THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1874.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3985, 20 August 1874, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1874.

Among the Parliamentary papers to hand from Wellington we have the Report of the Post-office Department for 1874. It cannot be viewed otherwise than with considerable interest, as shewing the advance made in the general usefulness of this branch of the public business. The report has been drawn up by the Post-master-General, the Hon. Julius Vogel, and is addressed to- His Excellency the Governor. We learn that the department has secured the services of an Inspector who lias had large experience in the Imperial Post-office, through whom "a proper system of official inspection is now being brought into operation." The meaning is this, if we be not misinformed, that a Post-office oflicial has been imported from London, at the instigation of Mr. John Hall, who will have to learn his duties from his subordinates in the colony boforo he will be able to perform them for himself and direct others. In simple tonus, an office has been created which is not needed, or being needed could have been well ailed by any of the principal postmasters drawn from any of the provincial centres. Mr. Vogel informs His Excellency that until lately the rule was that no Post-office should be opened, and no officer should give his attendance on Sunday; bufr, after a trial, this regulation was found to operate very unfairly against the mail clerks. Tt also came to pass that in the event of an English mail arriving at the larger Post-offices on Sunday, it would be impracticable to despatch the correspondence to country Post-offices by the Monday morning mails if the inward mails were not sorted on arrival. The Postmaster-General, under these circumstances, has done what must be considered as quite fair and equitable. Ho says to the whole of the officials in etl'ect, you can do just as your feolings or your conscience may direct in the matter. If you givo your attendance you will receive payment for overtime ; if you decline to attend it will not be looked upon as any neglect of duty. It is shewn that in IS~3 there were 542 Post-offices in the colony, while the number of departmental officials for the same year was (J7(i. We also notice with no little satisfaction that tho inland mail services appear to have boen admirably carried out. Tho colony boasts of no less than 2D3 inland services, the whole, with very few exceptions indued, being most ably carried out. Of these S4 have been performed by coach or mail cart, 111 by horse-, 42 by water, and seven by rail. To enable our loaders to form a correct idea of tho increase to our colonial postal business, we quote the following tabulated statement vouched for by tho Postmaster-General :—

Increase for 1573 as against 1872—letters, 957,442; newspapers, 858,104 —a percentage of increase we may state which has never been exceeded in any of the colonies, if we except Victoria in 1853-54. The cash revenue from all Post-oihee sources amounted to £G0,535. Upon a subject of so much interest, we cannot omit going back a few years to shew how the business of the department has gradually increased. In 1870-71 the revenue collected was £43,080 ; in 1871-72, £47,054 ; in 1872-73, £50,580, and in the present year as given above. In connection with these returns there is conveyed to us much curious and interesting information, of which we . give a few particulars. During last year the number of letters opened and returned to -writers amounted to 20,002 ; returned unopened to other countries, ■ 5,393 ; destroyed, 3,801. r The reduction of the rate of postage from threepence to twopence from one colony to another, has entailed a loss extending over six months of £400 ; but it '• is more than likely that during the succeeding six months the increase in in-ter-colonial correspondence will more than make up the deficiency. The number of money orders issued in the colony during the year was 52,351, for £219,258; or more by 7,091 orders, and £28,248, than the orders issued in n 1872. Of these, 34,288, for £142,G42, were made payable within the colony ; 11,913, for £48,547, in the United King- — dom ; and 0,150, for £28,008, in the AusE tralian colonies. The increase during 1873 consisted, like the increase of the , y previous year, mainly of orders payable in the colony. There was, however, the unusually large increase of 1,294 orders, d for £4,012, in the issues on the United Kingdom : the increase for the previous year being only 212 orders for £33". On ~ the other hand, the amount of money <*, orders paid in the colony during 1873, }- which were issued in the United Kings dom, was less by £297 than in the prea.t vious year. The total amount of the orders paid in the colony, which were _ issued in the United Kingdom and the £- Australian colonies, was £14,304, while the orders sent from New Zealand to those countries amounted to £70,015. iy Of the balance against the colony of re £02,251 shewn by the above figures, about £42,000 was in favour of the United Kingdom, and £20,000 in favour of the Australian colonies. The number of money orders issued wliich were transmitted by telegraph, was 0,570, for _| £31,001; the increase for the year being — about equal to that of the previous year. The conunission derived from the issue of money orders amounted to £3,500, or more, by £491, than the commission received during 1872. The Postmaster in his exhaustive report informs us that steam sei-vices have been established between Wellington, Castle Point, and Napier ; and between 1. Auckland, Gisborne (other intermediate ports when required), and Napier. These services are not subsidised wholly for the benefit of the Postal Department, but rather with the view of bringing the more remote ports of the East Coast in 3e direct and regular communication with the large commercial centres. The subr. sidies for these services are not charged b ' .against the Potal votes. The steam service hitherto performed between the Fiji ,y Islands and Auckland has been extended to the Middle Island. A temporary — agreement has been entered into for the perfoi-mance of four services, once every er six weeks, between Port Chalmers and et the Fiji Islands, by way of Lyttelton, i r Wellington, Napier, and Auckland. The >s Post-office Department since placed j under the control of Mr. Vogel has been in managed and conducted in the most iy efficient manner; and we cannot but congratulate the general public on this

department having been placed in such able charge.

As the debate on the Premier's resolutions proceeds, certain forms loom out from the mist in which they were at first enveloped and certain mysteries are made clear. Thus Mr. Reynolds has thrown into broad daylight the meaniag "reconfirmation of what is known as the compact of 1856," which puzzled us when first announced. The honourable gentleman, speaking as one of the Ministry, said " they were prepared to give all possible security to satisfy Southern members as to the protection of their land fund. They would go so far as to pass an Act to secure that land to them, with this provision that if at any future time the House desired to repeal it it must be by appeal to Her Majesty in Council." So saith Mr. Reynolds, an Otago member and the Commissioner of Customs in the Ministry. Let us put what he says into our own language and it will read thus:—"At present the Land Revenues Act of 1858 is the solo ground on which you, my fellowcolonists in the South, enjoy the monopoly of the land fund. That Act may be at any time repealed by another Act of the Assembly, and you are thus at the mercy of a change in public opinion or of a mere Ministerial majority. We will effectually guard against that by incorporating the Aet practically with the constitution of the country, so that it cannot be repealed except by consent of Her Majesty in Council." Mr. Reynolds will be able to boast to his constituents in Dunedin with perfect truth that they have made the so-called compsict a solid reality if these resolutions become law, and if assured on this point, we should not be surprised to find Mr. Macandrew and other Southern members coming round yet, and voting for the resolutions. But how will Auckland stand, and what about the "thin end of the wedge" theory then ? Evidently these Southern members are not fools, nor are they going to be outwitted too easily ? Those who think the attempt a safe or a wise one will be very likely to find themselves going out to shear, but coming home shorn. Auckland's true policy is honesty, and a straightforward, independent course, which, in the assertion of her own indefeasible rights, asks only for justice, and a fair share of the revenue raised from her for the colony. Mr. Macandrew .says that the land revenue is the apple of Otago's eye, and that everything else is of minor consideration. We reply that the Customs revenue is exactly the same to Auckland, and that to us everything else is equally of minor consideration. The whole contest between us comes then to this, whether it is justor wise to throw on the Customs revenue the whole burden of the loans and of the expenditure of Government, while the land revenue is to be sacredly set aside, and contribute nothing towards it? Is it right that the members whose constituents are placed in clover by this land revenue, should be in the Assembly, voting recklessly new expenditure, and heaping new burdens on the Customs revenue, which is to them "of minor importance only," but to us the life-blood of local progress and provincial existence I Mr. Reynolds also tell us that "the consideration of the wants of the provinces had forced their present course upon the Government." This phrase may mean much, but certainly gives very little information. If the wants of tho North Island provinces are great now, will they be less when their affairs are administered by the General Government >. If the General Government find it impossible to spare them anything " from the consolidated revenue of the colony" now, will they be better able to spare it then i These are tho financial questions we have never yet been able to answer satisfactorily to ourselves, and which none of the speakers on the Government side have yet attempted to answer for us ■ The land revenue is to be more stringently guarded than evor. The change from Provincial to General Government cannot possibly bo accompanied by any saving of expenditure. Whence then will the funds ho derived ? There is only one possible answer—by direct taxation levied by 73 members of the Assembly on the constituents of only 33 members who will have to pay it .' Travel as the arguments may, and crossed as they may be by suppositions and visionary benefits to result from these resolutions, they bring us back to this main point—whence will come tho funds which are to save the "consolidated revenue of the colony" from contributing to the needs of the Northern provinces, and how will Auckland be in the very least degree benefited by tho changes which are proposed ? Wβ should be glad to hear what the speakers in favour of tho resolutions, if there are to bo any this evening, have to say in answer to theso two simple questions.

The Hon. Mr. Waterhousc may be wanting in political acumen, and he may not just • wow " holil the destinies of New Zealand in his hand," but lie nevertheless possesses a large fund of wit and genial humour. A few days [ hack Dr. Pollen moved in the Council for an alteration in the Oyster Fisheries Bill, by which rock oysters, hitherto exempt from its operation, should bo included with " shore" oysters. In seconding the resolu- ■ tion, Mr. Waterhouse gave utterance to the 1 following:—"lie had," he said, "listened i with some degree of disappointment to the remarks which fell from the Hon. the Colonial Secretary in introducing the second . reading of this measure. They were at the . present time favoured with having their , counsels presided over by a Ministry of grand [ conceptions, and lie had hoped that the same [ loftiness of ideas which characterised their policy generally would have manifested it- ! self in this measure. He had hoped that ' they would have been shewn clearly how, by the preservation of the old oyster beds and. t the creation of new ones, a sum could be ; raised in thirty years sufficient to enable them to pay oil' the balance of the colonial i debt which Mould be left after their forest ■ plantations had paid off their railway liabili- . ties. He had taken some trouble to cuter into calculations upon this subject, and he could assure honorable members that his calculations were quite as trustworthy, and ; might be relied upon with equal confidence, \ as those lie had seen brought forward in favour of a similar scheme as regarded the " payment of the railway debt. If they calculated that there were upon an acre of land— or rather, in accordance with the same plan ! of argument tiiat he had seen adduced , elsewhere, he would put it this way: i Was it not a safe calculation to reckon > that upon one aere of ground there were at > least onu million dozen of oysters? They knew that oysters were packed together with remarkable closeness, and an estimate [ of a million dozen of oysters upon an acre of ' ground was a low calculation. Estimating 1 them at the ridiculously small sum of 2d a L dozen-—as a matter of fact o'd being the sum ordinarily paid for them—they would find I that one acre of oysters gave something like - £SOOO. Now, was it not a aafe calculation i that over that large extent of seaboard I north of Tauranga, with the estuaries runr ning into the land in all directions, they j had at least r>o,ooo acres of land available for r the culture of oysters. It would be at once L apparent that 50,000 acres of oysters, at £S,OOO an acre, would give a return of some- [ thing like f400,000,000 sterling. Here was ' unknown wealth capable of being devoted ' hereafter to the payment of our colonial 1 debt ! Honorable members might laugh at ' this calculation, but he was quite sure that ; it was equally reliable with the calculations i in reference to gum trees he had seen put

forward. And there -would be this pleasing reflection, that -while satisfying the cravings 1 of their appetites by consuming this interest- i ing bivalve, they -would likewise be contributing towards the payment of the colonial debt. It was a great scheme, and he was sorry to see that it had not been dealt with in a broad and comprehensive manner worthy of a Ministry of such grand conceptions."

Our evening contemporary at Wellington attempts to reach the motives of the Premier in moving his reselutions for the abolishing of the North Island provinces. We do not think he is very far from the truth when he makes Mr. Vogel give utterance to the following sentences:—"We have reached a point when I can no longer carry on a policy, which involves a vast expenditure of money and an unlimited command of means, under our present form of institutions. I have exhausted, for the present at least, my power of floating in the London market the_ loans •which you have authorised me to raise. I am driven to all kinds of shifts and expedients to obtain money for present urgent necessities. lam driven forward by those whose expectations I have raised, and who demand from me the completion of a host of unfulfilled promises. lam harassed on all sides by demands from the provinces for means to enable them to execute their part in the work of settlement. I cannot refuse their demands without forfeiting Parliamentary support. It is impossible for me to go on without obtaining from you an unconditional surrender of your provincial institutions, both North and South, so that I may be invested with absolute dictatorial authority, and may be able to pursue my work without let or hindrance. I require for this purpose plenary authority over the waste lands of the colony, North and South. I require it, not merely because it is essential for the carrying out of the works which I have engaged in, but because it is necessary to oiler to lenders some fresh security for the money which I shall be compelled to borrow." To give expression to such opinions Mr. Vogel would forfeit so many votes that lie would rind himself at once in the minority, and a new Premier in his place. But Mr. Vogel is too astute to allow such words to pass from his lips. To abolish the provinces of both islands would be beyond even that statesman to accomplish. So lie tells Middle Islands members, "I do not -nish to hurt you. You shall keep your land-fund. I will even confirm by an Act of the Assembly (which I may find occasion next year to repeal) the compact of ISSO. You shall have liberty still to indulge your provincial proclivities —for a time at least. Help me to extinguish Provincialism in the North Island, and trust to me and to Providence for the future." This hies the right nail on the head, —the abolishment of the North Island provinces first, and after that the South.

The Government Savings Banks for the past year shew the following very encouraging results:—The number of new accounts opened during the year was 7,352 ; the number closed, 3,516 ; and the number remaining open at the close of the year had increased to 17,132, from 13,5GG at the close of 1572. The deposits received during the year were 39,223 in number, amounting to £550,542 ; and the average amount of each deposit was £14 10s 2d. The withdrawals amounted to £425,905, the number being 21,265, and the average amount of each £20 0s sd. The amount of interest credited to depositors during the year was £20,106, the rate allowed being 4 per cent, on the balance of eacli account when not exceeding £200, and 3 per cent, only when above that amount. The balance at the credit of depositors was £UG4,SO7 at the close o£ the year, and the average amount at the credit of each account had increased to ,£3S lGs Id, from £36 2s 5d at the close of 1572. The cost of the management of the department did not exceed £ISOO, or a rate of 7Jd for each deposit or withdrawal. The rate of interest on deposits has been increased since the Ist July. Interest at the rate of 4i per cent., instead of 4 per cent., is now paid on sums not exceeding £200; and 4 per cent., instead of 3 per cent., on sums exceeding £200, but not exceeding £500. One step towards the encouragement of cremation has been taken by the Legislative Assembly. In discussing the Burialground Closing Bill in committee, the following resolution was carried by a majority of 16 to 10:—"That it shall be lawful for any person by will or deed, duly executed, to direct that his or her body shall, after death, be disposed of by burning the same to ashes, instead of burial in earth," a proviso being inserted that the work is to carried out in such manner that it shall not need the intervention of the Inspector of Nuisances on behalf of the public.

Letters. IS73. 1S72. Increase. Receive* .. .. 1,221,077 3.5SS.073 Despatched .. 3,004,COS 3,370,470 7.015,955 G,95S,543 957,442 Newspapers. 1S73. 1S72. Increase. Keceivwl .. .. :>,flC:U70 2,707.GS2 Despatched .. 2,»0ti.O25 1,043,409 5,200,195 4,411,001 S5S.104