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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 71

Recognition of the Services of the Company

Recognition of the Services of the Company

was, however, not restricted to those more immediately interested, for a few years later Sir Julius Vogel, at the conclusion of a speech delivered at Christchurch, remarked, in connection with a review of the progress of the Colony:—"It would be wrong for me to refrain from alluding to the New Zealand Shipping Company, of which Canterbury should be proud, for to that Company was due the credit of being the pioneer of direct steam communication with the mother country. The benefits of this, both practical and sentimental, are immense, and the New Zealand Shipping Company deserves credit for having effected that, unaided by any Government subsidy."

Returning to the period under review (1875), we find that the facilities afforded by the New Zealand Shipping Company had contributed to a great extent to the unprecedented increase (within five years) of 100 per cent, in the import trade, taxing to the fullest the carrying powers of the Company. It rose, however, to the occasion, doubled its fleet, and strengthened its position in London by the appointment of a Board of Advice.

A new aspect then presented itself, for the remarkable vitality of the industries rendered it imperative to inaugurate a more efficient coastal service, not only to foster the local trade, but to feed the inter-oceanic service. The requirements were soon detected, and the same foresight and enterprise which the New Zealanders had shown in establishing the New Zealand Shipping Company were reasserted in the