THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1871.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 9, 17 October 1871, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1871.

lYc now come to the bills before the Assembly. The titles of these bills would well nigh fill .a good half column of our paper; but their bare titles would convey a very faint idea of their contents. And we very much question whether their contents are of such vital importance either, except as slioi lug that representative institutions demand, or create, legislative activity. Legislation, like love, grows by what it feeds on. - First and foremost, we may and should refer to the Coasting Trade Bill. This was a bill introduced by the Government to give effect to Mr. Vogel’s contract,.- with Mr. Webb, which was ■.ultra vires When the General Assembly authorised the Government to contract for an ocean mail service, via San Francisco, within cer-. tain limits, it was on the supposition, naturally enough, that it would be a legal contract. But what is law to Mr. Vogel? He is above all law. The Imperial statutes, and the policy of England were together set at nought, and a series of contracts entered "into with Mr. Webb, or Mr. Webb’s most questionable agents. These contracts, from first to last, so far as the coasting trade is -concerned, were illegal. Moreover, no British or colonial ship is permitted to compete in the coasting trade of the United States, the ocean traffic between New York and the other Eastern. ports and’ San Francisco, or: other Pacific ports, being declared “ coasting traffic ” by the United States law. But the Hon.' Julius Vogel, who rode special in. the. car Columbia” across the Rocky Mountains, at Mr. Webb’s expense, by the way, protectionist though .he be, made light of this difficulty. The late Mr. Crosbie • Ward had Said,-writing from Panama, that he thought, on the opening of the Continental railway, the American port on the Pacific Coast for our mail service, should be. Sau Francisco instead of Panama ; and leffaway by the specimens of naval ~ architecture, which he saw p'ying' between San Francisco and Panama, and moreover, knowing absolutely nothing of the real condition of the steamship service on the American Pacific Coast,, (winch with this solitary exception is British), he wrote to his own newspaper, the Lyiielton Times, and hazarded the opinion that such a service, ?f ever performed, would be by an American: steamship company. On this flimsy thread the reputation of a New Zealand colonist long deceased, Mr. Vogel, proceeded to weave bis illegal web of contracts, which bind down the colony to a large sum annually, anu give play to the inventive faculties of Yankee contractors.

But to enable tlie least profitable portion of the contiTLct to be carried out, it was necessary to legalise it; and this lias been done by tlie Government by a bill, which was passed more in irony than from policy. Mi 1 . Webb lias now free scope in our waters. He may mcnopolise the coasting trade if he pleases, and so may John Chinaman. There is now no chance for the mosquito fleet of Auckland. Chinese junks, manned by Celestials, or by equally objectionable Lascars, may take up our coasting trade. These men work for less money, intercourse will be easy, all the floating capital may pass into alien or heathen hands; and we have the satisfaction that Mr. Vogel has enabled Mr. Webb to sell his steamboats on the strength of our .postal guarantee. Such is New Zealand politics, and such the protective policy of the present Government. But let us do the Assembly justice. The alternative was either repudiation or the bill. Mr. Vogel has done an equally clever trick ju regard to the: public works. He has contracted, without competition, for a railway expenditure of £7,500,000 in money and land for less than one half of the railways proposed in his financial statement of last year, and apparently the Assembly is powerless. He is a man who doth bestride this little world of New Zealand like a Colossus; and who shall say him nay ? Not Messrs. Brogden and the London contractors’ ring, into whose hands he has played so successfully. But we have done with the Coasting Trade Bill, and so has Mr. Webb apparently, because he has withdrawn his boats. It won’t pay him, and therefore the contract must be set aside for his convenience. Excellent arrange" ment, truly. Among the other bills was the Imprest Money Supply Bill, which admitted a large illegal expenditure. The House good-naturedly granted the money. They did not care to be too particular. To be sure, it was the taxpayers’ money, and that made the matter easy. Patriotism of this kind costs little. Nothing easier than to “shed every drop of your brother’s “ blood ” for the good of the country. And the Assembly arc liberal in their libations of the taxpayers’ substance on tlie altar of their country. Consequently, Messrs. Fox, Vogel, and Co. got their little bill. Impeachment is an old-world fiction, and responsibility only exists in the imagination of political enthusiasts.

The Vaccination Bill has passed through the House. One of its clauses provides that no child shall be admitted to a public school which has not been vaccinated. This is sheer tyranny. The child is punished for the neglect of their parents, by withholding from it education. This is simply to make bad worse. But our heaven-born Government think it wise and politic, and wise and politic it is by consequence. How about pure lymph ? and what about the public vaccinators ? Are these always to be trusted ?

The Tlivktif&h and Millers’ Bill is another enactment which should hardly have been introduced. It proposes to regulate the trades borne on the title, and it is in some respects a most arbitrary measure. • It is all very well to punish bakers Jor selling light or adulterated bread-; it is another to impose unnecessary conditions which lighten their profits. No one can benefit but the officials, who are created by the Act. But we have done enough for one day on this subject. We shall resume it again at ah early date.