THE Otago Daily Times.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6, 21 November 1861, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times.

" Inveniam viam aut fac-iam."

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1861.

No arrangement can be a fair one unless there is some reciprocity in the positions of those who are party to it. An agreement which is enforceable on one side and not binding on the other, is manifestly an unjust one, and yet this is the position of the relations between the Provincial and General Governments. The General Government has derived immense benefits from the rush to Otago, in the increase of the Customs Revenue. But in consideration of receiving its proportion of the customs returns, certain departments of the administration are left to the charge of the General Government. The Post Office is one of these. The spirit of the agreement between the Provincial and General Governments is, that the first yields up so much of its revenues, and the second agrees, amongst other things, to provide it with adequate postal accommodation. But here is the unfairness we allude to; the General Government can compel the Provincial to cede its revenue, but the Provincial cannot compel the General Government to carry out its share of the agreement and provide the postal facilities that morally it is bound to-do. In common fairness, we would think that the General Government sharing in the increase of revenue to Otago, would make it a point to keep in a state of efficiency the departments which remain under its control in the Province.

There can be no second opinion concerning the Post Office department—lt is miserably inefficient, but the fact is, the hands are far too few, and the space is not nearly sufficient. The constantly closing some or all the windows is absolutely forced on the Clerks ; seeing that when a mail has to be sorted there are not Clerks to spare to the windows, and the not occupying all the windows is a necessary consequence of there not being a sufficient number of Clerks to place one to each window. Persons are shamefully crowded outside the Office; are subjected to losses of days of valuable time, and after all their efforts the letters there are lying for them, are quite easily overlooked in the crowded Office,— sparingly presided over by Clerks who have more work than they can get through. Mails by steamers have to be made up hours before the vessels start, instead of as in every large town, the time being limited to the utmost. •Instead of constant lists being published of unclaimed letters, no notice is taken of them. We should not be surprised to see an auto-dar fe made some day of the contents of the Post Office, instead of an endeavour being made to render the letters to the proper owners. The provisions for mails are wretchedly inadequate for the requirements of the place ; weekly and fortnightly mails are given when there should be daily ones. The conditions of Mail communication with the mother country are unsatis-factory-in-the extreme. A-wretched one-side contract is talked of, for bringing the Home Mails down on their arrival in Melbourne, but necessitating that the answering should be forwarded«to that place thirty days before the departure of the return Home Mail. If it be suggestions that are wanted, the General Government has only to ask the opinions of any man of ordinary business knowledge. A large and fire-proof (not wooden) j building is the first thing they require, and next a sufficient staff of clerks. Daily mails to the Diorrino-s and principal towns in the interior, — rapid communication to England as well as from England,—the closing of the outward mails the shortest possible time before the departure of the steamer,—the delivery of the inward mails within a short time after arrival, and a postman to regularly deliver letters to the residents of the town, are amongst some of the reforms that require to be made in the present wretched system. It is now a received fact that a country is behind in the march of civilisation that does not provide the fullest postal facilities for communication both with its interior and with other countries; and it has been shown that the more perfect the system in respect to the accommodation it affords, the more does it become remunerative in a commercial point of view. Victoria affords an instance : there are daily mails from Melbourne to all the goldfields and to the principal up-country towns. The numerous English Mails are delivered within a few hours after they arrive; the outgoing mails only close an hour or two before the steamers depart; letters are de-

fivered by postmen in all the chief towns, and unclaimed letters are published monthly, besides weekly lists being made up and posted outside every office. And with all these advantages, the Victorian Postal Service costs the colony scarcely anything. Indeed, we are almost certain, it leaves a balance of profit.

The Provincial Government should insist on the General Government carrying out its duties more fairly. If it had the power of stopping the revenue accruing to the General Government it would be fully justified in defraying out of it the cost of placing the postal service in an efficient state. \ Failing this, the Home Government should be memorialised, and we are much mistaken if Otago would not receive a much more satisfactory answer than it may imagine. History has vindicated the course taken by the Americans in resisting, even to arms, the imposition of obviously oppressive taxes, and England will never again make such a mistake with her colonies. But, as far as Otago is concerned, no tax could be more grindingly oppressive than for the General Government to obtain from Otago an immense revenue, and not allow it an equitable proportion of the expenditure. The Province cannot long brook such injustice. Sir George Grey may iind his own words come back to him in a way he little expects. Thirteen years ago, in a despatch to Earl Grey, on the proposal to colonise Otago, Sir George, then Captain Grey, wrote :—" I have never seen a country better adapted for the reception of immigrants ; my only apprehension is the distance of this point from the seat of Government, from which cause I fear that very serious inconvenience's, -perhaps disasters, may spring." We shall publish the whole ot the despatch, of which this is a portion, in a day or two* Its tenor is so entirely favourable to the formation of separate colonies in the two islands, that if Sir George mean to oppose the separation he must " eat his own words."

Maria S. Eye, of the Law Copying Office, 12 Portugal-street, Lincoln's-inn, writes to the Daily News, concerning the employment of females and their emigration to the Colonies : —it will readily be believed that all the offices opened by or in connexion with'the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women have been besieged by ladies anxious to obtain employment. When I state that 810 women applied (about a month ago) for one situation of £15 a year, and 250 for another worth £12 per annum (only a fortnight since), it will at once be seen that, in spite of all our efforts, the work still presses most heavily. The advantages of and the difficulties in the way of the emigration of educated women are being very seriously reconsidered, and it is intended shortly to open an office for the purpose of assisting ladies to the colonies. As the scheme, however, is shortly to be brought before the public, at Dublin, it will be unnecessary to enter into details here. I shall only add that we have during the past year sent twenty ladies, governesses, as pioneers, in various directions, namely to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Otago, and Natal, and that if any of your correspondents can furnish reliable information about other cities, we should be greatly obliged by their communicating with us.

An interesting periodical has lately been published in Dunedin by Mr. Commissioner Branigan, under the style and title of the Police Gazette, the second number of which is now before us. There are accounts of no less than fifteen different offences committed during the last few weeks, the perpetrators of which are still mostly at large. Amongst the catalogue we find several cases of " sticking-up," or° " robbery under arms," as it is more elegantly designated, burglary, selling a gun to an aboriginal, desertion of children, forgery, horse stealing, violent assault, obtaining money under false pretences, and escape from lawful custody. Then, on the principle of "from grave to gay," comes a host of articles found, to be obtained on application at the Police Office. Amongst these are a lady's brooch with hair, and a .£lO note—doubtless there will be many applicants for the latter. Then, on the principle of" from lively to severe," comes a list of several ticket-of-leave holders, with minute description of their personal characteristics. They are stated to be the men who did the "sticking-up" at West Taieri; they came to the colony by the " Kembla" from Sydney. Ten pounds reward will be paid for their individual capture and conviction, or £50 for the whole gang. One of them, Jem Burns, is already arrested. The descriptions of the others we subjoin, that our readers may have the pleasure of recognising them when they meet them:—"lst. Henry Garret, aged about 45 ; six feet high ; thin, walks with a slouching gait; long features; dark brown hair, inclined to be grey, worn long; very thin dark whiskers ; an Englishman ; received a sentence of 12 years for robbing the Bank at Ballarat. 3rd. Michael or Mick McLoughlin, age about 35 ; five feet two ;• slender make : walks erect and smartly; sallow complexion ; long dark hair inclined to curl; wears a beard of. Yankee fashion; straight thin long nose, with a knob at the end of it; native of Dublin; received a. sentence of 12 years for highway robbery under arms, in Melbourne. 4th. James Duncan, age about 40; five feet seven; dark brown hair and beard, the latter worn full; has a remarkable large scar on his left cheek ; native of London; received a sentence of 15 years for robbing the "Nelson" ship of gold. sth. Thomas Hill, age about 30 ; five feet six ; very dark, complexion ; smooth flat bull-dog sort of face ; a native of London; received a sentence of 10 years for burglary. 6th. Frederick Jackson,

a ticket-of-leave holder, is supposed to have arrived in this province either by the " Susanne" or " Lightning." He is five feet three; fresh complexion; sandy hair; blue eyes; sharp chin; scar on centre of forehead; various Indian marks on legs and arms.

The General Conference of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand, met in the Schoolhouse here, yesterday (Tuesday), at Ten o'clock in the forenoon. It consists of twen-ty-three members, from the various Provinces of New Zealand, viz:—l3 ministers and 10 elders, and amongst the latter we notice, Mr. Forsaith, M.G.A., and Capt. Campbell, both of Auckland. Dr. Burns was chosen president, and the Rev. Mr. Moir and Mj\ Forsaith were appointed clerks. The proceedings were inaugurated by an excellent address from the president, on church unity.

His Excellency Sir George Grey has brought with him some valuable and interesting additions to our stock of imported birds and animils. They consist of the Grey Francolin (Francolinus CZamator), the Mountain Goose (Anus Montana), and the Cape Coney (Hydrax CapensisJ, all from the Cape of Good Hope. His Excellenc}'- has also brought with him a number of Tortoises, which are said, for eating, to be very good substitutes for the turtle.

The necessity of railway communication between Port Chalmers and Dunedin, seems to the mercantile community and the public generally a more important matter than is supposed. An illustration that has just come under our notice we shall give, as shewing the necessity. A vessel, the "William Buchanan," has now lying opposite Dunedin, since the 28th of last month, and as yet her goods are not landed. We. believe that Messrs. Young & M'Glashan have a quantity of timber on board for their new stores, and the buildings are completely at a stand for want of the material. Had this cargo been landed at Port Chalmers on the wharves, with the by-communication established, the mercantile community would have had their property long ere this. Besides, why should goods intended for the coast come to Dunedin at all ? The cost of lighterage to Dunedin, with wharfage dues and cartage, adds rather a considerable item to the original cost of a ton of flour for instance. It is all very well to talk of deepening the harbour. Why, enquire of any intelligent engineer, the cost of such a measure, even if practicable for an} r useful purpose (which we much question), and it will be a fabulous sum in comparison with the cost of such a railway. Why do not the Government promote such a scheme by offering the land to any Company that would take it up ?

The great traffic during the recent wet weather on the newly-made street at the end of the Jetty has cut it up dreadfully, and it is quite distressing to see the efforts which horses are compelled to make to drag the carts through it, and when the cart is extricated the horse, as a natural consequence, bounds forward in a most dangerous manner in such a crowded place. A few cart loads of broken stones from the Church Hill quarry, where there are plenty lying useless, would remedy this evil.

We understand that the lately appointed Auditors (Mesrrs. Taylor, M'Glashan, and Gillies) have completed the arduous task of Auditing the Accounts for the last six months, and that contrary to the apparent expectation of certain hon. members of the Council, they have not discovered any startling deficiency or misappropriation of the Public Funds.

From a remark which dropped from his Worship the Eesident Magistrate on the Bench yesterday morning, it appears that he doubts the power of the Provincial Council to pass an act such as the Criminals Act of last session.