INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 151, 10 November 1847, Page 2

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

-,-..: T' hi! ]'< „ 'AGRICULTURE. It has l3een,tr\ily said by an eminent writer of the, last f century, (Dr. Johnson), "that "by agriculture, alone, panv -.commerce be perpetuated, ancl by agriculture only can we live in plenty, without^ dependence on other nations,' This, therefore*] •is the great art which every' Government ought to protect, every proprietor' of lana to' practice, and every inquirer into, -nature to>iroprove." V) ',„''''' ' ''"', ' {_, , The gr'ea'fc-Fact should h'eyei'bfe lost sight ofy that whilst in '.England/ of ii» any ofch'ferpopuv flous/and;iorig established ccWtry^theife is anendless variety of trades, 'occupations, and means ofl 'gaining "a s6bsistence/—^in* all recently settled countries generally, and in the * first stages of a new settlement in particular, there "is *pfroperly speaking, but one, namely, the cultivation of the land, and the raising of sufficient produce;; from it/ to enable the first settlers t to supsistV ( • \ " THe fieglect of this simple and self-eVident truth, in some of our lately-established Colonies, has been productive of much misery and suffering amongst the colonists, >who, had they considered the subject, would have known that such must be the inevitable consequences of that neglect.' The means of the settlers have, in too many,- cases, been expended in the purchase of their land, and of the means of subsistence,, which have been obtained from other colonies, at a high price, the colonists themselves; appearing to have been far too busily occupied in speculating in land, to attend to the cultivation of it. It follows, therefore, that as it is to the land 1 that,-t]liel6'o»a fide-" colonist in New Zealand must, look, as. the means of gaining a subsistence, spjhe acquisition of it should be his first object, rand r and every reasonable facility shbuliPbe 'afforded fai'ni for this purpose. It is not, .however, intended to be asserted that 1 lano*' 1 should be given' away'in the colonies to all who'ask for it, on the principle that the- Home Government formerly acted upon, a principle which although if worked well in the generality of cases, was yet liable to several abuses, amongst which the occurrence of absentee proprietors, and the acquisition of largV trails' bf land by' individuals who had not the mea'nsor the inclination to improve or to cultivate them, were the rnost'prominent.

The class of settlers thht is required in/the first instance in a new' country, is that of small farmers, and others possessnd of some capital, however small, and who are at the same time able and willing to maintain themselves by the labour of-.,theiru~own hands. These form the most useful and healthy class of settlers, on whom the future prosperity of the colony mustin a great-degree depend, and who should form as it were, the nucleus of the community, being at once the most useful and most indispensable. But, although, this class of small farmers should, it is believed, be the most numerous in a new or.uncultivated country, yet it is not intended to, be- asserted that they should form the only class. The very meaning of the word "colony," contradicts this view of the case; there_ must bea^proper proportion of persons of all classes,, sexes, ages, and conditions, in' order to ensure the permanent prosperity of a new colony. The fwordV,' colony," •originally signified no more than a farm, i. c., the habitation of a husbandman, (colonus), with! the quantity of land sufficient fo'rthe support of his family, {"quantum unus colonus arare poterafy. It is derived from the Latin word " colo," I till or cultivate ;— hence "colonus," a husbandman, and " colonia," a body* of farmers, sent to cultivate. : the ! ground! in 'a 1 distant country, and by metonymy, the plac6 itself. In its modern acceptation,' however, «a colony is properly a number of persons of' all classes and conditions, transported!' into "a^femotecountry with a view to remain" thererand for the purpose of cultivating /, „ -„ . Viewed 'in^this, lights thereforei. the colonization of a country .haVayery extended signification; agriculture .however, formihg'.the basis, of it, and/requiring, in connexion with itj 'the 1 application of capital and labour. Th£ elements, ,of capital in .New Zealand, consist in a very fertile v s6il? and a large quantity of native labour \yl4ch. is prepared to be employed .iip&ijt ; .and, that which' is wanting to develope tnese'elenfents, fa,* security of life and, property, moral and physical exertion amongst all classes, and 'lastly •money which* is the mainspring of the watch ;— the soul which is to animate the otherwise lifeless body, and to cause a healthy circulation through all its parts. ' In founding a new, colony in a country which previously possessed no inhabitants, the great object should evidently be, .so to pro. portion the amount of capital: to the amount of labour, that there should not exist an undue preponderance of either.;- so that (if so nice an adjustment were possible) there should be enough, of capital for the profitable employment of allthe labour, and on the- other hand, enough of labour for the profitable employment of all the. capital,. The ' great; error,, however, that has been made in this ana* in other colonies, has been the laying dowries" a^leading principle, that labour'in a new colofty is the one thing needful, withbtit giving' due encouragement fb the introduction- 'of' capital, without which that labour must be unavailing ; unless, indeed, the State is prepared, to employ all the labour. The first wantjn, a new country is the capital to employ laDouVj'and if the introduction of this is encouraged by affording individuals proper facilities for acquiring land, the requisite labour will- be sure to follow ;t; t and it is'by no means a necessary- consequence that' ibecause land is v cheap' in 'any country, the wages of the labourer -will 1 be low in proportion. The example of America is' a proof tothe contrary,- where, With' land generally cheaper than* in *any country in the world, the waged of the labourer are at the same time higher/ and the price of agricultural produce and provisions, at the same time, is as low, or perhaps lower, .than in any country in Europe. . _ .

Kawit*.— The'heYo of- Ohaiowhai and of the Raupekapeka, the, \ redoubtable Kawiti, has favored the "capita^, with a visit. The object of his coming is jsaid to be peaceful, he is now no doubt anxious to signalise his devotion to the government, anc}, perhaps also, if possible, to obtain a share of the loaves and fishes, with which; it.has been determined to reward the loyalty , of, our, natiy.e allies. 'A few years have changed much ,the .personal appearance of , our, old acquaintance, s bufc we greatly fear that little real alteration has been produced in his principles or ,'m his heart. Walker Nene, Rippa, and oj;her chiefs, have accompanied him. () , rvjj „ , , ,•; Review. — The review* of .the 58th In ßeei' ment, which has stood postponed from Thursday last, owing to the wetness of the weather, ■came off on yesterday, in ;! t'hVßarrack-square, before Major General Pitt, Commander of the Forces.' The day was as fine and propitious as coul<J; be « wishedi^' !£he ground was pretty well thronged^ with well dressed per-, sons'" of both sfxli^^Vi I;*^^1 ;*^^ the Ma J or General appeared, and was received with the usual military salute. fTfe troops, numbering* iapp'aren^ly'iho'u't TO. I ' ''(including officers); She'll itiarched'paWm Vevie^order^and .aflter- ; wards went throygli^a^ariety ,bf by 'files, by; ; coiirpanies^ rjlatoon^./dnd geHeral vollies. The light company advanced and retreated, and performed all their movements to the sbiihd' of ihe bugle. Soljd

squares , wer f e formed to repel supposed charges of caraliy, and general charges in line made afterwards. ' The whole battalion also performed a number of light infantry movements to the sound of the bugle only, with admirable ease and precision. Finally^ the line advanced, presented to the gallant ! Major General a royal salute, marched back, and dispersed to quarters. The review terminated at about half-past 12 o'clock. The band of the 58th regt. continued playing some pleasing pieces till 1 o'clock, when the spectators gradually retired. Among the most distinguished visi ors present on the mimic field of battle, were the old native chief Kawiti, who fought in conjunction with Heki at Ruapekapeka, our trusty ally Tamati Waka, and the captive chief Te Rauparaha. The last-named chief seemed to have paid unusual attention to his toilette, appearing attired in gold-laced forage cap, blue frock coat, adorned with gold epaulettes, and gold-laced trousers. Kawiti simply wore over his blue serge shirt a red blanket, of good .British manufacture.', Tamati -Waka dressed •as usual, somewhat after the manner of an English gentleman. H. M. Steamer Inflexible, weighed anchor on Sunday morning, and proceeded down the harbour, en route to Sydney, intending to call at the Bay of Islands^on her way, to land a sum of money for the payment of the troops stationed there. H. M. S- Dido is expected to leave for a short time on a cruise among the ports to the southward. The crew of H.M.S. Calliope it is said are looking forward to a cruise on shore this week, having to receive considerable advances out of their arrears of wages. The Weather.— The late rains have had a very genial influence' upon the cultivations generally. The verdure, that eyery^ where meets the eye, is extremely pleasing.' With the present ripening" weather^ the gardens in which any sort of pains have been bestowed', promise to yield luxuriantly. . \ * , Mechanics* Bay. — Messrs. Sharpe and Nieol have just completed a smart cutter of 11 tons, intended for a cargo boat, and which is ready for launching. They have also a schooner of 19 tons upon the' stocks, which is expected to be ready for launching in about a fortnight. . . ■ • ' Sulphuric Ether,— Two surgical operations in which the patients' were rendered insensible to pain by the inhalation of sulphuric ether,' are reported in the Wellington papers, as having been lately performed there with complete success. ' We are uot aware of any case in which the inhalation has been tried hereyet. ~ — «- - .-»,•.,, - The British colonies throughout the globe it is estimated occupy an area of 2, 1 1 9,70& square mile 3 with a total population of 107,708,323. Their animal imports and ex» ports exceed 55 millions sterling, and their shipping 7 and a half million, tons.