The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 8 December 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8 1880.

The Ardentinny arrived in port last evening at the moment we were goinsr to press, having been towed hither from Port Chalmers °by the Koputai. "Without the slightest ado she dropped into the berth set 3part for her, where Bhe will load—to repletion, it is expected—with wool for Home. The advent of the Ardentinny so quickly in the wake of the Lurline, the " Bengal, the Hedwig, and the Rio Loge, is a subject for congratulation. The utmost utilisation" of our port is a matter in which we are all interested. This season a new departure has been made in this direction—a departure which, we hope, will be atttended with results eminently satisfactory to the enterprising charterers, shippers, and the public. Our programme has not been changed. From the inception of the harbor scheme it wa3 the intention to make Oamaru something more than a port of call, or a mere appanage of Port Chalmer3. Some of those interestedin concentrating everything inDunedin foresawthat this object would bo accomplished, even while the Breakwater was in its infancy. Mr. J. U. Russell was their mouthpiece, and he stretched a point to fatally disparage the embryo port by statements which were unanimously adjudged by disinterested men as singularly rash. Since this gentleman's tirades were pubr lished with the object of prejudicing the minds of insurance agents, the port has .»rown, and the ground has been entirely struck from beneath the feet of detractors. But we cannot expect Dunedin's opposition to our port to suddenly subside." It is true that the harbor works have reached a stage at which such criticism as Mr. Russell's would fall pointless. But there are other methods known to the commercial devotee of his own locality by which to disconcert, if not to defeat, a competitor, and wo are not surprised to learn that thes9 methods have been used a3 a last resource. It is, after all, only human nature to struggle for commercial, as well as for personal, supremacy. The stakes, perhaps, justify the means. Oamaru has been going too fast lately in the matter of direct shipment. Dunedin expected that her idea was to place herself in a position to sever the painter that connected her with the metropolis of the South ; but there were possible contingencies that buoyed up the hopes of the jealous. Some timely storm might sweep away her commercial bulwark, and once more reduce her to a condition of entire dependence. Storms have expended their fury against that bulwark, but it not only remains unshaken, but stretches still further its protecting arm. Obstruction i 3 the only instrument left by which to bring Oamaru to her senses, and certain Dnnedinites are using it just as a combatant in an affray wields the stump of his shattered sword, or a maimed pugilist madly hits out with his only remaining arm. All we ask is that the Dunedinites will not hit us below the belt. If they cannot assist us to bring into the fullest possible play that self-reliance and indedendence which nature intended that every true man and community should exert, at least we ask them not to resort to mean expedients in an endeavor to retain us in a position of subserviency. The time has fully arrived when the grain and wool growers of all parts of tho Colony must avail themselves of the cheapest means for transporting their produce to the Home markets. In places where commercial intolerance is unknown except in name, growers are permitted to enjoy this privilege without hindrance. The settlers of this district are surely entitled to the same consideration. We think that the people of Dunedin will concede this point, and treat us with generosity and disinterestedness when they have it in their power, as a great centre of commerce, to affect our interests. "With the advent of the Ardentinny commences in earnest a new era in the history of this district. The Ardentinny is the first wool ship that j has visited this port for 13 years. Since the disaster to the Star of Tasmania and Water Nymph, English going vessels have been shy of Oamaru. The construction of the breakwater has placed us in a more fortunate position, and, thanks to the enterprise of those firms who have lately undertaken the responsibility of bringing chartered vessels here, thi3 fact is being conclusively proved. We need not recount the difficulties that have surrounded the operations of these charterers. They will occur to the minds of those who review our position in relation to Danedin. Suffice it to say that men who were not possessed of extraordinary enterprise and resources Wfeuld, by those difficulties, have been 'terrified into abandoning projects for promoting direct shipment, even at con-. Biderable monetary sacrifice* On the'

other hand, the charterers have received substantial and prompt encouragement from several of the influential settlers of this district, who have proved that they are mindful of the best interests of the community. It is the duty of other settlers to follow their example by doing everything in their power to contribute to the success of an experiment which is one of the moat important to us all that has ever been attempted. If we are to occupy the position intended for us as a commercial emporium of an extensive agricultural and pastoral country —if we would compete successfully with other countries in the production of grain "and wool—we must not treat with disinterestedness this effort by which our producers are to be relieved of serious handicaps.