NEW ZEALAND.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3603, 14 July 1880, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND.

(To the Editor of the EvKHiHfl Stab.) Sib,—Not being in the habit of rushing into print I am a trifle awkward at it, so hope you will excuse any errors. My experience in New Zealand has led me to the conclusion that the colony is in a rotten state. In private and public business, and even in Government itself, the effect of a rotten policy manifests itself. In Auckland, and in fact in every large and small town the business is done. bj two or three large firms, who hold a monopoly. The large retail establish* mentß one sees in Queen street, Auckland, are not the property of the men whose names are emblazoned on the sign boards above the entrances. All of them are the property (with scarcely any exception) 8f tbe large wholesale merchants, who find through them a means of forcing their goods on the public. Some of'these establishments are so much involved with the Bank also, that if report speaks cor* i rectly, they dare not close the account j

and arc satisfied while getting a small percentage for the loan. The publichouse business is conducted in the same way. All public houses nearly belong to the brewers, who have the supplying of them with liquor. The publicans dare not refuse to sell the beer as the inevitable result would be ruin, and the consequence is that no matter how bad the quality of the alcoholic beverage is, the the publican must sell it. In the Government there is the same rottenness existing. Members go to make what they can for themselves, and not for the district they represent—although in doing the former they often succeed in obtaining their constituents' desires. ' After being entrusted by the electors with their confidence, they attend tbe New Zealand St. Stephens', but dnly to grind their own axes. Prom tbe sublimity of the House of Representatives to the poorest tradesman, the system is rotten, and in time there will bo the same struggle for Reform in New Zealand as the people of Victoria are now experiencing. This country is not yet ripe for the change, but a revolution in the general system by which the affairs of the country are managed, will inevitably ensue.—l am, &c, Refobx.