The New-Zealander. SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1847.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 93, 13 March 1847, Page 2

The New-Zealander. SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1847.

Be just ami Tear not : Let all lite ends Ihou aitns't at, be tliy Country's, 'liiy God's, and Tiath's.

THE FIRST NATURAL EXPORTS OF A COLONY. A large portion of the capital possessed by the first settlers of a modern colony is spent in the purchase of land, house-building, fencing, and the clearing and breaking up of suburban farms. Another portion is spent in proeuing the necessaiy supply of the useful airrmils, and in paying for imported necpssa^'es and decencies of Me. The whole of the latter portion, vvilh ihe exception of the profits of the storekeepers and the duties levied, leaves the Coior.y. Some, of ih.efoi.ner portion, too, finds its way out of Ihe Colony. A part of the proceeds of land sp^s forms an emigration fand, and goes to the ship-owners in England. Many of ihe a<*lizans, too, and labourers, employed by the first settlei s,comc from neighboui ing settlements, tempted by the expectation of high wages. When the prica of labour falls to the standard in the places from which they came, they commonly return, can/ing with them a portion of the capital of the first setters of the new colony. Thus, of the whole capital possessed by the first selt'ers, a large portion leaves the colony, a pait, commonly very small, is retained in their hands, and the remainder is distributed amongst the officers of the local government, the storekeepers, artizans, and labourers. As it is impossible to induce persons possessed of large capital to come to a colony while it is being founded, the distinction between capitalist and labourer, as far at least as the possession of money is concerned, is soon abolished in the manuer thus described. Indeed, it generally happens, that the positions of the parties in question, with respect to the possession of money, is reversed, the original money-owners becoming proprietors of land, and the storekeepers, artizans, and labourers becoming possessed of nearly all the money in the Colony. In the mean time, emigration to the new settlement proceeds at a rale infinitely more slow than had been calculated upon by the settlers, and the amount of money, going out of the colony annually, is vastly greater than that annually brought into it by new settlers, together with the amount of the parliamentary grant, and the commissariat expenditure. Day by day, the fund destined for the purchase and improvement of land, and the employment of labour, declines, and soon almost disappears altogether. Tlie artizans and labourers are compelled to live upon their former earnings, the proprietors of lands are reduced to the ne- | cessity of selling them at ruinously low prices, and the storekeepers, who depend mainly upon these two classes, necessarily shave in the'? depression. Crown land ssles being aUogether suspended, an,d the amount of Customs' duties being materia^y reduced by the operation of the same causes, the local government itself is, for the maintenance of its officers, obliged to draw upon the imperial treasuiy, or to issue colonial securities. This situation of things, which has invariably occurred in every now colony a few years after its foundation, existed in New Zealand during the years 1843— 4-t. Inconsequence, however, of the abundant supply of agricultural produce by the Natives at cheap rates, the equally abundant supply of native labour, the extent of native trade, and the extraordinary resources of the country itself, New Zealand has been less injured by the position of things just mentioned, commonly called "the crisis/ than any Biltish colony yet founded, of which no better proof can be given, than the unexampled prosperity which it has enjoyed from the beginning of the year 1846 to the present day. Whether the occurrence of " the crisis'* is, or is not, inseparable from the very existence of a new colony, or, whether, in some colonies at least, and particularly in that of New Zealand, its occurrence might not have been avoided by wise management on the part of the imperial government, are questions, which, however interesting, are foreign to our present purpose. We hare undertaken to desciibe its nature, and the general causes of its occurrence, merely for the purpose of shewing, that

the first settlers of a coloqy have never been left without a demonstrative, though a veiy painful proof, that the creation of wealth, and the exportation of it, are the sole means by which they can save themselves from complete urn. It is, indeed, true, that in every young colony there must have been several persons fully satisfied of the truth of ttits proposition before the occurrence of the misfortunes which we have been consideilng. But, it is the crisis, wlrch first effectually livets the attention of the general body of the settlers upon the subject of exportation, and diverts it from landjobbmg,and commercial speculations of a petty ; and precocious nature. In fact, the occurrence of one cilsis, just at the time when it usur ] ly happens, in n'l probability prevents the occur- | rence of many others of a similar kind in more 1 advanced stages of the colony's existence. But, however fully convinced the settlers of a new colony may be of the absolute necessity of applying <hemselves to the business of exportation, a difference of opinion has generally existed amongst them, as to the articles upon which, in the first instance, their capital and industry should be exercised, some contending for the spontaneous products of the country, whether superficial or internal, and others (or the products of agiicultural and pastoral : ndust.y. In practice, (his question, to a ceitiin extent, commonly determines itself, aud, as a matter of reosoning, it wou'd seen that it may be decided by certain easy and obvious considerations. The spontaneous praducls of the surface, which require nothing more than mere collection and transport to the coast, being always either insignificant in value or in quantity, the expoitation of them is either attended with little profit, or soon exhausted. The fir^t settlors of a colony senrcely ever have sufficient capiU'l to meet the preliminary expenses attendant upon nrning operations, and, if they have, they never possess such an amount of capital, as would Ciiuble tiiem to await the return of these excises in Ihe form of profit. Those spontaneous products of the surface, which do not require much outlay upon them in the colony, for the purpose of enabling them to endure the sea carnage, and of otherwise fitting them for foreign markets, are, indeed, articles of export, in which, when they are valuable and sufficiently abundant, moderate capitals may be permanently invested with individual profit. But, in point of fucr, veiy few of the fi»sfc settlers in a colony can divert much capital from other pressing aud necessary pursuits even into this field of speculation. So far the question determines itself. Let us suppose, however, that the settlers in a colony just founded choose to apply themselves, in the first instance, to the' spontaneous products of the countiy. Since the capital possessed by them would neither enable them to become shipowners, nor tn encounter the risks of the seavoyage and ihe uncertainty of foreign markets, it is mauifes 1 , that they would become, not so much exporters, as labousersemployed by the real exporters residing in Great Britain, or in other colonies. The money received at the ship's side for the ai tides of export,woul<l soon leave the colony t*s payment for imported necessaries and decencies of life, the land woti'd be idle, and «o real wealth would be created. Any amount of industry whatever la : d out upon fhe spontaneous products of a comtiy w.U neither facilitate future labour, nor increase its productiveness. The results of this species of labour are fixed, and bea" an unalterable proportion to its amount. The wages of the labourer, too, generally bea ing no reasonable proportion to the profit of the capitalist, his condition would be comparatively stationary. The ultimate tendency of such a state of things, would obviously be, to create a few capitalists after a long time, and to keep the mass of the population of the colony in a state of miserable and hopeless drudgery. Tne natuial order of things in a new colony is very different from this. The ruinous fluctuation of price, and the derangement of the circulat'ng medium, consequent upon the importation of the necessaries of life, soon convince the settlers of the absolute necessity of ra''s»ng an amount of agiicultural produce sufficient for the'r own consumption. The expense of farther production continues for spveral years to diminish. Herds and flocks increase of themselves, and grass grows without the aid of man. The desire of wealth, so keenly felt by colonists, and the spint of competition, soon lead to over-production for their own markets. In this way* the first natural articles of export appear in a new colony. Horses, sheep, horned cattle, corn, flour, wool, hides, butter, and salt meat, are at first sold to foreign capitalists, and carried in foreign bottoms. When capital accumulates, the settlers become ship-owners, and carry on the whole business of exporting agricultural and pastoral produce. When a slill farther accumulation of capital takes place, and not till then, a portion of the whole eapitil of the colony is applied to the preparation and exportation of the spontaneous products of the country, We are aware, that some of the observations just made would require some modification before they could be strictly applied to New Zealand. They are, however, sufficiently applicable to the illustration of the position for

which we have been contending, even in the case of this colony. For the purpose of avoiding misapprehension, too, it may be necessary to observe, that we would not be understood to say, that no portion of the capital of a young colony should be applied to the exportation of its spontaneous products. We simply mean to contend, that the principal part of the capital of the first settlers of a colony cannot be applied to that pursuit without serious injury to the welfare of the settlers, and the prog;ess of the colony.

The Racehorse amved yesterday morning from the coast northward, after visiting Ihs harbours of Wangaroa, Monganvi, and Wangavii- u. A great number of whalers had put into the harbour of Monganui this season, and the natives had most wiPhigly exerted themselves in procinmg the necessary supplies for the vessels, upon such terms as gave th* masters entire satisfaction, and as mil], we have no doubt, induce all the whalers in 'hese seas to resort to our shores for such necessaiies.— - Peace and harmony exists between the settlers and the natives all along the coast, and indications of growing prosperity are visible in eveiy settlement.