THE Otago Witness.

Otago Witness, Issue 571, 8 November 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Witness.

DUNEDIN, SAT UHD AY, NOVEMBER 8, 1862.

We have on more than one occasion found it necessary to allude to the Auckland predictions of our contemporary, the Colonist, and to point out that on some questions of public importance that journal cannot fairly be taken as an exponent of public opinion in this Province; becinse where Auckland and Otago interests clash the Colonist is apt to lean towards the Northern Province. It i«< again our disagreeable duty to revert to this unpleasant subject. The Colonist bus lately, in a most glaring manner, betrayed its Auckland tendencies in the discussion of the subject of the Pananu route, it would not, of course, do, for the Colonist to openl;*. and without any circumlocution, state that it would prefer to see Auckland reap the benefits of being made the New Zealand terminn? o.' the Panama line of eteam navigation. T) it would be too glaring, and w;mH defeat i a own object. But although not able o]- ny to postpone Otago iatere.sis to those of A j -kland, it was quite possible to serve Auckland interests almost as fftbiually by anot.'i.- line of action.

Accoi ling to tiie pre c t Colonial arrangements . ot only in ;ji jt,ii matters, but gener Uy, tl > interests of Auckland are made of the ii-s. and paramount importance, those of trie r i ! of the culony being, in all important maUtii's. treated as inferior and subsidiary. Placet .UTiinge'uenta being so advantageous to Ait..;J'ind, it follows that if it cannot be arrange 1 . T or Auckland to get the lion's share of the L;ivfits of the Panama route, it will be better or that Province that no change be made. _ It is upon this idea that the '.'olonut, acting in the interests of Auckland, is proceeding.

The Auckland papers and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, as will be seen by the report which we publish in another part of one- presjnt issue, are "go-.ig in heavy" for the claims of Auckland to Lo made the terminal port, and dwelling upon the ihet of Auckland lying in the direct line of the shortest great circle track from Sydney to Panama, and are bidding c agerly for the support and co-opora'ion of Aew South Wales in their attempt tc carry a point which there can be no doubt would be a triumph for Auckland and would be the means of gi\hg that Province an additional and most important advantage over the other Provinces of New Zealand. In adopting this tone, the Auckland people aie evidently under the opinion that there is a reasonable probability of their being able to bring the agit ition to a successful issue, otherwise they vuld not lend themselves to promote ami aent, the eifect of which, must be to tHsturl , j a certain extent, arrangements which n.e very advantageous to their city, giving them every advantage of which their geographical positioa as regards Australia and the rest of the colony of New Zealand will admit.

Their Otago organ, their friend in the enemy's camp, so to speak, is in some respects better infc rmed than they, and is able to estimate at more nearly their true value the relative positions of the rival Provinces, and the superior advantages to New Zealand and to Australia that would be secured by having the New Zealand terminus in Otavjo. lleco^nizing this, the Colonist does not attempt to bolster up the case of the Auckland advocates, but looking upon their case as set forth by themselves as hopeless, and taking it for granted that it would be better for Auckland that there should be no Panama service at all, than that Otago should be the terminus, deliberately pooh-poohs the whole scheme. Says the Colonist" The Panama mania, which " has fascinated our legislators, evoked the " enthusiastic admiration of our contempora- " rics, and laid strong hands on the public " exchequer, is a delusion and a snare. To " vote a subsidy of £20,000 {sic) per annum, " for the establishment of a monthly Mail " Communication between New Zealand and " Great Britain via Panaim, is, to our mind, " p* impolit c stjp — that we are cti'.ed u,)on to '' pay ' too much for the whistle.' " Further on in the same article, the Colmvat says " the " objections to the Panama project are nu- " numerous and cogent ; the paraded advan- " tages small visional and expensive.' 1 The article concludes ai follows: — "The '• Postal Service agitatii • I's been blown out " for beyond its fair r i> > tions. The present monthly mail, \<ith in efficient inter- " provincial service, w» aid meet every " practice' requirement. The mercantile " commut ity, for the mo * part, do not desire v even a 'i-monthly com.iiunicatioa. They " know ' 'at two m.i h instead of one will " nearly double their correspondence, and "give Jit in a great deal of extra trouble " and inconvenience, while the actual benefits " are lltUc more than the gratification of im- " patieut uriosity. Regularity is the one " thing "tinted ; and a few hours in the time " occupied, and the frequency of comrnimica- " tion, arc comparatively unimportant. With " a country almost destitute of roads, or any

v facilities of huernal communication, it does

" appear like approaching madness for a " Government to liel i e voting its handredd of " thousands for experimental postal projects. " If a bi-monthly mail is wanted, it can be had "at once, and that at a moderate cost. This " Panama folly we cannot too strongly de- " precate."

This was in the Colonist of October, 25th, but in a later issue we find the same tone adhered to, and it is evident that the policy of "letting well alone" is that which the Culonvt will follow out.

How far the advocacy of the Colonist will be efficacious in preventing any disturbance of the existing order of things, it is not for us to sny, but we do not feel any great apprehension on the subject. Otago is too strong, and the case of Otago in refeience to the Panama Service is too good for us to h.ive much fear as to any injury that the Colonist might be able to do to the cause; at«d this altogether asmrt from the question of the weakness of the arguments adduced. Were it worth while, we should have but little difficulty in showing that these arguments are of the most fallacious kind, and that they are founded upon either a total misapprehension or a wilful perversion of the commonest principles regulating mercantile affairs, together with a singular degree of ignorance as to the details of the postal services, either that now existing or that proposed tn be established by way of Panama. But we will spare our readers that infliction. Our object has been, not to quarrel with our contemporary, but merely to enter our protest against his views being accepted by people at a distance as those of any considerable section of the people of this Province. This has been rendered necessary by the peculiar circumstances of the case. Auckland views, published in Auckland, go for what they are worth ; but Auckland views published insidiously in Otago are apt to be regarded, by those not in the secret, us of far more importance. We have, therefore, felt it our duty to protest against the opinions expressed in the Colonist being regarded in any other light than as the covert advocacy of Auckland interests : and having done this much we feel that we have, as far as in us lies, deprived them of their power for mischief.