NATAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 162, 23 May 1862, Page 3

NATAL.

(From the Aye.) How is i*- that .the great Tinitx.U r.'ways " writing up" J'ort N,i!nl, as a fk'ld. lor emm-'i'.noM, just in the Slum; wav tlr.it the » cMy Dispatch, a newspaper of a vtry"( it'um.t sftimprpi.fsisiiiigl.V "writes clown" the .ui'tiii.iitu vuliinies '!- As an oiUetlotlie -'puffs" in the i inns, the following i xtract from a letter train a ircntlL-nii.n roMilfiit in Port Kntnl to a friend in Al'ullHiiii'iic, will bo raid with advantage:—"Just now th,;iv i- a good denl.oftif apparent progress and pro'veriTy h;rc--but it,Yip!»'a.s to me to be only the ciitcts iif'm; unhesiiUiy kind of speculation in land, &c. A nmiihi'r of people, including German Jews, and ritl-raU'of all sorts, have ivot mo«t of the land of this colony in their hands, and arc using it to get, the cash out of anybody's pocket new-comers, of course, being especially fleeced. A company has been even formed for the purpose, and the rage for speculation in land has invaded great and small, like the railway mania and South Sea Bubble in England, or the tulip inamn in Holland. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of goods are continually sent here from England, and sold (save the mark) on long credit to people who could not buy five pounds of tea for cash. So that commercially it seems to me that the inflation must ere lon<: burst the soap-film, which, however, seems to be of "a somewhat tenacious consistency. In the meantime, nothing is produced in this part of the colony, save a little forage and some potatoes. Even "mealies" (maize) me being imported from the Cape colony, and were selling recently at 40s. a "niiiid" (3 bushels), the price when you were here, and long since, beiag 4s. for the same quantity. ,«Every bit of bread we oat comes from Englaud, and beef is purchased from the neighboring tribes of Kaffirs, with guns for them to shoot the beef-eaters withal another day. Food, clothing, cattle, horses, timber, furniture, everything is imported on credit, and nothing produced but gambling in .land; while hundreds of emigrants are nocking out from England, mostly clerks, shopmen, and scamps; not one of whom can handle a spade, a plough, or any kind of mechanical tool—so what all this is to end in I leave you to guess. Sugar planting on the coast has mostly resulted in insolvency, either actual or threatening. Meanwhile there is a general c onspivacy to represent things all couleur dv rose, for the benefit of the land speculators, and all their dependants, remote and immediate ; and, of course, the newspapers (with one honorable exception—the Star —a little insignificant print) aye all in the plot. Sooner or later, one would think, t'.iere must be a grand smash, and the longer it is delayed the more thorough will be the ruin when it comes. In the meanwhile, however, everything is so dear that no one can live but those who surrender their estates (?) as inaolvcnt every now and then; and these are the prosperous people of the place, who ride about in their carriages, inhabit the brst houses, and sport the smartest horses, furniture, and clothes, having apparently discovered some secret mine of wealth just after paying their 2s Gd. dividend. A honest man cannot however, well keep his family. If a tradesman, he gets plenty of work at 10s. to 15s a day in his bill; but for payment he must wait till his employer files his schedule. And yet, not knowing how to choose or distinguish, workmen naturally charge honest and dishonest employers the same high prices, making the former pay for themselves and others as well. — In fact, what people here call trade, and commerce, and business, and even skilled labor, are merely varied modes of risk and gambling, and speculation. Farming, owing to the bad quality and dear-ness of labor (so called), can only be carried on at a loss by any one who employs more hands than his own two and those of his family, if he has any."