The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 409, 18 February 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1870.

Bouealh t h'o Rule of .Men entireky just the'i’EK is mightier than theswonr

The contract just entered into by the Hon. Julius Vogel, Postmaster-Gene-ral, on behalf of the Government of New Zealand, and Mr. H. H. Hall. United Stales C lon-nl at Sydney, ■ n behalf of the Californian, New Zealand, and Australian Mail Line of Steam Packets Company, to run a vessel monthly between‘Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu, and San Francisco will not only place us in more rapid and fnquont communication with Europe and America, but will open or us commercial relations with countries in which we are at present, almost without business communication. Not only will this contract prove of great commercial value to Neiv Zealand, but it wil be equally so to Australia, which will likewise be enabled to come in for a share of the commerce of the great South Sea The export trade of the Australian Colonies is now mostly • unfilled to Indian ports ; with the fair iles of the south we do comparatively nothing, the enterprise of San Fran cisco merchants having completely cut ns out in these markets. Twenty

years ago we were supplying San Francisco with flour, horse-feed, onions, potatoes, and salted meats, besides no end of little nick-nacks, such ns at that time we could produce, and which would s and the voiage. Tho case is materially altered now, and California can supp'y us with produce oftentimes cheaper than we

can raise it at our own doors, and wo may well inquire how it is that this great change lias been brought about. The goldfields of i elifornia have not produced anything like the quantity of gold that ours have, nor have they been as prolific in individual \ields. Therefore, in goldmining, we certainly Imre had the best of the best of it. Our harbors afford us better accommodation for shipping, the climate, of both countries is about the same, and the earth is also equally as bountiful in bringing forth its fruits, for whatever can be grown in California can be equally as readily produced in Australia or Hew Zealand. We )ms-ess in common the

i same natural advantages, while for | extent of seaboard aut. number of I suitable and safe harbors for shipping i wo are best off. Nature lias been i equally kind to both countries, yet, notwithstanding wo had many years 5 ! stint a-head, we are behind in the race. For this wu have nobody to blame but ourselves, and, bad our merchants and moneyed men only possessed the brains and enterprise of their Californian compeers, instead of us being compelled to contract with a San Franca co house for I he convex ante of our mails, the reverse might have been the case, or at least we might have preserved to ourselves (be honor of owning an independent line of steamers as far as Honolulu. A more frequent intercourse with our A incricau cousins will be greatly to our advantage. [Nothing is more clear than that we have a great deal to learn from them, while a mixture of their go-a-heaclism witli our habitual cautiousness cannot fail to prove of much advantage. As the means of bringing about, this .promising relationship we are indebted to our Goldfields Member, Mr. Julius Yogel. Wo mav have blamed him for neglect of small matters, but he deserves a full measure of our praise for Ids attention to tic interests of the community at largo. A man of enlarged mind-and fertile in ideas like Mr. Vogel could not help seeing that it was highly necessary tor us to improve our position in the South, and his able advocacy for the establishment of a monthly mail service between Australia, New Zealand, Honolulu, and San Francisco lias heen attended with eut re success, and will go a lung wav towards {.lacing New Zealand in the prominent position which at some future day it is destined to occupy. The. extensive commercial relations, coupled with the advantages of capital and the superior business knowledge of Melbourne merchants, teuda to

keep New Zealand in 1 lie liuek ground; but ‘eventually she will take the lead. Her health-improving climate will preserve the Anglo-Saxon race in its native energy, and, from appearances, w'e may safely conclude that the sons of its soil will not rest satisfied until they have made their island home the chief commercial emporium and empress of the Pacific. New Zealand possesses within itself every attribute of beeomi g a great nation, and fully capable, when necessitated to do so, of supporting itself without any outside help. Its mines contain gold in inexhaustible quantities, and all the known minerals required for the service of man are to bo found within its mountains. The soil, when tickled with the plough, bears upon its surface prolific crops of golden grain, and the luxurious fruits of semi tropical climates, together with those of more temperate zones, grow readily within its sea-girt shores, and, in main in stances, almost spontaneously There is positively nothing that we can desire but what we can easily produce for ourselves. " e are endowed with nature’s best gifts in profusion, and with statesmen of liberal views and progressive ideas to control the helm of State, we may confidently hope soon to take up that position which we are destined to occupy.