THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 878, 26 September 1868, Page 1

THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTORY.

We are at a loss to understand the policy of the Provincial Government on the subject of ■ a Woollen Manufactory. It has been widely made known for some time past that a bonus of £1500 would be paid to the first producer of 5000 yards of woollen cloth manufactured in the Province. On the faith of this assurance, several persons, both in the colony and out of it, have taken the matter into serious consideration. In more than one case, preliminary arrangements have been entered into for the establishment of a Manufactory. As the offer of the Government becomes more and more widely circulated, it is at least probable that speculators in Europe and America will make preparations for starting the new industry. We may expeot to hear, from time to time, that some enterprising manufacturer has purchased machinery, engaged some dozens of operatives, and taken his passage to Otago, prepared to compete for the bonus. The Government has just issued a pamphlet in which this offer of a bonus is announced with all its details, as an attraction to the intending emigrant ; in which also it is stated that, "in order to facilitate the raising of the necessary capital, the Government .is prepared to enter into an agreement with persons who are able to give a sufficient assurance that they will carry out the undertaking, to leave the bonus open to be claimed by them within a specified time— cay eighteen months— on the completion of the required number of yards." This pamphlet, published by authority of the Government, will, we suppose, be circulated throughout the United Kingdom by the same authority. Is it any part of the Government policy to perpetrate a swindle on unsuspecting capitalists I

We ask this question because it seems probable that, under existing arrangements, more than one enterprising capitalist may have reason to complain of having been swindled. Our readers have no doubt observed, from a paragraph in our issue of Monday last, that a Mr W. A. Murray has already made a complaint to much the same effect. He complains that, led away by the promised bonus, he made various arrangements with a view to engaging in the woollen manufacture ; but having luckily addressed a communication to the Government on the subject, he was informed that the bonus had already been secured. The official reply stated that " Messrs Driver, Maclean and Co. found a claim to the bonus to the exclusion of others, upon a letter which they received from the Superintendent, of date 17th July last." We are glad to learn that a local firm has determined to engage in the proposed manufacture, and we trust that the enterprise will be found to answer their anticipations. But why has the Government preserved silence in the matter? If it nas entered into an agreement with the firm mentioned for the payment of the bonus so soon as 5000 yards of woollen cloth have been manufactured by them, v/hy was it not afe once made known that the bonus was no longer open to competition? The possibility of other persons competing for it must have pre? sented itself to the Government. It must have been aware that, in the event of any foreign capitalist entering into the speculation, the disappointment to which he would be inevitably subjected must be attended with some lo3s. In what position would the Government stand were some such capitalist to present hinv> self in Otago to-morrow, with machinery and operatives in his train? - And in what position would the Government stand in the event of that capitalist, not.

•withstanding the arrangeni^ltißfejred to, proceeding with the aifinufac't)ir^ : |arid producing- the first 6^^ yards'? !'! .ft "is just possible that If it * declined to pay him the bomfe 1 , it would subject itself to an action at law tt in which a verdict for the plaintiff »would be inevitable : while on the other hand, if it did pay him the bonus, it would subject itself to an action at law for breach of covenant with Messrs Driver, Maclean, and Co, The letter written by the Superintendent to thatjfirm on the lTth July last, amounted, we suppose, to an agreement "to leave the bonus open to be claimed by them within a specified time, say eighteen months, on the completion of the required number of yards.' Could such an, agreement override the prior agreement implied in the offer of £1600 " for the first 5000 yards of woollen cloth manufactured in the Province"? We are strongly inclined to think it could not. The spirit as well as the letter of the offer are against such a construction. The object of the Government was, to procure the establishment of a woollen manufactory at tb.9 earliest moment ; to secure that object, it offered a certain sum to the person who should first produce a certain number of yards ; and no right founded upon any other agreement could, in our opinion, set aside the right founded upon the production of the first 5000 yards. However that may be, the Government is bound to notify at once that the bonus is no longer open to competition. This is an obligation it cannot evade without dishonour. The whole Province may otherwise be implicated in transactions which angry individuals might possibly stigmatise as infamous, and its credit may so far be damaged in the estimation of the world. The danger is not at all an imaginary one. We have evidence before us to prove that this Woollen Manufactory scheme has attracted attention in Europe and America; as well as in these colonies. A Scotch paper, in a recent issue, under the heading of " A New and Promising Field for Woollen Manufactories," quotes our report of a discussion on the establishment of manufactures at a meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Conference in Dunedin, in April last. It concludes by saying : " It appears from the above that the colonists are anxious to have such works amongst them, and as the field is a promising one, and they are prepared to offer good encouragement, we would direct the attention of those connected with that branch of industry to the matter." Similar notices have probably appeared in other British journals. If therefore the Provincial Government is desirous to keep good faith with the world, it_ is bound to lose no time in announcing that the bonus has already been secured, and that manufacturers who may come to Otago in order to enter into business must do so at their own risk.