The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1864.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1189, 28 January 1864, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1864.

So many contradictory statements continue ' to be published concerning Mr. Ward and the Panama route that we consider it advisable to state the actual position of affairs at the time of the departure of the October mail. About a week previously the terms of the contract had been definitely settled by Mr, Ward and the Steam Company. So nearly completed did Mr. Ward consider the matter that his letter to the Government was written and put into an envelope to be posted, when, at the last hour, the agent of the Company wrote to ask for another day to consider the question. On that day the Marseilles mail left, therefore Mr. Ward was unable to forward the letter to the Government which our contemporary the ' Otago Daily Times' imagines has miscarried. At that time Mr. Ward was very unwell, and may therefore have been unable to write at length in explanation. From previous information we can state that every probability exists that the mail now overdue will bring intelligence of the contract being signed. It would be idle to conceal the fact that there exists a growing disposition in certain quarters to throw Mr. Ward and his scheme overboard, by taking advantage of any departure on his part from the strict letter of his instructions. On behalf of that gentleman we ask the public of New Zealand to wait patiently and suspend their judgment till all the facts are published. If Mr. Ward succeeds in opening up the Panama route he will have obtained a great and lasting benefit for the colony, —a benefit which previous administrations have in vain endeavored to compass. As a reward lor a service of sucli magnitude he has a right to expect the public to put a liberal construction upon his acts and to prevent his schemes being thwarted and his labours frustrated merely to serve the purposes ol party. In any Act relating to maritime interests it may be assumed that the safety of life and property is the object to be provided, and, so far as the machinery will permit, guaranteed. If this be conceded, an alteration which it appears has been made in the Marine Board Act of 1863 presents a change so absolute in its nature that it is not easy, at least at first sight, to comprehend the reason for it. A clause in the Marine Board Act of ISO 2 made it obligatory upon the master of any vessel arriving from beyond sea to receive the services of the first licensed pilot who should board the vessel ; due provision was also made for granting exemption certificates to those masters who chose to qualify, by which the Australian traders, whose masters were familiar witli our ports, could avoid an outlay sufficiently large, iu these days of competition, to be a matter of consideration. Iu accordance with this acknowledged principle, the Provincial Council during its last session voted the sum of two thousand pounds with which the pilot servicc was to be re-organised, and it was in contemplation ! to have a station somewhere at the Heads of the Port of Lyttelton. ( The Chief Marine Board of 1562 was : charged with all that related to the pilot - service, but never entered upon that portion 1 )f its duties, or interfered with any of the ' existing arrangements. ) The Marine Board Act of 1863 introduces \ m absolute change, and ignores the principle i ivhich made its predecessor in harmony with ;he existiug Harbor Eegulations. The ' obligatory clause is rescinded, and for the ] :uture the converse is the rule. Henceforth t is purely a matter of option on the f masters' part to accept or refuse the services c )f a pilot. f Shipowners and masters, underwriters and * )ther interested parties have long acquiesced C n the propriety of the law which in most t iountries obliges the master to hoist his a lemand for a pilot on arriving within certain units, and the wisdom of this change 1 hroughout New Zealand is not to be seen 0 ,t a glance. The abandonment of the prin- a iple, Salus populi, supremo, lex, may y eveal through some terrible catastrophe si

how much of duty has been sacrificed. Nor does it appear that this change is the result of any pressure; it wears more the air of caprice than of keeping pace with the times, and will probably render necessary another code of harbor regulations.