The Southland Times. TUESDAY, OCT. 4, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 54, 4 October 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, OCT. 4, 1864.

A short time since, the Superintendent of Canterbury ordered to be laid before the Provincial Council copies of certain correspondence between Mr. Selfe, the English agent for Canterbury, the Panama Company^ the Provincial Government, and Mr. Crosihe Ward. These documents are of a very interesting character, and, taken as a whole, tend to show that Mr. Ward did, in. point of fact, exceed his instructions in entering into the Panama contract, which was repudiated by the General Government of New Zealand. The correspondence consists firstly of a letter to the Super-; intenclent of Canterbury from Mr. Selfe, in which he alludes to the proposal of the Government of Canterbury to make the Province liable for the whole of the subsidy named in Mr. Ward's contract for the service between Panama and Wellington, namely, £63,000. On the 20th of July, Mr. Selfe had an interview with the Board of Directora of the " Panama, " New Zealand, and Australian Koyal " Mail Company," and made them the definite offer on behalf of the Canter-^ bury Government. The acceptance of the proposal is to be notified before the expiration of one week after the arrival in England of the New Zealand mail, due in March, 1865, or it is to be considered as withdrawn. It is to be expected that during the coming Session of the General Assembly, the question as to the advisability of accepting Mr. Wards' contract on behalf of the Colony, will be discussed, and very probably the decision of the Ministry be reversed ; but, whether that should happen or not, it is satisfactory to know that if the Assembly are not prepared to accept, with certain modifications, Mr. Ward's contract, there is still a prospect of the Colony having the benefit of the Panama mute before the lapse of any considerable length of time. It was not to be expected that the company would at once close with the offer oi" the Canterbury Government, as they have by no means given up hopes of obtaining the ratification of the contract by the General Government, It is in order to allow time for the General Assembly to deal with the matter that the period given to the company to decide is extended till March. The offer on behalf of the Province of Canterbury has inspired the company with fresh confidence, and they are actively engaged in building the steamers necessary for the service. Three are on the stocks, and will be of 1.500 tons register, and 300 horse power. Mr. Selfe' s letter alludes to a difficulty which it was supposed might occur in the carriage of the mails across the Isthmus, through heary charges, either on the part of the Government of the country, or by the Panama Railway Company. An interview which he had with the Secretary to the General Post Office seems to do" away with this cause of anxiety, and Mr. Selfe says there is " no reason to think any prohibitive charge will be made." The second portion of this correspondence refers more particularly to Mr. Ward's authority to enter into the contract on behalf of the Colony. In June last the Secretary of the Panama Company wrote to Mr. Ward, who had returned to New Zealand, complaining of the treatment which the company had experienced at the hands of the General Government, and requesting him to furnish them with the fullest explanation on the subject, and clear confirmatory proof that he did receive instructions from the Governor, giving his authority for entering into the contract. It would appear from this letter that the company was under the impression that Mr. Ward had received further credentials than he showed when entering into the contract. " The " question then arose whether you had " received the necessary, instructions. " You stated that you had, and the con- " tract recites that you were acting tinder, " instructions for that purpose 'given by the, " Governor q/ 'New Zealand^ Mr Fox- " however, most positively asserts that no " instructions were given to f 'you beyond " the Act of 1862, the minute dated 31slj " October, 1862, the letter' -fi'om Siu " George Grey to the .Duke of -NEwi " castle, and the letter of the sth " December, 1862, from Mr. Domett/I In his answer, written on the 15th Sep--tember, 186-1, Mr. Ward gives as his authority to act on behalf of the Colony— • Firstly : The minute of Ministers to the Governor, inti mating their wish, if; His; ■ Excellency approved, that Mr. 'Ward: should proceed to England to represent Raw Zealand " upon questions of general interest, and, especially upon the following i matters: — " (1) The extension of stoarn postal servico from Great Britain, to New Zealand vfd Panama ;" and secondly, the; letter from/^ir Geoeqe Geet ,tp;,J;hej I) like of Newcastle, which was- alluded. to.ty tbo^siKfbarj <$ th<Q Ptwiama Oon> i

pany. Uln 1 thatrletter ■is niad& the^postal Service Dtil-Pariiama, : :sni it g3f|^s ? .tjQ-the minute and|fi^hi;:bje taken ajf- "■mti^fae^Vy'^yiden : c :^tha^Mr>. Waud properly 'accredited, had"' he not received other and definite instructions as to the nature of the arrangementshe was , .empowered •> to ; make. Such; instructions . Mr;' ijpxi. said /were given to . Mr.- v. Ward,,,, , ox. rather, ...... , he .,.,. said . that Mr. . Ward bound by the Act of 1862', J-iid "MrV" w abi) .himself .say.s_ on this subject— "The only question whibh ''it has ever appeared 1 ' to -me could be " raised as to the extent of my powers was'"Wtorfche eftect of the Act of 1862.S ;j By " ; that Act the General/ Assembly appijo- " priated a. specific sum of £30,000 a yqar " by way of coniriiiution towards a subsidy ' "''fofa. postal s'ervice 4 'vid Panama;:" i Bjuf ; Mr. Waud argues thWthe arrangement he made, although not in keeping' with the. Act of 1862, was so' much better that the Greneral Governments -should "not have ■hesitated to accept 'it?..,,;!' In. entering into ■ " a contract for tbe ; B.ervice for an entire " subsidy of £63,000 a year,; I may appear " to have exceeded the limits' prescribed "by the General Assembly. But the " sum of £30,000 r a year appropriated by " the Assembly was only by way of con- " tribution. A contract, which in con- " sideration of £63,000, a year gave to the " Colony of New Zealand the com- " mand of the postal service, with the " power of entering into subordinate " arrangements with other Colonies, " would be, in a money point of view, " more beneficial than if New Zealand " contributed £30,000 a year as h«r share " towards a general Australian service: " Armed therefore, as I believed, with " the powers of Postmaster- General, and " as the accredited representative of the " Colonial Government, I felt myself to be " acting up to the spirit, if not the letter " of the A-;t of 1862, in entering into the " contract." The natural inference that a disinterested person would draw from all the circumstances, is that Mr. Ward was instructed to take the Act of 1862 as the basis of any negotiations he might enter into on behalf of the Coloivy. Ministers were in this matter merely carrying out the wishes of the Assembly, as expressed by that Act, and the absence of any written instructions giving Mr. Wakd a greater latitude than t:ie wording of that Act would allow, points pretty clearly to what the intentions of the Ministry were. Mr. Fox distinctly stated that such latitude was neither given nor implied, so that it is evident that Mr. Wakd acted on a mistaken understanding of the powers with which he was invested. But, whilst allowing this, one cannot but regret that the arrangements he entered into were not at once accepted by the Ministry. If Mr. Wakd departed from the tenor of his instructions, the contract he signed was unquestionably an advantageous one for New Zealand — more advantageous than would have been one strictly in accordance with the Act of 1 8G2. The repudiating of this contract is also to be regretted, because it occurred just at a time when the Colony was going into the market as a borrower to a considerable extent, and ignoring the acts of its accredited agent, was by no means calculated to increase the confidence of English capitalists. Public opinion has already, in a great measure, exonerated Mr. Ward, and it is to be hoped that when the Assembly meets it will take a similar view of the matter, and that the contract will be carried out without delay. There has been a good deal said about the company wishing to secure amonoply, but, we think altogether without reason. They are willing to accept of certain modifications hi the contract, but are of course anxious to secure the entire trade directly consequent on the establishment of the Panama service. Without that the company would be at a positive loss.