The Patea Mail. Established 1875. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1883. A GOOD SIGN.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1088, 19 September 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1883. A GOOD SIGN.

The growing prosperity of the North Island is beginning to attract attention at Horae. Sir Charles Clifford, presiding at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Trust and Loan Company in Loudon, said that anybody who had studied the history of New Zealand and had looked at what was occurring there, might have seen that the North Island was now becoming available for the work of capitalists. Hitherto the past had been very much in the hands of the natives ; the natives were now becoming very much more civilised than they were, and were adopting English habits and customs. They were allowing Government, to make roads through their districts, and were selling their lands rapidly on very good terms to Europeans, and those lands were being settled on, and were open to the investment of capital upon them. Sir Charles went on to say that “ they had instructed their manager in the colony to avail himself of these circumstances. Hitherto their funds had been chiefly invested in the South Island, but now their manager would endeavour, as soon as he got additional funds, to avail himself of the good security and the great openings that were coming forward in the North Island.” It is gratifying to see that there is some prospect of capital coming forward for investment in this Island. The cloud that hag been hanging over us, in the shape of the Native difficulty, has been dispelled, and in the eyes of the British capitalist there are some “ great” openings here. The South Island has monopolised most of the spare cash that has come out for investment, and no doubt much of its progress has been due to the readiness with which money has been obtainable for investment on good securities. The resources of the North, as compared with the sister island, are yet in an undeveloped stage, but they are rich beyond all doubt. We can only hope that the extension of business proposed by the Trust and Loan Company will be followed by similar institutions, and so lead to an easier money market. Our progress would then be more in keeping with that of our Southern neighbours, whose territory is not one whit richer or more capable of development than is our own.