IMPORTANT SHIPPING CASK AT AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 323, 1 January 1863, Page 4

IMPORTANT SHIPPING CASK AT AUCKLAND.

.'■ (From the NewlZcalander^ . Throughout the whole of the week past, the Supreme Court has been occupied with a trial of no ordinary commercial and maritime importance—one which has been of unprecedented duration in the Civil records of New Zealand causes. In August last, the barque Blundell, Captain Lean', arrived from London, after a protracted and stormy passage of 168 days. From the day of heientrance at the Customs until that of her discharge, there was a; general outcry among consignees, both because of the dilatoviness of her discharge, and the damaged condition in which the goods were landed; to which was added a complaint that pack ages were broken and were short of their invoiced contents. This was a grievance loudly and bitterly complained of; bat for which there was no seeming redress save by appeal to the costly and doubtful process of law. . Among the suft'erei-3 by the Blundell, Mr Mark Somerville was oiie of the heaviest, and with a degree of commercial spirit worthy of the utmost commendation. he_ elotevmined to bring his cause under the in-ve-tigation of the constituted tribunals- to determine whether he was to receive merchandise shipped in good order and condition in London, and not exposed to such contingencies as arise from the Queen's enemies and other exceptional clauses, much damaged and short of quantity, without due compensation, in tlie port of Auckland, l'lie trial, as we have already remarked, lias been along one; the evidence adduced was voluminous and conflicting, as well in a general as in a technical point ot view; but the result, as declared by the verdict of an able and intelligent Special Jury, has constitufed (as we think) a most beneficial precedent, for theguidanceaswellofshipbrokers, ship-masters, shippers and consignees, such as <~annot fail to insure a better order in commercial relations t han those of which the mercantile population of Auckland have so frequently had bitter grounds to complain. u y the verdict of Saturday, ship-masters have been placed in the position of common carriers, whose bounden duty it is to see that (heir vehicles are in fit and sound condition to convey goods when received, am i take every possible care to keep them in that condition during their transit, and si> to deliver them a t their port of discliarga. In the present case, the j ury decided that the giods had not so been cared j o . f nnd that tl.e thip had not been sufficiently a "emHl t> to enabe her ct.ntr.wt to be fulfilled, m i.y the lewoti t.ius taught be productive t f fmure cuutim ; ai.d congratuafng tli-cotnai-n-ia1 oiuutun . t j 01l „su j ~.t of so ihw hi rp .rtnniM w<; be* pati:ularly toixpress unr mlutii'n:i>m of the uu'ilic B;.icit eyinc-d by Air iSnnierville in adventuriiig ujjou i a quebticu of su much legal danger and eloubt.

The steamship Alhinibra, havinp been ropaintcd anil her dull to the water-line coated with Borthwiuk's pateiH preparation, was launched yesterday morning from the (jovermnent patent slip, Williamstown. She was then towed to tliu swinging buoys, where she hail her compas&ea adjusted, previous ti being paced on the berih for Otago'.— A rgus Una. 20.

Steam to JFauk^ius.— Dui'iii'jr tin; montli, a'lcntion hai beon directed om:e "tore to thi necewiy of establishing a Hub of srea-u c:im rriiuicntio.i b t.voeu tiie.Gipa Colony niul Alaiintius by of Nil'al. t Ins bpen brought s )ecially to notieu in connexion with the splendid fleet of French stuntnera now calling at. our Port, for the service of the Messogeriq Iniperiale, between China and Suez. This Company has (Jetermine'l to establish n branch service from Aden to Bourbon and Mauritius ; so that by the French steamers anil the Peninsular and Oriental steamers together, a line from Alauritius to the Cape, would «ot only give us fortnightly mails from Kngland but direct and easy communication with Australia, India, China, ami all the markets of tho East. Nor would the prospects of whatever company undertakes the speculation be by any means unfavorable. Three steamers, of no greater tonnage and expense thun the Wnldensian. would be found" quite sufficient for the service. They would; in the first place, have ' much of the pnssnmrer atitt go >d 9 traffic already existing between Table ''Buy. Al#oa Hay, and N iita) ; they would haw. further, the whole of the goods traffic, already Inrce, and certain to increase, between the African colonies and Mauritius; and they would, besides, create a pnssenpell traffic both in connexion j with the overland route to England and with the other I lines of communication to India, China, and AustraI lia. The subsidy required, therefore, to insure remu- | iterative returns would probably amount to much les« I than the Ir&OOO asked by the Union Company last 'year; nnd, in the present superabundance of unem- | plnyed steamers of Europe, it is likely that an otfer of L 12,000 subsidy would attract speculators to an enterprise so promising; and, assuming it to be so, we have litt'e doubt that such a subsiiiy would be provided without much difficulty. We aro confident that the Cape Government would contribute L 4,000 readily, and that it would prove in every respect a profitable investment. Natal ha 3 already offered 1.3,000, nnd will willingly oft;r it again as "soon-as there is the slightest chance of its being accepted. Mauritius ha* engaged to contribute an equal quoU to the fund; so that from the three colonies ininie-' diately concerned n total of IAOfiOO in ly be confidently relied on. With that forthcoming at once, there can be no question that the Imperial Government would readily, nnd even without pressure, supplement the remainder even should the whole guarantee he made to swell up to L15.0U0. Nor would that, supplement be in any respect too great for the advantages derived by. Imperial interests. The importance of early and regular communications between the squadrons and armies of the ea^t and the forces ttuioned at the C.-tpe, would be worth the whole of it. — South African Adverti er. '