THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4126, 3 February 1875, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1875.

A br; thought, once :i mere day-dream, is passing through the minds of somo of our colonial statesmen. This is, that at no great distance of time fie whole of the Ai'Strali.m Group shall jucome otto vast empire, ho'-iogeneous in a'l that pertains to the general welfare, but distinct as to the government of its separate States. "What it is proposed we shall become is what America now is,—a great nation united tinder a central control, but preserving faithfully its several independencies. Before such a vst political scheme can bo realised., there will be many deeply-rooted prejudices, innumerable jealousies, and much contention to be removed, and swept clean away. There will have to be but one system of Customs and a general reciprocity of action. The Australias must be compact and united in their liseal relations before the attempt can possibly lead to the accomplishment of the object. The interests of the one colony must be the interests of the whole. The same commercial relations must be co-exiitent and entire. But the time for this, if ever it should come to pass, will be when some master-miiul shall rise callable of grasping the scheme as a whole, and working it out in all its manifold details. Such a master-mind has not yet shewn itself; but there never was in the history of nations a great State emergency that there did not come forth to the light of day some one able to copo with it. It has been so through all time, from when Moses first delivered the laws to the Israelites to when Rome conquered the Western World ; to when Washington breathed and America became a new life, which has grown to be what it now is; when the time arrives that the great change which we have referred to has bccome u necessity, there is little doubt the man superior to all other men will I>e found who will shew himself capable of guiding and controlling the vast allairs of a new empire', and so laying its foundations as to enable it to withstand all shocks which it may receive, and all attacks which may be directed against it.

There is. however, c mneeted with this great subject v;ist diflereiices of <-pinioti, ami this was shewn at a meeting of the Fel'ows of the Koyal Colonial Institute, lately convened Ln London to hear read a paper bv the lale Mr. 0. W. Eddy, Honorary Secretary to the institute, entitled '• What are the best means of drawing together the interests of the United Kingdom and the Colonies.'" More than usual interest appeart d to lie attached to the meeting, but tlu feeling expressed was, on tlie whole, against any great change being made at the present time. ]Slr. Abrahams, from New Zealand, was one of the principal speakers. To him the British Empire appeared to be in a sad state. There were both centrifugal and centripetal influences at work. In the first place, said Mr. Abrahams, there is one country near to lis in which the centrifugal power is so violent that, although it enjoys all the honors and privileges of representation in Parliament, yet it talked of "Home Rule," anil wanted to have i Parliament of its own. ln the next place, we heard of countries which wanted to be annexed tn our Empire, thus shewing that there existed centripetal force also, the tendency of which was to gravitate towards the centre of our rule. The great question to he considered ws to what extent were those forces operating. And in the next place it might be enquired how was the Empire to be consolidated ! With respect to the last question, Mr. Eddy's paper seemed to teach that federation was the great principle—the practical work of consolidation —and that it must be carried out by an extension of the Queen's most Honourable Privy Council by the constitution of a branch of that Council, or a revival of it — for ho Mr. Eddy gives it—that was, the department formed under the name of the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and I'oiyign Plantations, and tints .secure a council for advice on matters pertaining to the colonies. But he (Mr. Abrahams) thought that such a <ourso would require the people to be educated, and would also require Parliament to be piloted in thesame direction before it could be established. " Then," continued the speaker, "there was great jealousy amongst them with respect to the appointment of AgentsGeneral. With respect to the instances of federation which Mr. Eddy gave, we must remember that the confederations ! which have taken place were etl'ected under circumstances totally unlike those in which New Zealand and Australia stand. Canada, from local circumstances, favoured such a < onfederation. The whole of the States which now- formed the Dominion were situated on one river, and, like the present Empire of tiermany, they were territorially all one. As to Germany, the late work was more a consolidation than a federation, and it was brought about by the presence of a common danger. l»ut no such danger existed respecting England and her colonies." Mr. Jlaliburton's arguments against any such proposed union between the colonies and the United Kingdom were perhaps more cogent. The Empire, he contended, at present was ruled by a Legislature which was intended solely for National and not Imperial purposes. We know also that no Legislature ill the world was so overworked as our own. It was overwhelmed with business. The time would come when the burden of legislating for such a vast empire would lie So great that it would be said "We must subdivide our work, and we must have local matters left to local legislation." lie approved of Mr. Eddy's idea of an Imperial Legislature or Council, but the scheme was not a practical question for the present. It belonged to a distant future. It involved a complete re-organi-sation of our political system bo inevitable, but not for many years to come. "In the meantime," says Mr. Haliburton, "wo may prevent great groups of colonies confederating to- I together and drifting off into independent i

empires by conceding to them some representation in tho Cabinet, which thus can be made to assume an Imperial character:—""When the day came that Australia got out of her provincial jealousies there would be no reason why she should not have a Right Hon. Secretary of State in London who should not have to hang about the doors of Government ollices as some of her chief men had to do now, but wlio, by 3'iglit of his othce, could walk into the presence of the Crown and speak what he desired respecting the vast colonies of Australasia which he represented. What was wanted, and what would be most readily effected, wa3 representation in the Cabinet rather than a voice in the House of Commons."

The tone of the meeting w ; th regard to a federation of tho colonies or a union of these with the United Kingdom appeared to lie that for the present our Colonial Institutions should remain as they are. Tho discussion however has been opened tip, and we have no doubt we shall hear a great deal more on both sides of the subject.

As the subject of the Maine Liquor Law has recently been under discussion in Auckland,and Mr. Hastings, who, as coming direct from America, might be presumed to speak with some show of authority upon the subject, gave his opinion in favour of it, and quoted statistics in support of his views, it will not be uniutercsting or unprofitable to quote a higher, and, perhaps, a less prejudiced authority than Mr. Hastings upon the subject. In the annual report of Her Majesty's consul at Portland, in tho State of Maine, he touches at some length Oil the liquor question, concerning which heobserves that a residence of fourteen years in that State has furnished him with unusual opportunities for studying the operation of the piohibitiun law. lu the larger towns mid cities, lie prouuiuices it to have hoeu a failuic, and lie adds that "the actual good it may have produced has been more than counterbalanced by the hypocrisy and consequent demoralisation of a very lar<'e class who though nominally and politically prohibitionists, arc not consistent in their own conduct." Public^opinion is adverse to the measure, and where it is stringently carried out it is felt to be so severe and oppressive in the restrictions it imposes as to defeat its own objects. In Portland, with a population of only 30,000, there were 2,200 arrests for druukeuness, besides about a thousand eases which were not entered in the books, in the space of ten months. The Rev. Dr. Hill, formerly president of Harvard College, but now residing in Portland, recently delivered a lecture on temperance, in the course of which he said 41 that in the experience of half a century in various places he had never seen so many young men intoxicated and staggering through the streets as he had seen in Portland during the last six months"; and this, lie remarked, had shaken his faith in the efl'ect of a prohibitory law to shut up tippling houses, " those dons of infamy where drunkards are made." Ihe Mayor of Boston, in his inaugural address, on the 4th of January, 1574, frankly admitted that legislation had been powerless to check the sale and consumption of intoxicating liquors. "Xo different result," said he, 44 could have been reasonably anticipated, considering that the prohibitory legislation is manifestly opposed to publie sentiment iu the larger cities and towns of Massachusetts." i\or is this hostile feeling conlined to those whose appetites are their only law, but is exhibited by sober and thoughtful citizens, who Klieve that such legislation is impracticable in its nature, unsound in principle, and therefore worse than inellcctual. ' 'File Melbourne Argux, our authority lor the above remarks, concludes thus suggestively :— 4( In tin* StattMtf Maine it is important to observe that, since the J inhibition lias been in force, the sale of opium and its compounds, as a stimulant, h:us Very greatly in,-leased." Amongst dispassionate deli.ifer.s it has always been looked upon in the light of a proposition whether, supposing the°" curse of drink to he entirely removed, some other national vice equally, 01- perli:vp.s niore in. •sidious, v.-ould not arise ; and the reference made to the increase in consumption of opium, to some extent bears out this opinion. Of course it is 110 argument against tlie mitigation of one evil that anothe- might possibl v make its appearance, no more than it is aii aigument that, because the vcrv small minority are drunkarks, the very large majority who enjoy " a drop of good should be deprived of that which thev look upon either 111 the light of a necessity or a luxury.

\ ktoiiia is troubled, as is Auckland, with specimen stealers and ini:ie robbers. In a late issue the Melbourne avs : 44 We published yesterday a letter from a gentleman who signed himself 'An Outside Shareholdei and \ ictim, on the.subject of minin" morality. He alludes to the r l.beries 3 gold by working miners, which unhappily have become so frequent of late, and asks whether they are owing to the natural dogravity of the men, or whether the example set them by their employers, the directors, has been the means of bringing about a widespread demoralisation ? No doubt, says our contemporary, _ many highly respectable gentlemen citizens of substance and repute, exemplary husbands and fathers and staunch pillais of the church—no doubt, we say, many such men, holding seats on various Hoards of management, will be horribly scandalised at the accusation of being directly instrumental in undermining the honesty of the working men they emplos\ The idea of comparing their little innocent manoeuvres with barefaced robbery, they will say, is simply monstrous. And yet, what are the practice's which our correspondent denounces but downright theft? It is a well-known fact, he says, that managers and directors of mari3* mining companies systematically rob the share" holders by suppressing information as to the striking of any new lead or lode till they liave operated on the stock.' And again— * Dividends are sometimes paid out of the last gold obtained, so as to bolster up stock, and allow those behind the sccnes to clear out, when the unfortunate purchasers have to pay calls to further develop the mine.' It may be said, why should not men in their position avail themselves of their superior knowledge as traders do in other lines of business ? The answer is obvious. They are elected not to forward their own interests alone, but to guard and promote those of their co-adventurers also ; and they violate the implied terms of the trust they have voluntarily accepted when they withhold information which is the legitimate property of all shareholders alike. An ordinary trader is fighting for his own hand, and is under no obligation to take anyone into his confidence. He is not called on in any way to share his superior judgment or information with his neighbour, who is at liberty to form the one or obtain the other for himself. Hut a director, if he wishes to act honestly, is bound to do the best he can for his constituents, and certainly he does not fulfil this obligation when he deliberately creates false impressions by means of dividends improperly declared, or conceals the discovery of payable * dirt* until he has had time to induce some of his fellow-share-holders to part with their scrip at a price which he knows to be below the real value. Such transactions are sometimes callcd smart, and men who are guilty of them are neither shunned nor kicked, but frequently wax fat, and prosper exceedingly. We, however, denounce such tricks as fraudulent, mean, knavish, and utterly despicable." These remarks will apply with equal force wherever quartz mining is carried on.

Si ME few weeks hack an advertisement appeared in a Wellington newspaper among the "wanteds." it announced that a man was required to act as a storeman. To this advertisement it was stated there were 200 Applicants. We are inclined to think if tho two hundred were halved and divided by four it would he very much nearer the number. Hie Wellington journals delight to be sensational, and nothing is easier when strict accuracy is disregarded. However, tho report

has served our Victorian brethren of the Presß with an occasion for dealing out a " catition" to its readers. " If," says a writer in the Melbourne Leader, "the New Zealand market be thus glutted while costly public works are under cunstructisu with British capital, what may l>e expected when those works are completed, the money all expended, and the army of labourers augmented, without any additional means of finding employment for them ? Admitting that the sovereign in NewZealand may purchase more than the sovereign in Victoria, of what advantage is it to those who are minus tile sovereigns for the reason that there is no work for them ? It is not pleasant to have from time to time to refer to the weak points in the governing policy of a neighbouring state, but so long as New Zealand is held up to us a brilliant example of the advantages of free-trade and immigration, we must, in self-vindication, suggest that the time lias hardly arrived for comparisons of this character to be made to the prejudice of this oniony." If our Melbourne contemporary would take the trouble to look through tlie advertising columns of his New Zealand exchanges he would not fail to be considerably enlightened as to the state of our labor market. In these he will read among the long columns of the "wanteds" that men in every branch of mechanical trades arc in demand ; that labourers are required for railway and other public works; that married couples were in urgent request ; ami that from twelve to lifteen shillings a week is being offered for female domestic servants. Had our contemporary been on the spot to make personal enquiry he would have learned that of all the men and women asked for at high rates of remuneration, not one half of them could be obtained. A storeman's billet is one which every labouring man who can write his name decma hinioelf oapable of filling. It is a kind of employment which a clerk out of a situation would temporarily accept, and there is no man living, if he be reasonably ignorant, but thinks he can perform a storeman's duties to his own and everybody else's satisfaction. It is supposed to be a comfortable position, with good pay, requiring no previous knowledge; and that is why, when a store-man is advertised for, there come so many applications. Should there be an advertisement in this morning's columns of the Hf.uald for a hundred storemen and a hundred clerks, there would be more than the required number of applications ; Vmt substitute the word labourer, mechanic, ploughman, dairyman, or female domestic, and the advertisers for the greater number would find that they have merely thrown away the newspaper charges without receiving any adequate satisfaction.

It is only very lately that the medical and municipal authorities at the principal seaports in England have come to understand "sanitary science atloat." The numerous Board? of Health have issued very plain and exhaustive instructions as to sanitary measures requisite for the preservation of health in towns and cities, but hitherto no instructions have been given to ocean ships carrying large number of passengers to distant ports. The Corporation of London has set the example, and an exhaustive report contains a set of rules for the guidance of their medical officers and sanitary inspectors. If a vessel arrives with the effects of a sailor who has died from any contagion or infection the sanitary otlieers are communicated with, the clothcs arc disinfected forthwith, and a cert'lieate to that ellect given to the proper olliecr. If a case of small-pox arrives, it is removed to the hospital at the mouth of the port, the ship is fumigated as she proceeds up the river, ami visited for several days after in order to see that no spread of the disease has occurred. If the drinking water on board any ship in the port is* found to be bad, or the mode of storage defective, the master or owner of the vessel is communicated with, and is always glad enough, in his own interest, to remedy the evil. The Colunu'o', referring to this important subject, writes as follows:—"Most of our readers know that the geography of the port of London, and the extent of in commercial relations, renders sanitary supervision difficult. Those of our readers living in New Zealand know th.it several emigrant- ships have, during the past eighteen months, arrived from Kngland with contagious diseases on board, and know, too, the great aim>uut of inconvenience and loss that resulted in consequence. It is fully as important that colonial ports should take steps to prevent the importation as to prevent the spread of zymotic disease ; and so we counsel ' the powers that be' to take a leaf out of the book of the port sanitary authority of London." As every immigrant ship which may hereafter arrive at our port will be furnished with copies of those sanitary instructions for the preservation of health oil board emigrant ships, and for the prevention of infectious diseases spreading, we think the chairman of our local Board of Health would not be wrong in making himself acquainted with the contents, and bring to bear on our port any useful and prudent hints these may contain. The people of Christchurch arc agitating for funeral reform. That is, a curtailment of the very unnecessary expenses which it has been too long the custom to tolerate. The Lfittelton Timrtt supports the movement almost in a ludicrous vein. It says : —" Give Death all his due, he is not so hideous as he is painted. It was natural to the cold climate in which our gloomy-mannered ancestors lived to m&ke death hideous, and to forget that the grave is an entrance as well as an exit. They had to lighten their gloom by indulging in gloomy shows, as they chastened their merriment by indulging in seas of strong liquor. And here we have transplanted their customs into a climate bright and sunn}* as the cold Xorth is gloomy and tearful. We cannot take life sadly here, with our pure Italian air and luscious light, and death takes ever the colour of life. With Italy's atmosphere «e want Italy s funeral Jlowers and spotless drapery of mourning. Let us take death as we take life, and strike out distinction of classes and opportunity of display. Let not overgrown wealth liml opportunity at the grave s lip for oversneering poverty. A quiet, unobtrusive, unceremonious passage out of the world is a boon to be prayed tor, like sleep after a feverish toil of day." There is very much of good sense ill these remarks ; but we observe the movement has broken through both in Sydney and Adelaide, where it was thought that, if the experiment were once tried, it would become general. T»ut a custom which is so entwined with religious observance it is scarcely to be expected will be broken through so quickly as has been anticipated K«.