A Wandering New Zealander.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2907, 10 June 1878, Page 2

A Wandering New Zealander.

On his Wat to London Bbidgb to Take a Look at St. Paul's—The Wohdebful Stoet He Tells of the Wbaith of the Land of His Adoption.

The Hon. W. J. M. Larnach, of Dunedin, New Zealand, is spending a few days at the Sherman house on his way to Europe. Mr Larnach is one of the three members of the colonial parliament from Dunedin, and is a member of the colonial ministry under the Marquis of Normanby, the present- Governor, holding the portfolio of railroads. A Times reporter had a chat with Mr Larnach on yesterday afternoon regarding the progress of New Zealand since the time when, according to the geographies, the. typical New Zealander dined on his prisoner of war, and wore nothing in particular except a suit of tatoo. Mr Larnach said he went to New Zealand in 1867, having previously lived many years in Australia. The first white settlements on the islands were made thirty or forty years ago by whalers, chiefly English, but in part American and Australian. Tery little progress was made, however, till the gold discoveries in 1861. Since that time the white population had grown rapidly, and the colony had progressed in all the arts of civilised life. The north and middle islands are each from 450 to 500 miles long, and from 250 to 300 wide. The south island is about 20 miles by 30 in extent. There is a white population of about 400,000, and an aboriginal population of '50,000, which, at least in some districts, is growing less. The aboriginal New Zealanders were the finest of savages, and many of them are so intelligent and civilised that they send representatives to Parliament. In the early history of the colony there was a good deal of miscegenation, between the savages and colonists, but the halfbreeds were a sickly lot, most of them dying of consumption. . The islands are mountainous, but afford fine opportunities for agriculture. Nearly all the soil is arable. Mr Larnach was disappointed with agriculture in the United States. Although holdings in New Zealand were large, farms of a thousand acres being-common, the cultivation was much more thorough than in this country. Agriculture was carried on Now Zealand on high scientific principles. A large proportion of the soil was under cultivation, and this proportion was rapidly growing. Timber was scarce in a good many parts of the colony, and there the farmers were industriously setting out trees. They bounded their farms largely by tree hedges. The climate was admirable: better than that of Australia, because it was not so hot. In the southern part there was snow and ice, but the climate was 'milder than that of our northern line of states.

New Zealand sent abroad large quantities of gold and other minerals, especially lead. The islands contained vast quantities of coal in reins that only had just been tapped. The coal veins were of great extent and from eighteen to twentyeight feet thick. New Zealand could supply the world with coal for centuries. Grain, lire stock, hides, horn, tallow, and similar rough products, were exported in addition to minerals. But the colony was not compelled to import all of its manufactures. It was already well supplied with cloth manufactories, foundries, breweries, and distilleries. The distance to Australia was about twelve handred miles, arid there was frequent communication with that country by fast steamers. Mr Larnach said his 'colony would not be represented at the Paris exposition on a very large scale. Political excitement in the Colony, under a change of the Ministry, had so distraeteed the attention of the Colonists that nothing was done about it till too late. A few of the Colonists would make . individual exhibits. Mr Larnach was going to visit England and.the Continent on his own account, and so the Governor appointed : him a commissioner from the Colony to the exposition, but its duties promised to be light. Immigration in New Zealand was rapid. Most of the immigrants were Scotch and English, but there were also Irish, Danes, and representatives of other nationalities.

The colony contains twelve hundred miles of railroads, and built and owned by the government, and under the immediate control of the minister of. railroads. The construction of railroads has been difficult because of the mountainous character of the country. Tunnels of a mile in length had to be cut. But in spiteof the expense the roads were beginning to pay a good profit on the investment. Mr Larnach favored government management of railroads. He wouldn't say that government management was as economical as private management, but under it the interests of the public were served, and there could be no great land grants or other robberies of the public by the railroad companies. In this respect,. Mr Larnach thought the New Zealand system compared favorably with that of the United States. He added that government ownership prevailed in Australia. Dunedin, the home of Mr Larnach, is a city of thirty-five thousand inhabitant!. It was originally such a town as may still be seen in " diggings." As ita commercial importance had grown, however, its wooden huts and shanties had been replaced with pretentious stone houses. At present it boasted of paved streets, good residences, a profitable and growing commerce, and was the chief city, though not the capital, of the colony. Among other modern improvements the colony is well supplied with newspapers, and recent

events have shown that it can have parliamentary crises and changes of the ministry just as the larger colonies or the mother country herself.

After a few months' visit in Europe Mr Larnach, who is accompaned by his family, will return to New Zealand. He said that from what he had seen of the United States he should return to his home better satisfied with it than ever. But Mr Larnach hasn't seen much of the best part of the United States yet, and his present poor opinion of us may be reversed. He hopes to return by the way of this country, and before he has been from San Francisco to New York and back again it is to be hoped that he will obtain a. favorable impression of the United States. —Chicago Tribune.