A HOPEFUL SPEECH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1402, 9 November 1886, Page 2

A HOPEFUL SPEECH.

1 It is not good to be always on the shady side of the hedge, and as the j almost universal topic for some time past has been the depression which, in i common with the sister colonies, and ; indeed the greater part of the civilised « world, New Zealand is experiencing, it is well to glance for a moment .at some q£ ' those hopeful indications of the future J which promise an early return of Letter , and more prosperous times. And no • better intellectual tonic could be wished i for than is to be found in the remarks of • Dr Campbdl at the annual meeting of 1 the Bank of New Zealand the other day. ' Dr Campbell showed that as compared . with the prices obtained at last year’s ' September sales the rates obtained at : last wool sales meant no less than ; additional income for our woolgrowers, or as compared with those of the March sales nearly 200,000, He showed that New Zealand benefits relatively more than Australia, as compared with the respective numbers of sheep, as the clip is heavier and more valuable in this colony, proving this by giving a comparative statement of the value of the clips of the several colonies as calculated upon the rates of last sales as follows, viz. New South Wales, ,£5,100,000; New Zealand, £3,300,000; Victoria, £2,000,000; Queensland, £ 1,400,000; South Australia, £1,100,000; Western Australia, £250,000. It appears, too, that while the total number of sheep in Australia, owing to the droughts and other causes is 5,000,000 less than it was five years ago, the number iu New Zealand has increased within the same period by a million and a half, in spite of the rabbit nuisance and the rapid growth of the export trade in frozen mntton. Dr Campbell goes on to show that the country is capable of carrying at least double as many sheep as we now have, and besides this a corresponding extension of agriculture, and argues that what is wanted to enable the colony to reap all the advantages of such an extension ef its pastoral and agricultural industry is a largely increased population. And he is right in that view, and the way to secure that population is to facilitate the settlement of the lands, and to develop and extend our industries and manufactures, so that not only may the labor at present in the colony be fully employed, but that there may be a demand for more. That is the problem which lies before our legislators and administrators, and upon the successful solution of which the future of New Zealand depends. But to return to our text. Dr Campbell goes on to refer to the frozen meat trade as an established and profitable industry, and notes with satisfaction that dairying is progressing, and that cereals show signs of yielding better results to the grower, and, summing up the whole, arrives at the cheering conclusion that the prospects of the colony are brighter than for some time past, and that there are sound reasons for anticipating the early arrival of better times. His premises are sound, and the conclusion at which he arrives may therefore be accepted as reasonably certain; and it will do us all-good to look forward with hopeful confidence to the return of brighter end better days.