THE PANAMA ROUTE AND THE BREAD QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 658, 9 July 1864, Page 8

THE PANAMA ROUTE AND THE BREAD QUESTION.

(From the "Sydney Morning Herald," June 6.)

The value, to an isolated territory like Australia, of quick communication with the rest of the world is at the present moment receiving a signal illustration. The consumer of bread— a phrase synonymous with the general public — is being taxed in the price of the loaf to an extent that would represent a handsome contribution to the proposed subsidy for the establishment of steam communication by the Panama route. Had steamers been running between Sydney and Panama from the commencement of the present year, it is very safe to say that flour would not have been at its present price. And when we have to pay four or five pounds a ton extra on a weekly consumption of several hundred tons, the tax soon mounts up to considerable proportions. The tax levied upon a community by a rise in the price of articles of general consumption is often far greater than a Government tax, which would, be stoutly resisted as oppressive, even if the money to be collected by the tax were to be spent in something which would be an unquestionable public benefit.' In the former case, however, the payment is a matter of necessity and cannot be resisted ; in the latter it is voluntary and awakens resistance.

The effect of steam communication between Sydney and Panama would have been that orders would have been forwarded both to California and Chili as soon as ever the extent of the mischief caused by the rust in this colony and Victoria is generally known, and as soon as the merchants, who are perpetually watching the balance between the supply and consumption of particular commodities, found out that our local stocks would require replenishing, and that a prospective rise in price would justify importations. These orders would have been readily fulfilled, for they would have reached their death ation before the prospect of a long drought had made the holders of wheat in California cbary of parting with their stocks. We should have had shipments that would have helped to supply' our immediate wants, and to create at least a temporary abundance. The actual severity would have been lesg, and the fear of future scarcity "before next harvest would have been less, and this diminished apprehension would have prevented prices from becoming inflated. Aa it was, our orders and the news of the state of our market went by a casual sailing ship, and did not arrive till the market had got into an excitable state in consequence of the drought, and when the rise in price made it difficult to execute orders within the limits that had been assigned.

If a steamer were running monthly across the Pacific, we should before this have been in receipt of accurate intelligence as to the state of the weather and the markets in California, and no particular mercantile houses would have exclusive information on that point. We should know whether the rain had been sufficient to have removed all fear about the coming crop, or whether apprehensions of a failure

were still held and still justifiable. As it is, no one knows when the next arrival from California may come in, and this uncertainty helps to keep the market in a feverish state.

Our present dependence on California is an unusual thing, and would not happen every year; but it shows how important it is that we should be as little isolated as possible from all the rest of the world, and how considerable the cost of that isolation may occasionally be. It also shows how desirable it is, in increasing our present mail service, that we should open a fresh route and establish new communications. At the present juncture a Panama service would be worth more to us than a duplicated overland mail. The latter would not have been any relief to our necessities, because it would not bring us into communication with countries where we trade for flour.

If we had had the Panama service the general public would not have noticed ita incidental service to us in cheapening the loaf so clearly as they can now trace the way in which its absence is helping to keep bread dear. The natural operations of a quick and free trade would have pro- ! duced their effect so gradually and insen- ! sibly that no attention would have been ! directed to the action of cause and effect iin the matter. When the market rises, everybody who is unpleasantly affected thereby, asks the reason why, but when it !is kept down nobody asks anything about iit. ! But though it is not often that we get ! economical laws illustrated in a way that ! comes home so generally to " men's business and bosoms," all who have paid any attention to the subject understand perfectly well how regular mail and telegraphic communication helps to equalise prices in different markets, to prevent gluts and scarcities, and to give to consumers the benefit of a rapid interchange of commodities. Speculative merchants have often said that they wished there were no regular monthly mail, as they could always make better hits when news was irregular and uncertain ; by means of private ships and exclusive advices they could often steal a march and control the market. But though great gains are sometimes made by such adventures, great losses which counterbalance them are also incurred At any rate, whether merchants gain or not, in the long run, by the scarcity of news, the public loses ; and if mercantile gains are kept down by the regular receipt of commercial advices, the public benefits. It is in this way that the mass of the people derive a return for the money which is spent.in, promoting mai communication, and that the tax is repaid to the taxpayers. It is not only as importers, but as exporters also, that we benefit by having quick communication with the places where we trade. Our exporting trade at present is not very extensive, but we may instance the article of coal, for which we are always anxious to find a profitable market. Many cargoes might have been shipped if we could have had prompt .information that a fair profit was to be realised; and,* conversely, many heavy losses would have been avoided if there had been earlier intelligence of the glutted state of the market, to which, in ignorance, consignments had been forwarded.

These considerations justify us, in our insular and remote position, in giving a public support to ocean mail enterprise, to an extent that might otherwise seem extravagant and disproportioned to our means. It is not merely a luxury, it is money gained and loss prevented.

The Doom of Australia. —Australia must not, on account of its isolated geographical • position, strange productions, curious physical character, and the low degree of development attained by its flora and fauna, be regarded as a new, hardly bo n island, but, on the contrary, as an aged country, which from time immemorial has endeavored ta retain its character unchanged. New Holland may be likened to an, old mau rather than to a ckild ; it does not begin to breathe and to live; on the contrary, it has lived and toiled, and is tottering towards the grave. This is indicated not only in its flora and fauna, but also in the" geological peculiarities of the country, None of the newer formations so widely diffused oyer Eurspe cover itsextensi-e primitive rocks, and its elder deposits, principally consisting of layers of carboniferous sandstone and porphyry, are horizontal and undisturbed. No revolutions have visited the surface since it rose from the ocean; and for that reason the greater portion of the country still looks most like the bottom of the sea, On the other haad, there is a phenomenon i plainly indicating that the country has done playing its part, and must now prep ire for vast ! changes. The whole of Not Holland is surrounded by coral reefs, those buildings of Najades which slowly but surely drag their victims to their watery habitation. It is well known that these reef-building corals grow only in considerable masses where the ground is gradually sinking. If there were no other sign, these coral banks surrounding the continent and islands would point to changes in the level; and from whnt the smaller Polynesian islands alre dy have undergone, the future of New Holland — namely, a dissolution of the continent into groups of islands -might be predicted. The entire condition of the country, the desert-like character of the interior, &c, &c, indicate an approaching change, which, however,- let the settlers take comfort— may not take place for some thousands of years.— " Dr. F. linger."