Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 644, 8 January 1859, Page 4

Colonial.

AUCKLAND.

"By'tbe-Ann we are in receipt of papers to the '22nd ult. . . Thd Council was still in session, and according j sto the 'New Zealander,' was getting through a •oopia verborum but very little business. The' 'fistiraates were^however in pi-ogress, so that a conclusion some time or other was not looked upon as. < altogether hopeless. : '*The most interesting topic in Auckland as in' vother provinces was the steam question, which had 'been discussed as to its bearings towards the.Pro-; -vince of Auckland on the loth December, at a' meeting, the Superintendent iv tho chair.} The following resolutions were passed unanimously :— . Moved by Mr. Daldy, seconded by Mr. Monteflorc -—"That in the opinkm.of ttliis meeting a total disregard to the interests of.this province. has been vshown byithe^.gent-of 'the' General Government in-, the mail route laid down in the contract -entered into by the Lords of the Admiralty with '.Messrs. Pearson, & Co., and until that * route" is change*d this province will be commercially injured, instead of benefited." Moved by Captain Kattray, and seconaed by Mr. 'Shalders—"That, believing that*.the mails for this j < province can on an average be brongfht as quickly -and regularly by sailing vessels ras'by the Mail r-Steam Koute, this meeting is »df -opinion that it •* •would be better to depend -entirely upon sailing ■ vessels, than have the mails df "this province taken •' to Nelson, thence to .Taranaki^landed to be sorted -at considerable risk df not "being shipped again for • some dayp, and especially as it appears by the con- ■ tract that the mail is to arrive intßlanukau on -the - 20th of each month, and leave again on the 23rd, to • meet the steamer at 'Nelson, which does not leave - there until the 2nd-bf<thefollowingmonth." . Mo veil by Mr. l;3iattray,-.'and seconded by Mr. •;Firth —"That the'following-gentlemen be appointed -a committee to prepare <-and present on behalf of this meeting a petition .to '"'his "Excellency the' '* Governor,-praying-that-the steam route may be so altered asto>provide direct communication between * 'the port of 'Auckland and the Australian colonies; •and pending this alteration, that the mails for the 'Province of Auckland may be despatched by sailing • vessels from Sydney direct to 'Auckland:—namely, "W. C. Daldy, Captain Rattray, J. T. Boylan, Edward .'King,-David Graham,1 J. H. Burnsides." Mr. Busby's amendment, that all the words between the words " praying " and '.' that the mails'" ■ ■ should be left out, was negatived. - The 'New'Zealander'• does not discuss the resolutions, but the 'Southern Cross,' in the following -• 'article, gives us not only its own opinions on this ..'and allied topics, but allow us inferentially to gather 1 /what some of the peculiar views entertained by a "aifew of. the-leading men of the>province consist of. THE ' STEAM'POSTAL BOUTE. l "We take-occasion to offer a few general bbser- ~> vations oh this.question, in reference to the public - -meeting held on -Wednesday last;* where resolutions of; the present arrangements were passed. But we must refrain from entering into -the; question,-either minutely or decisively, .until ■ -.-further information! upon certain points • shall.have been obtained. ■ "The mover ofthefirst;resblu'tion, Mr. Daldy, put the matter upon its right footing at once, al- ": though some of the speakers who followed him were not content to' leave it there. He asked for —an expression of opinion-bywhich the hands of the "General Government might <be strengthened -in their endeavours to effect •>&> better arrangement with Messrs. 'Pearson and Colemah's Steam Cotn'pany; bnt many irrelevant topics were introduced •by subsequent-speakers, as also 8 proposal to do -•Away with ateam service-altogether, in regard', to *^the Province of Auckland. "As a demonstration, the" meeting"had become ■- necessary, and will doubtless be attended with good; ~z results.^ For the question wasvultimately* confined within its proper limits. But iheve was a strongs disposition to " travel out of the-record," .and to open up anew question-r-whether steam coramuni-. cation in this colony ought to be maintained at all. " Whether, on its present extensive scale, it be not premature, is still a moot point. Only those who are engaged in large mercantile transactions • are competent to form a decided opinion, and they are not agreed. But that Auckland does not her fair ohare of the advantage (and no more than that was asked vfor at the meeting) is obvious. It seems also clear that the traffic, by the route which has been adopted, is- insufficient to maintain the communication at a profit,—so in-; sufficient as possibly to involve the ultimate abandonment of the contract. Whether a better devised route could be made profitable can only be learned by experience. Remembering that traffic is created by the means of communication, we incline to ' think that tlie undertaking could be made to pay, provided only that the Company's managers ..will defer a little to, the opinions of those -who have more experience of this colony than'themselves. We are interested all alike in causing the thing" fo pay; the Company and the Government have - one common object/and differ only as to the mode ofobtaining.it. Stiff-neckedness is all very well where there are oppposing interests; but if there was ever a matter in which easy working together of all parties was possible, the New "Zealand steam service iB of that nature. We apprehend, indeed,, that Mr. Coleman's torn1 among the southern set-; tlements will have, somewhat altered his first im--I pressions, and that on his return, he will be more ■ ready to arrange with the Government some modi--! fication of the agreement. Should he refuse, there may be no alternative but to " put the screw on,", '■by-insisting upon rigid compliance with every item' <>of agreement, and to exact every penalty to the full, ■ without allowance for stress of weather, or other '■■tinnvoidable impediments. But it would give us .great-regretto see tlieservice conducted, on either • side, in the spirit of Shylock. "It is possible that steam communication may-v be premature. We incline to think the contrary,; ■^although this view is takemby many whose opinions ;;are not likely to be rejected. Still, the proposal 'wholly to abandon steam i 3 unreasonable. We are •already in for it, and have to make the'best of thinira aa they ar.e. The contract in entered into; the £25,000 advanced. None<-can be more strong— <ly opposed to the loan, on such-Becufity as haß'been?- ---: given, than ourselves, whom it-took, as it did every ■ one else, by surprise. But it is too goed cryingover spilled milk. As continually happens'-in ordi r; . nary mercantile business, we may chance to findj obliged to support the Company as well? ■as we can, because they owe us money. And even ■Retting consideration of the loan aside, there can be little question'that it Is better for ourselves to 'tide over a certain time,-with 'the certainty of a; rgood result at last, than to revert »udderi]y;to the position we were tin five years ago, and "writeoff," aas it were, all the money spent upon steam meanwhile, —sacrificing at once the results of past expenditure. We may be answered with another1 -.proverb,—that "it is no use throwing good money --after bad"; but before the proverb can appiy/it >na-ust be shown thatthe money really is bad. "In Mr. Busby's -hands, at the meeting, the question assumed another form. He proposed that rthe contract should not be acknowledged by the .Auckland province. This of course wns "in further:anoo of -)iis favourite scheme—that of «eparation jfrora the South. Bat even grantingthe Reparation, •we.should still have to bear our share of the buridens anfl 'liabilities already incurred. What we •have ordered, we must pay for, even though declining to make use of it: Mr. Busby thinks otherwise. He thinks that wo could obtain relief from ■ihU burden, as we did from the New Zealand Com-

pany's debt. But lio omitted to inform us by what means. _ The parallel is .altogether fallacious. Wo were rolioved from the Company's debt by the voluntary act of the southern members in the Assomb'ly,because>the claim upon Aueklaud was not for a moment sustainable. Auckland had neither art nor part in tho ill-omened transactions which saddled the colony with that debt, and derived,no advantage from the estate-so.supposed to be coded on account of it. But .who would -come forward seriously to maintain or even to avow lub belief that the southern members would consent to take upon their own provinces the whole burden of an expense avowedly incurred in behalf of the whole colony. And how else could Auckland escape liability, unless through means of the Assembly. It is idle work, "this hazarding "of conjectural predictions, where votes are -concerned. Among so. few as soven and thirty members, the votes of at .least a majority are known beforehand, for the simple reason that their opinions are known.

■" The advanoe of the £25,000 to the Steam Company, upon wluuVis considered iv Auckland-as very insufficient security,-elicited comment at the-meet-ing.* Whether Mr. Sewell was expressly authorkod by the New Zealand Government to make this arrangement, or whether he exceeded his authority in going so far, no one present at the meeting seemed to know, if or are we able immediately to supply the information. An enormous mass of correspondence, concerning Mr. SeweU's mission, was'laid on the table of the House,-—-so voluminous that we doubt whether any member has read-the whole of it. We have not Tead the whole, although possibly it may become our duty to do so; and .therefore cannot vundertake to say that no authority is conveyed; but so far as we havei'ead, it does not appear. "If informations on this point should not have been laid "before the House, it becomes the manifest duty of the Government to supply so im-portaat-ian omission with the least possible delay."