The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 31, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4189, 31 July 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 31, 1876.

1 olitical <■/. ulnuncH are speculating a good deal as to who is likely to succeed the kto Vr Featuersto.v in the post of AgentGeneral; but we fancy the speculation which will trouble the public mind the most is whether the AgenUieneral is an indispensable officer or not. When Dr Feather, sto.n received the appointment cogent reasons existed for creating the office, and thereby placing New Zealand on a level with the other Australian Colonics in this respect, i ho Colony was about to borrow large sums m money for expenditure upon the introduction ot immigrants and tbc construction of pnboo works ; the loans we»-e to be raised in C'.’juon, which was also to be the centre of fie immigration operations, while the bulk of the ] l.ou; icquiml for the public works wasliketo he bought in Migknd ; so that, in any (- cut, the previous modest ,-ost of Fie Comic ii agency of the Colony must needs be grea.'ly enhanced, and it seemed a convenient time to post a duly accredited representative in London, who would not only supervise large operations, but would, m addition, give tbs Colony a status at

Homo which it had before lacked. Whether Dr Fkatherston was the beat man to ohooae for the mission the public is hardly yet in a position to say. The complaints made against wTTi, enie 2 ° f > mm ’gratwn are notorious; but, on the other hand, while everybody in ~ . ol ‘ )n y bear d those complaints in all their force, few people had the opporturS’ nA? lU Wr t .°° k the tronble, to read Dr Feathkrston’s written replies to the accusations made against him, many of which he unquestionably refuted. The enormous difficulties he had to encounter must likewise be remembered. The Colony was clamoring for immigrants, and the Government, quite new to the work, and ignorant of the difficulties existing in England, insisted on the demand being sup plied; while the Agent-General, ©wing to emigration to the Colony having practically come to a stop for a long time, found his efforts taxed to the utmost to get a stream of immigration started at all Then fefr 6 * ar ? B ® with Shaw, k *2? r Co -’ . wblch were finally WIqI? tke fo^ atlon of the New Zea- - land Shipping Company, and manifold ?ri.Lf Perp ]k Xlties l occurred, naturally % n J* * ron i tbe want °f a P ro perly-organised staff to conduct the vast operations in which !™5 01 ,r y ’ In™? 8 * 1 its A gent-General, was engaged All the facts are not yet before the public; but still, after making full allowance for the obstacles be was required to wTST’ l V P T ble that an inferior man would have done this part of the work better than Dr. Feat ierston did. For Ihe higher duties of his office Dr. Featherston was eminently fitted. He was a born diploma&X L P dt nlrtd te* °ke h ?'i Col n aife EfJP n £* T be Colony, however, derived fr ° m h,S P eculiar talents, because whenever any negotiation requiring diplomatic skill,- such as the floating of f L an or the makmg of a contract for a mail service, was on foot, the Government found it necessary, for sufficient reasons, to give Dr fgetd;s ER Thk a?Si3tanC ® 0f Bpecial hfTc b» Th facfc « important, because it 18 J° be Presumed that the same course Which has been followed in the past will be J , W? d f n^ he n fu 1 tUre ’ and that cTrcum stance of the Colony maintaining an Agentm f L ° ndoll f lll uot save ft from the de3 P atchin § special agents there ThSl ff ”, of rnsgmtude are at stake. These remarks, of course, are not political reflections. We are simply looking at the broad aspect of the case, with the view of ascertaining the advantages or disadvantages of retaining the Agent-Generalship. If, then, special agents are still needed, it is certain that the other duties of the AgentGeneral will be comparatively light in the future, and might well be performed on a similar system to that by which Mr Morrison used to act qs London agent for the Colony, at a salary of £4OO a-year, with certain small commissions added. Our railways are a long way from being finished, but the material yet required to be obtained from Home will not need to be hurriedly shipped in large quantities, as was the case a jear or two ago; while our immigration operations are being reduced within very reasonable dimensions, and no longer require the costly services of an AgentGeneral for their efficient supervision. The expense of the Agent-General’s department is very heavy. Last vear the count, and although retrenchment is being made, it is impossible to prev'-.; « jsstr- 1 - 4 ‘-lass year ar u ltß secretary £BOO, from being ,*aer than a drain upon the Colonial Exchequer. The sums appearing in the Appropriation Act, moreover, fa : l to represent the total cost of the establishment, because a department like the Agent-General’s, with a large clerical staff, makes work for other departments of the Government, and so swells the general expenditure. Had Dr Featherston still lived, it would hardly have been competent for the Assembly to have abolished the department, unless forced to do so, because Dr Featherston broke up his home in New Zealand and went to England on the understanding that he should- have a kind of life interest ?xc i office > but his-death solves that difficulty and leaves the Assembly free to consider whether, at a time when economy, a * wa y a commendable, is become imperative, the Colony could not wisely imitate the example of Canada, and abolish its AgentGeneralship, at all events until the season arrives when it can easily afford to maintain such an office. The Government, we are glad to see, do net contemplate filling the office immediately, and the delay will give the Assembly time for deliberation.