A Line of Direct Mail Steamers

between the mother country and the Colony, or as the Chairman at the succeeding annual meeting characteristically announced that "if direct steam communication with home is to come, this Company should be the one to provide it."

That this was considered a hazardous venture is shown by the remarks of Sir Dillon Bell, the Colonial Treasurer, who stated "It would be far better not to start the service at all than to start it and find that those who had taken it up were not strong enough to carry it through."

This elicited the more confident response that "If the New Zealand Shipping Company should take it up they are essentially the people who have the skill, experience, and strength to conduct it successfully." This was soon demonstrated by