THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1879.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1765, 16 October 1879, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1879.

The Agent-General has evidently for some time been puzzled with the peculiar way in which the late Government acted with regard to his department. The papers laid upon the table of the House relative to the “ proposed alterations and reductions in the Agent-General’s office ” clearly shew this. Sir J. Yogel in them shows the steps ho had taken towards making reductions according to the instructions of the Grey Cabinet. His private secretary had boon dismissed; the Scotch Agency had been dispensed with, and arrangements had been made with Mr. O tty well by which ho was to act as an ordinary Agent and as depatching officer for Scotch ships; a suitable gentleman was being looked for to hold an appointment in Ireland similar to that hold by Mr. Ottywell in Scotland: it had been decided to abolish all the local agencies established in Ireland, with the exception of two in the northern district of that country; the local agencies in England also were to bo done away with, except a few which wore to he retained for special reasons, while in Scotland, seeing that the country was more thinly populated, and there was more difficulty in obtaining the due proportion of emigrants, the number of agents was to bo reduced to twenty-six. This method of dealing with the local agencies was calculated to reduce the expenditure in that direction by at least £IOOO per annum. A number of other changes, too numerous and complicated to be mentioned hero, were also to eventuate, and the saving made would, it was hoped, ho something very considerable. But while Sir Julius explains the measures he was taking in the direction indicated, he seems decidedly astonished that the Government should, while expressing so much eagerness to pare down expenses, send off Mr. Reed on a general roving commission at a large expense to the colony. “ I notice,” he says, “ that Mr. Reed is coming Home as Emigration Agent. I do not precisely understand what his position is to he, hut it occurs to mo I may ho able to arrange with him to look after the Irish emigration.” The Agent-General was not the only gentleman who was not able “ precisely to understand what Mr. Reed’s position was to he.” A more hazy position it would be impossible to imagine than that occupied by this gentlemen, who was receiving the reward of faithful services in the shape of a trip to the land of his birth. But what must Sir Julius’ feelings have been when the announcement of Captain Barry’s advent was received. If it was somewhat difficult to digest and assimilate Mr Reed’s heroic mission, the dawn of the greater luminary that followed after must have had an almost stunning effect. Our Agent-General has gone through many extremes of fortunes ; his enemies are at all times delighted to enumerate the curious and rare phases of his chrysalis existence; he is a sort of political Cinderella, and the imagination cannot help being sometimes pleased at drawing him among tho ashes, in order that tho brightness of his subsequent career may be heightened by the gloomy contrast. Gentlemen who have tried both low and high fortune are far less likely to he startled than those whose path of life has lain in less uneven places. But Sir Julius Yogel will have needed all his philosophy when, in face of the earnest instructions ho had received to cut down expenses, this modern Munchausen, with his interminable book and endless yarns, was added as a sort of excrescence to his office. As a really fine, full flavoured practical joke on the wretched Sir Julius, the appointment was, perhaps, not badly conceived, but it was a joke which will have to be paid for out of tho pocket of the colony.

At tho conclusion of the despatch we have alluded to, the Agent-General states his belief that much might bo said in favor of altering the title and status of his office. He says the title is open to much misconstruction, and gives an amusing instance. “ Tho AgentGeneral of Yictoria some years ago ordered tho words ‘ Agent-General ’ to bo inscribed on some blinds, in gold letters. Much to his consternation he found that the artist considered ‘ General-Agent ’ tho more correct phrase.” Sir Julius is of opinion that tho functions of AgentsGeneral are eminently representative, and that they should be called ResidentMinisters in England for their respective colonies. He thinks “ that many things which now pass through the Governors of colonies with some risk of disturbing tho harmonious relations between the colonies and the mother country might be dealt with by the Resident Minister under direct instructions from the Governor in Council.” “ The rank of Resident Minister should bo the same as that of an ordinary Minister.” An Agent-General’s position should indeed be “ analogous to that of an Ambassador, making allowance for tho fact that he is representing a portion of the same Empire.” This recommendation, of course, tallies with the views hold by Sir Julius on the general relations that should exist between the colonies and the mother country. It is the introduction of the thin edge of the wedge. Matters of such wide interest are, however, little likely to interest our politicians wrapt up in tho excitement of party contest in Wellington.