The Daily Telegraph THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 2992, 27 January 1881, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1881.

From the tenor of the speech that was delivered by Mr Berry, the Premier of Victoria, at the dinner given by the Sydney Chamber of Commerce to the delegates to the Intercolonial Conference, it may be fairly anticipated that no great advantages will result from the deliberations of the representatives of the Australasian colonies. As yet the ulterior object of these Conferences, which is to bring about some sort of confederation of the colonies, has not been alluded to in conference. A good deal of other work of more immediate necessity has to begot throrgh before this is touched upon, and from the disposition that may be shown by the several delegates to puil together, a conclusion may be drawn as to the chances of a future confederation. Mr Berry, however, has sounded Victoria's key-aotci and being given by him, it is, as might be expected, barsh and discordant. If, said Mr Beiry, the colonies wish to claim Victoria as a sister they mast regard her in that relationship. Not only must this delicately reared plant have all it wants in the present, but her future circumstances and requirements must be specially considered. Mr Berry proceeded to state what those circumstances would be, and, according to him, the future in store for that country was that ahe was to hold a position in relation to the other colonies as England does to the non-manufacturing portions of the world. If, in other words, the colonies abstained from entering into the manufacturing industries, and bought all they might want from Melbourne, then Victoria would graciously receive from them any agricultural produce she might require. If these are not the exact words uttered by Mr Berry, they at all events reproduce the spirit in which they were spoken. Victoria first ; everybody else afterwards. If Victoria had set the rest of the colonies an enlightened example in the prosecution of a truly great and liberal policy, she might have had some claim to dictate the terms upon which she would become a member of the federated body. As it is, however, the only example she has offered is one to be avoided; and the further the sister colonies depart from the policy she das chosen the further will they advance themselves on the road to prosperity. The jaunty insolence in the assurance with which Mr Berry spoke of the great future lying before the country he represented must have amused his hearers did it not probably pain then to think that it sounded the death-knell of confederation. The indefinite postponement of the establishment of a federated body of colonies, so far as New Zealand is concerned, cannot be regarded as a misfortune. Everything that federation would secure can be as equally as well obtained through harmonious legislation. What the Colonial Legislatures cannot do in the interests of all the colonies, a Federal Senate would not be able to compass. British treaties prevent the colonies favoring each other to the exclusion of foreign nations, and unless Australasia and New Zealand formed one dominion, which is utterly out of the question, no possible advantage that is not now attainable could be derived from confederation. But the Hon. Mr Dick, who represents this colony at the Conference, it seems, is under the impression that an alliance of the colonies is quite possible. He probably quoted the fable of the bundle of sticks, and applied his reference to the abolition of provincialism in New Zealand. He spoke of the provinces which were at one time separated as being now united ; but he did not tell his audience that this union had been brought about at the expense of all that was worth preserving in provincialism— vigorous and economical administration. He thought it possible for the colonies to be blended together as our provinces were. Perhaps such a thing may be possible. but we are under the impression that it would be very undesirable.