Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1895. AGENT-GENERAL AND GENERAL AGENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4965, 2 March 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1895. AGENT-GENERAL AND GENERAL AGENT.

In Sir Westby Perceval the Colony possessesanexcellontAgont-General, who though at times in his defeuce of the Colony shows political partizanship, has nevertheless done his work as Agent-General in a befitting manner. His is about the only appointment for which the Seddon , party are entitled to credit. Valuable as the services of Sir Westby are, he is hampered for the want of an efficient colleague, to undertake a different class of work to that required of the Agent-General. What Sir Westby Perceval needs just now is someone to help him boom the produce of New Zealand. The colony also stands in urgent need of a General Agent. John frulj has millions of months to feed in the jpaoy cities of his kingdom, and with ready cash and plenty of it, he will take and pay for only such goods as pleases his sight and bis appetite, This is the position of Mr John SulUnd anyone wishing to cater for him mjiat study him, and must endeavour to please bis taste, his fancy, bis sight aad:his palate. His caterer must know what he wants, the season bo wants it, and the man- . nor in i which be wants it served, ! New Zealand produces many things , that John Bull requires and is m\-\\

Sling to take, bat the Colony is without information on main points. We want this information and must have it, but wo cannot hope to get it through the Ageut-Generni, for it doqs not come within his scope. We must therefore appoint a General Agent to furnish us with the information.

The general agent should he one with a thorough knowledge of our soil and climate, what can he produced here, and the price at which it can he produced, He should also he conversant with the wants of the United Kingdom, the seasons of those wants, and tlio prices obtainable. It would be almost impossible to get an expert combining a full knowledge as indicated above, it would therefore be advisable to choose a man conversant with the Colony and its capabilities, and give him an opportunity by a short stay in England to master the other details. Such an agent properly accredited and furnished with letters of introduction tosomeoftheprincely merchants of London and the principal provincial Cities, would be received, and in a brief period would be put in possession of the required information as to the prices, the quality, the quantity, the character of the goods, and the seasons of Great Britain's wants. If proof were needed to confirm the desirability of such an appointment, we have only to call attention to the services rendered by Mr Freyberg, the timber expert. After a brief stay in London lie discovered that the Colony possessed a valuable asset in its timber. He had told us that Europe can take any quantity of timber for street paving and general purposes, and that in our bnsh we have just what is wanted. He has gone further and supplied us with the details necessary to make a success of the business. For instance, he tells us how the blocks for street paving should be cut, the number of inches this way and the number of inches that way, in fact he gives us the full particulars as to how wo should place our timber on the European markets to obtain the best results.

We want an expert at Homo to deal in a similar iniiiiucr with our other productions, and a competent man would do a deal more and tell us of what we can produce that we now neglect. The Go veriimeiitsliowsapainl'iilimlilferenee in tin's matter, it is sometime now since Mr Valentine ceased to act officially, yet no succession lias been appointed. Mr Valentine displaced a competent man, one who was quickly snapped up by Messrs Weddel and Co., to look after their colonial produce department. Mr Valentine lias been a great expense and a magnificent disappointment to New Zealand, and the gratuitous services be now renders the Colony, are insufferable. The whole matter rests with the settlers themselves, if they think such an appointment as we recommend is desirable, let them make their representations in the proper quarter ami insist upon it. We are confident that a General Agent working in harmony with the Agent-General, could do the producers an the infinite amount of good, and so greatly benefit the whole Colony.

We proved, some time ago, that the Town Lauds Trustees were dealing unfairly by their tenants in the matter of legal charges, and it is satisfactory to notice one of them, Mr A. Vile, look Ibe matter up, with a view to remedying a palpable injustice. Last evening, when the question was again discussed, it seemed as if there were an intention on the part of the Trust to raise, rather than lower, the charges to which exception bad previously been taken., In the absence of the Chairiman, Mr Lowes, the question was allowed to drift on this occasion, but we do not suppose that Mr Vile, having once taken it up in the interests of the public, will allow it to drop. The Trustees, for their own credit, should settle it prior to the annual meeting in April next, as this has been a decided blot on their administration.