174
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

Prolonged discussion ensued; and there being no prospect of unanimity, the motion and amend-
ment respectively were not pressed to a division.

Mr. Verdon proposed the following Resolution—
That, in the opinion of this Conference, it is desirable that direct steam communication should
be established by way of the Cape of Good Hope, by means of large steamers carrying
mails and passengers cheaply, quickly and regularly, between Great Britain and
Australasia.

Seconded by Mr. Parkes.
The motion was not pressed to a division.
Mr. Ward withdrew the motion standing in his name.

Mr. Chapman moved—
That, pending the coming into operation of the postal communication decided upon by this
Conference, it is expedient that a four-weekly service via Suez be maintained.

Seconded by Mr. Verdon.
After discussion, it was agreed to leave the question to be settled by the Home Government.
Mr. Parkes moved—"That, in order to give authorized and uniform publicity to the proceedings
of the Conference, the following arrangement be agreed to, viz. :—
(1.) "That the Government of Victoria be at liberty to lay copies of the proceedings, as read
and confirmed by the Chairman, on the Table of both Houses of Parliament, on Thursday,
the 28th of March.

(2.) "That the Governments of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, and
Tasmania, be at liberty to publish copies of the proceedings, in the same form, in a
Gazette Extraordinary, or other manner to be decided upon by each Government, on the
same day.

(3.) "That the Government of New Zealand be at liberty to publish copy of the proceedings
in same form, in a Gazette Extraordinary, or other manner, immediately on the arrival of
the representatives of that Colony at Wellington."

Seconded by Mr. Docker, and agreed to by the Conference.

Proposed by Mr. Parkes :—
"That this Conference desire to leave on record their acknowledgments of the courteous
attention of the Honorable James McCulloch, in presiding over their proceedings."

Seconded by Mr Macalister, and carried unanimously.
The proceedings of the Conference were then brought to a close.

JAMES MCCULLOCH.

Enclosure No. 2.

MEMORIAL TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, —

The Memorial of the Undersigned most humbly and dutifully showeth:

That the six Colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, New Zealand, South Australia, Queensland,
and Tasmania, by the duly accredited Representatives of their respective Governments assembled in
Conference in the City of Melbourne, approach Your Majesty with feelings of profound loyalty and
attachment to Your Majesty's throne and person.

Your Majesty's Colonial Governments have had under their consideration a Despatch from the
Right Honorable the Earl of Carnarvon, one of Your Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, enclosing
a Treasury Minute of September the 4th, 1866, in which they are urgently invited, in combination, to
provide for the Steam Postal Service between Point de Galle and Australia, the Imperial Government
engaging to pay one-half of the necessary subsidy. Your Majesty's Australasian dependencies are
prepared to respond to an invitation so appreciative of their ability to direct their own affairs; but
they feel it incumbent on them to represent to Your Majesty that a single branch service connecting
them with the Ocean Postal System of India and China is no longer adequate to their wants, or
sufficient to meet the demands of British interests. The rapid progress of these Colonies in population
and in all the elements of national wealth, and the widely differing conditions that control their
progress, not only render increased facilities of intercourse with the United Kingdom a necessity for
the group, but also render it impossible to give equal advantages to all, or to avoid inflicting injustice
on some, by any one service. While the productive capabilities and the commerce of the associated
Colonies have attained a magnitude which, it is humbly submitted, entitles them to a foremost place in
the consideration of Great Britain, their geographical extent imposes upon them deprivations and
hardships which can only be alleviated by new and various means of communication with the rest of
the world. The farther the settlement of population advances, the greater becomes the difficulty.
Thus the enterprise of the Colonists, in extending the bounds of the Empire, and spreading the lustre
of Your Majesty's name, entails upon them the penalty of their more certain exclusion from British
intelligence. In the early years of Australian colonization, this virtual banishment was a condition
of life to be faced and endured as inevitable; but the Colonies of the present day, as fields of produc-
tion and markets of consumption for the national manufactures, have advanced to a position which
makes their intimate connection not less important to the United Kingdom than to themselves.

The imports into the six Colonies during the year 1865, as valued at the different ports of arrival,
amounted to thirty-five millions sterling; and although the estimate includes the intercolonial trade
carried on by Your Majesty's Australasian subjects, and the imports from foreign countries, by far
the greater part of this sea-borne commerce assists in sustaining the manufacturing power of the
United Kingdom. Their exports—consisting principally of gold and wool—for the same period
amounted to more than thirty millions. The following are the returns for the several Colonies :—