NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4980, 9 March 1877, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH. ♦ FEBRUARY-MARCH, 1877. fvr iranemltsion hy the P.M.C.S. City of New York from Auckland, on the 13th March, to Europe ; oia San Fratucisco. Since our last summary was issued heavy floods have been experienced throughout the colony, and considerable damage was sustained to large property holders as well as to small farmers, both in the North and South, the destruction to crops being enormous. The floods were not, however; -o£ long duration, and tine weather has been experienced for some time. ,The late Cable Conference at Sydney : has so far aa we can see achieved little in the way of useful results, owing to the very evident intercolonial jealousy which unfortunately exists among the Australian colonies. Although the occasion was one of great importance, and the subject of pressing urgency, it was impossible to get the rivals to work harmoniously to| *' J With .jealous eyes by Queensland and New Wales, whilst Victoria, in her an: tajgonism , to her northern neighbor, is ..thrown oh her south-western friends 1 for "allies ; consequently we see Queens: land, backed, by New South Wales and Victoria, .aiding South and Western Aus-i tralial The Conference, we take it, met (primarily for the purpose of devising means of establishing more reliable cable communication with Europe, and it dees BceuVstrangd to, us that the Australian delegates could hot for once agree to thq best route, independent of local jealousies! The present cable communication through the Dutch-India settlements is so inter: t mitten fas to be.almost useless ; and froip C'-our own -knowledge of the physical geo) • graphy of the route over which the cable passes, it is a matter for wonder that the communication is even of a week’s dura"i&on.at time,, .The present route of the ' line connecting Australia with Java is perhaps as good ns cbuld be found ; but Myotic who has sailed those 09DS knows full well that they are singularly unfitted. for a Cable rente, "But this is not, all; By the arrangement come to at the: Conference, New Zealand .is to see what caii .be done towards arranging for a line from the United States to ouf shores, which, we take; it, is a very roundabout way of 'putting “a girdle the earth.” Wo do not suppose, ..judging, by our mail experience, that the ' ' Government of the United States will do! anything towards inaugurating and coms. pleting ‘such a means of coimminicatioii, ‘ ' and it is quite out of the question to exca pect the colonies to pay for it, or even to guarantee the interest on its cost to a cable company, 1 should such a body feel’ inclined to, undertake a. work of such magnitude! As far as we can see, the ,:'. best route for a cable. would be from '‘Ceylon ,to’ a. suitable point bn the northwest coast of Australia, 1 which would . [ give a direct and deep-water course for the wire to be laid over. The distance, (jqnghly estimated, allowing; for slack, would not exceed 2500 miles. A line so laid would avoid alTthe dangers of the Java sea, and would get rid of the Dutch operator nuisance effectually, and cheapen the-cost of transmission greatly. The petty jealousies of, the Australian colonies .". "are the only real obstacles in the way of such a line being.laid, as the cost would k;; yDOt be prohibitory, as even though it | VJ f .were , a, little heavy at the start, it would j soon pay for itself by the smallness of.its' 'cost in maintenance. a ; 1 Cbrispicnons among the events of the menth is the resignation by Mr. Edward svllPbabce, .M.H.R. .for Wellington, of his •eat in Parliamentj in.;consequence of his being about to visit England. Mr. Pearce - the electors, at the Odd Felloe’s Hall on Friday, March 2, ; and.-briefly .-leyiewed of last session of ■ ‘Parliament,-explaining also -the course of action he had adopted in reference to the ■ -important questions considered during protracted period. For the seat!thus left vacant there are only two candidates in the field, namely, Mr; Travers and Mr. Hutchison, Mayor of the city. With reference to the extended drainage scheme.nothing.has yet:been definitely decided on.' A.report on the subject was -!ri7«fcbnutted..to itheri City " Council by Mr. X . CintiE, civil engineer, arid itwas generally approved ofbut inasmuch as the work’ is one which 1 must entail the expenditure lof »' large amount bf' mqnpy, the Council have not determined on immediate action. has been., criticised, to some ~ T( .‘extent, and .the,’opinions'! expressed res, ~' or -gardingit’/have been • generally, favorable. A new Public Hall. Company has been .refloated, .for the, purpose of}erecting! a large theatre at the Southern lend of the '-•ityi'd ’The. company, is..to be-registered under the provisions of the Joint Stock 1 Companies Act, with acapital of £IO,OOO, J. ) , 1000 shares of £lO each. 1 An eligible '■'■'site has been purchased,' and it is proposed <r ’ 1 to erect a spacious theatre, ballroom, vestibule, and' shops, ‘at a cost (of £6OOO. Wellington has . already a hand: _.. ,ipme theatrey bnt-it is, thought there will: c-.be’ room for both, as-the town is ex--, -tending rapidly. | , The colony.in,general,seems to be fully; c'HH.aliVfe to: the steady business-like work - ';i; which ’ the Government is carrying pn ¥- ffrOHi'disappointißd ,pla<se-hunters/:or ; gene --~ 'ytlenieh with,to© elevated! a sense of the ,i; xewards to-which their public services en-" oi ’ title tiiemj.’pr* from'pseudo-journalists of }V‘.'.cumbersome,vanity who have, been reiV we ! of course hear the clapteap jpwxpt phrases- about! an £ ■incompetentGcivenlment.a.nd a.reassured, : 4-titiutt the public business of thiqcolony is drifts s!H r kig into; confusion, In almost all cases the *> txnolivea 6f ;theaß 'complaints; are plainly.. traceable. It may be that some blusterous gentlem(ah : to -’^be'7prkded £J kt%ho head of the whole Civil order’ that - he’iriay effect Ire-; forms therein. " He cannot understand - -that his-presen coin such-a position would inot-be 'tolerated by the’ colony' for !a diay, , ..norcan writers in his interest,- and. prompted! perhaps by ,him;’.understand'"tiffs.'v [Hence we hear of the' necessityifor energy arid actmty in‘the’,public service,' and under a thin disguise the 'Govern-' ment/ftre,asked to make 1 an appointment . .which , would not only be wrong in itself, but .would; obit them their: existence the' ■ - r very first,day of.themext session,---For- ' timately Ministers ' do 1 not apparently, permit .themselves to be disturbed-from . .. the'wrork,} they are doing by.the isolated arid individually-prompted attacks which occasionally find publicity,, and which ;are so worthless as to be only regrettable, . inasmuch as they prevent that proper criticiami of;a 'Ministry from the;stand-’ ;, point of a broad opposition,-which is 1 the life arid soul of representativo/'govern-. ment. , . , , As a matter of fact, however, it may be said .that the manner of conduct of our public,affairs at present is one .which can-be,.criticised as purely a question of men and not’of measures. . It is perfectly obvious, arid the country, seems quite agreed upon the point, that no matter who ; happens to bo in office, there is;but

one course pointed out by the inevitable logic of circumstances towards which the policy of the Ministry should tend. It isabsolutely necessary that the Public Works policy, which has so greatly benefited the country, should be proceeded with at a steady and consistent pace.' At the same time the vftmost economy and retrenchment, consistently with the due administration of affairs, must be exercised in carrying on the government of the colony. That is the clear task which sets itself to any set of men in power. It is inevitable in. the construction of the Government railways that there should be a certain sum of money each year absolutely expended on public works, and yet giving no returns. This sum of money represents the cost of uncompleted, or rather, unopened, lines. Now at present£4,ooo,ooo may be said to be lying thus unproductive, representing an annual charge for interest on the Consolidated Revenue of £200.000. Whilst the Consolidated Revenue is thus temporarily burdened it is plain that; for all other purposes it must be expended with the greatest carefulness. Not that under any circumstances it should not be so expended, but that under the existing condition of things sacrifices must be really made which in a different state of affairs might not be required. Apart from all questions of policy, as regards other subjects the first duty of the New Zealand Ministry is to act in recognition of the facts we have stated, and we have yet to learn that the members of the present Ministry are. nol straining every nerve to accomplish the work so plainly set before them. On the contrary, from the Premier downwards it is known, and generally admitted throughout the colony, that each member of the Ministry is noted for, capacity in the direction of departmental and administrative work, and for an honest downright earnestness in their different offices, giving them the very, qualifications most required. The same questions which the Ministry have to face must also be met by the people. The public works of the colony must be proceeded with, -arid at the same time the ordinary expenditure must be reduced. It is quite possible. that both should be done ; indeed, so far as the first Is concerned, the Government are, we believe, in a posltbb, without further borrowing, to carry on the construction of the main line of railways,: for some time to come, at the rate at which such-construction has preoeeded during the past few years. But the only alternative to a reduction in the general - expenditure is an increase of taxation, and that, every colonist will agree, should be avoided. That is what the Government, are successfully endeavoring to avoid j !but in doing so they cannot' avoid the imputations cast upon them by gentlemen whose overweening estimate of their own abilities-it is found impossible to‘ recognise. We have said that tlie public works of the colony must be proceeded with. Of course by this it is understood that the Government must not pause in the construction of the main' lines of railway. To do so would be simply to practically throw away : all the money previously expended in this direc-. tion. Expef ieri ce has shown that the colony hasbuttopersevere in the course on which, under the initiation of the Fox-Vogel Ministry, it so wisely entered, in order'to'become the foremost of England’s dependencies in the Southern Hemisphere.. New Zealand has the example of Victoria before her. In that colony the earlier railways were constructed at a cost; that nowadays : would "seem -i perfectly ! enbrmoujs. With the completion of the line from Melbourne to Echuca, in 1864 or 1865, there'came a pause in the progress of railway construction, which ’materially retarded the ‘ advance of the ’ country, and prevented its Bpt with the ’energetic manner in which railways, liaye, been pushed forward during recent years has come a wonderfully increased development' of the resources of Victoria, and an equally wonderful increase' in her. progress hr every respeok : Our railways, which are being constructed on a scale -amply sufficient to meet the .requirements of many years to come, cdst but a trifle’ per mile in comparison with the earliest of those in Victoria, and on an average -yery much less per mile than all now completed in the sister colony. They are, tke,all important factors in the problem of .- our. development, and no Ministry should be tolerated for a day which would leave them incomplete, and practically inefficacious; ’ The present Go- , vernment are, pledged to progress in railway construction, and are not men r likely to break their'pledge. '.They ajr,e pursuing the right course' for carrying, itc.out, aiid will have the support of all,ibuti those ,with ? Ayhpm . opposition; .proceeds.; from fanaticism, or of :those >,whose - enmity \is on the wJiole ifar-Tpreferable to the disrepute engendered by their support, j _ • >r " !