The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 33, 10 February 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1877.

It would not be correct to say that we are now passing through one of those periods of commercial depression to which all civilised communities are liable ; because there are exceptional circumstances m our case, the course of trade having been artificially influenced — if we may be allowed the term — by borrowed capital, instead of being left to the operation of those natural causes which are independent, to a great extent, of human agency. We have stimulated our import trade by means of borrowed capital, and now that the stimulus is withdrawn we are experiencing a reaction which, however, docs not follow the media-

nieal law that l-egulates such things. In other words, the action and the reaction are not equal, the latter being the greater. The falling off m our import trade is not measured by the stimulating effect of the borrowed capital which has for the present ceased to be employed m it. If trade -were governed by this exact mechanical law, there would be a great deal less weight than there actually is m the protests that Economists are m the habit of uttering against all legislative interference with its freedom ; because we could then calculate beforehand the extent of the disturbance which any given action would effect m it. But the nature of trade is such as to render this impossible. The human mind is not a piece of mechanism or a mass of matter to be regulated m its motions by mere mathematics. Its hopes and fears spurn all such control, of which fact the "sensitiveness of capital " — as the phrase is — forms an illustration. A very slight disturbing cause is apt to produce a perturbation m trade, whose magnitude is out of all proportion to such cause. A trifle, comparatively speaking, is sufficient to send a thrill of alarm through the length and breadth of the commercial world, and seen through the medium of their feai'3 the cause of the panic assumes, m the eyes of commercial men, a magnitude which is altogether unreal. In the present case, for instance, the original cause of the disturbance would appear to be the exhaustion of the borrowed capital for some time employed m the import trade. In itself this cause would, we believe, be quite inadequate to produce the present depression. In other words, the mere cessation of the expenditure of borrowed capital m a certain direction would be a trifle, if we could only keep the commercial mind from taking fright, like a timid steed, at the immediate effects of such cessation. But this is precisely what we are, and always shall be, quite unable to do, and hence the peculiar danger of interfering with the natural course of trade, it being impossible to calculate the consequences of such interference. That a panic of the kind just described has set m is plainly indicated by the revenue returns for the quarter ending 3Lst December last. The customs show a falling off to the extent of nearly £14,000, but this is rather more than compensated by a very significant increase m the receipts from stamps, from the post and telegraph offices, from fees, fines, &c. The increased business m stamps and correspondence tells a tale of increased litigation, the result of panic. Business men are beginning to press for payment, and the courts and the lawyers have their hands full. Of this we have an illustration m the great increase m the amount of business transacted m the Resident Magistrate's Court for this district. During the last month the number of cases adjudicated on throughout the district was 130, and what this means will be ascertained from the following facts. During the year 1876 the total number of cases decided m the Resident Magistrate's Court for the district was about 600, as against 400 for the year 1875 ; so that the opening month of 1877 has considerably more than doubled the amount of litigation, which is now at the rate of more than 1,500 cases per annum. Last Thursday was remarkable m the history of litigation at Palmerston. Not that the list of cases was by any means the largest that we have seen here. "We have had 100 at a time, but the number actually brought into court then used to be only a small per centage of those set down for hearing, and the business of the court was generally got through before luncheon, whereas on Thursday last the whole day was occupied m wading through a perfect sea of litigation. And speaking of fees, it used to be considered a very great " spurt " m the way of revenue receipts, when the fees of the court for a week amounted to £20. Recently, however, the takings from this soui'ce were £57 for one week, and the average has not been under £25 a-week for some time. That this is not a solitaiy instance is proved by the fact, already noticed, of the increase m the quarter's revenue m the item of stamps and fees, which shows that the amount of litigation has largely increased throughout the Colony. On this we congratulate the lawyers — it is an ill wind that blows nobody good — but congratulation is assuredly not the language to be addressed to our over-worked Resident Magistrate, and his still more overworked clerk, m reference to this matter. And here we shall venture to make a suggestion. There is generally a considerable percentage of Maori cases among those brought before the Resident Magistrate's Court m

Palmerston, and it is usual to engage the sei*vices of a gentleman m the neighbourhood as interpreter on such. occasions. Now if some competent person were retained permanently as interpreter and clerk of the court, not only would the at present unconscionable tax upon the time of the gentleman who is clerk for the district be lightened, but the public convenience would be promoted by the arrangement also. In all probability the present state of tilings will be only temporary, and the work of the Eesident Magistrate's Court will find its level again like the floods ; and if so, the appointment need not be a permanent one ; but temporary clerical assistance has become for the time a necessity. Indeed, it is one consolation m cases of commercial depression like the present, to know that the panic which is the principal cause of such depression is sure to subside as it began, and that the original cause is less formidable than it appears.