The Evening Star. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1872.

Evening Star, Issue 2904, 10 June 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1872.

Whatever may be the immediate fate of the Postal Contract arranged between Mr Duffy and Mr Yogel, ultimately, Victoria must accept terms differing but little from those agreed to if firmly pressed. It is a great pity that even a common business transaction between the two Colonies should be made the ground of assailing the political characters and positions of the ministers by whom the bargain was made, when the spirit of fairness in which it was negotiated is manifest in the terms agreed upon. We have looked in vain through the columns of the Victorian journals for a single valid ground of complaint as to those terms. We can find plenty of vituperation, varying in degree according to the education or temperament of the writers. Some like the correspondent of our morning contemporary characterise it an “ unfortunate contract ” : others call it a one-sided bargain ; a third class pretend that Mr Duffy was overreached; a fourth with apparent unconsciousness of the barefaced selfishness of tbe avowal, do not hesitate to affirm that Victoria should not have been satisfied with anything less than Hobson’s Bay being made the sole terminus of the line. We have no sympathy with Mr Duffv’s general policy. We have had opportunity in past years of becoming intimately acquainted with it. He has had plenty of chances to redeem the great error of his youth, and might have rendered powerful aid in releasing misgoverned Victoria from its commercial bondage : but he, with many other able men, allowed themselves to float down with the stream.

They associated themselves with the party of which Mr Graham Berry is the exponent, and Mr Duffy is now reaping deserved retribution. The pillar on which he leant has proved rotten and has given way, and he himself seems to have fallen with it. But the causes of the fall of the Duffy Administration, if they finally succumb, lie deeper than the objectionable appointments made by him, and by his colleagues. Nor is it the question of protection that is solely at the bottom of them. There have always been in Victoria two strong under-currents setting in opposite directions, the indications of which are seen in Denominationalism and Nationalism as applied to education. Mr Duffy is the representative and an earnest advocate of the Denominational system, because it forms part of the system of the Church to which he belongs. It is the struggle of a Church to regain power to mould and fetter the human mind, that is at the bottom of the present violent agitation in Victoria. There can be no reason why New Zealand should give way on the postal question, because two rival religious factions are struggling for the mastery ; neither is the commercial position of Victoria a good reason. New Zealand is in all probability destined at no distant date to become the richer and more prosperous country of the two. Much depends upon its inhabitants whether this shall be soon or late, and especially on the inhabitants of Otago. Whatever may be the case with other Provinces, we in this, absolutely tread on ground teeming with wealth waiting development. Victoria may perhaps be richer in gold, but this is doubtful, area for area. Bat Otago abounds in minerals not yet discovered in available situations in Victoria. Gold is a great help. It. attracts people to it; it affords the readiest means of supporting them; for comparatively with other industries, small capital is needed to give large returns. But other minerals supply, ultimately, larger and more abundant resources. Great Britain’s wealth is not dependent upon gold. In 1867, the absolute value of metals, coal, and other mineral products raised was £43,430,000. Of this vast amount the value of the gold found only reached about £5,800. The remainder, consisted of coal, £26,100,000 ; iron, £12,000,000; tin, £800,000; lead, £1,330,000; copper, £832,000, beside other metals, building stones, slates, &c. New Zealand, and especially Otago, resembles Great Britain in its mineral products but there is every reason to suppose it is richer; and of most of these essentials to success as an industrial community, Victoria is deficient : even for agriculture, the soil and climate of this Province are better adapted, and the crops more certain. The assumption therefore of superior commercial importance is quite gratuitous on the part of Victoria. No Colony than it has reaped greater advantages from the opening up of the San Francisco service by New Zealand. A new market has been provided for its wool, which has added much to the wealth of that Colony, and we see no reason why its extravagant claims to reap more than its share of commercial benefits should be acceded to. So far from having been allowed to participate in the advantages of the service on equal terms, its assumption of superiority only proves it ought to be made to pay the lion's share.