New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1843.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 86, 26 May 1843, Page 2

New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1843.

The present state of the Colony cannot have failed to impress upon the mind of every one, the necessity for some effort to turn to immediate account the resources of the country, and to promote by all available means the settlement and cultivation of the fertile districts in our vicinity. It is obvious that for the present, at least, \vc have very little to hope from external aid, and that' we must find in ourselves the means of support and advancement. In what manner and by what proceedings this may best he accomplished it is not easy to decide. But we cannot doubt that there are means of effecting it, and that there is in the community the intelligence and the energy required for the purpose. One branch of industry which is calculated to furnish us with an immediate export, has been entered upon with abundant zeal, aftd so. far as present appearances can be relied-upon, promises to produce satisfactory results —we mean the whale fishery. Another, equally and perhaps even more important in its ultimate operation—though its progress will be necessarily slow, has been commenced —the preparation, of flax. Both of these however are, so to speak, exceptional pursuits. They do not directly concern the majority of the population. The former employs the sailors who have been left upon our shores, and the settlers who were' established here before the formation of the Colony. The latter is, and for some tirtie must be, confined exclusively to the natives. Neither of them are of a character to furnish for the labouring emigrants or for the agricultural-ca-pitalists the occupation f which they need. And at present they are the only industrial pursuits* which seem to offer any chance of obtaining an exportable produce. We cannot but imagine that with a view to’ the object we have thus indicated, it would be advantageous to establish an Agricultural Society. The results of such a society would 'be in many respects of the highest importance. Not merely would it diffuse among-all information which is at present confined to few; but it would also tend to prevent the misdirection of labor and the waste of capital, and would inspire a spirit of emulation, which could not fail to produce beneficial consequences. It is, indeed, needless to dwell upon the advantages which might flow from the establishment of such a society. Those who have witnessed the operation of those which have been established in the United Kingdom, will be fully prepared to understand and appreciate them. There exist in the colony the materials from which such a society could be formed; and we are convinced that there are persons with sufficient public spirit to devote themselves to the labor necessary for its formation.