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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4270, 26 November 1874, Page 2

Considerable complaint has been made in Tasmania that no steps were taken in that colony to make shippers of horses to New Zealand aware that by the terms of an Act of the last Parliament of this colony—which the Hobarton journals say came appropriately into operation on last All Fool’s Day—horses sent from that colony could not be landed here unless they were accompanied by a certificate as to their perfect freedom from disease, from a duly-qualified veterinary surgeon recognised by the Government of Tasmania. The matter first came before the public of Hobarton through a letter by the master of the barque Natal Queen, who had brought over two valuable, and perfectly sound and healthy horses from Tasmania to Lyttelton, but for want of a certificate of the kind referred to was not permitted to laud them, and was compelled to carry them back to Hobarton. The Hobarton Tribune says the Tasmanian Government had been for at least some weeks in possession of a copy of the Act, but had taken no steps to make its provisions known, and it throws the blame of the consequent loss and inconvenience to trade on the authorities of that island. “No notice was taken of it,”’ says our Tasmanian contemporary, “although it is the obvious duty of the Executive to watch carefully the legislation of all the Australasian colonies.” Put the Tribune goes farther, and makes the following admission as to the poverty of the island in the matter of veterinary surgeons whose certificates would have been of any value; “ There is not a qualified veterinary surgeon in the colony at present. We believe telegraphic communication has been opened with "Victoria for the purpose of procuring one ; but in the meantime one shipment of horses has aUeauy another has been "p uremtabo, N/nr titegi l c ififvtered to sail to the same destination. • In justice and equity, the Government having, by its laches, been the cause of the unnecessary delay and increased expenses to the shippers, ought to indemnify them for both.” We do not know that New Zealand has a horse doctor she can spare ; but if she has, there—in Tasmania —is a clear field for him.

Some interesting figures have lately been published by the Merchant Shipping and Underwriters' Association of Victoria, from which an idea may be obtained of the state and comparative growth of the commercial fleets of the various Australasian colonies. From these we see that the oldest colony of the group—New South Wales—is the largest shipowner, as might have been anticipated from her age, the advantages she possesses for the building of ships, her extensive mineral resources, and her command not only of the coasting but of the Pacific trade. She registers 515 vessels, with a gross tonnage of 65,217 tons. New Zealand, in point of number, stands next, having 421 vessels to Victoria’s 362, South Australia’s 185, and Tasmania’s 178. Judged by tonnage, New South Wales is again found at the top of the list, her ships aggregating 65,217, an amount which only exceeds by 2389 tons the carrying capacity of the very much smaller fleet of Victoria. The tonnage of the New Zealand vessels is only about half that of the Victorian fleet. The registered vessels of the various colonies combined number 1862, with a gross tonnage of 219,521 tons. Writing upon these figures, and pointing out the causes of the preference shown in New South Wales, and in New Zealand especially, for small vessels, as compared with the Victorian view, the Daily Telegraph remarks as to the prospects before New Zealand in connection with the Pacific trade ;—“ It must be allowed that their trade affords the nucleus of what will probably one day expand into an important feature of traffic in the South Seas. That the absorption of at least a considerable portion of this trade is already contemplated by our neighbors may bo inferred from the prompt manner in which harbor improvement is being initiated, and the active steps taken to develop those peculiar resources which are likely to make an outside trade profitable. With such exports as timber, coal, and iron, New Zealand must either become a formidable rival in the southern shipping trade, or a highly advantageous connection. To ensure the latter, and thus avoid the former, Victoria mast bo in-a position to purchase and utilise the raw products of New Zealand, which in return will afford an extended market for those manufactures now being so rapidly developed here, and which ere long must be produced in far larger quantities than can be locally consumed.”

Tub Indians are discontented with the time, rapid as it is, in which their English mails are transmitted. The dissatisfaction appears to be particularly strong at Bombay. The Chamber of Commerce there has addressed the PostmasterGeneral of India, suggesting that the mails should leave Bombay on Fridays throughout the year, and asking their utmost acceleration, so that the time occupied between Bombay and Brindisi should not exceed sixteen days, and the time between Brindisi and London fortyeight hours. The mails would thus reach Loudon within eighteen days, including stoppages. The Postmaster has forwarded the Chamber’s letter to London. The facilities now afforded by the telegraph seem only to have increased the desire for the most rapid postal communication possible. v