THE "LYTTLETON TIMES" ON OTAGO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 102, 14 March 1862, Page 3

THE "LYTTLETON TIMES" ON OTAGO

It did not require any gTeat araouut of foresight to predict that the Postmaster-General had undertaken a very difficult task in the re-organisation of the mail service of the colony. Scarcely has he commenced his' work when murmurs of dissatisfaction arise on all sides. As soon as Nelson hears the rumour that the steamers are to be withdrawn from her harbour, a cry is raised that " vested rights" are being infringed, and " compensation" is broadly hinted at. At Wellington, the Chamber of Commerce in the first instance entertained the idea with much apparent cordiality, but quickly repenting its temporary acquiescence, discovered in the scheme much that was most injurious to its interests. In Canterbury Mr. Ward alone appears to have met with a favorable reception, as his advent at Otago seems to have been the signal for the press of that province to commence a direct opposition to the proposals of the General Government.

It is worthy of observation that the objection raised by Otago to the re-modelling of the postal service is founded on very different principles from, those actiiatinsr the'other dissentient provinces. Nelson is naturally reluctant to adopt a scheme involving the loss of a valuable addition to its not over-abundant facilities for commerce. Wellington, whose merchants are largely connected with Sydney, equally objects to a plan Involving the loss of direct steam communication with that city. Otago, on the contrary, has nothing whatever to urge against the scheme itself, which includes all that it desires in the shape of a perfect mail service. The objection in this instance |is, that the contract will be entered into by the General instead of the Provincial Government, and fears are entertained that the special interests of Otago will be sacrificed sooner or later to the convenience of the other Provinces. While Wellington contents itself with announcing its intention of opposing the plans of the General Government by every legitimate means, Otago seems disposed to defy the General Government altogether; and retain in its own hands the power of controlling its mail service. The proceedings of the Otago, Chamber of Com-: inerce, which will be found reported in our columns, afford a remarkable instance of that spirit of selfishness which has characterised the policy of Otago from its earliest days. Long before that settlement hsd dreamt of its present days of golden prosperity, it had become proverbial among the other Provinces of the other colony, for a spirit of exclusive narrowminded selfishness. The acquisition of sudden werlth does not seem to have enlarged its ideas'or.imparted a spirit of generosity to its dealings. Some of the speeches reported at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce are replete with the spirit of greedy selfishness. Six months have sufficed to turn the minds and destroy the balance of the merchant-traders of Dunedin. In this short period of exceptional prosperity, they have learned to look upon themselves as the colony of New Zealand, and to consider the other settlements, whether individually or in the aggregate, as. altogether of secondary importance. Under the flimsy pretence of retaliating upon the General Government for past neglect, when it proposes to remodel the mail service so as to suit the wants of each province, it is proposed that Otago should carry on its mail communication with Melbourne quite irrespective of. the other proprovinces ; a proposition which appeared to find favor with the majority'of the members, perhaps because it was supplemented by the idea, so attractive, to all greedy boys who have' got exclusive possession of a good thing, tltat the time might come when they would be separated from the.other provinces. ~■: It is gratifying to observe that the more liberal policy suggested by the Chairman, Mr. Cargill, succeeded so far' in modifying the propositions of the ultra-selfish party, that it was finally 'decided, in the event of the province subsidising two steamers for the service between Melbourne and Otago, that every facility should be afforded the General Government for the transmission of the mails to and from the terminus. Having granted this, it is possible' that still further concessions may be made to the views of the "Postmaster-General when personally- urgedby himself, and we may yet hear that Otago has consented to adopt a plan altogether favourable to her own* interests, even though it is under the superintendence of the General Government, and •is intended to consider the interests of other provinces as .well as her. We observe that one of these merchant-princes of Dunedin is reported to have said—'' that it was ob : viously a principle of the utmost1 importance.- that they should have rapid communication with Melbourne." Whether any hidden principle is involved in this requirement, we must leave to the author .to explain: but certainly he'will find fewtQ. differ from him in opinion. The General Government agrees to its truth'; so do the Provincial Governmeiitsoi Otago, Canterbury and Wellington.: The" only difficulty is; how to carry out the arrangement to . the; satisfaction of all parties. 'Where.there are, tljree, separate. in% restsito'be 'satisfied, it follows, that "spine concession' must be made:by each! 'W,e': aie" iiqt aw&e' vtM this

'province insisg upon her mails coining on in the direct steamer l:pni Melbourne, provided they fu-3 trans-shipped, \\-ih .proper despatch, ; nor have vo heard that Wellii^ton has made, any such demand. If Canterbury a.d Wellington ure prepared to concede in the matter of trans shipment, surely there can be no sufficient reason for Ulago to stand ali'.ji" from the arrangemcntaiid insist upon its mail service being placed on an indtpendent footing..Such a pulVy smacks strongly of a desire to make the service of t!i« other province;; sul ■•>ervie»t to and dependent upon j\..-; own. Is tiie Provincial Governmentof Ofcico so thoroughly assured of its posit^u—is the condition of dm province so completely beyond the chance of a sudden reverse that the Postal Service of the colony is to Inj made dependent on the arrsmgemeuts of the Local Governmeut' of Otago ? If the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce thinks so, we can assure the members that they are somewhat singular in their opinions. There appears to be some misunderstanding lurking in the minds of the merchants of Bunedin as to the relative, rights and privileges of the General fiiid Provincial Governments with reerard to th'j postal arrangements. Under the "existing- state of nffairs, the General Government have the perfect riarht to determine how, when, and where the mails shall be carried. Though the Postmastortreneral, in order to facilitate business, has con^ suited the opinions of the provinces, and very properly determined to meet their views as far as they are consistent with the general interests of the colony, it is hardly to be supposed that he will give up the privileges of his department at the demand of any single province, or permit the selfish policy of anyone section of the colony to interfere with the interests of the-whole. It "would, perhaps, have been as well for the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce to havu thought of this before beginning to have talked so loudly about independent action. " .

No one can read these proceedings without coming' to the conclusion that the public mind in this island is daily becoming more deeply impressed with the necessity for separation from the burdensome government of the North Island. At every turn the people of the South find themselves hampered in their efforts after progress by the trammels of a Government which, however well it may mean, is physically incapapable of carrying out its good intentions. The selfish display made at tiie Duncdiu Chamber of Commerce ls'one of the numerous signs of the times, and. is another proof how bitterly the'indifference and neglect of the General Govrrnment has been felt. We would suggest a word of advice on this point to tliu merchants of Dnnedin. If they wish to get rid of the Auckland Government, it can only be done by the assistance of Canterbury and Nelson. When the time comes to act, It wil bs necrssary for all to pull together It would, therefore, be simply politic in them, for want of a better reason, to consult the interests of their neighbors, and they would certainly he none the less likely to gain the assistance of able and thoughtful men, by refraining for the future from talking nonsense about a separate political existence for Otago.— Lyttultou Ti/mis, Nov. 5.

. From the recent Otago papers we learn that tlie postal arrangements progress satisfactorily. The tone of the Chamber of Commerce was considerably modified on the occasion of meeting the PostmasterGeneral, aud the arrangements for the future contracts appear to have been settled to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Having given publicity to the proceedings of the Chamber of Commerce at a previous meeting in our last issue, when we called special attention to the illiberality of the views expressed, we are glad that the opportunity has so. quickly offered of xiublishing the report of the meeting held on the Friday following, when the sentiments of the members were expressive of much greater liberality towards the iieigboring provinces. The'principal point of difference between the Post-master-General and the Otago Chamber of Commerce was, whether the General Government should be the. principal party to a contract for a bi-monthly mail steam service between Melbourne and Otago. An the people of Otago had previously made up their minds to retain the managemeut of this service in their own hands, while the representative of the General Government come equally prepared to yield the boint if necessary, it. naturally followed that the privilege in dispute was conceded to the Provincial Government, subject to the condition that special i'acilities shonld be afforded to the General Government authorities for receiving and delivering the mails belonging to the other provinces.

No one who reads the proceedings of this meeting, md considers the present position "and requirements of Otago, can doubt for a moment that the Chamber, of Commerce was perfectly right in pressing for tin? privilege of preserving for the provincial authorities the controlling power of the mail service with Melbourne. When the magnitude of the interests eonuectiug Otago with Melbourne are considered, and how closely they are interwoven at the present time, it is almost a matter of necessity that the province should retain the control of the communication in its own hands. The great distance separating Otago from Auckland, the slender manner in which her interests are represented at the seat of government, and the liability which exists at any moment of a change of ministry, are all .strong additional reasons why Otago should be desirous of keeping the power in- her own hands. When, in addition to these forcible arguments, the Postmaster-General found that the province was prepared to provide the funds required for the service out of its own revenues, nothing remained after yielding the point in dispute but to take care that fitting arrangements were made on the part of the provincial authorities to expedita the delivery of the mails to the neighboring provinces.

■ The first impression likely to be produced in Canterbury by the publication of this arrangement will probably be one of disappointment. The loss of the Sydney steamer is already considered by some of the mercantile community as poorly recompensed by the prospective advantages to accrue from direct communication with Melbourne "via Otago. When it is known that the mail steamer will most probably not come on to Lyttleton, but that goods will be subjected to all the risks and expenses of transhipment, we may expect that the announcement will be received with but a small amount of favor. A closer examination of the terms will perhaps alleviate this disappointment in some degree. It must be remembered that Otago engages to bear all the charge of the direct service to end from Melbourne, and the General Government engages to bring on our mails and return them ' again -by the Inter-Provinckl service. The General Government, will, therefore, be at no charge for mail service, on account, of this" paovince, except for the two trips between Lyttelton and Dunedin. It is only right then that some allowance should be made to Canterbury in the settlement of accounts between the two Governments. Again, we are now paying out of provincial revenues the sum of £5000 for coastal and inter-coloniai services The greater part of this vote will be released by t! c new scheme, and will be available for subsidising a direct service with SydneyMa conjunction with Wellington and Nelson. It must always be a most difficult task to carry out the mail service of a colony which includes no less than nine separate ports of call, covering- an extreme length of about one thousand miles, especially when the most important interests happen to be settled at ; I the two extremities. We believe that all are agreed that the right thing is being done in .'forwarding the northern maiis from Sydney, and the southern from Melboure. .Having settled this point satisfactorily, it only remains to work out the details as far as possible to the satisfaction of the separate interests concerned. That each province will be satisfied with the arrangements entered into by the representative of the .government cannot be expected, but it must be borne in mind by those who will necessarily be disappointed, that it is utterly impossible in an arrangement of so complex a character, to satisfy everybody .—Lytteltmi Times, Nov. 8.

Mbbitations on the Dead.—Ay, go to the grave of buried love, and meditate. There settle the account with thy conscience for every past • benefit unrequited—every past endearment unregarded—of that departed being who' can never, never, return to be soothed by the contrition ! If.thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul, or a furrow to the brow of an affectionate parent; if thou art a husband and hast ever caused the fond bosom that' ventured its whole happiness in thy arms to doubt one moment of thy kindness or truth ; if thou -art a friend arid host ever wronged in thought, word, or deed; if thou art a lover, and hast ever giving one unmerited pang to that true heart which now lies cold and still beneath thy feet; then, be, sure that every unkind word, every lirigentle action,.. jvill come thronging" back upon thy memory, and knocking dolefully at thy soul; then be sure that thou wilt lie down sorrowing and repentant on the; grave, and utter the unheard groan, and pour' the unavailing tear ; more bitter, because unheard and unavailing.—' Washing-ton-Irving.' i- . ..-'■.■r.:.:. ,';■■ ■■-■;::;■.;'. <.. :." ::-' .:. .. ' ,

-^Dictionary Words.—But the oddest things o i all are to be found in the dictionaries.- Why. they are ; all kept there no one knows; but what man in his j senses-would use such words as zythepsary for abrewhduse, and zumologist for a brewery would: talk of a ! stormy i day asprocellous ? and himself as modified; of his long-legged -son as increasing m proeerity, but :'■> sadly, marcid,- ofhiiving met with much procacity from sucha one; of a bore;-as "a iriacrobiolic; of- important ;;business ns moliminous; and his -daughter's n'edklace as^mpniliform; bfispme one-'s^tale as' mera-' . ciouSjiantfclamehthis last night's nimiety;of; wine at s tjiiit depatical feast, whence hewastaken.byereption! • i fijpen the dictionary at any page,Uand you will come on a'whpleliostof fheie'-Hfbnfe.—"All the Year Round/';:.'.li *