SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4955, 8 February 1877, Page 2

SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1877. * For transmission bv the P.M.C.S. Australia, from Auckland, on the lith February K to Europe, via San Francisco. ♦ When last month's mail left, the. Mar- ' 'chiohess of Normanby was exceedingly unwell, but -we are; glad to say that her Ladyship's health has since much improved,, although she has not been able to accompany his Excellency the Governor in public during the month. ' quiet, but all the Ministers have been hardly, worked in administering the Counties Act ind smoothing the way for the inauguration of new institutions. A slight native difficulty in the North has occupied the attention of the new Native : Minister for some weeks past, and happily he has managed to calm exoited • feelings," and pave,the way toabetter understanding in the future. The Premier has ■'■■■; been visiting several provinces, and has .just returned,, as also: has Mr. Ok-I VoNb, who "was' settling up affairs at •j Hawke's'Bay, of which :he was the last < Superintendent; -Mr. George McLean ;. !has been \absent in Sydney, of which more anon ; and" the J Ministry has been almost -'solely represented in Wellington by Mr, Bowen, "the .Minister for Jus--0 ' l tice, ; and Mr. RietfD,' Minister for Lands. Both, gentlemen have had their hands '"* Ifuir;' "but the return of Major Atkinson, Mx..-Osmond, and Mr. McLEANrwill rei Jievo.tKem of a shai;e of their duties, j : Cpuntiea, Act;| generally speaking, ..;,.-_ is working.: well..- -Jn a measure: totally -,.(changing .the local 1 government* of the i ', polony- hitches and a certain amount jof confusion were quite expected,' but where > -there ia a disposition :to make the Act work everything goes pretty smoothly. In Wellingtbn and most of the Northern : provincial" districts little difficulty has been experienced, hut in Southern pro- ." vihces'ihany stumbling-blocks have been , raised./? Further information will: be found in anothercolumn. - j ; ?The visit of the ; Honj George McLean to SySney was for the purpose of;re"prec 'Tientfrig■•New Zealand in the Cable Conference. The Cpnfefencesat for a w'eejk. '' The following amongst other resbliitiops a B vcarried-;r^ ' <That the several Govewi- ' -^aentir 1 of South. Australia, /Queensland,. ' and Western Australia lie"invited to open ; .negotiations for the construction of cables; ' '/connecting "their several colonies with. ' Singapore or Ceylon; and the Govern- - : ment of New Zealand enter into cPmrnu--•-jhicatidriowith :tha Government of; -the; United States for the purpose of procur- ■ TOg'their: "consent to~contribnte to; the ' payment Pf any'subsidy that may be payablein -respectto the same ; and further, thatV in i all'-. negotiations/ ef ~ : the several. Governments,; the necessity} of procuring a; Reduction of- the present itariff rate ;be t in yiew,}the maximum rate 'c Übeing 65.: per word.!' -rWhile -.in Sydney, Mr. McLean- obtained ton favorable terms m'i an" advance*of half a million ; from, the Bank of New South Wales, a finan/fciki' l fact - of., some significance. ■■■" It [is understood;that .the somewhat;'frequent visits'of' the ' New Zea-* '"'' to the London money } riparket-hacilarousea'a feeling very. much. \ to 6UBtrust, 4 a; feeling certainly not'at " 'all 'calculated vto facilitate., any -financial operations we might-wish to make in the imme'diate'future;- This feeling",-too, was enhanced by thecautionaryarticles which from tinie : td"time' appeared in the'London Times a^d" ; journals that 4n T > . deavor, and pretty j*o act as monitors to the, investors of Great Britain. But as regard's' New Zealand their monitions were scarcely called for. Few- in the -colony who bestowed ahy thought upon the matter but-felt tIM. gome such feeling imnsfc result from the amount of * accommodation ; ;which (necessities; -compelled us to; obtain - m during'the preceding years. '■ -It must be .'"dfevfous;' that; -bar policy. was by all means to remove'anyfeeling j& - affifrust /'which 1 might have' been "Z created 7 ia/tb/e/,money market XTnder • liL the' l circumst , aiu , ces, J it would appeUr : that the GovernmentrhaSh acted jas wisely as* it was possibleto do. For some time . 'lCfiacic- the' enormous 'land sales and flourishing Customs-revenue of New South "Wales -have, left her;with- a-plethora of. funds which her expenditure did not seriously the Bank of New -/SoutkrWales' could not apparently discover any sufficiently satisfactory means of investment,;■ '"Government h.aa stepped in and ;taken advantage of a disFr '"p^siti6ri o '•'on''the"' part of that 2 bank to' utilise, ih'a'lo'an"to this colony, a portion of the accumulations of the Governmeht and ! with which; it has been. actually"hampered. The ad : ; Vantage of' thlßttfansactiph is, that „tlie' "--position" Government will be, Btrengthened: with either/ • v lyankera.'' *Bi4'pkavlt I teitts'upon which r-.-.AiB. loan ha» r iiee'n concluded...are,"if- mky t.aot?i'auth'6ritaiivelyTdisbeefto'takenr for"two years, it' would .mmmtm refrainlfrorm issuing any farther loan in London-dnring that peiio&J |IL -'■'■ :«uch istheir it:be ? succeasBI f ullyf' carried: there "can; 1 beflio {doubt, but that it will, be f df the utmost to the credit"of this' £! col6hy'. ;;> Of course, be q[uite inade(jua,te •t 6 fttee't! the various provincial liabilities rr.tlfcSn"*ve*"by°-the-Geti^ together jpujjlic works whiih'j , ZA dufinf ttte nfiktfltrfo yairsi; ibut be presumed, that with this amo'tint' |n aid, the resources-of-the Governmeht bankerg will be,found to even the, Bomewhat heavy demands'which are likely to be made upon the Government, if our» conjecture as to" its intentions be correct. r: , ~, W ' !

AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION, j^ ; Th^ ; apeeoh gi J3ir. Robinson » * v lw'tWV£id :) 'iii''3ftn§ladS ; ' I tie'-' question pf - colonial federation; and judging by the > telegram published,i,nj6'(ir" issue of Satur* day/i sr Te^ l 'mterelitingVand thoughtful discussion has taken place on the subject character of ( th? r gpeakera. the.discussiciri ' aid responsible-positions in the colonies^ .-v or.•( have shy ilorig vtftteatidn: j! toTcolonial ■-■j matters and«fflcialKcorinection!with; cbl|)t * hurt' interests! attained a fcnowlfdg* which i! must qualify thfenVtospeakwith authority* • : 'intne.debate'ori thelpaperbyMr. F6kste£ u ''We^Hail'dtiridtfals■ WAit reports 6fthe j aife--ctt'saibnj'iibt - 'that much 'practtcal'effec't js^ to be anticipated,^atillUeaathatrthere will be anythingwspecially' and''particularly •interesting' 'td" ! NeW Zealand'in the matter, so far t as Ker pAspect' of co-6peratidn with the other I 'colonies is' concerned." THe' . truth is, that, in the, way of an Austrac\ Kan'.confederation, there are> many arid '"' serious practical; difficulties. Sir. Her- '* <kts& RoßiNSOsfj'*t; the federal town, as. it .has ...been- called, of Albury, on the boundary brie of the two gredt

colonics of Australia, in full view of the annoyances and the drawbacks to trade caused by the Custom Houses, and with a lively recollection of" the historical border duties disputes—disputes which led to a jealousy and hatred not less fierce or less bitter than those which in older countries have led to civil strife —might well sigh for a united dominion of Australia, and dwell in glowing language on the benefits to be derived from federation. But did Sir Hercules Robinson take, or has lie yet taken, account of the practical difficuties in the way 1 He pleaded for a common rate of Customs duties in all the colonies - upon importations from-without and upon productions .within; a general system of railways, even to uniformity, in guas?e, in rolling stock, and in fares and' freight rates ; combination for the pur : poses of a complete, immigration scheme; and unity in mail services, ocean telegraphs, and defence. The, spasmodic efforts of the several colonies in respect to these matters he deplored,- and pointed to the one : effectual and -;: permanent cure, namely, the blotting out; altogether of all artificial and unnatural boundary lines, in a word—federation. - But he did not show that the .several colonies | ; were prepared .for federation—as a con- ! temporary put it at the time, "prepared I to surrender their independence, and to submit themselves to a federal authority, which might use its power in a-manner adverse to their peculiar views and the> own respective interests." , Before" there can be federation in the Australian colonies, the-vexed question of "Protection jr.' Free Trade must be settled. ;, Sir Hercoxes Romnson'and the colony of N4w South Wales take-free trade as the basis of federation. - The 4ster T , colony—tjie' colony which, by the way, claims to be the most-advanced in the group—might with equal justice ask that the doctrine pf protection should be extended throughout the confederation. .'Who, then, should decide I Theytwo colonies could approach the question with, equal honesty. New South Wales has adopted free trade because she believes it to. be wise and profitable for a country. The public mind ;of Victoria, as reflected initst Parliament, is 'just as firmly made ..up,, in. ~.favor,» of the .rival system, and moreover, could point f,o the United States as .a great confederation carrying out Protection in its fullesfrand most literal .'meaning. .Sir Geob«e Bowen does not seem inclined to go so far as Governor. He says confederation means ' Rule," and explains his idea of it ; to-be that matters affecting the..general..interest should he dealt 'with by thj Federal Assembly, the .fullesti/power in; other matters beingjstill reserved to. the several this be really the proposition, cannot the object be as readily carried'out by means of the intercolonial conference's at present in vogue ? Truej' the delegates at these cohferenceshave not the power to absolutely bind the colonies ;they represent, 1 so that all agreement's arrived at are subject to ratificati6n_at.the. hands;. of the several Par r liaments. But it will be necessary ior the federalists to >'' be very persuasive to induce the colonies to, accept- unreservedly any decision of a federal Parliament despite its antagonism to self, interest. As it haa been in the past, so it would be under the proposed new regime..'« Arrangements would be-abided-by so long-as-it suited a colony to abide by them, and no longer. There are niany other difficulties ih-the way, which it is unnecessary to refer to, being matters of*detail; but, we might add that the .site, of the federal city alone would be a knotty poinjj; to decide. It should; Dei either at Sydney or Melbourne, .and two.ptfr'ts foriyearsfpr the privilege of being..the. terminal port of the Suez mail service.;would scarcely be less quarrelsome, inuthei;matter of the federabcity. <■ In theory an; Australian Dominion is a'grand thing ; and; it ia a matter fordiscussion as towhetheritwdujd by this time have been ■un l fait accompli had the early policy of the Colonial Offipe been,different to what it r wa».; ;The ney Mornirig ..iSeraU 'says'-:—'"lt _ has: often been pointed out that the British Government is wholly arid solely respoh-sible-for -Australia-having -been-aujs-divided." Itwas in the first instance one undivided territory, and had the Government always wished'to keep it one, it could, by (providing, when-the whole legislation .was > in its own hands, for la complete system of local and municipal self-government, havejkept one Governpr as, the - Imperial .representative, ;in Aujatralia. Downing 1 - street,' however, was either indifferent to the matter ;or was an'xious 'to prepare the way for' a separation, and .independence, 4 of;. Aus.A.few<years ago _the favoredr.policy inofficial circles.-: ; N!ow ja. chahge has taken place. 'lt. was., found ; thafe-the great-mass of the-working peopfe of; new masters: of sympathise inOthis.Matter, with the Manchester school.'; The 'cdlpi -liists/too, with 1 one" consent 'ideolined |o accept that policy.' : The.'GohservatiYe party, with considerable tact> has boldly announced, is. iri' favor of maintainihg;thOntegfity;i)f the Empire,,. .It is not,easy; however,, all of a sudden,-torre-verse the results of past'policy: But it is clear that if'Australia ds;to remain British its communications with; would..be very much siroplifle.dlhyt.tHe colonies; beirigt'federated. i\ ; i'All Uial difficulties willrthen be locaizanci n<jt Imperial;' -Tlie/'number ■"'of« points ;ion which' collisionmight.be' possible between the and .the'Sritish 1 Executive questions -relating > bje 'simplifiedy in the colonies asjhey'afe.in the mothir couptry;-,but. what .is in tHecolonies"than;it:is.inthejjmoj;h«r country is' thesamduflt oL his, been allowed togf ow upandvgietia fobting." The separate colonies are as completely s - they Were separate andih'e'ycannot now be. coerced ah extrar 'To> certain to keep Austraiia.an undivijded.teptpry, for the -yifyoYe parts .continent, well', were ; gpyerried i Irpm i »nd, r rpcpg4isedi pn]lyo the* ! provinciab.poUcycwhichiJbtasibuilt:u.p adopted in •thel'federation agitation would have taken. The' height of la' 1 united •p'tiblic, ; pppion; Iwoflld, 1 haye ,beeiv'.sufficira^^ Dorne pureiy '• provincial * jeajousips^houghji^jmaynot.berp^werful eriough* to withstarid the difficulties COI4;nial.:sentiment.,and,,int,erests..„sßt„HP,as|a barrier to 'federation"-, T>e early mistskje made in Australia,' : wa» an attempt to was ripe "■ for .such"'ait, unfair use of and felt themselves powerless ;in ifiouncil because ,qf the distance, representatives-.(had, to;, .travel, 1 and the want of frequent and; easy mearis of .communication between differentports.' ; Thus Victoria and other colonies demanded and obtained separation. I

As to the position New Zealand oecupies in reference to the proposed federa-

tion little need be . written. Distance alone would be a sufficient argument against our joining such a federation-::' Sir Julius Vogel fairly represented the, case when he said : "So far as New Zea-; land is concerned I am of opinion that it j will not be to the interest of New Zealand to join in such federation. We are moire distant inNew Zealand than other civilised ■countries - from-any other country.. ~New< Zealand has often beea called the of the South!, ;But Great Britain is onlyl two hours from the coast of France, and four days will take you to the most distant part of the Continent of Europe. __ But four days will scarcely take you from New Zealand to the nearest point 'of Australia." Roebuck, in his...,work, on colonisation, which has a special'reference to the Australian colonies and New Zea-; land, writes in a somewhat similar strain, treating the New Zealand group as having little or no affinity in circumstances to,the Australian colonies.. j, i .j;;.; i

THE POLYNESIAN; COMPANY;AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, j The question at issue between the Polynesia Company and the Government jof the new British colony of Fiji is. one 'of bona fides, and as such we have taken 'some trouble' to look into the matter. It appears to us that a great deal'Jof the difficulty which: surrounds ‘a settlement of the question arises at the.voty start. ; When the i representatives- otothe 'Melbourne Company induced , to sign the first charter .on, the 23rd day of May, 1868, iti, was considered. by the Acting* British Consul to be' opposed to British'interests,- and ho demanded th.at they should not proceed to; act -upon it p any way till the Commodore: qn-the"sta-tion expressed his opinion upon it. ~-The parties in questipn bowed, to -the request of the Consul, and for some weeks .awaited the appeatohee of the Commodore,, . W.henj that functionary, arrived he.endorsed the action of the Consul, but in thp.mpantirjie some correspondence,'had passed between the said representatives, t and the. ActingConsul, and the latter, appearaoto; have said distinctly,: in. an official communication dated 21st July, 1868 (two'days before the new charter was .signed)i that he did ; nbt- forbid ; ‘any 'arrangement to' be made by CAKOBAU.for the liquidation 'of, his debt to the United States Government' by British subjects—pirpyided always that such -.arrangement .did ,not- contravene international: or, British-,, law. • Thus the ..second charter, dated , 23rd - . July, 1868,. and which is, .the, one upon which the Polynesia Company now founds their, -claims, came into/existence. And this, as being free from the clauses objected to in the' first ■•' one of , 23f d May, was never 1 protested; agaipdt. --There have been statements made' thht the,, Polynesia Company . did not c&xrj out ‘ their engagements ". with Cak6ba|j, and hence are entitled -to li t tle cdnsideytion. } .It is not, however, .denied . that the ; company, met-.the; claim/,.of..tithe American Government in .full.and', ii’-jis iwpll.; known :th%t‘jsin;.j!eturnVthey. haye only received title deeds for’ about;, 90,000 acres out /bf'ith'e^OOjooo:acres tor which they contfacted and paid.- j Thep being, therefore, ; such 0 a gross’failufe in carrying put the .first ’part of theagreement on the part of 'the,native author!', ties,, no one can. be',‘. surprised that+ lhe company delayed paying the annuity pt £2OO a year to,theLKing,. which was .also part of the compact, *As regards the validity of the charter, which; the Fijian. Go.v.erpment! now question, is it ■ not notorious, that the said-"'Government only: deriye their title from the'same source that/toe Polynesia Oompstay' does/ and his chiefs l & ', <• ’ . , v i There-hui clause? in the deed of cession by Cakobau to Great Britain specifically exempting; previously. &b».e alienated ; .and therefore there jean hardly, be a- queation > that whcn matters ate thoroughly.!-; explained . andi.mnderstofjd, justice will be;meted out to the-company;" The very - fact that. the Fijiari'•Govern-, ment have offered -to refund- to tho corp- : phny the Ssurii 1 oF £9000 : paid 1 by .them to, the United . States Government,shows that ' creeping over the! British authorities, and we •fe'nl "aiirin* that no .-..patty. jealousies—will be allo wed to hive sway in themindsbf those who have the settlement of- the* matter. We notice' by alateFiji paper; that Mr. LAyabd <(hd#- British Cohshl ati NejwCaledonia), complains tioh at tfreihaiids of abortion of the. Fiji Press, ill Mpbfting'him.as.fayorablelJo l Leyuka as the He says— f “I L ,never,.advocated 'Leyuka as, the site pf- the capital; .the- capital is/ rL mbved, ;to ( Suva, -I.shall be. glad,- asll think. it i the most, suitable; /site.” This : harbor ---of—-Suva,;--;being7; the.-ri>ro-J jierty '•the '.bomjjahyi ;i f6?' which! they hold title deeds .from CAKDBA.u au4 other chiefs, mEy. have sbmething to uo with 7 the-indispositipn ,of, tlib'.Bntish Governmentto kckhowledge tjie 'company’s righto. Under the ■ circumstances that-land in ja British colony is muon. .more -valuable than in a- country. where;no.law or order exists, we would :counsel;the;comp'any to show a disposition .top compromise, and the Government of { Fiji|'Ott the dther side, r nStlto Ettetniit to’ckfty 'jy.lth tdo" high a JjiiMd.k?T|r 1 hble, Vnd v to* l, thkir‘ itlso, we should think, jogjthe w landP«T* poses in anti they willi r reapb;their.jrewarii-i(in>:.the increased value;-.thereby; atUchingCtto the remainder,) oiJod b&s .oksjirtwiti imidß f

The company r #ataf3lly*lobklt i r for the rewM they entered upon {t were or tle'lSolomon • Islands of ..the, present pf/«iwhitewmen but M lfa the'lawless ilin which they wei(e living \hfy r rteif&.W<Sal\yJjm6ie'£(to be feared«th'an"iincdritariiinated black- menj; and there is ho doubk ; > whatever but that it is due to the operatibnl : ;of thfe Polynesia pomp|ny;3y|the'ir lairge "&- penditura;6f oii pamphlets, adthe place was forcefl probably than it.might otherwise |havp. .been; 7 irHkvbii&tiGWy'AWii TOjoSlrawing Oakob'au and hisichiefsfoipto a bond J ;with' (British i 0 interests, 1 fpresented thie possibility fi'oEo-the'MMannexation of thie cduritryft'6 America}! France; brGertnany; they ; 4>u'glvt' to-; be dealt with with the greatest generoSity.' t , r There would''luWp ';been ; never Vending regret had country fallen into.;,;theJ fian'ds,,6f ; ■„any'foreign' Power,. Hereiis 'a,p6iVritry,.^itli suited jtp* j.tHej.,British.,c£njisutio,ty with magnificent;.soiljwid -gppd • gepgraphical poSitionjisavedby,the action;Of»ithis con|p'anyi ithlev entetprisingjuxednndaritBritish population? j^'aridas ifciisxs/cbunti-W looked forward "(to .for sugar as/the JtfAuritiusi'pf the Pacific, so it' is ! equally'ada'ptfi'dto '.thcr growth of pther,valuable, tropical, productions, such as'coffee, rice', cotton, spices, &<j. We may-refer our, .readers for; full and reliable 7as> to and soil to" the works, of Commodore WilkS, of theUnitcd States Exploring Expedition,

and ,Dr. Seeman.—" Mission to Viti, 1860/" \ There are other writers, but the above are from personal observation by practical men,/ and*"therefore, are more •■■- /,; ;/'-'' -/ ; '-/' ' The quarterly s revenue returns were pub-lished-in the Gazette last night, being a, fortnight later than ther;date?upon:which,they.werp publishedJastyear. .Doubtless, /the delay dmav*..be'.accbunted forjby the. .additional, work recently, the department, but we see no reason why these returns'" should, not have attached the" figures for "the -corresponding .period of the preceding year, asdn the: case of the import and export returns. The total revenue from all sources appears to have been £417,268 Os. Id.,' and we find that, as compared with the revenue during tjle December quarter of 1875, an increase is shown.' In the Customs there was, as has been previously mentioned,, a. serious, falling off The .figure's for the two periods are as follows:---December quarter, 1875 .. £319,133 9 6 „ „ 1676 .. 305,244 13 10 i Vl'.'"T ;-.'V i;' ; This deficit, however, is recovered by increases under all other heads. Thus: — ' '■" 1875. 1876. i . Stamp duties .. •• £26,084 £27,875 | -.,. Postal .: 19,397 20,918 ' ~-Talegraphio! ' ,;.:,,...' 15;206 ', 17,171 • ' 'Judicial fees and flnes .. 8,924 10,155 • . Fees other than above ... 9,592. 10,192' Under the head of railways, the increase of revenue is as marked as is the decrease under the-head of Customs :—-! „ 1875. 1876. s KaUways £12,647 £23,062 j ■ Incidental receipts show a falling off of .nearly £3OOO. The following are the | ; "'p:-:.-or.' --v.'-'-'".-'!g7S.<;' 1876. ! TotaWfor the quarter .. £416,496 £417,268. >!■:<■ jtjha'satisfaptory tp! find; that' there is an increase upon the whole, though it is im'ore;apparent than real,'-asLthe increases under the heads of stamps, postal, telegraphic, judicial, &c, are the results of, or must be followed by, to a certain extent, increased departmental expenditure. The returns should "induce the Government to persevere in their policy of retrencn-ment.-f;n^v y, r, ; - r ■ ■'■ vt •'■' ' i