Tahiti Mail Subsidy.
p. 19 · Read in the full issue
Withdrawal from Union Co.
Rumoured.
From Our Own Correspondent.
Papeete, May 20.
PERSISTENT rumours are afloat along the Papeete waterfront that the French Government intends to discontinue the mail subsidy at present given to the Union Steamship Co. for the carriage of mail matter to and from San Francisco and New Zealand.
Enquiries at the local agency of the U.S.S. Co. have failed to elicit any de finite information regarding this im portant matter, but, in view of the de plorable decrease in Governmental rev
enues, it seems not unlikely that there may be some truth in the reports.
Any vessel calling at Papeete is obliged to carry mail at a fixed rate per ton, hence the final clearance papers are obtained from the Post Office; up to the present the Union Company’s vessels are the only ones that have re ceived special consideration for carry ing mail.