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Otago Daily Times, Issue 257, 16 October 1862, Page 5

THE MAIL SERVICE. (F:-om tlie Sydney Empire, Sept. 2G.) We hold it to be one of the fu\sfc duties of a journalist to lead men to think ; and there is honor and glory in his mission if he can induce m his fellow-citizens a vigorous and healthy train of thought. We dare not aspire so high as to beliave that we hava been always successful in doing this, but we feel th it we may couscicntiously assert that this has always been' our endeavour. And tha endeavour has b.come the nwre necessary under the present system of the colonial .r- O--vernmentofGre.it Britain, which appea s, by a sound an 1 non-intoifcring policy, to to paving the way for the futur« independent action of the various communities of her children, who are spreading liar Anglo-Saxon institutions far over the surface of the habitable globe. We hold it to be positive, that by no means could our colony earn greater respect of the mother-country than by evidencing our independence of thought, and showing that we are capable of reflecting for ourselves. When, from wrong information', or heing ill-advised, the mother-conntrv commits a wrong, nor sense of justice will lead to its rectification when pointed out; and should such not prove the case i it behoves all tlio.se who desire well of their fd-! !o\v-:;olo:usts to join issue upon the subject. As a corollary upon the foregoing remarks, we beg very earnestly, but temperately, to call the attend tiou of the public to certain correspondence from the Secretary of Ststo for the Colonies, which has just been published and laid upon the table of Loth Mouses of Parliament, and by which it appears that the colonists of Australia, having at the instance of the Home Government, contented themselves with a branch mail service from Galle instead of a through mail service to Suez, are now called upon to pay a portion of the expenses of the main trunk line. Some time since we pointed out the position of the previous contracts of the mail service via the lied S^a, and the one now in existence. -~ We then showed that we were actually paying a large sum more than there was any occasion for; and we suggested that local capital and local enterprise should be called upon to enter into competition for the execution of the mail contract to Galle. It will perhaps scarcely be credited that the correspondence referred to cjills upon us to contribute a further sum of L.30,000 per annum, aiding by so much the subsidised Indian route, diminishing by that amount the charge to the East Indian possessions of Great Britain, and raising the cost of our branch service to a sum very close upon L 170,000 per annum. It must not be forgotten that this monstrous demand is made at a time when the French mail steamers have commenced I their monthly service between Marseilles and Point de Galle, and when careful retrenchment is trying to take the place of the wanton e.vpendi ture that at one time characterised colonial budgets. We cm hardly imagine that our Legislature will submit to the endeavour of the home Government to foist on our shoulders a portion of the Indian charges for postal communication ; but if, in consequence off by ma! tor being glossed over in the estimates, th:-vote should pass, is it not time for our merchnats. who are always crying up their own patriot'sin, to make some stir in the matter, and to point out how mneh more it would be to the interest of the Australian colonies to be allowed to carry their own mails making their own independent arrangements for the transmission of their own correspondence, and receiving the total amount of inward and outward postage ? Moreover, there is no proscription to bind us to the Red Sea route. Various have .been the proposals to take up, the Panama service ; a sum of £50,000 a year has been voted for its support ; and it appears that the colony of Xew Zealand has just voted 1.30,000 a year for five years, ivith a like view ; and taking into consideration the rapidly increasing importance of Queensland, there is reason to believe that that colony would co-operate liberally for a postal line via Panama. One hundred thousand a year would, wa believe, be as much as would be required for the service. But whether the Eastern or the Western route be adopted, what we would specially urge "in this at tide is, that the colony of New South Wales is too old and too independent to be ridden over rough shod—too apt a scholar in the lesson of English rights, not to be able to take care of her own expenditure, to insist upon a voi< c in itsadminisfc •;;- tion, and to withhold sanction to national waste and extravagance. These duties are delegated to our House of Assembly, a-id, we feel sure, not delegated in vain. They cannot, they dare not, sanction that the tix drawn from the labor of the colonists of New South Wales should bo applieri to lessen the burthens of the Indian empire of Great Britain.