FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 23, 27 January 1934, Page 9

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FEOM " THE POST "

NORTH ISLAND RIGHTS

-> "A favourite theme of late in Canterbury and Otago has boon the iniquity of increasing the public burden of this colony by any further borrowing," remarks "The Post" of this date fifty years ago.. "The country cannot staud it, say the southern oracles, the limit of safe borrowing has long since been reached, and we ought now to rest on our oars for a while, to abstain from fresh application to the money market, and to give the colony time to recover from-the undue strain on her resources. At the.expense of the whole colony the South Island has obtained its railways •with the many attendant advantages. The'north has patiently waited its turn, but now .that this has come, the south suddenly, discovers that all borrowing ought to cease forthwith, and that tho North Island railway's are of no im- . portance and are not required." It simply means that we in the north are to go without our railways because Canterbury and Otago have got theirs already—we paying our share of the cost—and object to contributing their share towards the cost of ours. This is the contemptibly selfish and unjust policy of one party in the south. It is a singularly narrow-minded, shortsighted, and one-sided policy. But it is very necessary that the people of the North Island should be aware of it. Its plain signification is that the North Island.''is to go without her railways, is to have her growth stunted, her progress impeded, her interests neglected, and is to-be content to occupy permanently a subordinate position, leaving the south to enjoy in perpetuity the precedence which she has obtained by the lavish expenditure of past loans, raised at the cost of both islands. We very: much mistake tho temper of the '< North 'Island . colonists if they submit tamely to any such injustice. Stop borrowing by all means as soon as the trunk lines'are finished. But in common fairness we are entitled tp have ours made, :as has been done in the south, and we shall-have to take good care that we are not defrauded of this right. ■ The present southern movement is very, insidious, and will need to be closely .watched in the north."' ANNIVERSARY DAY. : "Today, the forty-fourth anniversary of the colony, broke wet and cheerless, and-it was at once evident that the majority of sports, picnics, excursions, and other holiday arrangements would have to fall to the ground. Although the day was observed as a general holiday; the.re was very little outward sign of; public rejoicing,. but on the contrary/there■ was apparent a feeling of great disappointment throughout the «ity. As'there'had been continuous rain for 36 hours, it was no wonder that practically all fixtures'were abandoned. With regard to the regatta, the principal event of the day; there was considerable, difference of opinion as to whether- it 'should be held or^-postponed untib & more favourable opportunity. The committee, after several meetings, decided to hold it in spite of the adVerse conditions." DEFICIENCY IN CUSTOMS. '? Th' 9 enormous deficiency in the Custom's revenue of the current year is tolerably, notorious, but in the absence of the complete detailed returns the falliig-off could not be definitely allocated to particular items. The detailed report fer. the laßt quarter! is now avaTTable^ana'from that Wo, glean some interesting -■'!information. In the first pla'de,*! there rwaa a. marked- decrease an' the duty paid ion wine, beer, and spirits. That is-one very, distinct fact of which the, temperance societies may well take^ notice) and' over which they may'with" some reason exult. On the other hand, there is also, a decrease in coffee and cocoa, while there is a large increase in tea, sugar, tobacco, and opium. Now, what does this mean? Have the New 1 Zealand colonists taken to drinking tea instead'of'aleoholt Are they discarding coffee and cocoa as well as wine, beer, and spiritst And does this change lead to an increased • consumptionl of . tobacco and-opium? Or are these suggestive figures due to mere fortuitous coincidences, ;involving no'defined prin-. i-ciple at all! It would be interesting and .to have 'this point 'definitely settled by -further statistics were these obtainable. The largest fall-ing-olf in the Customs revenue, however, is in the: miscellaneous items, respectively classified under *goods by weight,' 'M valor, em duties,' and 'other duties not specified.' AH of ■ these exhibit a heavy decrease in produetivene/s." PORTENTS IN THE SKY. , The Brakatoa eruption' of just over fifty yejrs ago was the cause of a long ekquenoS of. remarkable sunsets in all parts-of the world, including New Zealand,'Ad, to it was also attributed the atro<i(iiis weather (cold, wet, and storny) which New Zealand experi-enc-'d in ' the 1883-84 summer. Frequ<nt reference is made in the columns of "The Post," both in respect of the gj'nsets and the vile weather. "Not i?any generations ago," remarks one Jngthy ■ leading article, "the extraordinary glows seen in the western sky each fine, evening after the sun has set would have been regarded with superstitipus awe as a supernatural - portent of dire calamity to come. We have grown wiser in some things nowadays, and can gaze, without any sensation of superstitious dread, on these phenomenal afterglows. But unhappily it is by no means certain that a grave portent of ill is not implied, by these strange, appearances. They have attracted the attention of the whole scientific world, and have elicited marked differences of opinion, giving rise to ■several rival theories. , Cold, wet, and stormy conditions have afflicted a large portion of. the globe, and in thia colony these strange sunsets have been attended with the worst weather ever experienced here, and it is feared the mostj disastrous as regards the consequences to the shearing and to the crop*. The: appearances continue as markedly as ever. They were never brighter than on the last few evenings, and last Sunday's appearance was followed, by the severest southerly gale and heaviest rain ever experienced in Wellington... If the continuance of the •vivid sunsets means a like continuance of such wretched weather, then, indeed, we are justified in characterising them as a portent of dire disaster. But all scientists do not agree that our present woes may be attributed to the upheaval in the Straits of Suuda. The volcanic dust theory has its rivals. If the weather and the upheaval are not connected, then there may be hope for an improvement, in the near future:, if they are connected, it would seem as if we may have to wait for months before any improvement in the weather can bo expected. There is this consolation to bo found: New Zealanders Will not be tempted tp leave these shores and to seek more favoured climes, for the weather, everywhere else.would seem to be just as bad, if not worse."