TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

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

TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

. . .' ♦ -34" j ;; .. It is reported that, the Armed Constabulary and police, will be .at once amalgamated? blit at "first the ,latter iwifi-,only bp : sworn in,till ihe 30th pf . June;next, so, that; those who hkve been engaged "7under,, prpvincialaOrdinftriees may, if ; they:sthink; fit; retire'after .that date. .From the Ist. of ? July, therwhole force will be enrolledJor one year xertain, four; divisions of ;whichi!aumbering;3so;meri,' wills.be held jak'a’ reserve, and .stationed; in r the - native, districts. ,’They,will receive thevsameipay as the; present Armed Constabulary, and ■will; do, similar, dqty; ttha , divisions,,- nUmbering;’about (the same as the aggregate of the present, spyiral provincial;policerforees,;wiil form,;the" police for the whole- colony.-;} They .will,be;-liable to serve dn any jpart/of, it; pud may b.e"icon<jen-tratedl-in case ;pLemergency, ,to,;defcnd any point of threatened attack;until other, forces are organiaed-j;,;bnt;they ! wiU;not be required to take.-thepfiold. r.Their pay will be about the same' T 'as ! ‘that tbw received by the ChijistchurOli'.police. . Inspectors will be,moved from station to station, with„'a view to their acquiring local knowledge in each district Possibly one wiirb'e appointed, but there will be.no'special inspectors for ekeh ■ island, . The proposed changes, it is believed, will.'effect ” a..saving. .0f... about ..£30,00.0. {per ■annum.: I;’<t t -of | 'A return of themumberj-Etmmag®*’ and-crews of vessels that entered inwards atftthej several ports of New-Zealand shows .that during] the quarter ended the 31st—December, 1876, £26 vessels ’ arrived from the; United; Kingdom, British ‘ possessions; ! foreign countries; jmd whale fisheries, of a total tonnage of 93,'862 tons, arid inarihed by 3746 men, as cothpared with' 252 vessels, of '116;14"4 tonß, "aud; 4513 men, for the corresponding period of last year. To these amounts Auckland contributed-ipost in .Vessels,' 46 having" arrived, of 19,294 tpns, manned, by-JST; persons ; but Dunedin .added most as .tonnage,,42 .vessels bajing entered.there, of 20,564 ton's! Lyttelton stands next as:regards ,of ,vessels,| 36 having entered; but; their _ tonnage,, qnly amounted.to, 13,667 tons ; while the tonnage of ,32 vessels that entered at .Wellington reached 15,434 tons,,.. The .number of veSsels. which arrived iu,,the colony .from the United .Kingtlom,. British’ possessions, foreign countries, and whale fisheries during the pant year,- 1876, was 875, of 302,518 tons, with crews numbering -15,208 men. - There were 926 vessels j entered in the year 1873, : of 4l 6,727 t&ns, jand manned 'by > 16,275 men. 184' vessels, 1 of; 73,■779 ton's, and manned by-2864 men, cleared outwards for the United Kingdom, < foreign ports, British possessions, and whale fisheries during the quarter ended December 31st, 1876. J At : Auckland 48 vessels were despatched, re-

gistering 19,042 tons, and carrying 750 men as crews. Lyttelton sent away 31 vessels, of 11,958 tons, with crews numbering 357 men. There wore 24 vessels cleared out of Wellington, of 12,012 tons, and 21 from Dunedin, of 8528 tons. A comparative return for the past year shows that 851 vessels cleared ■ out, registering 390,289 tons, which, shows availing off, when compared with last year—r9Jo,vessels having cleared out in that period, of 417,320 tons. ■ »

A comparative statement of the value of the exports and imports of the colony for the years 1875 and 1876 is published in the Gazette. The value of imports during 1876 was £6,904,889, as against £8,029i172 during 1875, the falling off thus being £1,124,283. There was a falling off at all the principal ports, but at Lyttelton, very singular to relate, the falling off amounted but to £l. In® following are, the figures for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin i 1875. 1876. Deere Auckland .. £1,558,355 £1,232,881 £ 3 1;>,474 Wellington 1,201,648 1,151,740 49,908 Lyttelton .. 1,184,964 1,184,9(13 1 Dunedin .. 2.747,586 2,080,356 661,230 The. exports for .1.876 show. a decline of £201,194. The figures for the principal ports are as follow: I 1875. 1873. Increase. Deere. Auckland £695,4is £074,003 Wellington 673,752 690,684 22,932 Lyttelton 1,219,036 1,775,405 560,369 j Dunedin .. 1,521,017 1,719,792 It will be seen that there has been a large increase at Lyttelton and a good increase at Wellington. . Both Auckland and Dunedin show decreases, but not sufficient to account for the large decrease on the total. This is made up by decreases at Napier of nearly £120,000, at Nelson of £50,000, at Westport of £90,000, at Greymouth of £170,000, at Hokitika 0f.£60,000, &c. Some of the smaller ports show increases.

In another column will be found the greater portion of a memorandum addressed hy Mr. R. J, Creighton, agent for the New Zealand Go.vernment in ,San Francisco, to the United States Postal Commission. Mr. Creighton’s abilities are. too well known in this colony to require any praise, and in the memorandum under notice he sustains his reputation. But in reference to thi r.matter, we may say that a letter from Mr. Creighton to the Postmaster; General of this colony, covering his memorandum, has been placed at our disposal, and being well worthy of perusal in connection with the matters, at issue, we have pleasure in publishing it hero. It runs as follows “'•San;;Francisco, Calafornia, December 4, 1876.—Sir, —I have the honor to enclose for your information copy of a memorandum I submitted to the United States Postal Commission; which recently held a session in San Francisco, having first made a verbal statement covering generally the same ground, and dealing with other points arising out of questions by the Commissioners. I may state also that the members of the Postal Commission expressed to me the very great interest they felt in the Australasian postal and mercantile connection, and requested me to state any fact in my memorandum which I thought at all important. I regret that I had not the necessary data at baud, but from my own private memoranda and papers I did the best I could. I was especially at a loss in re!-, gard to New South Wales, having much, fuller details regarding Victoria, which I ' did, not soi particularly require. I trust the action taken by me will meet with your approval. The agents 'for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company strongly supported the claims of that company for a subsidy ; and the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, running a line of English steamers to China and Japan, appeared before the Commission, backed by an influential memorial from the merchants of this city, claiming the same subsidy for carrying the China map fortnightly*as ■‘is ‘'paid to the Pacific Mall Company for 'a similar service, viz., £IOO,OOO per annum- The ‘ Occidental and Oriental Company cited the liberality and enlightened policy of " the Australian'colonies,'' subsidising ' a line of American steamers to carry their European mail, as a - reason why the United Statee should pursue a similar policy. I ep-" close copies of'"these* memorials,'also" extracts from the newspaper reports, from which it ' will appear that the Postmaster of’Sari Francisco took a warm interest in the Australian' and New Zealand mail. •' X am" especially indebted to that gentleman for a personal introduction to the Po&al'.Commissioners! - . . j. —I have, &c., R. J. Creighton.— The Hori. the Postmaster-General, Wellington,?N.Z.” j

A re-arrangement of - the,, oontracti for the’ mail service via San Francisco has been effected.;. , In we publish ja. lengthy precis of the correspohdenoe arid nego-: tiations connected: therewith.,,-.., Th e following is the basis of the new’contract: —‘‘The Pacific Mail Company agrees to a total subsidy jofr £72,500, of which Sydney pays £40,000, con-r tingent; on ? the ratification of the arrangemeritby Parliament, and the New Zealand Government, £32,500. The steamers are to call at Auckland, and, optionally with the company, at H6ri.blhlu; :buf not. at. Fiji. ;Byjthis route; the New Zealand mails will be delivered about two days earlier thah under; tbe.fprpner contract. They are to be distributed from apd taken to Auckland' at' the .'eXpense’ of our Government. The service is to commence ifnmediateiy/Saiiddno I'more; 6f!,:.th6.t7oOmpany’s steamers are coming down the coast.” As t|he" New;Zs4laid;6overrimentihas:.to':pay; the cpst of the coastal service, it may be estimated that the total ekprinse' of"the , mail ’Service to fefiiq, colony will be some £37,500, and this\will|be within the limit of-£40,000, which Parliainent fixed the session before last, and which was subsequently! exceeded.’ 7 Altogether’,th<>Government and the colony are to be ’ congratulated ori; the 'i;esult. of the recent negotiations. {. -

Anxious to live under a Government which j shall not be anarchical, and in a country which -, shall not be subjected to the tyranny of a depraved arid corrupt ,centralism, .a.few of the followers of Mr. Macandrew profess a de^ire a to leave Otagb"and to; settle in! lower California, under the pleasant and safe rule of Mexico,;: .Thosfi gebtlemenf baveu.subhj> peculiar theories,!, on the subject of government that it is not, impossible'tbey Y/’ouldCfipd scoffiplete'bappiriess ( in Mexico, where a man can easily make a forturie to.'day.and' lps4 it, to-m6rrowiih!one of the, revolutions which are as much an incident of,! Mexican public life as letters from Sir George Grey and Mr. Macandrew became at one time; an incident of public life in New Zealand,.! •Tastes differ, and whilst the vast majority *6f the ,]3e6pleV«f&N!ew’ Zealand ".will; prefer tljehv own country, with protection to life and pro-' perty, Mr. Macandrew quit it, there would! be manifest intolerance in denying the righj; nf! those gentlemen or any of their ; t» ■ emigrate j;o is quite easy to get up real revolutions, arid where any manl by dubbing himsqlfnDiotatot) and putting himself, at the head of it 1 few scarecrows, can all the rights of his.poaition,until)he is taken', and his career terminated su's. per coll.