Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1166, 8 November 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1871.

The postal service was only one of Several matters discussed by the recent inter-colonial conference in Melbourne. Another, and one of considerable importance was the despatch forv\ arded by Earl Kiniberdey relath e to the question of inter-colonial free trade, and to which we devoted some attention on a late pqcasion. On this subject the Conference has spoken in an extraordinary tone. Its report, in effect, affirms that t]ie Imperial Government has no right whatever of interference with the fiscal pplicy of the colonies; and that such interference should at once cease abso lately and finally. The claim is made that the colonies shall be able to make any arrangements they please with each other without any regard for, or reference to, any restrictive treaty that may already exist, or may be made with any foreign power by the Imperial Government. Ail this is simply absurd. The fact is the colonies, as an integrant ppr tion of the empire, are b.ound by the commercial treaties of the Imperial Government with foreign states, and as such commercial treaties are in existence, the colonies have no other course but tp submit to the necessity. In the particular instance under notice it is quite as well that it should be so, as some of the. *nad schemes pf reckless politicians are thereby prevented from being carried into effect. Even if anxious to sever their connection with the Empire, they cannot do it quite so readily as the resolution the Conference has come to would imply, for there are two sides to that question as there are \>o eyery other. It is but justice tq the representative of Queenslancl to state that he was a dissentient frpm the resqlutipn arrived, at, arid the terms of the despatch to Earl Kimberley embodying it which the Conferenqe agreed to ; and, as before stated, our pwn Colony, through non-representation there, has at least been spared the disgrace of feeing a party to anything s.p absurd.

One of the chief for the discussion pad settlement of which the Gonferenee was called was that of the Border duties between the neighboring colonies of Yptoda and New South Wales. This, however, remains as unsettled as before. New South "Wales proposed a tariff of rates which Victoria considered unfair to her interests, and the Victorian delegates proposed what they considered would be an equitable tariff, but only to be rejected by New South Wales; and a proposal by Victoria to the other colonies to bear a share of the expense of a scientific expedition to Northern Australia for the purpose of observing the coming solar eclipse, was refused by them all. The results of the deliberations of this Conference show very little indeed in favor of this means of solving inter-colonial difficulties, or of tbe grand scheme of an inter-colonial union, of which so much has been written, as comprising the great want of the Australian colonies.