New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4438, 10 June 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1875.

By our files of the Sydney Morning Herald we see that there have lately been laid on the table of the New South Wales House of Parliament, and subsequently printed, certain papers and documents not without a special interest to New Zealand. This has b"een done on the motion of Mr. Dibbs, who moved for " copies of all letters; telegrams, " cablegrams, minutes, despatches, agree- " ments, and all other documents having " reference to, or in connection with, the " San Francisco mail services (temporary " and permanent)." Our Sydney contemporary, in a leading article, gives a synopsis of these same letters, &c, which in their entirety, we perceive, fill 200 pages of foolscap. Our contemporary does not see that it is apparent, on the face of it, what benefit will be reaped by the public from the publication of the minute details ; but we may say, for ourselves,' that the publication of these has brought to light a fact which will redound very considerably to the credit of Mr. Voqel, who has received already in print a very fair share of unmerited blame in connection with the break down of the Fobbes-Hall mail service. The matter to which we allude we notice is to be found in the first part of the seven into which the papers are divided. This part relates mainly to the negotiations in reference to the entering into contracts with Messrs. Hall and Fobbes. According to the Herald, the papers in this part show how great was the anxiety of the late New South Wales Government to make an advantageous contract, and to be sure that their sureties were good for the amount of the penalty in case the agreement was not carried out. It is noticeable, however, that Mr. "Vogel, on behalf of New Zealand, expressed his disapprobation in reference to the contract and the sureties. He pointed out that the security first proposed would have been too small even had it been given by a firm owning steamships and able themselves to fulfil the contract, but that as they did not, the security was no guarantee that the service would be carried out. Mr. Samuel, the Postmaster-General in the late New South Wales Government, is said by. the Sydney paper to have made it a sine qua non that Mr. Hall should associate himself with good steamship proprietors, and it appears that the negotiations in reference to this were both slow and troublesome. Our contemporary falls, we think, into an error, however, when he states that the sureties for Fobbes and Hall, namely, Mr. Cunningham (of Russell's house, China) and Mr. Dfi Buesohe, were accepted by Mr. Samujil, after enquiry by Mr. Laenach on behalf of New Zealand. Jf we mistake not, it was Mr. Thomas Russell who, " after full enquiry," in a manner certified *'that Cunningham was a man of large " fortune, and that Fobbes was very good, " though not so rich as Cunningham." In justice, however, to Mr. Thomas Russell, we may say that we agree altogether with the Herald, that though the result has proved unsatisfactory, private business, conducted by shrewd men, is often transacted on equally unstable guarantees. The remainder of the papers, it is evident from the precis furnished by the Herald, have no special interest for us, although it is worth noticing that they disclose the early existence of monetary difficulties experienced by Hall in carying out the service, literally frantic efforts having been made by him about June and July, 1874, to obtain what was equivalent to an advance of £3OOO from the New South Wales Go- j vernment. This advance was subse-1 quently granted, on a guarantee from Hall that such advance should not prejudice the power of the Government to enforce penalties or any rights which they might have under the contract. Mr. Hall, also, in obtaining the advance, gave an order upon the Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand for the amount, but our Government very properly returned this order on its being forwarded to them, having been advised, as the correspondence shows, that they could not pay the money to Hall alone ; that the other contractor must join ; and, in any case, they said that notice should be given to the bank before payment, unless the power of attorney was revoked or it was proved that the bank had no interest in the matter. They pointed out that the Bank of New Zealand had to some extent a lien on this money, and that they preferred not to have any dealings with Hall outside the contract. The Government of New Zealand, indeed, expressly guarded itself against being considered " as sharing in " any guarantee your Government may " think it dosirable to give on Hall's " behalf." As we have said, the result of the publication of these papers relative to the Fobbes-Hall mail service, should at least clear Mr. Vogel from the accusation that he did not personally exercise all possible care in obtaining the best sureties for .the efficient carrying on of the service. In the midst of the many motives and intentions attributed to this

gentleman by people whose knowledge of his motives and intentions is as diminutive as the time they devote to the care of their own affairs, this tribute to his care, in a matter which has procured for him charges of'carelessness, is eminently satisfactory.