New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1871. THE WEEK.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 47, 16 December 1871, Page 11

New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1871. THE WEEK.

! If we omitted to notice in our last the ! Reehabite festival which took in the Odd Fellows' Hall, and the truly admirable speech which Mr Fox delivered on the occasion, it arose from no feeling of indifference about the cause fhen celebrated, nor from any want of sympathy with the views expressed by the honorable chairman regarding it. Personally we should like to see the Mail the recognized organ of all movements having for their object' either the mental or moral, political or social, condition of man, We cannot say that our admiration of the heroism displayed by the lamented J.. B. Gough, in doing battle in the cause of temperance, is so great as that expressed by Mr Fox ; but what we desire to say is, that the heroism displayed by the latter gentleman, in the same cause, is of the vei-y highest order,and must command the admiration of every man capable of appreciating the motives by which he is actuated, the merits of the cause for which he is doing battle, and the innumerable obstacles against which he has to contend. The previous remarks we have made on this subject have been directed not against the temperance movement, but against the attempt to coerce others, holding opposite opinions, to practically adopt the same views as those held by teetotalers with regard to the merits of total abstinence, and the criminalty of the liquor traffic. "If you convince a man against hie will He will be of the same opinion still." We object to the process, we question its policy, and we deny that it will benefit the cause it is intended to promote. But if we do not agree with Mr Fox as regards the efficacy or expediency of prohibitory legislation, we can none the less appreciate the motives by which he is actuated, and the heroism he has displayed in attacking a monster vice and custom at present upheld alike by the law, by society, and by public opinion. Instead of the Government turning its attention during the recess to the elaboration of measures having for their object organic changes, it is to be hoped that it will devote its attention to questions of a more practical character ; and one of these should have for its object the thorough revision of our present barbarous Custom's Tariff, and the total abolition of all measurement' duties. We advocate this change not alone in the interests of working settlers, but in the interests of revenue also. We are persuaded that the ad valorem system would promote domestic industry, and have the effect of reducing the price of many articles largely consumed by working lettlers

and their families, while it might be made toyield a much larger revenue than is obtained at present. It is astonishing that the Colonial Treasurer has not seon the subject in this light —that he has not been struck with the contemptible revenue derived from measurement duties compai'ed with the value of the goods upon which they are levied. The Governor of Tasmania, at a recent Agricultural Society's Exhibition, said if any one were to ask him the great secret nowadays of successful farming he should answer him in the words of an eminent English Agriculturist of his acquaintance. " My leading maxim is simply this, fit the size of your farm to the amount of your capital, and lvmember that it is better to have a little land and farm it well than to have a great deal of land and farm it indifferently." These words are worth remembering. One of the great evils which the farmers of New Zealand have had to contend against has not so much arisen from bad roads and high taxes, as from disregarding this maxim. They have bought more land than they can properly and profitably cultivate, and this has frequently been effected with borrowed money. The interest on this money constitutes a greater burden a greater drag on their progress than all other causes put together. Much better would it be for them to | have email farms, free from debt, than ever such [■ large ones which they have had to mortgage as ] soon as purchased ; and which then cannot be profitably cultivated for want of capital. It i 3 doubtful, moreover, whether at the present price of labor and farm produce, large farms, as a rule, even when the occupier is in possession of sufficient capital, can be cultivated at a profit. A small farm in New Zealand will secure to the industrious thrifty man, of small capital, a good living and a future independency ; and a largo farm will not do more i and possibly not so much. The acquisation of land on the system of deferred payments has injured more persons than it has ever benefited. Our leaders this week are devoted to two subjeets which are occupying a good deal of public attention just now, both in town and country ; one of these relate to the proposal to hold the next session of the General Assem* bly at Dunedin, and the other to the memorial now being extensively signed in favor of the adoption of a more central lino for the railway through the Wairarapa. Very strong opinions are held on both these subjects, and'those who only view them from mere local standing points, or as they may affect their own particular interests, will be apt to conclude Lhab our views relating to each are not sufficiently warm and depided. But the public journalist, true to his vocation, is bound to look at all such questions as they will affect the geneial and future interests of the colony, and in no case ought he to support any proposal merely because it may prove a local benefit. Happily in both these cases that which will prove locally most advantageous will also prove most beneficial to the colony. But this is not always the case. As a general rule, however, we think it will be found that a measure which is opposed to the general interest will, in the long run, prove locally injurious ; while that which at first appears locally injurious wiir not in the end turn out to be so if its adoption has been to the general advantage. But whether or not, the public journalist in the constant contemplation of questions relating to the public, has no time to consider how they may affect him personally ; and what was at first but an incident of his position, grows at last into a habit which is inseparable from his life. This is not the case with the mere private citizen. His first question naturally is " How will this measure or proposal affect my own private or local interests ?" And if it is likely to affect him injuriously, he does not care to enquire further into the matter. The proposal is at once condemned, and with it all those who are not disposed to be equally as violent as himself in its condemnation. "Mind your own business and leave others to take care of theirs," is a worldly maxim, which the longer men live the more they are disposed to follow. But the public journalist is absolutely precluded from, adopting it in the sense in which it is commonly understood aud it is his peculiar business to take care of other people's, until his very nature is Like the dyer's hand Subdued to what it works in. The accession of Mr Reeves to the Cabinet is a matter of great interest to our country readers. At the very commencement of the paat session we pointed out the necessity of the South being represented in the Ministry; not because it suffered from not being so represented, but because it wa3 only right that so grave a defect should be rectified. This has now been done by the acceptance by Mr Reeves of a seat in the Cabinet. But our •

country readers should know that Mr Beev is the great advocate and champ.cn of the agricultural interest; andthat it was on tin account he was elected by one of the large t agricultural constituencies in. the colony. The pastoral interest has always been fully represented in the General and the Provincial Governments; and in the General and the Provincial Legislatures; but never before has the agricultural interest been so worthily and ably represented i.i the Colonial Ministry. This is an indication that the progress of agriculture, and of agricultural settlements, will not, as heretofore, be lost sight of by the Government of the colony.