The Evening Star SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2280, 27 August 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1870.

Gold; silver, copper, tin, iron, coal, in abundance, are to be found in Otago ; and yet there is difficulty in employing a population not - equal in numbers to that of a fourth-rate town at Home. The general defence of Provincialism is that it is a system favorable to the settlement and development of the resources of a country. This would seem to follow as a natural consequence of the more accurate knowledge of the requirements of limited districts by a local legislature than by a central one. But' beyond dealing with Goldfields Regulations, more or less wisely, our Provincial Council seems as if settling an agricultural population was the limit;of its ambition. We do not know that this is matter lor surprise when the class of our representatives

is taken into consideration. Most of those from the rural districts have only migrated ...from the ploughed fields ol one^cguntryto the unploughed of another. At Hfime they had no ideas of any-other than one industry connected with the soil. They ploughed, and •sowed, and threshed, and took their produce to markets established ages

back ; and now, that they have come here, they attach the same value to agricultural pursuits as they had there. All their legislation is for the purpose of what they term “ settling the people u on the land,” under the assumption that if a man only owns some fifty or one hundred acres, with a few cows, paradise is realised. Were this really all that is needed for Provincial pros-

perity, it might be attained without any serious difficulty, provided the clodocrats would cease to stand in the way. But this is only half-way towards thriving. There must not only be producers but consumers well employed : well to do. Tliis want of a consuming population is the drawback to agricultural prosperity. The industrial development of society is unequal. Too much attention is given to the production of one description of raw material, and too little to others. If after a careful investigation of the resources of the Province, this one form proved to be that alone which could be profitably prosecuted, sufficient reason could

be given for this exclusive legislative care. But this is evidently not the case. Scientific testimony and experience alike tell its that there are other industries waiting to be developed that would provide employment for tens of thousands of men. It is unfortunate that when the early colonists left their native land behind them, they did not divest themselves of those ideas which, however applicable to the state of society at Home, are unsuited to the creation of society in an unpeopled country. In Great Britain the Government can do little towards fostering industry. Its land has been appropriated for ages ; its resources have been carefully and scientifically explored ; manufactures have grown up, and employ millions of people ; .the population needs nothing more than the administration of justice, and the less the Government interferes with the social and industrial organisation of the country the better. But here the Government has to lead the way. British social theories will not do. Wir t a nobleman does for his estate must be done by the Province if we are to prosper. Now let us consider what this would be, supposing an enlightened English duke owned so rich an estate as we have in Otago, On obtaining a knowledge of the mineral treasures upon it, he would ascertain where they abounded most, and how they could be worked. This might require the outlay of a few thousands in opening out a lode of copper, of lead, a coal mine, or a quartz reef containing gold. This ascertained, should he not choose to take the risk of working it himself, he would probably advertise it to the world, fix the terms on which he would allow a company to work, prescribe the capital to be employed so that the enterprise might not bo abandoned, and require that the preliminary expenses incurred should bo reimbursed. If extraordinary outlay Were required for the construction of roads or tramways to connect the mine with the port of shipment, in consideration of the additional value of his estate through the large population gathered upon it, he might construct them at his sole expense, or perhaps require a portion of the tribute of the mines to be appropriated to that purpose. Much more would be done that we need not enter upon, because it would not afford a parallel to our own position. What, we wish to draw attention to is that we leave to chance, or to private enterprise clogged with a variety of absurd restrictions, that to which it is the duty of the Provincial Council and Executive to attend. Private enterprise is not sufficient. No man likes to throw his money away on a mere chance of success. Capitalists require probability so strong as to amount nearly to a certainty before investment; and until we give them that moral certainty we shall muddle on, developing by fits and starts where intelligent action would lead to rapid progression.