COLONIAL RECIPROCITY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4127, 12 June 1874, Page 3

COLONIAL RECIPROCITY.

(From the Canterbury Press). The establishment of a system of colonial reciprocity has always been a favorite scheme of Mr Vogel’s. A Bill on the subject formed part of the policy of 1870 ; and the Act of Imperial legislation which removed, in the case of Victoria and New South Wales, the constitutional obstacles to such interchanges, w.'is mainly owing to his persevering efforts. How far the Colonies will take advantage of the liberty accorded to them remains to be seen. But we quite agree witlPthc Premier that whatever success is achieved will bo gained by negotiation between the several Governments, and that it is useless to attempt to include all the Colonies at once, or to frame any comprehensive jdau applicable to’ all alike. The principle of reciprocity must bo introduced only so far as the Colonies are prepared for it, and be left to make its own way as mutual confidence, or the practical evidence of its advantages suggests. Mr. Vogel’s experience seems to have left him with a poor impression of Intercolonial Conferences. We certainly never knew a Conference which accomplished anything—at least anything at all commensurate with the time, trouble and expense bestowed on it. If the Postal Conference of 1807 appears an exception, it must be remembered that the conclusions of the Conference mot with no favor in the Parliaments of New South Wales and Victoria, and that the elaborate triple scheme of postal services which they agreed upon never attained to more than a paper existence. As a rule these meetings have been failures. /The delegates may come together like so many Superintendents in our house of Representatives, each intent on securing some benefit for his own Colony ; and the resolutions ultimately carried, being arrived at for the most part by a process of private arrangements and logrolling, have been so far from bringing about a settlement that they have left all parties more dissatisfied than before. The last Conference at Sydney, and the part taken there by the of New Zealand, illustrates tin’s remark. If a conference on the reciprocity question is thought desirable, it might be as well, if only for the novelty’s sake, to hold it at Wellington. But wo concur with Mr. Vogel in thinking it would lead to misunderstandings, and possibly to a shelving of tho measure, and that separate negotiation, with a regard to the circumstances of each of the reciprocating Colonies, affords much the more likely means of approaching a common agreement. AVe hope then that tho circular of the Colonial Government will meet with a favorable reception. Mr. Vogel, does not seem very sanguine. His principal object is to ventilate the question, without much expectation that there will speedily be any results. That is likely enough with regard to the two great '

Australian colonies. The establishment of friendly relations between them will doubtless be a work of time. But as regards New Zealand we believe a beginning will soon be made. The telegram wo mentioned above would seem to imply that the Tasmanian Government are already prepared to accept Mr. Vogel’s proposals ; and a similar readiness, though perhaps on a smaller scale, may bo looked for from the Government of New South Wales.