South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2788, 1 March 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1882.

Perhaps there is no cry that has been more frequently uttered than that all that is wanted to make this colony go ahead is more capital, and anything which is supposed likely to bring the colony under the favorable notice of capitalists, whether the holding of exhibitions, the visits of “ distinguished personages,” tours of inspection by practical farmers’ delegates,—anything .in fact which may play the part of a “displayed” advertisement—is praised to the skies as being almost as useful as the actual advent of the capital which is bound to follow, —but does not. There is no great objection to this lauding of such means above their worth, except that we are apt to fall, and we fear have fallen, into the habit of trusting too much to them to procure us the capital we want. A greater error that has been made is the looking only to the “Old Country” for capital and capitalist immigrants. It takes a good many different kinds of people to make a world, and we fancy it will take rather more kinds to make a good little world here, within a reasonable time, than are to be found in the Old Country. So far as we can see the leading idea of the British capitalist on arriving on these shores is to invest his money in land, and those who send out capital for investment do not seem to care much for any other kind of security. It appears to us that this land business has been “ worked up ” enough for the present. The property tax returns show, it may be said, that nearly the whole of the wealth of the colony consists of land, that the greater part of the capital brought or sent out has been invested in real estate. The reason is not far to seek; it arises from what is commonly enough spoken of by Britons as the inherent instinct of man to acquire land if he can. This may be true to some extent, and it may be admitted to be true to a great extent in the case' of Englishmen, for whom the difficulty of obtaining a freehold at Home invests the idea of being a landed proprietor with an irresistible charm. But we doubt whether it is true of all people. Judging from what we hear and read it is not true, at any rate not to nearly the same extent, of the Americans. We are being continually reminded of American “ enterprise.” This rarely, if ever, in typical forms, refers to enterprises directly connected with land, but to industrial and commercial speculations of various kinds. It is justsuch enterprise that above everything is needed in New Zealand at the present time, to help the colony forward. We have here and there a few men imbued with the same spirit, but they are few and far between, and their successes do not seem to have much influence upon their neighbors. We would suggest that, while not necessarily neglecting to influence the British capitalist in a useful direction, or to induce our countrymen to come over and help us, that an effort should be made to get a few American capitalists to settle amongst us, to give a fillip by their energy to our struggling industries. The inducement could be safely held out to them that a splendid field for the exercise of business talent here offers itself.

Security of investment is too strongly insisted on by New Zealanders, and by the English capitalists. There is too little trust in the requirements of the colony affording a sure return for investment in an industry of any kind, though the reports of annual business companies ought to reassure the most timid. To instance a few cases that have been made public since the beginning of the year : The New Zealand Insurance Company declared a dividend of 15 per cent ; the Union Sash and Door Company, of Auckland, declared a dividend of per cent for last year, besides adding a large sum to their reserve fund ; the Auckland Gas Company, one of 16 percent; and our local Gas Company a dividend of 15 per cent for the year. Where shall we look for similar returns from investments in land, if we leave out of the reckoning the extraordinary profits made through ouc blundering land policy, and which can scarcely be continued? Other businesses without number can be cited whose profits on the capital engaged are beyond comparison with the ordinary returns from the staple industries of the colony, and yet the capitalists are shy of engaging their means in similar occupations. This cannot be too much regretted, and if no other way of bringing about a change of feeling, for feeling it is, can be found, the experiment should be tried of .importing a few men from a country noted for industrial enterprise, to set an example— to act as bellwethers, when the flock would follow. And yet it may be doubted whether they would. We have in our midst as splendid an example of enterprise as could be found, and there seems little indication of its being followed. It is unnecessary to state what this ex ample is ; it is too prominent to be mistaken—how long is it to remain so ?