A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 295, 8 December 1908, Page 2

A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK.

W In e. it may be instructive to indulge ill theories concerning what is termed the "lightlies" of money in New Zeaand, there is little doubt that we must »ok lar iUicJd f u r the causes, writes tic Wellington Times. What New Zealand has experienced is the back-wash of the imam-nil panic which swept over Furope, tireat .Britain, and America and brought so maay industrial undertakings to grief. Once the cuiiilihrimn of creoii. or exchange is disturbed, it seems inevitable under the existing *y sll . m the swing backward and forward',sl)all )k .sharp and violent before the balmue is restored. It is customary in New Zealand to attribute the blame for these movements of the financial barometer to

a ninety of causes within our own ooa(rol It is extremely doubtful whether any of Ibcso arc even mid irately near the mark. Jixplanatioiis must he sought from far-distant and recondite operations, over whhrh we have little or no iiiiluciite. When trade is good m Ureal Britain and the I'vifed States it must be so here am'i vice ursa unless it be that we seek icfuir.; in some rulc-of-Uiiimb rules and regulations which would govern public and private life and in the long run leave us very much worse oil' than before. Ih; individual prosperity of every nier.l.er of th; community is us much—i ' L ablv more —dependent o:i the fluctuations 'in the price of wool, meat, dairy produce and hemp as upon even the most rigid forms of self-denial and thrift. j

The recuperative power of Xe\y Zealand, ordinarily blessed by good seasons, is, continue- the Tinies"proverbially great, and i) is satisfactory to observe that the recovery of markets (s being met by a bountiful output. The prices obtained for wool so far this seasou show a gratifying increase; (here is every prospect of a magnilieent harvest; the lambing is reported to be exceptionally good; the prospects before Hie dairy industry have never been much better. These fact's, combined with the I rccf.vcry in America and England, justify a hopeful view for the coming year. If thi' signs und portents now discerned) jn the sky of euiinn.c.roialisiu by competent, observers are not a mere mirage but true harbingers of the future, we may flnlicipalo wilh eoaliduiee a return I to 'bettor day-. The impioyeinent in] the wool market ni-mc wii' Chelate a considers hie-.-mim' 1 ' . f moiic r,nd .~i-

able the wells of linannal iiippic chidi hail been heavily drawn upon of ■.-.■ Ir- to again respond to ihc demaeij of l'cgi'iiiinfe trading eufe-prise. Hi-, policy of the lending inslilu'.vns has of la--.-: b. ei. enforcedly conseivil '■' ■ lln'ong'i Hie conibiueil' inlliiences <■•: falling marrUs and liiirh land \:\'v-. j hough, the ial i.er must always o\'"'-ise an ini| < rtant influence on Hie operations of big finan- j cial concerns it is tin prb'S of ]To'iieo

belli lion-owing" or Ici'ii'i:* «n I lie va- |„,. ascribed to land »» (be basis of inusual priees for Hie possible output therefrom must always be a hazardous

business. New Zealand has learned a lesson in this direction thai will not -n> forgotten for some time. It is a matter for no little gratification that, according to present judications, the lesson is not to be more sharp.