The Sonthland Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1568, 23 April 1872, Page 2

The Sonthland Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1872.

The Bluff Harbor may be very good, but the offices of tbe Provincial Government are within an hour's sail of Port Chalmers. The capabilities of the country behind it may be very great, but nobody cares much about that in Dunedin. "We need not therefore be surprised to find that though the San Francisco mail steamers are to return from Melbourne by way of Port Chalmers, no mention is made of their stopping to land mails and passengers at the Bluff. The details of the service will not, we imagine, be officially made public until the meeting of the Victorian Parliament on the 30th inst., and it is of course possible that such an arrangement has been made. But it is just as likely that it has been overlooked. The advantages, to Jnvercargill, and the large district of which it is the commercial centre, which will arise from the Bluff being made the first point, as it is the nearest, for landing the news from Melbourne, are so apparent that we need not insist on them. The difficulty is, that what is good for us, is by no means bo obviously good for Dunedin ; some people indeed think it is quite the reverse ; and the influence we can command in the legislature ia bo small compared with that of Dunedin, that were it a question of mere local interest, we might notsucceed in obtaining the concession. But fortunately for us, it happens to be a question in which the whole Colony is interested. As soon as the mails are landed, every town in the Colony, as far as Auckland, is furnished by telegraph with the latest information up to the time of the steamer's departure from Melbourne Before many months are over, there is every reason to believe that telegraphic communication will be established between Melbourne and London. By stopping the steamers at the Bluff, the Colony, as a whole, will be put in possession .of this information about twelve hours' sooner than if they proceeded direct to Port Chalmers. The difference on many occasions will amount practically to a day. The advantage thus afforded to commercial men of considering the very latest intelligence before finally closing their letters, is incalculable, and it cannot be obtained in any other way. Tbe objections are. of course, that thia will delay the mail, and possibly, that the Bluff is not a suitable harbor for large steamers. As regards delay, we reply, that so long as no cargo, but mails and passengers only, are landed, the delay will be merely nominal, and on this point we speak with confidence. As regards the harbor, we think it is a pity that its capabilities are not better known than they are. It has an easier entrance than Port Chalmers ; there ia no bar ; and up to the lower anchorage, inside the point at the Pilot Station, there is a depth of not less than 40 feet of water at all times. The lower anchorage at the Bluff is quite as conveniently placed with respect to Campbelltown, as the usual anchoring place of the San Francisco steamers in Otago Harbor to the town of Port Chalmers. For the purpose, therefore, of merely landing mails and passengers, there could be no reason why the steamers should proceed any further than the lower anchorage. But should time permit upon any occasion, or should there be any object to serve by ao doing, there is nothing to hinder them from going up as far as the mooring buoy off the jetty, as there is never loss than 24 feet of water there, and all the way up the channel. "While speaking of the harbor, we may add that at tbe jetty itself, there is never less than 15 feet of water at low tide. But, as we have already said, every purpose would be served by the steamer coming to the lower anchorage, and transferring the Southland mails and passengers, with the telegraphic summary, to a boat which would be waiting in readiness. She would then proceed to Port Chalmers after a merely nominal delay, for which the earlier receipt of the telegraphic news would far more than compensate. The difficulty we may experience in obtaining this arrangement is likely to arise chiefly from the fact that Dunedin, and consequently the Provincial Executive sitting in Dunedin, have very little to gain by it, however valuable it may be to the rest of the Colony. It ia true that the arrangements for the mail service are made, not by the Provincial, but bj the General Government. But when we relinquished our political standing as a separate Proviuce, we parted with the means which the ma-

chinery of a PrdVincial Government afforded of making our wants known at Wellington, and enforcing attention to our demands. A communication from the Superintendent and Executive of a province has an official character which secures a certain amount of attention, and ensures a reply. Should the reply prove evasive or unsatisfactory, as indeed is often the case in the first instance, a correspondence ensues, if the object sought ia considered worth the trouble, and, in nine cases out of ten, the Ministry end in conceding all, or a part, of what ia required. This method of governing may not be very dignified, nor even very wise. We have no wish *to defend it. It is more to the point to know that what we have described is what generally happens, and that by giving up our own Provincial Government, we have given up an important means of securing attention to our local 1 wants. Nothing certainly was made ] clearer, during the union negotiations, j than that the postal facilities enjoyed by | Southland were to be continued, and even increased, after her individuality had been merged in that of Otago. The.; Bluff was not to be overlooked. Our ' interests were to be cared for better, if possible, than we' could care for them; ourselves. Pew, no doubt, even at thetime, believed that much would come of these promises when the end for which they were made had been served, and after the experience we have bad , the ; most charitably disposed will hardly expect Dunedin officials to plead our cause and fight our battles, merely for the sake of maintaining the good faith of the union arrangements. It follows that what we want we must find some way of asking for ourselves. If our claims are to be attended to, they must be urged with pertinacity, and enforced by all the means that still remain at our disposal. Though no longer a Province, Southland still has four votes in the Assembly. True, one of our membera is the Speaker, and cannot often vote, but we have his own word for it that a constituency loses nothing by being represented by the Speaker. From his statements last night it would appear that he has. lost no opportunity of advancing the interests of his constituents, and he has promised to use his influence once more, when the fi postal arrangements come under review by the Assembly, to obtain for ua this advantage also. The Chamber of Commerce might appropriately take up this question. As an organised body, whose special function is to promote the commercial interests of' the community, it affords the most suitable means of making known our wishes to the Government, and pressing our claims in this matter. The weight which will attach to its representations, and the attention which its requests may command, will of course depend very much on the interest evinced by the public in the subject. It is therefore very desirable that steps should be at once taken to obtain such an expression of public opinion on the question as will strengthen the hands of the Chamber ; and as three of our representatives have still to m>>et their constituents, there will be an opportunity of ascertaining how far they are disposed to further the undoubted interests of the districts they represent, by bringing the matter under the notice of the Ministry, and, if necessary, of the Assembly.

world."