FROM OUR EXCHANGES

Temuka Leader, Volume 2, Issue 127, 8 March 1879, Page 3

FROM OUR EXCHANGES

Hokitika appears to be rapidly on the decline, judging by the following from the local paper, the ‘ West Coast Times’ : “ Each steam and' sailing craft leaving the port of Hokitika still takes away its •quota of the population, and arrivals of permanent residents to fill some of their places arc few and far between, and do mot in any perceptible degree compensate for the exodus. The people go, many of them with regret, because times are dull •and the prospect of a rival but faint, yet ■they go. many of them they know not ■whither, and the chance of bettering their conditions is slight in the extreme. Glowing tales come from afar of bustling life, of work in abundance, of plentiful money and cheap living. Wellington, 'Christchurch, Dunedin, the north, the south, and the east, all have attractions compared to the forlorn West Coast, and the people, like the swallows at departing summer, hie away in flocks.” The Sydney ‘Mail’ contains the following highly favorable reference to the hot springs of New Zealand ; —“ The mineral springs in New Zealand are undoubtedly among the foremost wonders of the world, and their curative properties have been testified to by a host of persons who ■have benefited by them.” At an influential meeting of corn merchants in London, it was resolved that grain of all kinds should be sold by weight, and that the cental of 100 imperial' pounds, the most convenient selling standard, should be legalised for general use. The ‘ New Zealander’ states that Father Henneberry in one of his sermons recently said, “ I have not given a mission for 25 years without rain, except three, and these were worthless people. I do not make any promise : but rain will ■come during the mission ‘if you are converted.’ In Canterbury there was a great droughts The people attended the mis-

sion, unci there was hard rain. At Rangiora and Hamilton it was just the same.” What a happy state of mind the good people of Poverty Pay must have been in on Sunday night last, to know that they had been converted, as a refreshing southeaster set in, and the rains descended for a while. At any rate we return our thanks on their behalf, and congratulate them that they are not so “worthless” as in the three instances quoted by Father Henneborry. His Worship of Christchurch appears to bo of a sporting turn of mind. During a discussion on the subject of forming a certain street in the city for which the residents were expected to hud a portion of the money, a difference of opinion arose as to whether the street should be formed before the money was forthcoming. The Mayor then came out (says the ‘ Lyttelton Times’) in a somewhat new light, and offered to bet anyone L2O to L 5 that if the work was done before the money was paid it would involve the Council in much litigation. The bet was not taken up. On the same question, ■when several Councillors were speaking at once, the Mayor stopped their mouths by by the following novel expression “Gentlemen, I cannot allow this jumping up like parched peas in a frying-pan. The ‘ Edinburgh Daily Review,’ estimating the results of the financial crisis in Scotland, says “The months of October and November, 1878, have undoubtedly been the worst as respects commercial disaster that Scotland has ever seen. What has transpired in these sixty, days has shown Scotland to be many million pounds poorer than the country was supposed to be even on October Ist. She was believed to have a million in capital in the Ci y of Glasgow Bank, which was thought solvent, but the loss through that concern amounts to LG,COO,OOO. The depreciation in the stock of other hanks is estimated at Lo, 000,000, and if we set down the deficiency of firms which by sound co'mmermercial dealings ought to have been solvent at a low figure, say L 4,000,000, which may include some of the"inestimable loss through depression, we see that the country is no less than L 15,000,000 poorer than it would have been estimated by the actuary a few weeks ago. Still it is far from anything like ruin or exhaustion. It has been several times stated in our columns that the bank deposits alone exceed L 80,000,000.” Mr James MTlerrow, assistant surveyorgeneral, has been making a tour of Otago in connection with the opening of blocks for settlement. These blocks are principally situate in the Teviot, Dunstan, Mount Ida, and also in the Waikouaiti and Silver Peak districts. In all they aggregate fully 150,000 acres. About half of this land will be opened on what is known as the pastoral deferred payment system provided for in the Laud Act of 1877, a system which has not yet been brought into operation. The area on tliis system will vary from 1000 acres up to the maximum of 5000 acres allowed by the Act. This system of settlement, it is expected, will meet the wants of that intermediate class who do not want to enter upon the small farm system, but have not sufficient capital to take up very large pastoral areas. The other part of the area now being surveyed will in the more level and cultivated parts he opened up on the system of agricultural deferred payments, the agricultural lease system, and also on immediate payments. The survey of these blocks is being pushed on, so that areas may be available for intending settlers in time for next season’s operations. In reference to the selection of our immigrants in England, it has been suggested, writes a contemporary, that the time has arrived when a very different policy might be initiated to that which has hitherto been in force. It is painfully apparent from all the accounts that are received from the old country that there are hundreds of thousands of people living in England upon the charity of the land. The widespread distress now prevailing there in all the manufacturing and mining districts, through the depi'cssion in trade, has become of national importance. All the ordinary channels of relief have been exhausted, and the people are starving, praying for work that cannot be given them. The suggestion has therefore been made that instead of the colonies providing free passages to the super-abundant laborers of England, that England herself pays for their deportation to the Colonies, where plenty of work and good wages await all who are industriously inclined. The c Lyttelton Times’ proposes that the Imperial Government should give New Zealand its guarantee for a loan of sufficient amount to undertake the immediate construction of the whole of the railway on the schedule of the Railways Act. The Colony would then be in a position to receive a very large number of immigrants from the distressed districts, find them employment in railway construction on their arrival, and trust to the development consequent on the completion of the railways to find permanent employment for the laborers. This suggestion (says a contemporary) is a legitimate outcome of the success of the first instalment of the policy of public works and immigration originated by Sir Julius Yogel. The adoption of such a line would be but carrying out with, greater rapidity and comprehensiveness what has been spread over a number of years. It would, in short, make a planned policy of what was but a step in the dark. This would he a policy quite “heroic” enough for Mr. Billance, for it would greatly increase the number of homesteads in many parts of the Colony.—‘Now Zealander.’