THK AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION. (From the Home News.)

Otago Daily Times, Issue 237, 23 September 1862, Page 5

THK AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION. (From the Home News.)

The annual meeting of the General Association for J the Australian Colonies \ras held on Tuesday, the Bth ; of July, at the Australian Kooma, Change Alley, , Bircl»in-lane. Sir Stuart Donaldson, chairman, of » the executive committee, presided. f Mr. Mackinnon, the ton. secretary, read tho fol- . lowing report:— > r-',^ c ?fFrime? fc of introducing salmon into the . rivers of fasmama, which engaged the earnest attention of your eouimittfe when their last year's report was laid before you, at whichtime theeumofjeJOOOhad been voted by the Legislature of Tasmania for the < prosecution of this interesting object, lias been repeated. Your committee requested Mr. J. A. Youl ' L UST c ,tl} G*ol<i caro an<* management of conducting the details counected with the transmission Jot salmon ova to Tasmnnia. This duty 3fr. Youl performed with untiring energy and zeal. Your I n°f!? m Ktee «*»> Mr- Youl's interesting report upon hts proceedings in this matter, which isprinte i ■ Sw ;l ppendlx h.6r^ u Altboupfh the latest report : from the person m charge of the ova and small fry : is, for the reaaon therein stated, not cheerful, yonr committee, guided by the ' nX"«f ICB n°^ o v b-ta!r;cd. <lot despair of the ulti- > T^i 8?T °* thlH '"'Po^nt effort to introtluee salTasmania. Yooreozomittee have pat satiHtactwn madding that the sum of £200 has bee,, voted and transmitted to this country from the new colony of Southard, in New Zealand, m ord«r SaS iT'V? 6 hlf ral/'PPropriation by'the Tasmania Legislature already referred in. la their report of last year, your committee drew your attention to the contemplated withdrawal of tl, e s£niT tlll mai • be.tween En»!antl a«<J ChtnaTby which Australian inteitssts wonld suffer. They liav^ now the satisfaction to report that they joined a deputation ot merclnnt* and others connected with Unna, to wait upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer the result of which was thai the service has been Unir'n^'n <»°"«i«ce have to report tStlhe liSnt ?f S"p 1/ »« projecting the entailibitment of a hue of steamers to Australia. Mr vS™ ■ t f Cr ftar!( ofthe cowany, waited upon .your committee for the purpose of seeking their.ail jn negntiatiiiK with the Government fcr a subsidy ™7 C f U(> W ,¥ OTe y°ur wmmittw did not appear to them to bold out feUC h prospects of success as to justify them m fadcing any steps in the matter at the present time. Mr. Alderman Salomons, MP one of th« honorary members of your committee' moved and obtained, shortly after Uie aweiuUhigof Parliament, a committee of the House of Commons to inquire into and report upon tho declaration ofthe Austrahau sovereign asa legal tender throughout lier # «a je .stT a dominion!. Among the members comwwiue this committee arc some ofthe leading monia wlnf'£°OlW^n^ inctading the lli-h't Hon. \\ .R. Gladstone, Chancellor of tbo Exchequer Dr Graham, MnHter of tha British Mint; and some well' knowu eoloa.sts have itlready been examined, and your cotoimtteft h.jp« to be able next year to renort that thecci.i .struck at tbe Royal Miut at Sydney has been recognised tbron«hont the realm os a legal tender, by which many commercial iueoave-ienas and the anomaly of the stat* coining two sovert-knu—the one having a. limited, tie other an universal circulation »ecogu«ed by law - will be removed. Id couclM«H>n, your committee have pleasure in reporting that a threepenny a.id and a ninepennv stamp have wncetbwrlwjt report, b,>e» issued by the Post-office, b) winch the conveniaic* ofthe public corresponding w in tho colonies and with India ha., been" miIC O added to ; anl tliat the extension of the Post-office WLO^, 8}^ 11 Y> \ h* Australian colonies and t »i!r« "^ only been delayed by the incompletenau ot sune detail*, and will, your committee Inuieyf, be shortly effected. With reipectTwierd projects and nutters of importance upon which your committee have been consulted during the past ye™ they have endeuvor."d in wry ea*e to erive advice' ami to co-operate co far as lay ia their power, with the view ot uerv mg the Australian colonies generally. w!^ ta£fi l S 0"*1^ «i'l tbfct. having now had the honor to hi! the chair for the lan three years i>e felt it n duty to resign that pott, for he held that it was desirable that new blood should bo infused into the committee. Tins being the case, be could, without impropriety review many intetesting rasters which liad ergaged thwr attention, not with the view of claiming any particular credit fur their association, but to point out the desirability of continuing it for h? aa*>oa«oii was not; supported as it ought tJ be if They had mccecdcd tn defeating the attempt of the Post-office to itnpon an extra postage on newvpnrxrs ;by he overland mail There W £*> the e^ablLsh- | raent of the jmtal line via Point de Galie, and the | mtemtiua snnjoct of .-cclimatisation of animals, Tk k » i 1"*? ** greatl>* Pn«w>t«l by Mr. Wilson. i lney ha.l also drawn general attention to the facility of (rowing cotton in Australia, and he might mention , that a sample m the Inter-oiUonal Exhibition, rtoto m JJeir South Wales, was pronounce.! to be Uie best TrtV 1 ,r T«\ -At request ofthe Secretary of State for tlie Colonies, delates were-nominated for the eolonips at the Statistical Congres* he'd last y«ar m London, and the reports drawn up by them were coa*td«nd by the highest authorities to be the nwt interring of any laid before the congress. Viith respect to the- question of transportation, all the resulta expectod from the Committee of the llon*p of Common. u-Wdi Mr. ChiUew lia.l obtained were' noUntirt'ly succe^ful, b>!t tht evidence they laid before the committee- made such an imprcssioa that it must lead to great lutureeood. They bad also paid much attention to the intro-luetion of salmon, upon which Mr. \ oul luul bretowe<i great time and labour: and alUiongh he was afraid tlmt the present experimentmight not be succestfu!, the practical expenencwhich was essential to miceww lia^l now un.loubtedlr b«en gained. Another question was the recognition of the Australian sovereign. By the exertions of AMormnit batoaions, a committee of the Hou«e of (.ominous had been appointed to inquire into the matter, and the.v• hal B«cceeded in convincing the Chance lorof the Exchequer and the two e*-Governors of the Hank of Kn«lan<f that that recognition would not be attended with the consequences which wer<apprehended. There was, therefoie, very little doubt but that the Australian coin would be ptodaimed a legwl tender all aver the empire. Althoach the association had been carp.^l at by some of the colonies, all who were aware of the facts were fully sensible of tho value of its exertions. Their object was to promote the interest* of the colonies, as a whole, socially arid commercially rathur than politically, and their efforts had been recognised by the highest authorities. Having, in conclusion, pointed out the nec&tfity for the colonies acting together in combination tor their mutual advantage in the manner afforded by the association, he moved the adoption of tho report. * Mr. Darvall seconded the motion, and bore testimony h> the utility of the association, and the energy ofthe committee. On bis arrival he was struck with tho want ot unity on the part ofthe colonies, who were rather inclined to run a race of competition with one another. He complained that there was an indillerenre on the part of the mother country to promote emigration from its countless and sWgW thoownds for without emigration it was impo^ibli that the colonies could progress, and unless there is a constant infusion of new "blood from England, they must degenerate No doubt, there was a tendency h f. m« quarters to carp at the efforts ofthe society, Se ctte? WM V*****o* a PPreciated m n ii^ reply-, !? a *»»w*» T on fr(m> Mr. Cope, Sir S. Donaldson said that the Union Company had submitted a proposa) for a line of steam ships to Australia, calling at the Cape and returning by the Mauritius, but ho considered that the vessels winch they proposed to employ at first were too small • that stopping at the Cape was fatal to a rapid passage, and that experience proved that passengers greatly objected to the Mauritius, owing to the prevalence of hurricanes The committee had, therefore, ielt that they could not co-operate in the proposal. Mr. Herder, secretary to the Union Company, controverted the opinion of the chairman. He stated that if the"pronoaal was adopted, larger vessels would, as soon as possible, be employed. Passengers would take either the route by the Cape |or the route via Mauritius to join the overland mail. Mr. Smith complained that a vessel so unsuitable as the Beautiful Star had been selected for the conveyance of the salmon ova. Hr. Youl explained that it was a matter of necessity. lie was obliged to take1 that vessel--for no other offered—or lose a year, which he was unwilling to do, for the question was fo novel that they had to feel their way at every step by actual experience. He feltthat it was essential to have come practical experience of tho best method of conveying the ova at sea, and that experience had now been gained so that he was convinced that if this attempt failed'another would be successful. The report was adopted unanimously.

At the above meeting the fallowing committee for the ensuing yea- was determined upon :—New South Wales—Sir ». Donaldson, Messrs. James M'Arthur and George Macleay. South Anstralia—Messrs. A. L. Blder, George Green, and Captain Bagot, Victoria r Messrs. James Hae, H. G. Ashhurst,and L. Mackinnou. Tasmama~3lesars." J. A. You! P. T. Smith, and F. A D a Croz. Queensland-Sir Charlea Nicholson^ Messrs. M.Marsl, M.P.,andS.