OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

New Zealander, Volume XXI, Issue 2265, 3 November 1864, Page 6

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT AND THE ASSEMBLY MEETING. [From the "Wellington Independent," Oct. 25.] As the Seat of Government Commissioners very justly remark, " Wellington is the site upon the shores of Cook's Strait which presents the greatest advantages for the administration of the government of the colony." This emphatic declaration of their opinion by intelligent and unprejudiced men, should be written in letters of gold on plates of silver. For years past Wellington has been underrated and abused, her manifold advantages have been derided, and she has been alternately assured bv the organs of public opinion, North and South, that she is likely to b« engulphed by an earthquake, blown away by a Sou' Easter, or if she should happily survive these calamities, at best s!ie is but fitted to be an exc«llent little watering place, presenting many advantages for a temporary summer sojourn. Thus has the Southern Cross exhausted its " chaff," and the Canterbury Press its pleasant banter; but now, when Wellington has been fairly weighed in the balance, that much derided Province, in point of natural advantages, whether in central position, water and land capabilities, or the resources of the surrounding country, has been selected as best fitted to be the future capital of New Zealand. We are not disposed to be vainglorious at this enviable distinction. " Comparisons," as Mrs. Malaprop says, " are odorous," so we will not now venture to weigh the relative value of the several claims put forward by our sister provinces. It is sufficient that a trio of gentlemen, specially selected to decide on this question, have given their award in our favor. We would have humbly submitted to their decision had it been adverse; as it is, we ar« glad to find that our own opinions have been ratified by a just and impartial tribunal. Still, there are some bitters in tit* cup to qualify the sweetness of" the draught. The meeting of the Assembly is to be held at Auckland instead of Wellington. From the action taken by the Ministry, from the wish that the session should be here, from the decision almost arrived at that Wellington should be the place of meeting, we had cherished hopes that the official decision would have confirmed this expression of opinion. But we have been disappointed. Alter more than a week's hot contest, the Ministry have been worsted, and Governor Grey is triumphant. During the last session it was decided that the next meeting of the Assembly should be held at Christchurch, or in the event of the Seat of Government being chosen at Wellington, then it should be held there. To their credit be it said, the Ministry stood manfully out for Wellington. Sir Ge«rge Grey demurred, and stated after repeated remonstrances that if the meeting were to be held there, then he would not attend. A further contest ensued. Ministers still insisted on Wellington, until the Governor's ultimatum was given, that the meeting must either be held in Auckland or not at all. In the present circumstances of the colony the meeting was absolutely necessary, and t'terefore Ministers yielded. In doing this we think they acted wisely. When it became a question of a siission, or no session, then it was well to choose the former. It is not difficult to understand the reasons which have influenced Sir George Grey in insisting that Auckland should be the place of meeting. He feared the presence of the Southern members, who would be eertain to'condemn his conduct, and he hoped that they would not come so far North to attend the meeting, while in Auckland he could secure the support and votes of Dr. Pollen and Mr. Swainson, two of his most strenuous supporters. The former as a "mad"Doctor, With a lunatic asylum under his care, fears to sacrifice the lucrative emolument accruing therefrom ; the latter has an intense horror of sea sickness, and on no account —not even for the sake of his idol the Governor—would venture Sftuth by sea. It is clear that Sir George Grey has an intense fear of an Assembly meeting. Rather that it should take place he would dare anything, and welcome even a rising in the North as an excuse to stave it off. He dreads the expression of the popular voice, and trembles at the approach of the time when he will be compelled to hear it. Conscience makes cowards of us all, and Sir George Grey must feel that after th« lite despatches he has written to England, after the manner in which he has slandered the colonists and vilified th»ir representatives, he could not well face the Assembly. But the necessity has become inevitable, and so, as the least of two evils, it has been called in Auckland. His Excellency evidently hopes that there will be but a slender attendance of Southern members. Let us trust he will be disappointed. la the present crisis, it is the duty of every member representing the South to attend, and thus frustrate his expectation. At no former tima have the affaiis of the Colony been in so critical a condition, and at no former time has a necessity.so great existed for the voices and votes of even' honest and independent politician. It is urgently necessary, then, that amongst the rest, all the Wellington members should be found in their places. They have to take part in a great work ; they have to help in forming a new and powerful Colonial party; and they have to bear a share in the inauguration ef a polic3' which shall render New Zealand independent of Imperial aid and capable of refusing to submit to Imperial injustice. ALARMING SACRIFICE ! ! ! FROM THE ' TRESS,' OCT. 19. The paragraph published from the New Zealander yesterday is one which we may accept as true. It stated that Mr. Reader Wood had left upwards of a million worth of debentures in the hands of the New Zealand Bank in London, to be sold for what they would fetch. We say we believe this paragraph to be true, because we cannot imagine any other conditions to be possible. It is not at all likely that a Bank so well managed as the New Zealand Bank would have become the medium for borrowing £700,000 for the temporary use of the New Zealand Government without retaining the power to repay themselves if need be. It would have been an act of insanity on the part of the Bank, which might at any nioraent have resulted in bankruptcy, had it borrowed money which it might be called on to replace at a short without seeing its way distinctly to a mode of raising means in any such emergency. There cannot be a doubt that the Bank has absolute power of sale over the debentures at any moment. It is bound in common honesty to its shareholders to have made some such stipulation. The Bank is safe enough. That bold and sagacious institution does not risk a penny by this large transaction. It is the Colony that will suffer, and it is worth while considering to what extent. It can hardly be assumed that the discount will amount to only 10 per cent. The sum applied for, even at that depreciation, was exceedingly small. The knowledge, of that fact would certainly damage the stock still further, and the knowledge that there was absolutely no reserve whatever on the price wouhl exercise still further depreciatory influence. Our readers, therefore, need not be at all surprised to learn, a mail or two hence, that large of our stock have taken place at a much lower figure—it may be at 15 or 20 per cent, discount. We now see the full measure of the want of foresight of Ministers in not taking powers to borrow on temporary securities, prior to the disposal of the loan. Let us put the case thus. Suppose the whole million is at an average of 15 • n -r cc t, discount, hi other words, that we borrow ! ~s " v ■ ■ . :•>!• which we have to pay at the rate of five p,:c ' cent. < :i 't million for fifty years, that is £50,000 a-year for : ft-ry years, or £-2,'j'JO,l»oo in ail. Now, suppose w-i had 1 borrowed that £BSCy)OO at an interest of eight per cent,.

for three years—and there caa be little doubt it might have been readily obtained at that rate—the interest in the three years would amount to £204,000. Suppose then that, New Zealand affairs being tolerably settled and the English money market easier—both of which are suppositions in which it is not unreasonable to indulge —we sell the debentures at the end of three years at par, we shall then have to pay interest for 47 years at five per cent, on the £850,000, which would amount to £1,907,500, and, added to the interest for the first three years would give £2,201,500. The sale of the debentures, therefore, at a discount of 15 per cent, at the pteseut time results iu a loss of some £300,000 to the colony in interest; and it does not at all follow that the loss will not be much greater. It seems to us that any man of the most ordinary prudence, placed in the position in which Mr. R. Wood was placed in, in Loudon, would have shrunk from sacrificing the loan at all. during a time of such extraordinary depression; and that he would have seen the necessity of making some temporary arrangements for borrowing for a short date, pending the decision of the Assembly. It may not even now be too late to adopt this policy, at" all events as regards a great portion of the loan. This alone constitutes a strong reason why the Assembly should meet without delay. It is still possible to save a good deal out of the fire ;" but every day's delay in the meeting of the Assembly is a delay in obtaining those powers which are necessary to make sueh temporary arrangements as may save us from the loss and disgrace of throwing our securities into the gutter in the manner proposed by the present Ministers. But what may be done, or who is to do it, no men can tell at present. The Northern papeis talk of the Governor having sent to the Ministers for accounts, and the Ministers having sent in accounts which are not satisfactory. Why does not a Gazette appear, announcing that "his Excellency has been pleased to appoint Sir George Grey, K.C.8., to be Colonial Treasurer, in the place of Mr. Reader Wood, resigned." That would be the real official iecord of the existing condition of the Government; aud we must say that it his Excellency does not prove more successful as a Treasurer than he has as a Native Minister, we doubt whether his administration in the former capacity will bring him or the Colony either credit or profit.