The Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3481, 20 April 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1874

Thu report of Captain Hutton on the vast coalfields of Tokomairiro and Kaitangata, and the ease with which they can be connected with the railway lines now in progress of construction, is the best answer that could be given to the croakers who look forward with apprehension to the time when the public works loans will be expended. It is at all times difficult to reason with that class of men. They say “ when our present loans are expended the Colony will owe so many millions of money, and so many hundreds of thousands

will be needed to pay the interest; what will become of us then 1 New taxes will be required, work will be scarce, and the whole industrial system will suffer through collapse.” This would, without doubt, be true if the money were spent “to conquer a peace” with the Natives, or to acquire land, the confiscation of which would entail more expense to hold than the return from its occupation was worth. That was the policy of the past. It was the policy of men whose political economy was learnt from the pages of Homer, or based upon the aggressive, destructive, and imperious system of conquest adopted by the Romans. Luckily for • New Zealand, modern notions are in the ascendant now. They may be sneered at by the Munro class, but that is because their only ideas of occupancy of land'by sheep and farmers are interfered with, and new notions which they cannot

comprehend are taking their places. We have frequently pointed out that the value of the minerals in this Province has been very imperfectly known. Many persons have thought us visionary when we urged a thorough scientific investigation of the value of every acre of land before consenting to its sale or occupation. We consider this

the plain and self-evident duty of a Provincial government. They really occupy the position of stewards and trustees of one of the finest estates in the world, which they are bound in duty to manage so as to confer benefit upon all the inhabitants of the Province, This should be their chief occupation.'

Social questions not remitted to them, when bearing upon the peculiar circumstances of the Province, must undoubtedly be dealt with so far as to express opinions in the usual form : but the chief work is the development of the resources of the country. One of the first fruits of railway communication is to give access to a coalfield having an area of sixty square miles. This vast extent of really valuable coal can be brought into useful working at an

expense of about L 50,000, and, if extended, LIOO,OOO in railway construction. This is a sum that at Home would be considered very light by the owner of an estate of half the area, and would be readily invested as a means of reaping a princely income from it. We do things differently here. We throw our land away, give leave to murder our forests, and lease our coal mines for a nominal rental because the inhabitants of the Province in the aggregate, instead of ray Lord Plusland, own the estate. There is, however, much greater reason for leasing a coal mine cheaply than forgiving our finest land away for a mere acknowledgment. Coal mines require vast outlay in the construction of

machinery, and much risk and anxiety in working them. And further than that, there ia a real and substantial profit conferred upon large populations through "obtaining a cheap, constant, and abundant supply of fuel. A rough analysis of how a population is benefited by the development of a coalfield will best demonstrate the advantage of connecting those lately surveyed by Captain Hutton with the main line. The first fact is the employment of labor, direct and indirect—the men who work the mine, and the men who are engaged in the distribution of the coal. How many those would number it ia impossible to say; and to be added to them are the hundreds, or thousands in all probability, who, through having cheap fuel, will be enabled to make manufactures pay that could not otherwise be worked profitably. The contributions to the revenue of these

additions to our population through the consumption of duty-paying articles, is a direct advantage to those who live in the Colony, for the burden of taxation is lightened through being borne by a greater number of persons; and, if not actually reduced, an additional income is provided for such further development of the public estate—the Colony —as will maintain and tend to increase individual and general prosperity. The introduction of a large population engaged in mining, and earning regular wages, with settled occupation, is in many ways better than a goldfields rush. Agriculturists can calculate

with certainty upon the best of all markets—a home their produce, graziers for their stock j merchants can fairly anticipate demand for their imports, and manufacturers for their implements and fabrics. There is, therefore, inducement to bring additional labor into the country, and to invest money that may be fairly expected to return itself with interest many times told. Thus, apart from other considerations, the addition of one paying industry gives an impetus to the extension of all others. But a direct and positive gain is conferred upon every householder in the reduction of the cost of fuel, and this amounts in every catfe to a palpable in'cVe'aSte of income.

There is not a family in Dunedin that would not be a gainer of pounds annually; and not only would Dunedin gain, but every centre of population, every hamlet, every farmhouse within reach of a railway station. Connecting the coalfield with the main line is, therefore, both a Colonial and Provincial advantage, and will do more towards enriching those who are now here, and many who may hereafter come, than all the theoretical agitators whose nostrums for settling people on the land are so learnedly argued, and which have thus far proved so fallacious when tried.