The'Frisco Mail Service Saved. But Not By The " Mailed Fist."

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 69, 26 October 1901, Page 8

The ' Frisco Mail Service Saved. But Not By The " Mailed Fist."

THE "mailed fist is the lock that neaily succeeded in wieckmg the piospccts of the San Fiancisco seivice and bunging deep-seated gnef to the heait <f Auckland The fieiy fulminations of the senioi menibci, and the vials of width and of indiscriminate abuse which the two Auckland dailies pouicd out upon Wellington in particulai and the Southern members in gcncial 1o say nothing of then mean and un-called-foi innuendoes conceining Mi Seddon and Sn Joseph Waid, have veiy neaily been the undoing of the sci vice with which the Noithern city seems to imagine hei destiny is indissolubly bound up • • • Fortunately for Auckland, she had some level-headed membeis, who kept cool and if they did not completely lepan the mischief which journalistic lavmgs and the bombastic appeal to "the mailed fist wcic doing, at any rate they averted defeat and saved the service for Auckland Messrs Massey and Withefoid aic entitled to the lasting giatitudc of the Queen City and the Messis Spicckles may thank then lucky these membeis were on hand to bung the scivicc out of the most despeiate stiaits m which if has evci been placed Without a doubt Mi Massey displayed all the lcsomce and adioitness of the expeiienced diplomatist, and his pcisonal populanty m the House powei fully lcmfoiced his efToits * * ♦ But foi calm counsels the hiebiand utteiances of the semoi membei foi Auckland, and the wondious help ->f the Noithein pi ess would suiely have made a hash of a pet scheme in the alleged upholding of which he neaily succeeded in bunging to grief But to thciescue came Mi Masscy. fotgetting to fill his statesinanhkespoken views with bombastic utteiances outside the subject viewed the situation fiom a sensible standpoint and did moie foi the letention of tin service in showing the advantages (f mails being earned in wai tmi' 1 undei a neutial flag than lefeienccs to a complete suit of annoui could have done * * * The bonhomie and native tad rt Mr Witheford who lefused to \\ 11 with woids, and who insisted on viewing the subject fiom a national and not a local standpoint contnbuted m equal measuie to save the situation foi Auckland He is not a lawyoi as is the senioi membei But he is a man of deal business-like coninion~>ense and he ha,s that cone ili.itoiy spirit which goes far towaids caiiymg a man piospeiously thiough life and making of him a successful politician He docs not open his mouth foi the puipose of putting his foot into it vulgaily speaking # * • Evidently, the legal mind foigrts I<> be caieii'l in its ut-

tei Alices sometimes, and the bicach created and the harm done to the cause. was certainly healed somewhat by the laigrniiiidcd view taken by the niembei with les^ legal knowledge, but niniiitcl\ gieatci human tact Messis Fowlds and Jackson Pahnei, and likewise Mi Ilcmcs and Mi Bollaid. also made it peifcctly manifest that Auckland itself (not, of coui&e, the "people of Auckland as per "Star"), weic not a ciowd of speculators who legarded the continuance of the scivice as fiom an absolutely ■selfish standpoint * * * Someday if political fiiebiands will quit sowing anathema and act m the mtciests of the community the people will undci stand that the best is being done foi them as a wljolc and not as a section If the mcmbeis who have been disposed to the kind of htciary effusion now famous — if Mr Herries, for instance, instead of level-headed arguments, had sent along references to run asses and leg gyves, helmets and seabbaids, as a means towards an end the country might have gamed something in the way of specimens of fulsome nonsense, but it would not have gained any great knowledge of the special advantages of the San Fiancisco route * * # Sir Julius Vogel as long ago c's thuty ycais, viewed the advantages of the San Francisco route from a national standpoint, and, although the passage occupied much longer than it does now, maintained it always Now that the mattci is settled Auckland breathes again Wellington has accepted the San Fiancisco seivice in a spirit of modelation She has, shown no active animosity towards it in spite of all the senseless provocation she has received but she still firmly believes that the use of the Vancouver route would be of great advantage to the colony generally We want to cultivate closer hade relations with oui Canadian brethren There is also a leal and urgent necessity for establishing a connection with the Federal sci vice as speedily as possible But that is anothei story which we shall not enter upon just now