first trips of these steamers, their passengers having been about one hundred and fifty persons, paid a very handsome profit on the cost of the voyage, [Page 553] but at present the passengers having fallen to fifty or sixty persons; they are not paying their way.
Mr. Hall is now hacked by the Australian Steam Navigation Company, whose boats he chartered for the first six months, but they now (as they have idle boats) are desirous of joining him to maintain the service. They propose, if New Zealand breaks off from the present contract, to secure sufficient Subsidies from the Australian colonies to keep their steamers upon the route. These steamers on their voyage from Honolulu to Auckland follow the shortest line, but in returning keep well eastward of the Friendly Islands, in order to avail themselves of the southeast and northeast trade-winds on the northerly passage, sighting always Fanning’s Island.
Mr. Hall has a contract with Messrs. Holladay & Brenham to transport his mails, passengers, &c., between San Francisco and Honolulu. The distances are as follows:
| Miles. | |
| San Francisco to Honolulu | 2,103 |
| Honolulu to Auckland | 3,817 |
| Auckland to Sydney | 1,290 |
| Total | 7,210 |
Their contract time is:
| Days. | |
| San Francisco to Honolulu | 10 |
| Honolulu to Auckland | 16 |
| Auckland to Sydney | 5 |
| Total | 31 |
The route followed by Hall’s steamers fully accommodates the New Zealand colonies, and for their connection with San Francisco cannot be bettered; but not so the Australian colonies, inasmuch as the direct line between Honolulu (which lies in the shortest line between San Francisco and Sydney) and Sydney is seven hundred and sixty-six miles, or three days’ steaming, shorter than through Auckland.
In order to obtain for both colonies, therefore, the shortest time, the line must branch at or near the Feejee Islands.
But though the colonies combined upon subsidizing the Hall line as the most immediate realization of their wishes to have steam connection with San Francisco, yet the necessity of a subsidy from Congress to help them develop the route with first-class steamers, and the ambition of New Zealanders to have their islands the terminus of the main line, has prevented a mutual agreement with the same company to run their ships.
New Zealand has recently entered into an agreement with Mr. Neilson, an agent of Messrs. Holladay & Brenham, to pay £40,000 per annum for a first-class line of steamers which shall make Port Chalmers, the most southern of their ports, the terminal point of their voyages. It enforces the vessels, after reaching Auckland, the most northern port, to make a coasting voyage of one hundred hours, touching at Wellington and Lyttelton, to Port Chalmers.
The largest commercial city of the islands, and the nearest port to Sydney, is Auckland.
This agreement has been entered into by Mr. Vogle, their postmaster general, under the general provisions of their postal laws of 1858, and it must be submitted to their parliament, now in session, for approval and adoption. The expectation of its adoption is based upon the compromises of the contract regarding the wants and interests of the parliamentary district, by making the steamers touch at the several ports on the coast.
Though this agreement, in its first promulgation, has been cheered by their press, it seems impossible that it will be accepted for its full term of years, since it throws upon their revenue a burden unnecessarily large, to secure a benefit that can be obtained at a cheaper price; because of their large public debt and small population of 250,000. Their parliament will remember that they already have a steam service which gives them in the main the benefits claimed to arise out of the new scheme, and that the proposals for the same service have been made by a strong London company at £24,000 per annum.
Their scheme also will not meet with any favor or co-operation from the Australians, although the contract mentions branch lines from New Zealand ports as one of the contingencies of the agreement. Their population of two and a half millions and large trade with San Francisco cannot be made subordinate to the strait-jacket of a terminal line to New Zealand.
The projected route of the steamers (at choice of the contractors) from San Francisco to Auckland, via Tahiti, will also in greater degree be incompatible with the interest [Page 554] and wishes of the Australians; for although the distance between the two ports, via Tahiti or via Honolulu, is upon the chart about the same, the up voyage from Auckland through Tahiti would be lengthened several days by reason of steaming the whole passage directly in the teeth of the trade-winds. As the direct route between San Francisco and Sydney lies near the Hawaiian and the Feejeean Islands, and not at all near the Society Islands, a detour to these latter islands would not help matters in their estimation.
| Miles. | |
| The distance from San Francisco to Tahiti is | 3,658 |
| Tahiti to Auckland | 2,216 |
| Auckland to Sydney | 1,290 |
| Total | 7,164 |
| Miles. | |
| The distance from San Francisco to Honolulu is | 2,103 |
| Honolulu to Feejee | 2,712 |
| Fejee to Sydney | 1,629 |
| Total | 6,444 |
or 720 miles in favor of the Honolulu and Feejee route. It is not necessary with large steamers, except for the purpose of connecting with a branch line to Auckland, to stop at Feejee as well as at Honolulu on a voyage to Sydney.
The commercial interests of the United States combine primarily with those of Australia, inasmuch as by its greater population and trade over New Zealand it will give the largest result, by reason of steam connection with San Francisco.
Nearly all the passengers and freight that go upon the steamers at present running is either to or from Australia.
That the steamers ought to be run upon the routes indicated by the speediest and most natural track of traffic and travel, and thereby trade be fostered, rather than be forced into impracticable channels, is a proposition to be taken into reasonable consideration by the governments whose subsidies will be given to this new Pacific enterprise. In the disagreements of the colonists, and their impending failure to combine upon one and the same route, it will be within the province of Congress to secure the co-operation of both, as well as that of the Hawaiians, by designating in their subsidy grants (if they mean to secure the route to their own ships) the route which shall be followed.
Taking for granted that Sydney will be made the terminus, for the reason that these steamers ought to become self-supporting, or nearly so, the best route is that of San Francisco to Sydney, via Honolulu and Auckland, or via Honolulu and Feejee, with a branch line to Auckland.
If either of these routes obtains assistance from Congress, the commercial interests as well as mail convenience of all the countries mentioned will cause the subsidies to be combined eventually upon it.
Beyond the fact that Honolulu is upon the most direct line, there is another reason why Congress should cause it to be named as a way port when this subject comes up for their consideration. They have caused for several years past a subsidy of $75,000 to be paid for a steam service between San Francisco and Honolulu, and the policy which instituted that subsidy is still both sound and reasonable in favor of its continuance. They have already possession of one-third of the distance contemplated by the new service, which in fact is but an extension, and this extension was provided for, as possible, in the contract made with Messrs. Holladay & Brenham.
Now that the question arises to cause it to be done, it would seem unwise to abandon the original purpose of making Honolulu a connecting port, and unnecessary to pay for double service across the same part of the ocean.
On the other hand, it can hardly be made to appear that to abandon Honolulu in favor of Tahiti or the Feejees, it is a reasonable way of promoting the welfare of either American steamships or American commerce. The Tahitian Islands number but 8,000 souls all told, of whom about 600 are white or mixed blood, and their exports to California are bounded by a few thousand oranges yearly. The same is true of the Feejeean groups in regard to white population, while they have nothing to offer in the way of trade.
To make either of these groups the only way station for the steamers will, in effect, be to cause their permanent occupation of the route to depend upon the largeness of the subsidies, and the ability of the governments granting them to continue granting them always.
This government, Mr. Minister, as you are aware, are authorized by the legislative assembly to contribute a small subsidy to any line that can assure us a permanent connection with San Francisco and Australia, and although the colonies would prefer [Page 555] these islands as a way station, neither their preferences nor our subsidy will avail to make it so, if congressional subsidies to an American steamship line is adverse or hostile to such an arrangement.
I have the honor to be, yours truly,
His Excellency H. A. Peirce, United States Minister Resident.
No. 2, (with dispatch No. 99.)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND.
NEW MAIL SERVICE WITH ENGLAND.—MEMORANDUM OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL.—IMPORTANT CONCESSIONS TO THIS COLONY.
Through the courtesy of the Hon. Julius Vogel, postmaster general, we are enabled to publish the following memorandum relative to the terms of a new contract for a mail service between New Zealand and San Francisco:
“The postmaster general records with much gratification that, after considerable difficulty and protracted negotiation, he has succeeded in arranging the terms of a new contract for a mail service between New Zealand and San Francisco, with Mr. A. Neilson, the confidential representative of the North Pacific Transportation Company, (Messrs. Holladay & Brenham, San Francisco,) between which company and Mr. Webb, of New York, there has been an amalgamation of interests, and an arrangement entered into by which Mr. Webb’s ships are to perform the service.
“The following is an outline of the arrangement entered into:
“The contractors are to establish a line of mail steamers, under the style and title of ‘The United States, New Zealand, and Australian Line;’ the steamers to be employed are to be the Nevada, the Nebraska, and the Dacotah, with the proviso that the Moses Taylor may be temporarily used in the event of accident to any one of the three vessels named; and, further, that should any of the three vessels become unserviceable, others are to be substituted, to be approved by the postmaster general. The contract vessels are to be, in every respect, first-class mail and passenger steamers, and to be maintained as such.
“The contract is to be for ten years, subject to the condition that, within six months from the arrival of the first boat at Wellington, (say about the beginning of September,) the assembly may decide that the duration of the contract shall be for three years only; but the government are to use their best endeavors to secure that the ten years’ period be accepted by the assembly.
“The service first commenced is to be a temporary one; and in the contract it is to be described as ‘line No. 1.’ Three alternative lines are provided for—one of which will have to be finally adopted, under conditions set forth in the contract, and which the postmaster general proposes now to indicate. To all the four lines one feature is common—that the main boat runs from San Francisco to Port Chalmers, calling at Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton.
“Line No. 1.—A steamer to leave San Francisco once in every calendar month, commencing on the 16th of February next, and to proceed to Port Chalmers, calling at Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton, and to return from Port Chalmers to San Francisco once in every calendar month, calling at Lyttelton, Wellington, and Auckland. Between San Francisco and Auckland two ports may be visited; these ports to be selected by Mr. Neilson, but to be within the Hawaiian, Society, Navigator, or Feejeean groups. The ports so selected are to be visited for coaling purposes only, and there is an express prohibition against any connection being effected between either of the coaling ports and any port in New Caledonia or in Australia. For this line the payment is to be £40,000 for twelve complete services; and any subsidies received from Australia or New Caledonia are to be equally divided between the New Zealand government and the contractors.
“Within six months of the date of arrival at Wellington of the first contract vessel, the postmaster general may give to the contractors notice that he adopts as the alternative of the initiatory line (No. 1) the line described in the contract as—
“Line No. 2.—This line is for a service precisely as described under the heading ‘line No. 1,’ but thirteen complete services are to be performed within the year, instead of twelve, and the contractors are to establish a branch steamer between Auckland and Sydney, and any other branches they please from New Zealand ports, but they are not to be at liberty to run any branch steamers except from New Zealand ports. For line No. 2 the payment is to be £60,000 for thirteen complete services, including the branch line; and all subsidies received, whether from the Australian colonies or from New Caledonia, are to belong wholly to the New Zealand government.
[Page 556]“If within six months of the arrival of the first contract boat at Wellington the postmaster general does not give notice to adopt line No. 2, the contractors may elect to carry out line No. 3 or line No. 4.
“Line No. 3 is similar to line No. 1, only that the contractors are to receive the subsidies from the other colonies, less 10 per cent. to be paid to the New Zealand government. They are to be at liberty to establish branches to any Australian colony or to New Caledonia from New Zealand, but they are not to run any branch boats except from New Zealand ports. The payment for line No. 3 is to be £40,000, the contractors receiving all subsidies paid by other colonies, and retaining the amount less 10 per cent., which they are to pay to the New Zealand government.
“Line No. 4 is the same as the others in regard to the main boats running to Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Chalmers; but the contractors are to be at liberty to run branches from the Feejee Islands to Australia, and to make such arrangements as they please respecting subsidies from colonies other than New Zealand. The payment for this line to be £30,000 per annum.
“Time.—In each of the four cases described, the contract time between San Francisco and Auckland is to be twenty-four days; and the contractors are to use all diligence to perform the distance between Auckland and Port Chalmers within one hundred hours, subject to a penalty of two pounds per hour for unnecessary delay. If the government adopt line No. 2, the contract time between San Francisco and Sydney is to be thirty days. If the contract time is exceeded, the contractors are to pay a penalty of two pounds per hour for such excess, unless a reasonable cause can be shown for it; and they are to receive a bonus of two pounds for each hour less than contract time within which any service is performed between San Francisco and Auckland, or San Francisco and Sydney.
“The postmaster general is to have power to make and to vary time tables. The vessels may be detained twenty-four hours in New Zealand and twenty-four hours in Sydney. They may also be detained forty-eight hours in San Francisco whenever it may be necessary so long to await the arrival there of the mails from Europe.
“The contract vessels are to be exempt from all port, light, or wharfage dues or charges in New Zealand. On board each vessel, first-cabin passages are to be provided, without charge, for a mail agent and his assistant.
“The contractors are to enter into bonds to the amount of £25,000 for the due performance of their contract.
“The contractors agree, subject to a penalty of £1,000 per annum, to procure from the United States an exemption from all the charges for mails between San Francisco and London, and between New York and San Francisco, which are now imposed under the convention between the United States and Great Britain. The contractors also agree to use their best endeavors to secure a concession under which wool, the produce of any colony, contributing to the mail subsidy, and the fiber of the Phormium tenax, produced in New Zealand, shall be admitted into the United States duty free.
“These are the principal features of the contract. Some details have still to be settled between the contractors and the postmaster general. Until it is known what the United States Government may decide to do in respect to some of the open questions, it may not be desirable that specific offers should be made to the Australian colonies. The contract contains ample provision for securing payment of subsidies from other colonies. It may be observed that the post-office act, No 2, passed last session, and the terms of the convention proposed to the United States (which Mr. Neilson announces that the authorities of that country have agreed to) have been signally useful in smoothing over one of the most difficult features of the contract—that of dealing with non-subsidizing colonies.
“The postmaster general, in accordance with the resolutions of the assembly, made it a condition in every case that the main-line steamers should come on to New Zealand, and should call at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Chalmers. There was great difficulty in procuring the consent of the contractors’ representative to the mainline boats visiting so many New Zealand ports; and the arrangement in respect to time between Auckland and Port Chalmers, with penalty for delay, is the very best that the postmaster general could succeed in effecting. The representative of the contractors declined to make any arrangement as to Napier, and whether the contract vessels will call at that port must depend upon future negotiations.
“Every one of the lines will substantially comply with the conditions laid down by the assembly in the resolutions of last session, but line No. 4, in permitting the diversion of the Australian traffic at the Feejees, will be least in accordance with the spirit of the resolutions. Unfortunately, it may be taken for granted that if the colony does not adopt line No. 2, the contractors will adopt line No. 4. They would by it, in all probability, obtain much larger subsidies from the Australian colonies than by the New Zealand route. In the case of the other lines, if the vessels call at the Feejees, they are to do so for coaling purposes only. The main steamer is to proceed to New Zealand, and no branches are to be run except from New Zealand ports.
“A subsidy of £60,000 may seem to be a large one, and especially so as compared [Page 557] with the amount indicated in the resolutions of the assembly. Care has therefore been taken to give the assembly time to decide whether the colony shall adopt line No. 2, or leave the contractors their choice between line No. 3 and line No. 4; but, as the point is certain to be immediately discussed, the postmaster general takes the opportunity of remarking upon it, without, however, committing himself to a conclusion as to which choice will be recommended to the assembly.
“Line No. 2 is, in effect, not widely different from the service contemplated by the resolutions. It is true that the amount named in the resolutions is £40,000, and that the assembly understood that subsidies from other colonies would go in reduction of that sum; but it must be remembered that for the £60,000 thirteen complete services a year will be secured, and also a branch line to Sydney; while the line for which the assembly approved of paying £40,000 would have been merely a line to New Zealand. The Australian colonies would have had to arrange for branch services, and would have contributed to the line only as far as New Zealand; under line No. 2, the colony will be able to offer to lay down the mails in Sydney. If line No. 2 is adopted, the £60,000 a year will be reduced by the amount of all subsidies received from Australian colonies; and if the concession as regards the convention between the United States and Great Britain be secured, (the contractors binding themselves in a penalty of £1,000 per year to obtain it,) the postages in England and in Australia would alone amount to a very handsome contribution from the Australian colonies for the carriage of their mails.
“In any case, the Australian colonies should unitedly pay not less than from £25,000 to £30,000 a year; and supposing the concession above mentioned to be secured, New Zealand would save a very large sum per annum in regard to her own mails, for the imperial government would hand over to the colony the postages collected on the other side, but which are now detained to defray the charges payable by Great Britain to the United States under the convention.
“It must be added, that the adoption of line No. 2, by placing the whole service in the hands of New Zealand, would secure that the traffic between Great Britain and the United States on the one hand, and the Australian colonies on the other, should permanently pass through New Zealand instead of passing by it, as would be the case were the contractors enabled to adopt line No. 4, and so to run branch boats from Feejee to Australia. Still further, if the colony should adopt line No. 2, not only will it include connection with Sydney from Auckland, but, by line of steamers already existing, there would practically be direct communication between Melbourne and the main line at Dunedin, Lyttelton, and Wellington.
“The postmaster general believes that the contract times are such that it would be impossible for the Australian colonies not to come in and contribute fairly in reduction of the £60,000 subsidy. The contractors have assisted in maturing arrangements by which the journey between San Francisco and New York, and from New York to San Francisco, will be performed in five days, instead of seven; and a steamer is always to be ready at New York to start with the mails for England as soon as they arrive. The transit from San Francisco to London will thus be effected in fifteen days; while from Sydney to San Francisco the time will be thirty days. Thus mails from London to Sydney, or from Sydney to London, would be delivered in forty-five days, and mails to or from Melbourne would be received and delivered in forty-seven days. Those times, indeed, would probably be materially reduced, for the contractors state that they would be able to save two days, should it be worth their while to do so.
“Supposing New Zealand adopts line No. 2, the government would be able to choose, under the thirteen-services condition, either Sydney or Melbourne as the port at which to make the times correspond with those of the boats of the Peninsular and Oriental Company; or the government would be able to give either Sydney or Melbourne an absolute fortnightly service to England. Whichever of those courses might be adopted, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that there would be a mail service to which public opinion in the Australian colonies would demand that contributions should be made; while it is also impossible not to conclude that, as a passenger route, the service would be unequaled.
“There are many other considerations to be taken into account in choosing between the services. Line No. 2, with contributions from the other colonies, and with the English postages which would be sent free by the United States, foregoing the transit charges, should not cost much, if any, more than £25,000; while, under similar circumstances, line No. 4 would cost about the same amount, with far less advantages. Line No. 3, with nearly equal advantages, would cost about the same, but with less risk of costing more, through the colonies not contributing. But the contractors have the option, if line No. 2 is not adopted, of choosing between line No. 3 and line No. 4, so that No. 3 cannot be counted on. It will be for the assembly to decide whether line No. 2 involves so much risk as to make it desirable to be prepared for the substitution of line No. 4, which, after all, would be a very good service. It or any of the other lines would give New Zealand a service which would cost much less than the Panama service, or than the Suez service (with intercolonial and interprovincial distributing boats) has cost, while, as compared with either, it would confer immeasurably greater advantages, direct and indirect.
[Page 558]“The contractors propose to charge £85 for the through passage to England, (including railway fare across the American continent,) and to leave to each passenger the option of proceeding direct or delaying at different places as long as may he desired. The postmaster general is informed—although it is not a condition of the contract—that a uniform rate to England is to be charged from all parts of New Zealand.
“Should effect be given to the provision for the admission duty free into the United States of New Zealand flax, and of wool the produce of New Zealand, or of any colony contributing toward the service, another inducement to the Australian colonies to contribute will be supplied.
“It can scarcely be doubted that the establishment of the line will lead to the development of the New Zealand coal-fields, in which case it would be no exaggeration to regard the subsidy as being more than recouped to the colony by the money payments for its coal, and by the employment of labor and capital which would be afforded.
“The time-table fixed for the commencement of the service is as follows: to leave Port Chalmers, Sydney, (if required,) and London on the 1st of each month, Auckland on the 7th, and San Francisco on the 16th. This will enable letters dispatched from London on the 1st of the month to be delivered in Port Chalmers on the 15th, and in Sydney on the 16th of the following month. There will be about a fortnight for answering, and replies leaving Port Chalmers or Sydney on the 1st will reach London on the 15th of the following month, thus giving a ‘course of post’ of about one hundred and five days, or three months and a half. The same will apply to answers to letters sent from Port Chalmers or Sydney. In the case of Wellington or Auckland, the time here stated would be reduced by several days.
“In conclusion, the postmaster general would observe that the contract appears to be one of an eminently satisfactory nature. It will stand the test of meeting the requirements of the whole colony as a first-class mail, passenger, and commercial service, and if tested as regards its effect upon the much-discussed separate interests of the different parts of the colony, the conclusion must be that no service more likely to do justice to those interests could be obtained, even if one could be devised.
[Untitled]
The following description of the vessels to be employed is taken from the American Lloyd’s for 1870:
Nebraska.—The steamship Nebraska, 2,143 tons register, built in 1865, under official supervision, specially surveyed, and classed as extra A 1 in 1869; built of oak and hackmatack; an iron frame, three decks and beams; 15 feet draught; half brig-rigged; dimensions, 370 feet length; breadth, 39 feet; depth, 26 feet; beam engines, 81-inch cylinder; stroke of piston, 12 feet; double-planked with 4-inch oak; made 15½ knots on her trial trip.
Nevada.—The steamship Nevada was built at the same time as the Nebraska; her tonnage is the same, and she is in every respect a similar vessel, except that her cylinder is 4 inches larger.
Dacotah.—The steamship Dacotah, 2,153 tons register, was built in 1865, and specially surveyed and classed in 1869 as extra A 1. She is similar in every respect to the Nebraska. At present she is employed in the trade between New York and the West Indies.
Moses Taylor.—The Moses Taylor is 1,354 tons register; was built in 1857, and was resurveyed and classed as extra A 1 in 1869.
We publish in this issue the full correspondence in relation to the subsidy placed at the disposal of the King’s cabinet and privy council, for the encouragement of steam communication between this kingdom, New Zealand, and the Australian colonies. Want of space compels us to defer the publication of our comments thereon until next week.
Honolulu, October 24, 1870
Sir: Referring to our conversation of this morning, in which I very fully explained to you the present position of the Australian steamship question, and the perfect understanding that has been arrived at between the North Pacific Transportation Company and William H. Webb, of New York, by which a line of powerful steamers will be put into operation between San Francisco and Australia as soon as the necessary details as [Page 559] to ports of call, coaling stations, &c., can be arranged, to effect which purpose I am at present on my way to the colonies, I now have the honor to submit, in accordance with your excellency’s suggestion, one or two points on which it is requisite I should be informed, prior to my departure, and without which my instructions will not permit me to make definite arrangements in the colonies to provide that Honolulu shall be a permanent port of call for the reception of passengers, cargo, mails, and coal.
In so important an undertaking, involving the expenditure of a large immediate outlay, it is of course essential to my principals that they should know upon what they have to depend before taking action. That being so, may I ask your excellency to be pleased to say if it is understood that the good faith of your government will be considered to be pledged to the paying of the subsidy recently voted by the legislature, so soon as they shall put on a permanent line of steamers, which shall call and remain at Honolulu a sufficient length of time to take on board all the cargo that may be ready for shipment?
I am aware that, under the terms of the law, your excellency cannot definitely promise the subsidy for more than two years. For the reasons which I fully explained to you, it will be obvious that the subsidy from the various governments concerned should all be granted for a similar period. As our contract with the colonies will be for five years, it is, I very respectfully submit, a reasonable proposition that your government should agree to propose and use their influence to carry a measure to extend the subsidy to $25,000 per annum for a further period of three years. It is of course understood that you will be prepared to supply all the accommodation in respect to wharfage dues, lights, &c., which have hitherto been so liberally promised by your government.
The frank and satisfactory verbal explanations which I had with your excellency this morning give me the assurance that His Hawaiian Majesty’s government will soon have to congratulate themselves upon the establishment, on a permanent basis, of a line of first-class steamers, such as have never been seen in this port, and which will speedily create a traffic which will be fruitful of important results to the future of these islands.
By the credentials which I presented to your excellency, you will of course understand that I am acting in this matter in the interests of the North Pacific Transportation Company, and William H. Webb, which are now consolidated.
I have the honor to be, your excellency’s most obedient servant,
His Excellency Ferd. W. Hutchison, Minister of the Interior.
[Untitled]
Sir: In answer to your communication of October 24, touching the Australian steamship question, I have to say that the minister of finance, in whose department the matter more immediately rests, is out of town at present, and the attorney general is on the eve of departure, but I have consulted informally with His Majesty the King, and the minister of foreign affairs, and they concur with me, as I have no doubt will the minister of finance on his return, in saying that it is the intention of government to pay in good faith the subsidy recently voted by the legislature to a line of steamships running hence to the New Zealand and Australian colonies, which shall remain here sufficient time to take cargo which is ready for shipment, and which shall take the cargo at such rates as shall not render it impracticable for producers to avail themselves of that mode of transportation. You are not to understand that we propose to dictate the price of freight, but will pay the subsidy, if our people are able to avail themselves of the opportunity.
With regard to wharfage and other facilities, we see no reason why the same privileges should not be accorded as are now given to mail steamships arriving at this port.
Communications have already been addressed to the minister of finance by Mr. Hall, who is the pioneer in this business, whose efforts the administration regard most favorably, and feel that he (Mr. H.) has strong claims upon it for consideration.
With regard to your second question, as you say, the law gives no authority beyond two years, and a further grant of the legislature would depend upon the value of the service rendered to the material interests of the country. We do not doubt that if it should be made apparent that new markets are opened and property in creased by this means, the legislature will be liberal in continuing grants, and the executive government will certainly deem it their duty to urge such a course upon them.
I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
Wm. M. Neilson, Esq., Honolulu.
Sir: I take the earliest opportunity of informing you that I have entered into an arrangement with Mr. Neilson, representing Messrs. Holladay, Brenham & Co., and Mr. Webb, conjointly, for putting upon a permanent footing the service which has already been begun, under Mr. H. H. Hall’s auspices, between New Zealand and San Francisco.
As it was impossible for me to wait, in order to secure your co-operation in the matter, I was not in a position to make any terms with Mr. Neilson as to your government contributing toward the subsidy; and I had no alternative but to allow it to remain an open question whether the vessels of his principals should call at Honolulu.
Let me at the same time assure you that the government of New Zealand are anxious to maintain the direct communication with Hawaii which has been commenced, and which they do not doubt will lead to extensive commercial relations between the two countries.
I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant,
The Hon. the Minister of the Interior, Hawaii, Honolulu.
[Untitled]
Sir: I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of November 22, informing me that you had made an agreement, on the part of the government of New Zealand, with Mr. Neilson, acting as agent of Mr. Webb, of New York, and Messrs. Holladay, Brenham & Co., of San Francisco, for a mail service between your colony and San Francisco. No member of His Majesty’s cabinet has received any communication from Mr. Neilson up to this moment of writing, i. e., within one hour of the closing of the Wonga Wonga’s mail, but you may rest assured that this government is anxious that direct communication should be established between your province, Australia, and these islands, and that it will give every encouragement possible to secure so desirable a result.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Hon. Julius Vogel Postmaster General, New Zealand.
Honolulu,December 27, 1870.
Sir: Since I had the honor of addressing you two months since, I have visited New Zealand, where I have entered into a contract, in behalf of the North Pacific Transportation Company, with the postmaster general of that country, for a line of first-class steam-vessels between San Francisco, New Zealand, and Australia.
Mr. Vogel having shown me a letter which he addressed to you by this month’s mail, I am aware that by this time you are in possession of his official notification of the existence of the contract referred to, and of the fact that it is therein provided that the question as to whether Honolulu shall be made a port of call or not has been left to my determination. In order that you may be still further informed on the subject, I inclose you an official printed copy of the contract, and I would specially call your attention to clause 7.
I now have the honor, very respectfully, to inform you that I am at once prepared to notify the government of New Zealand, under the power vested in me by the clause aforesaid, that I name Honolulu as the port of call in the Hawaiian Islands, provided that His Majesty’s government are ready to guarantee to Messrs. Hackfeld & Co., the North Pacific Transportation Company’s agents here, prior to my departure on Wednesday next, that they will pay, subject to such reasonable conditions as may be mutually agreed upon, the subsidy voted by the members of your legislature, to whom it must be a subject of much congratulation that, by means of the wise provision they have made, it is now within the power of the government to secure so effective a line as that which the New Zealand contract provides for.
It would have afforded me much pleasure to have mentioned a longer time in which to decide this matter, but the contract makes it imperative that the first steamer shall leave San Francisco on the 16th of February next. That being so, you will see that the time has at last arrived when decisive action cannot be longer delayed.
You will observe that the principle pervades the whole contract of excluding all non-contributing places from participating in advantages the expense of which they [Page 561] are not willing to share. It is with all respect that I feel constrained to say that I am hound, in honor and good faith to New Zealand, to see that Honolulu is no exception to so wholesome a rule. It is only fair that I should add that the vote of your legislature is the best possible evidence that the representatives of the people of the Hawaiian Islands desired no such exception in their favor.
I address the communication to you, believing that the subject it refers to belongs to your department. If I am mistaken on that point, would you kindly oblige me by referring to the proper quarter.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
His Excellency Fred. W. Hutchison, Minister of the Interior.
[Untitled]
Sir: I am directed by the minister of the interior to acknowledge receipt of your letter of this date, inclosing printed copy of the contract made by Mr. Vogel, the postmaster general of New Zealand, and yourself on the part of Mr. Webb, of New York, Messrs. Holladay, Brenham & Co., of San Francisco; and to say in reply that he has passed it to the minister of finance, to whose department the matter more properly belongs than to his own, who will no doubt bring it up for the consideration of His Majesty at as early a day as may be convenient.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Wm. M. Neilson, Esq.
[Untitled]
Gentlemen: Referring to our conversation this morning on the subsidy for an Australian steamer, I will state that the government is ready to take into immediate consideration contracts that may be proposed by the agent of the N. P. T. Company, or of any responsible company, whose steam service shall carry out the conditions specified in the appropriation bill, always bearing in mind the relations of Mr. Hall to the service, which he has initiated with great labor and risk to himself, and whom we desire to treat with consideration.
The wording of the subsidy item you are familiar with, as a copy of it has been sent to you from this department.
Speaking for myself, I anticipate that a speedy arrangement may be arrived at, as the establishment of a satisfactory line seems very likely to be made by the countries that are interested in the project.
I remain yours, truly,
Messrs, Hackfeld & Co., Agents North Pacific Transportation Company, Honolulu.
No. 4, (with dispatch No. 99.)
THE AUSTRALIAN STEAM LINE.
We published last week all the correspondence which had taken place between this government, Mr. W. Neilson, and others, on the subject of the line of mail steamers between San Francisco and the New Zealand and Australian colonies. We did so from the fact that Mr. Neilson, had, as we understood, thought fit to publish in the Advertiser of the week previous a portion of the correspondence in question, apparently with the view of demonstrating to the public that this government had shown a most remarkable apathy in grasping the advantages to this country, which he, in his character as agent of a steamship company in San Francisco, most graciously offered it. We are entitled to express this opinion inasmuch as he bitterly denounced the government in a public room of this city, a few hours after his arrival here on his return from New [Page 562] Zealand. We say, in his capacity as agent of a steamship company in San Francisco, with some little hesitation and misgiving, although we must believe that he showed some authority to Mr. Vogel, the postmaster general of New Zealand, or it is not probable that that gentleman would have negotiated the contract which he undoubtedly did with Mr. Neilson as agent for Messrs. Holladay & Brenham, for the establishment of a steam route between San Francisco and New Zealand. Still it is somewhat remarkable that although Mr. Neilson, in his letter of October 24, represents that he “is acting in the interest of the North Pacific Transportation Company and William H. Webb, which are consolidated,” and that Mr. Vogel says, in his communication of November 22, that he “has made an agreement on the part of the government of New Zealand with Mr. Neilson, acting as agent of Mr. Webb, of New York, and Messrs. Holladay, Brenham & Co., of San Francisco,” yet Mr. Neilson signed the contract only “for and on behalf and in the name of of Holladay & Brenham.” To say the least, there is considerable inconsistency in this state, of things; but then the gentleman appears to have considered himself the embodiment of the company—president, board of directors, manager, and agent, in fact, sole owner of all the steamers now occupied on the various routes of the company, as well as those belonging to Mr. Webb, now in the harbor of San Francisco. His style of negotiation was remarkably ostentatious; indeed, so far as this government is concerned, negotiation is hardly the proper term; a demand for tribute would be a better way of expressing his mode of procedure.
It is not, however, important at present to ascertain and define Mr. N.’s exact relations to the company (or companies) in question; he may own the “whole concern,” or the company may have delegated to him full authority to regulate steam navigation in the Pacific Ocean to suit himself, as the case may be. It is rather our intention at present to call the attention of our readers to the correspondence in question, and point out as clearly as possible the real position of affairs, and to demonstrate that no one here has left anything undone which should have been done to secure the advantages which are sure to follow the permanent establishment of a line of steamers between San Francisco and the colonies, which shall stop here a sufficient length of time to take and discharge freight both ways. Without this latter condition we fail to see the incalculable advantages which would flow in upon us from the establishment of such a line of steamers.
The King’s ministers asked the last legislative assembly to place at the disposal of the executive a sum of $50,000 for the subsidizing of a line of steamers between the colonies of Australia, New Zealand, and this port, to be used at the discretion of the King in cabinet council, to which request that body cheerfully responded, and inserted in the appropriation bill the sum asked for, with the following words attached: “To be paid at the discretion of His Majesty’s cabinet, with the consent of the privy council, in sums not exceeding two thousand dollars per month, to any line of Steamers running between the ports of Honolulu, Australia, and New Zealand, making Honolulu a terminus or stopping place for deceiving and delivering cargo.” It will, therefore, be apparent that no appropriation was made directly to a line of steamers, (as has been claimed,) but simply gave authority to the government to contract with responsible parties willing to make this place a port of call, should the advantages likely to accrue from the outlay of a sum of money (large in proportion to our revenue) appear to justify its action. There can be no doubt that the legislature expected care and thoughtfulness in the expenditure of the funds voted, by the cabinet and privy council, and placed implicit trust in their discretion. On so important a subject it behooves the government to see that the faith thus given should not be abused.
What is the history of the matter? Mr. Neilson arrived in this city by the Moses Taylor, in October, and on the 24th of that month addressed a letter to the minister of the interior, after a personal interview, in which he states that he represents the consolidated interests of Mr. Webb and Messrs. Holladay, Brenham & Co., but, as we understand, produced no document to show he had authority to act for them. He received an answer from the government assuring him of its wish to establish a permanent steam service between Honolulu and Australia, and giving assurances of their intention to meet the wishes of the legislature, should a reasonable guarantee be given that cargo could be shipped and delivered, and that they did not find themselves left out in the cold on some day that should meet the convenience of the company. While Mr. Neilson was absent on his mission, Mr. Collie, who was well known to have made a tour of the colonies in the interests of Mr. Webb, and was no doubt his agent in the steam business, arrived here and remained some days, but we have been told that he did not make himself known to any member of the government, which, if a fact, does not show great anxiety on his part to receive our co-operation; but however that may be, Mr. Neilson returned to this town on the 24th of December, by the Wonga Wonga, bringing with him a printed copy of the contract made between himself and Mr. Vogel, for the establishment of a line of steamers between New Zealand and San Francisco, which copy he transmitted to the government on the 27th, not on the 26th, as printed in the Advertiser, giving this government notice that he was prepared to notify the New Zealand government at once that he named Honolulu as a port of call, [Page 563] calling especial attention at the same time to the 7th clause of the contrast, said clause reading as follows:
“7. The said steam-vessels may call at two intermediate places and no more between Auckland and San Francisco and between San Francisco and Auckland, and such two places may be at any of the Hawaiian, Society, Navigator’s, or Feejeean Islands, as William Neilson, whose signature is hereto affixed as agent of the contractors, shall think fit and appoint, and such ports, after being appointed, may be altered from time to time by the contractors with the consent of the postmaster general, but not otherwise.”
We call special attention to the last clause of the section, which shows clearly that an agreement made by Mr. W. Neilson, on the terms proposed by himself, would have stultified our government, and would justly have rendered them a laughing-stock to the world.
We have seen above that the legislature and government anticipated steam intercourse with both New Zealand and the Australian colonies, the latter being in fact the market in which our planters and farmers are more especially interested. But what shall we say of the document to which the attention of our government was invited, when we read the following twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth articles of the contract:
“25. No mails whatever to or from any of the colonies of Australia, or to or from New Caledonia, except as hereinbefore provided, shall be received on board or carried in any of the steam-vessels employed under this contract without the written consent of the postmaster general; and for every breach of this stipulation with the consent or connivance or through the negligence of the contractors, they shall forfeit the sum of £500 as liquidated damages, to be deducted from any sums then due or to become due by way of subsidy under this contract.
“26. In pursuance of the postal convention existing between the United States government and the colonial government of New Zealand, and in order to insure reasonable contributions from the Australian colonies and New Caledonia for mail services to be performed for them, whether under the terms of this contract such contributions would be payable to the government of New Zealand or the contractors, neither the postmaster general nor the contractors shall or will transmit, or permit to be transmitted, and will use their best endeavors to prevent the transmission of, all mails to or from any of the Australian colonies, or to or from New Caledonia, unless such colony or New Caledonia, respectively, shall give such a contribution as aforesaid; and in case of any willful breach of this stipulation, the party breaking the same shall forfeit and pay to the other the sum of £500 as liquidated.”
After our readers have read and pondered on the three articles presented here, we think they will be satisfied that some caution is necessary before making an agreement with any person, more especially one who does not produce authority to bind his principals.
There is much more to be said on this subject, but our space forbids a thorough examination of the contract in this issue.
Considerable has been said in the papers, here and in San Francisco, in regard to the distances between the various points on the route between San Francisco and the New Zealand and Australian colonies. We give below what we believe to be the actual distances:
| Miles. | |
| San Francisco to Honolulu | 2,100 |
| Honolulu to Feejee | 2,830 |
| Feejee to Auckland | 990 |
| Total—San Francisco to Auckland | 5,920 |
| From Auckland to Sidney | 1,280 |
| Total—San Francisco to Sydney via Auckland | 7,200 |
| From San Francisco to Feejee via Honolulu | 4,930 |
| From Feejee to Sydney | 1,510 |
| Total from San Francisco to Sydney via Honolulu and Feejee | 6,450 |
It will be seen by the above distances that Sydney is really but five hundred and thirty miles farther from San Francisco via Honolulu and the Feejees, (both of which are in the direct line,) than Auckland, a distance equal to about two days’ steaming of the vessels now employed on the route. This makes a difference in favor of a direct route to Sydney of seven hundred and fifty miles, or three days’ steaming. It therefore looks reasonable that the Australian colonies, being the most flourishing and populous, will eventually insist upon the main line of steamers running direct, with a branch line to Auckland from the Feejees. Indeed, the distance from San Francisco to Melbourne via Sydney, by the direct line, would be less by about two hundred miles than that to [Page 564] Sydney via Auckland. Tahiti has been spoken of as a probable port of call instead of Honolulu. It is true that the route via Papete is about thirty-five miles shorter to Auckland than Honolulu, but the danger of the navigation over the direct route is much greater than by this route; besides, it seems to be one of the objects of the colonists to develop by the new line of steamers the commerce of the Feejees. These islands are about one thousand five hundred miles directly west of Tahiti, and to visit them would take steamers out of their direct path from eight hundred to one thousand miles, a delay which is not to be thought of when time is one of the principal objects.
No. 4, (with dispatch No. 99.)
ACROSS THE PACIFIC.
The Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company carry between the mother country and the Australian and New Zealand colonies about one hundred and fifty first-class passengers per month. For this service they exact the highest passenger-rates demanded by any steamship company in existence, and carry no second-class or steerage passengers. Having the monopoly of the carrying trade, gained and assured by their judicious use of their heavy subsidies, as well as by their great strength and power of defying competition, they have had the bulk of the East Indian service under their control. Though it cannot be said that they have in any wise abused it, still we are so situated here, that we have an idea that a little competition in regard to a certain portion of the East India service may prove wholesome, and to many of the interested parties highly advantageous.
The laboring classes, and all those whose limited means compel them to take passage to or from the colonies in emigrant vessels, have been hitherto, and are still, subjected to all the privations, inconveniences, and suffering of a long and tedious sea voyage, under the most unpleasant attendant circumstances, and with little or no accommodations to speak of. The rates of passage which are charged there are cheap, to be sure, because both the colonies and the mother country have studied the problem of immigration, and have, to a certain extent, extended facilities and encouragement to its progress. But there is no reason whatever to doubt that the system of travel between Europe and America, and between America East and America West, combined with such a steamship line as it is contemplated to organize across the Pacific, should not draw to themselves all of the Australian and New Zealand passenger traffic, now monopolized by the old-established eastern routes. The inducements which it holds out to passengers and emigrants are: A saving of time, particularly for the latter class; cheapness; superior vessels, with superior accommodations; and a route which is neither monotonous nor tedious, three thousand miles of it being by land. In no part of the voyage are passengers subjected to any of the many unpleasant features which characterize the route now in vogue. It has no Red Sea to traverse beneath a scorching and broiling sun, none of the seeming]y-endless tedium of the Indian Ocean, and is free of the disagreeable accompaniments of all long sea-voyages. Its advantages, as compared with travel in the Eastern Hemisphere, are numerous and apparent, and are freely testified to by all the passengers who have tried it by the aid of the inefficient and ill-adapted steamer-line that has attempted to establish itself. As a proof of this, we may state that many of those who came through with the first two steamers, and whose business in England only required their presence there for a brief period, are returning by this route in preference to the Peninsular and Oriental. Some who did not wish to again incur the inconveniences and discomfort to which they were subjected between Honolulu and Auckland, returned by the old route.
Well-informed gentlemen, merchants and business men, from Sydney and the nearer ports, have given it as their opinion that such a line of steamers as Mr. Webb proposes to start is not only a good business speculation, but is an absolute requirement of the colonies which sooner or later must be met. Here in San Francisco, as a business community, we recognize very fully all the advantages which will accrue to us from the successful establishment of a through trans-Pacific mail and passenger service. We perceive the necessity which the colonies experience of closer and quicker communication with the old country, and we appreciate and understand their inclination for closer and more intimate relations with the United States. Into the commercial aspect of the matter it is not necessary now to inquire; of its importance and ultimate value in this respect to us and the colonies we are assured, and have no doubt that with the establishment of the line it will speedily develop itself. Recognizing therefore the mutual advantages to be derived, we wish to see a similar appreciation evinced by our neighbors. We hope to see a liberal subsidy accorded, a sound and reliable line, and such other practicable encouragement extended as may tend to advance its interests and their own, and conduce to its permanency and efficiency. As to action of Congress in the matter, we are assured that there will be no further delay, and that the [Page 565] subsidy demanded at the last session will be unhesitatingly granted. The report of the committee fully canvassed the entire project from beginning to end, and was as favorable as could be desired, and were it not for the unusual press and hurry of business, amid which the proceedings of Congress were wound up, the delay would never have occurred. We wish to see capable and first-class American lines of steamers developing the trade and commerce of the Pacific. We have been unsuccessful, and retarded for various reasons in our Atlantic shipping progress, and England has in many respects distanced us in that direction. But while we have this example to learn from, and while we understand its cause and see where and how to apply the remedy, in our own ease, we should not hesitate to do so.—San Francisco Bulletin.
HALL ON THE RAMPGAE.
Mr. H. H. Hall, the proprietor of “my line” of steamers between Australia and Honolulu, comes out with a strong letter in the Sydney Morning Herald of November 21st, in which he threatens to run an opposition through-line to San Francisco, if Holladay & Brenham should have the temerity, and should be so regardless of their own interests as to throw him over. Hear his portentous utterances:
“To the editor of the Herald.
“Sir: From the kindly interest you have displayed in the success of the present California mail service, I feel sure that you have no wish to allow your journal to be the medium of circulating rumors regarding it which have no foundation in fact. For several months past we have been told that ‘one of Webb’s steamers may be expected here every day but up to the present there is no news of her having started.
“Now, I learn from a paragraph in your second edition of Thursday that Webb and Holladay & Brenham have formed a coalition to run a line of steamers to Australia, and that in the event of their terms not being complied with, no connection will be formed with my line at Honolulu. In reply, I beg to state that my advices from San Francisco make no mention whatever of any such arrangement, nor can I believe it exists. I hold my contract from the New Zealand government for a period of four years, and I also hold a contract from Messrs. Holladay & Brenham that they will carry out so much of it as relates to the service between Honolulu and San Francisco. Both documents are open for your inspection.
“Apart from all legal responsibilities, is it likely that Messrs. Holladay & Brenham are going to throw away a certainty for an uncertainty, and not only this, but provoke opposition on a line which they now monopolize, and this they would most assuredly do by a procedure such as that referred to.
“The performances of the Wonga and City of Melbourne will compare favorably with those of any of the American mail-steamers running in the Pacific, and I have only to charter the City of Adelaide to enable me to form a through line into San Francisco. This course I shall certainly adopt if circumstances warrant it. However, having full faith in the honor of my co-contractors, (Messrs. H. & B.,) I am satisfied that if they intend to shirk their responsibility they would at least have given me the earliest information of it, rather than have it reach me as a newspaper rumor. Trusting you will find space for this as a means of counteracting any influence the paragraph alluded to may have had, I remain, sir, yours, faithfully,