THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 1884.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7004, 29 April 1884, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 1884.

It is impossible to overestimate the service rendered in the promotion, ot human knowledge by the system of Consular Reports. Familiarised as men are with their own surroundings; they often fail to notice, or at least to duly estimate, many things that strike the eye of an intelligent and observant stranger; and—wholly apart from the intrinsic value of the principal objects intended to be served by the collection of information at the hands of • accredited agents of the several Governments, sent for this among other purposes into foreign parts —there is a very, interesting and' very useful object served in the residents in the countries so visited being enabled to see themselves as others see them.

We are forcibly impressed with this view from a perusal of the Consular Reports on New Zealand, transmitted by Mr. Consul Griffin, of the American service, to his own Government, and which have just been reprinted in this colony, and issued in a handsome volume, by the Government of New Zealand at the expense of the colony. Such reports are generally compiled by the Consular officers of all civilised Governmentsbut it must be admitted that the United States, bear the palm for the wide range of subjects, as well as the minuteness of detail, that characterises the enquiries and observations of their Consuls; and we are safe in saying, after a survey of the many volumes of such reports issued by the Department of State at "Washington during the past few years, that in the whole consular service of that Government, there' appears to be no officer more painstaking and observant, or furnishing a larger and more varied contribution to this class of literature than the popular representative of the United States at Auckland. Our Government has marked its appreciation of the vklue of Mr. Griffin's work in ordering the reprint of his reports on New Zealand, a token of recognition which we believe is unique in consular annals, and certainly nothing of the kind has taken place in these colonies before in relation to the labours of any representative of a foreign Power resident among us. A perusal of the volume confirms the justness of the estimate formed by the Government of this colony. As an old and experienped journalist, Mr. Griffin has given'to his narration a lucidity and precision of statement that make his work as pleasant, as it is instructive, reading; while his closeness of observation, caroful collation of materials, and the fairness of his general conclusions, together with the strong relief in which he puts the more salient of the distinctive features of this country and its resources, stake his reports of exceeding value to every one interested in the welfare of the colony. "We are unable to take more than a passing glance at the varied and extensive series of subjects on which Mr. Consul Griffin has been furnishing his Government with information respecting New Zealand. The tender subject of colonial finance, which seems to afford to outsiders an irresistible temptation for attack, is treated in a calm and dispassionate manner. He admits the largeness of the burden of debt, but intelligently notes that debt which has been mainly incurred in the promotion of, reproductive works, and which has given to every kind o£ property an intensified value, manifold beyorid the amount of the -financial encumbrance on the State, is very far from being an unmixed evil. In dealing with general statistics the Consul places in startling prominence what he calls the "marvellous change" which has been worked in three and twenty years | and with' unconcealed feelings of pride in the colony, anticipates its ultimately far outstripping' the sister colonies'- in the race of wealth and population. The chapter on. Australasian banking is interesting, not merely for the statistical information contained, but' for the glimpse' afforded , of our financing systems as they present

thomsolves to American, eves. The varied nature of the work done by Mr. Griffin may be estimated from a mere statement of the subjects treated. Tho mail routes, harbour accommodation, coal fields, gold fields, timber trade, iron and steel trade, •watch and clock trade, wine and spirit trado, manganese, wool, woollen manufactures, New Zealand cattle, frozen and canned meat, canned provisions, fisheries, kauri gum, fungus, flax, rabbit skins, tanekaha bark, cement, agricultural products, horse-breeding* American woodware, and systems of credit are the subjects of separate reports from the pen of this indefatigable officer of the American Government; and it is sufficient to say that every subject is discussed with ability and care, and the sum total is an j aggregate of information of the most practical and useful as well a3 interesting kind, presenting New Zealand and its industries in a very attractive and promising light. These reports are of special value at the present time, when we in this colony have so strong a desire to cultivate intimate commercial relations with the United States, a desire which we believe is reciprocated by our American cousins in every case when made aware of -the vast possibilities of commercial interchange which these rapidly advancing colonies present. We are so much a people of yesterday that it is not to be wondered at it a country, itself so vast and of so infinite resources as is the " Great Republic," almost overlooks our existence. But. so valuable and interesting reports as those from Mr. Griffin, disseminated through the manufacturing and com mercial circles of the United States, cannot fail to awaken attention to the fact that in yon little far-away speck on the bosom of the wide Pacific there are the germs—only struggling into existence, it is true— of that commercial greatness which will make of it yet the Great Britain of the South; and we feel confident that our American cousins are far too sensible to the advantages of a growing commerce to ignore the opportunities that are presented of binding that commerce in its incipient stages to their own. The tendency—indeed, we might almost say the unconcealed object of Mr. Griffin's treatises—is to stimulate such commercial connection, while, throughout the whole, there breathes that spirit of Anglo-Saxon brotherhood which rejoices in our progress as the progress of the race. Mr. Griffin has caught the spirit of the colonies, which, even more than that of the mother country, seems to' regard the interests of the severed sections of the Anglo-Saxon race as one and indivisible.

Indeed, it would almost seem as if it was the destiny of the colonies to impress this truth. Placed in circumstances nearly akin to those of our American cousins, yet preserving the connection -with ■ the mother land, we have developed for ourselves institutions with all the stability of monarchy, without its antiquated abuses; and with all the elan and freedom of Republicanism, without its mob law. Occupying such a vantage ground, we seem to reach out a kindly hand to old and new; and, more perhaps than either, we feel pity it is that the mere accidents of technical forms and names in Government should keep apart those whom God has made one. In these generous and kindly reports we see one other means in bringing about the entente cordiale that is surely and for which every true Englishman and true American should devoutly pray. Let that be realised, let the AngloSaxon race, long divided, be re-united in whatever name and under whatever form, and that race could " lick creation" and dominate the world. Let it .but lift its finger, and every sword would fall from angry hands, and at its bidding wars would cease; and its ships would be the. harbingers to all the world not only of civilization and commerce, but of religion and peace. Everything done that goes to promote this tendency, is yeoman's service in the cause of good ; and such service has Mr. Consul Griffin rendered, in his manly and generous, though withal truthful eulogy of New Zealand.