THE New Zealand Herald. SEPTEMBER AGENDO. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1876.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4667, 28 October 1876, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. SEPTEMBER AGENDO. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1876.

Thb San Francisco mail service is not yet by any means in a satisfactory position. Mr. Whitaker asked the House last night to consent to his telegraphing to the Government of New South Wales that we would agree to leave out Honolulu, Auckland to be the port of call for New Zealand, if the contractors would take £70,000, leaving the two colonies to provide coast service for New Zealand for £5000 ; that New Zealfc ud aould not consent to' the Bay of lalai'.ds unless tho company took £75,000, and provided a satisfactory coast service. Mr. Stevens moved that it should be intimated that the terms of the telegram of the 14th October should be adhered to, with the except! n of calling at Honolulu. These were:—"l. That the service be direct from San Francisco to Sydney, calling at Honolulu and Auckland, or Bay of Islands, at the option of the contractors. 2. That the coastal service be performed by ten-knot boats, to be approved of by the Government. 3. That the share of New Zealand's contribution be reduced by £7500 if calling at Auckland, and £10,000 if calling at the Bay of Islands." Mr. Whitaker's motion was negatived by 34 to 29. The adoption of Mr. Stevens's resolution would have had the effect, we suppose, of certainly fixing the port of call in New Zealand at the Bay of Islands, and saddling us with a heavy expense for a mail line, and therefore Mr. Lusk got the debate adjourned. The whole subject is exceedingly vexatious. It ie quite plain, no doubt, to Mr. Wbitaker what the best arrangement would be— the best for the colony, and- the best for Auckland—but he is prevented from carrying out his purpose by the contractors, by our co-partners, and by the Southern members, who are irritated because the big steamers are no longer to j call at their ports, and because Auckland is to have the advantage of being the port of call. Apparently, rather than • allow that; they would dispense ;with the service altogether.' "We do not; yet see much sign of the unselfish and. national feeling which was to have been nshered in with the abolition of the provinces. The truth is, that this colony is at a complete disadvantage in this negotiation. In the lost few years, New Zealand has

been.making it«el£ no big, and has been' 'acting with''s'ucli* anMtter eoohomy,-*-* thafc : "- mail" —sbhfewtdri-and Miniitei'a of neighbouring colonies, think they can squeeze .anything: pat of us. The contract, a» originally agreed upon, was an absurdity, and was { the reverse of creditable to Sir Julius Vogel; and now -when it is found : that some, change must be made, New Zealand apparently will still further suffer. .If arrangements fortheservicehadbeenproperlygoneabout at first, if Sir Julius Yogel had not acted in defiance even of the expressed will of the Legislature, all this annoyance might have been saved. The chances now seem to ,be thati the service.will break down. This would be a great loss to New Zealand, and would put Auckland in a very disadvantageous position, but it would be better that the whole affair should be swept away than that we should tax ourselves for the benefit of a wealthy neighbour. "We may mention that the penalty, in the event of the contractors not performing the contract, was ,£20,000, to be divided equally by New South Wales and New Zealand. The main reason why the contractors object to the service in its present form is the coast service, which is attended with great expense and very considerable risk. It has been stated by Mr. Whitaker that the vessels are worth from £180,000 to £200,000, and are insured for £100,000, so that if one of them were wrecked, it would cause a very heavy* loss to the company.

What is termed a "keen" discussion was raised last night in the House of Representatives, on a very important question. In the Waste Lands Administration Bill, as originally introduced into the House of Representatives, were clauses providing that the rent for the runs, after 1880, should be fixed by the Waste Lands Board of Canterbury. These clauses were supported by the Government. They involve two monstrous evils. First, they hand over the valuing and administration of the waste lands of the province of Canterbury to this Waste Lands Board. (which would be a far more exclu-' sively class affair than the Provincial Council) and abandon all control by the General Government. This action would virtually preserve the evil of provincialism. It seems also to be quite understood in the House that these clauses are for the purpose of enabling the squatters of Canterbury to get a renewal of their leases at a low rental. What claim these gentlemen have upon the country for any favour we have never been able to see. They have had their runs on very favourable terms. They have made enormous fortunes, and why should they have the property of the colony at less than its full market value ? They have no more title to the runs than a man whose lease has expired has to any property he held under it. However, the squatters are wealthy and powerful. They look down with contempt upon payment to members, but they want their runs again on easy terms. We are told that next year we are to have the whole of the land revenue of the colony made colonial revenue, but the benefit may be neutralised if the Canterbury squatters are to have the land for next to nothing. But the House insisted upon striking out these clauses. It seems, however, according to Mr. Sheehan, that the intention is to re-introduce the clauses in the Legislative Council, and to get the House to agree to them when the bulk of the Opposition have left. The answer of the Premier was not very satisfactory, but we do hope that this matter will be closely watched, even if it should involve the lengthening of the session by a few days. It was stated in the House that the Government had secured the support of thr- Canterbwy members to Abolition by introducing the objectionablo clauses into the Waste Lands Administration Bill.

Mb. Carlbtox cannot see how the concentration of administrative and legislative functionu at Wellington should cause an increase of the amount paid to miitnbers. He will find, however, that it will be bo, and we cannot help thinking that if ho were unprejudiced he would easily be able i'o see how it must be so. Tho question of substantial payment io meirbers wi?lcerta:'aly bo raised, and we bsliovo if via bo \ ettled on tha .licta that mornben siioul. bo paid. i\r uur o-vn pf.rt, we shouia Vβ glad if p&vment to numbers :v-uld be avoided, but we cannot see hov, i u is possible now, unless the colony makes up its mind to suffer a greatereril. The "honorarium" has been gradually augmented until now it amounts to a payment to members, and may as well be called such. Mr. Carleton's objection carnot surely be to the word, when the thing is the same, although, no " honora (urn" being a Latin word (of doubtful ch.iriicter, however) mil attract his sympathies in a way that " payment," being common and good English, cannot do. Aβ the sessions lengthen, the sum paid to members as "honorarium" or "payment" will be increased, and the £200 paid to members for last session; will be much less compensation to! members for the loss of time 1 and expense of living at Wellington than the honorarium which Mr. Carleton had so long the happiness to receive. We can hardly hope that for years to corns the sessio) at Wellington will be got over in less thun six months, and surely, Mr. Carlson would not grudge to others honorarium at the rate he was paid himself.

But p. mero payment for time does not settle tfco matter. There are many men who could stay in Wellington for two months 01 tlie year, or even three, without dislocating their private business, and who would be content for that time with a payment of £100 for the session, who could not stay for six months for £200, or even £300. Business men might be able to be absent from their counting-houses and homes for three months in the year, without very severe loss; but when a man is expatriated to Wellington for a half of the year, he muet be paid, as you deprive him of the power of making money in any other way. There are many good men, too, the best of men, who are willing to devote two or three months at Wellington, who will not devote six months for any payment which can ba given, and it seems likely that of the services of those men, the country is to be deprived. To keep a man eix months on political business, at Wellington, means that he ehall do nothing else all the year round.

The peculiar conformation of New Zealand makes it impossible for us to avail ourselves' of our best' men for political life, when politics means six months' residence in Wellington. In England the majority of thoee who are members of the Legislature would reside in London for a large portion of the year in any case,' andi even the business men are not incommoded, for every large firm in the United Kingdom has an office in London. But take a man from his business in Auckland or Dunodin, and keep him in Wellington for six months in the year, and he niay as well clear out of business altogether. Melbourne, and Sydney, and Adelaide to some extent re-

'semble/London. .Each centres the life of the colony, of Which it is the capital. ■Prom — -snembere- can-easily • reach any considerable centre of population in Victoria by rail, in a brief time, and during the session they can make frequent trips home. The greater number of our legislators in Wellington have a long eea voyage between themselves and their places of residence. All these'are' considerations shewing how'much more difficult it will be to get our best men to devote themselves to political life, than it is elsewhere. Mr. Carleton says : —" Is it not notorious that there are colonists, ard plenty of them, superior to temptation of place or money, who, if elected, would cheerfully engage not to cost a penny to the State ;" We .answer, as ; -emphatically as possible, 3S"o. The very contrary is notorious. Wβ can indeed name one colonist superior to the temptation of place or jmoney, who has cheerfully engaged, or who would cheerfully engage, to serve the S fa te • without recompense, or hope of recompense. That politician is Sir George Grey. He is the man after Mr. Carleton's own heart. We cannot help thinking that in speaking of the ,c plenty" of men " superior to the temptation of place or money," Mr. Carleton is speaking ironically. Perhaps, indee 3, there may be two. Mr. Carleton may have himself in his eye. But even two swallows will not make a summer, and cannot be supposed te be " plenty" for the colony. We are willing to reckon Mr. Carleton, though we are afraid that our readers, recollecting how Mr. Carleton drew honorarium and salary as Chairman of Committees, will deny his right to be considered as a man altogether superior to considerations of " place or money." Mr. Carleton may mean that there are wealthy men who would be willing to make laws at Wellington without honorarium or pay. Probably there are, and they would be the dearest possible bargains for the country. There are no men more selfish or more entirely devoted to class interests than wealthy men as a body, and if eur legislators were restricted to that class, we can all forecast the course our laws would take. With a five or six months' session in Wellington, with a small payment to members, or none at all, as Mr. Carleton would probably prefer, the ' Parliament of New Zealand would be composed of two classes —wealthy men, and " political loafers," men looking for jobs and willing to sell their votes for a consideration. The wealthy men would legislate for their own interest. They would borrow as much money as they could, and use it to improve their own properties, while they would devote their utmost energies to save themselves from taxation. They would throw "all the burdens possible upon the Customs revenue, which they would raise as high as possible (as has been already done), while they would zealously oppose an incometax. They would also (a3 they have just tried to do) endow themselves for another term with those public lands out of which some of them have made enormous fortunes, from the favourable terms on which they were held. Mr. Carleton says there are plenty of his disinterested and capable politicians who cannot get seats. Let him name a score in this province—men who are willing to undergo the loss and inconvenience of living for six months in Wellington, who are capable of fulfilling the duties, and who would be entirely disinterested in their political action. We venture to say the electors of Auckland will be thankful to Mr. Carleton for bringing these men to light.