The PRESS. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1872

Press, Volume XIX, Issue 2811, 6 May 1872, Page 2

The PRESS. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1872

The opening of the Victorian Parliament (fixed to take place on the 30th April) haesetthe Government of New Zealand free to divulge the conditions of the new arrangement for the Pacific mail service. They were explained in a memorandum which we received last week, to be published for general information, from the PostmasterGeneral.

Victoria, it seems, has joined in the contract on fair ternie ; being accorded a slight priority, for which she agrees to pay a corresponding premium. The contractors undertake for tbe future to employ four boats, each of .which wiJl in its turn make the voyage between San Francisco, Auckland and other ports of New Zealand, and Melbourne. The boat from San Francisco will call at Auckland, and proceed from thence down the coast to Port Chalmers; having transhipped the Victorian mails to a steamer which will be in readiness for the purpose at Auckland. From Port ChalmeTs it will in due time return to Auckland, calling by the way at Lyttelton and Wellington ; and at Auckland will tranship its mails and passengers to the vessel returning from Melbourne for San Francisco. Thus Auckland 'will be in every case the first port of arrival and the last of departure. The main vessel from San Francisco will proceed to Port Chalmers; but oi the outward vojage the main vessel will run direct from Melbourne to San Francisco, only calling at Auckland. The subsidy payable to the contractors will be £60,000; of which Victoria will contribute £32,500 and New Zealand, £27,500. If any further contributions are received from other co.onies, one-third will be paid over to the contractors ; of the other two-thirds a sum of £2500 will be paid to Victoria (or half the excess of its contribution over that of New Zealnnd) and the remainder be equally divided between the two colonies. Both colonies agree to apply to tbe Imperial Government through their AgentsGeneral, for aid to the amount of onehalf their subsidy ; and whatever they receive will be divided among the colonies in proportion to their respective contributions. The contract is eubject to ratification by the Legislatures of Victoria and New Zealand. If approved, it will come into force in September next, and will remain in force for eight-and-a-half years —that is, for the unexpired term of Messrs Webb and Holladay's present contract.

This new contract is a decided improvement on the former one, and is, under the circumstances, as good a bargain for the colony, both as regards route and amount of subsidy, as could be expected. The reduction of the subsidy by 45 per cent, is a very satisfactory feature. That it will be ratified by the General Assembly is a matter of course. The Assembly scarcely has a choice. For rejection would leave the colony bound to the present contract, under which it hae to pay the contractors £50,000 a year for the rest of the ten years term. The question whether to continue existing arrangements, involving the payment of £50,000, or to accept the proposed modifications and to pay £27,500, admits of but one answer.

But there is another question. Why should 'New Zealand have ever paid £50,000 ? That Victoria would have taken part in the contract from the first, and would have defrayed the larger share of the cost, is proved by the fact that when applied to she has actually done both. Why then was not the concurrence of Victoria obtained at the outset ? Why has New Zealand been paying, and will have to pay till September next, at the rate of £50,000 a year, for what it might have got for half the money. The truth is that Mr Vogel Has done now what he ought to have done a year ago. He set out by attempting to bully Australia. The cardinal policy of his first contract was to keep the Australian colonies, especially Victoria, out of it altogether, or to admit them as secondary and, in a manner, tributary to New Zealand. The attempt proved a ludicrous failure. Australia declined to play second fiddle to New Zealand ; and New Zealar.d soon found that, in endeavoring to take the premier place, she was only losing money and making herself ridiculous. Mr Vogel has discovered this at last, and has changed his tactics accordingly. IJe has- abandoned the policy of defiance aud compulsion, and has adopted that of conciliation. Instead of trying to ride roughshod over the Victorian Government, he has accosted them in a friendly manner and begged their co-operation. The reeu.lt is what we have just beard. Newj Zealand U e?ery wej the better

off ; with a service fully equal to its requirements, with £22,500 a year less to pay, and with tlie help of its powerful neighbor in seeking further assistance from the Imperial Government. These are great advantages, no doubt, but whose fault is it that we have been deprived of them so long ? Mr Togel has extricated the colony from a very unpleasant dilemma; but then it 'was he who led the colony into it. His skill in negotiation has been employed simply and solely in repairing his former blunders. We welcome his return to common sense, but not without a wistful remembrance of the many thousands of pounds he has flung away in the indulgence of his vainglorious delusiou. There could not be a more striking illustration of the absurdity of the former contract than the present one. The moet pungent satire on Mr Vogel's proceedings with regard to this Saa Francisco service, is the eagerness of his friends to point out that his new arrangements consult the dignity of Victoria, and admit her position as leader of the Australasian coloDies.