The Press. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1869.

Press, Volume XIV, Issue 1833, 26 February 1869, Page 2

The Press. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1869.

$te sdem tq }wje conceived the idea of preparing Panama eervwe by making it of ip:ilttle use as possible for the short time it has to be contmued; liast; moHfeh tbe inMe "mr&timtetm Wsllingtdji- fbr four days before |bey weretfoiwawled to the M arrived at Whngton fwrto Janaina *i bne o clock on Wednesday afternoon, and the steamer mwls;

was not despatched till three in the afternoon of the next day, or twentysix hours afterwards. It is really too bad. What on earth is the U3e of paying subsidies to steam companies to carry our mails, looking out for the speediest route, and boasting of it as of some great advantage if we can gain a day or two on the passage, if after all this trouble and expense the letters are to lie in Wellington for days together till it suits the convenience of the Post-office to distribute them. Who is to blame ? Some one, we suppose, ought to see after the mails, or are the bags left tumbling about the office till they become a nuisance and the clerks put them on board a steamer to get them out of the way ? If Mr Stafford will hold half-a-dozen placee at once, he might as well look after them a little, if not in person, at least by deputy. At present there is no Post-master-General, and the department, judging from the way it works, is managed by anyone who chooses to take the trouble; or rather, it is not managed at all, but goes on by pure habit and dint of routine. If all the public business ia being muddled after the same fashion, a pretty mess the country must be in. And then the Government actually propose to have the Suez mail carried direct from Melbourne to Wellington, instead of to the Bluff, giving as their reason that such a course will bo for the general convenience by enabling the letters to be quickly distributed. A most exquisite reason truly, after the ! experience we have had of how thoroughly the Wellington officials have mastered the art of how-not-to-do-it! Quick, forsooth, and convenient! If the present system is quick and convenient, what is inconvenient and slow ?