Original Correspondence. Slight Praise for the Past—a Warning for the Present—and a Hint for the Future.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 88, 6 February 1847, Page 3

Original Correspondence. Slight Praise for the Past — a Warning for the Present— and a Hint for the Future.

' To tho Editor of the New-Zcalawlcr. Sir, — It was written a month or two ago in the columns of your journal "that the problem of Now Zealand is very little nearer a successful solution than it was formerly," but that being applied to the administration of Governor Grey, I thought at the time there was nothing problematical about it, as the " successful sola tion" appeared to me to .be stating us all in the face under the judicious management of our Governor. But, alas, poor New Zealand, who is first experimented upon by three Governors, ex Her Majesty's lloya} Navy,, who stick her haul and fast on every possible shoal and quicksand they could run agiinst, and she no sooner 'escapes being totally wrecked on the rock of misgovcrnlnent, by the helm of her affairs being assumed by an experienced and able hand, who is fast bringing her out of every danger, and safely steeling her onward on n prosperous voyage, when another shot is fired across lici bows, and she has to "lay. to," and receive a new com-

wander on board, ami we have now got a Governor of our Governor in the shape of that curious ami irrespon - sihlc individual designated the British Government. We liavo served our first term of seven years expatriation, under the experimenting and blundering guidance (until Captain Grey's arrival) of Governors in the Colony, and at last, just when every thing is- put in train for securing our future welfare, it appears as if we were going to enjoy the benefit of a second seven years' series of experiments made upon us by Governors out of the Colony, sitting at the Colonial Office at the convenient distance of 12,000 miles off, in the sacred precincts of Downing-street, where doubtless they are in the best position to judge the requirements of the Colony ! Fortunately the country lias in itself such innate resources to enable it to withstand all the evil pranks which arc played with it, or it would have* sunk long since, and ceased to be. a British Colony; but her settlers know her worth, and will yet carry her through the fiery ordeal to i which she is being subjected, and the more political experiments that may be tried with her, the more ought we' all to strive to develope her natural resources, and since it is endless and hopeless for us to interfere in the attempt to bring about her political improvement, let us adopt every means in our power to ensure hat commercial advancement, and to this end I would wish to direct a few remarks in connexion with this District and Northern part of the Island . The lime will soon arrivo when the various different settlements will be thrown on their own resources, when each will advance according to its natural cap Utilities, value of its productions, and outlet for trade, and wo cannot too soon set about any system whereby we may encreaso the importance of our chosen settlement, anil mark it out as the best field of enterprise for intending; immigrants to resort to. "Your Lordships' petitioner is ready to prove that Auckland is the most important settlement in New Zealand, both in a national point of view and as regards the natural productions of the country and the prosperity of its settlers;" so declared our fellow-colonist, Mr. Brown, to the House of Lords the otlior day in his petition against the New Zealand Bill, and well and truly did he spoak, for there is no denying we do enjoy that envied prosperity; but let us not only maintain it, but lay the foundation upon which we may hope to build a sure prospect of making Auckland more important than all the other settlements put together, and I say we have it in our power, for hero we have the elements, and elsowhoro they exist not, whereby such can be accomplished. " I, from tho first," says Captain Grey, " saw the importance of Auckland as a depot for native trade, and I have never since overlooked that circumstance. I will endeavour to do my utmost to foster and encourage its rapidly increasing export and import trade." It is an oft repeated remark, that "labour is capital," and if this be true, then in this Northern pare of the Island arc we rich indeed ; but I would ask, do good men of business allow capital to remain unemployed or profitably uninvested ? If we possess "capital" in the shape of "labour," arc we good men of business in allowing that labour to remain unemployed, and i so lose the use of that capital which is at our command I Is this being sufficiently alive to our interests? 1 hear our merchants ever reiterating, "we want a Bank, wo want the command of capital by which to dovelopo the resources of the Colony." 1 would tell them they hay« monied capital enough of their own already, if they would but direct one small stream of it, together with a little of that zeal and activity which they have proved themselves to possess, into the proper channel. But if the truth must be told, it is not tho capital which is wanting, but the proper inclination on their part, they are all .so eager on reaping the largest possible harvc'Bfc in the shortest possible time, and so intent upon making the most of the present moment that they appeajr to be utterly unmindful, and to have discarded nil idea of the future from their minds. But unless they check this grooving evil in time, themselves will be the sufferers, for retribution is on the wing, and it will alight upon them ; and where will it ilud them ?— huddled up and jostling* each other in the narrow limits of this settlement itself, as if they had neither available country nor 'population behind it, every one trying to cut out his neighbour in the mere importation and sale of bags of Hour and sugar, chests of tea, casks of spirits, and bales of blankets ; running eagerly to and fro in 'the purchase of " quick returns," too easily and quickly returned indeed, for half a sheet of foolscap can enclose a multitude of Commissariat and Mission Bills, and our merchants send away the bulk of their exports made up in the above convenient form through the post office ; this easy medium of transmission swallowing up thousands and thousands of pounds which should have been used in developing the resources of the Colony. This unhealthy state of things cannot last, and will bring its own remedy in glutted markets and low • prices — consequent upon excess of capital employed in a branch of trade beyond its requirements. "We want a Bank!" For what? to facilitate the indulgence of remitting per post, not to command the use of monied capital, for we do not make use of that which we have, and why so ? because, say our merclunts, we cannot get produce to purchase ; but, I would ask, whose fault is that ? is it not their own, our own, the community at large ?— for we are all equally culpable in allowing this import branch of trade to occupy our attention to the exclusion and wilful neglect of the creation of Exports. Granting, however, that monied capital was wanting, the question we, have to ask ourselves is simply, do we make a proper use of tho means already at our disposal ? and the plain answer is, we do not, or, at all events, not to the extent that wo might, nay ought, and it is our duty to do. lam very far from thinking that, as a body of settlers, we have not; already done much, very much, but I cannot help also thinking we might have done, and may do very muoli more, and one way in which encreased general prosperity may be brought about, is what I now aim to point out. "Labour is capital," and with us this affirmation as a general principle is more true than what it is in many other cases, ior sometimes it may so happen that labour may be plentiful, where (the means existing) it cannot be profitably employed, consequently it is then unavailable " capital ;" in other cases the previous existence of monied capital is absolutely necessary before labour can be profitably employed; but in our case, we arc in the most fortunate of positions, for we have " labour" which can be profitably put in operation without the previous outlay of capital, and this Labour is tho Bank upon which wo ought all to draw, 'and from which we can command any amount of capital, and the trim and legitimate capital by means of which th 6 resources of the Colony can, must, and will be developed. At this National Bank of Now Zealand, Labour, I should wish to see my fellow-settlers apply. There let our merchants hasten to purchase their remittances, from (hat source they can never make too "quick returns" in payment for imported goods. But this fountain beul from which good might ilow, is not applied to, and its waters ure allowed to run waste, which, if proporly directed, might bo made to irrigate the whole lace of this partoflhe country, and clothe it with prosperity. Where there is a will there is a way ; and if the proper moans be resorted to, if the requisite interest bo taken in furthering the advancement of our chosen settlement, great and good ends can be obtained. But to bring , about these, we must give a little of our time, and take some trouble in laying the train from which they may spring, and look boyond the present moment, and not allow the mere gratification of amassing money to occupy, and absorb our whole attention. And well will that time given, and trouble taken, be lcpaidWor the good seed

will be sown from which fruits an hundred fold will be Returned. In a word, let the Labour of our immense Native Population now lying unemployed, unproductive and lost, be called into active oppration, made available and'a source of wealth to us; and if individual enterprise be unable single-handed to bring 1 about the accomplishment of so desirable an object,- then* let us all put our shoulder to the wheel, unite heart and hand, and the better to secure success, let thore' 1 be 'immediately formed an " Association to encourage and promote the preparation of Native Produce for Exportation." In my next letter I will endeavour to illustrate by a few examples the incredible results which would arise from a small portion of the Native population being industriously employed, and to show how well deserving our attention it would be to direct their labour into the proper channels, meanwhile you will oblige me by raising these few remarks from THE VOICE OF A SETTLER. Auckland, February 3, 1847.