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THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 1881.

The. English newspapers are greatly agitated over the condition of New Zealand, and the^ unfavorable, and in some cases calumnious expressions they, use in speaking of the financial state of the colony either demonstrate that they are but poorly informed of the resources of the country or that political capital is being made at the expense of the colony. So much so, indeed, that some of the leading newspapers in England have advised New Zealand bondholders to get rid of their stock as soon as possible, and invest their capital in " safer " concerns. In adopting the policy of retrenchment, and materially lessening the cost of the maintenance of public departments, the Government have taken a step, which, we should have imagined, would have inspired capitalists in England with greater confidence than they have had in us for some time. The imports and exports are increasing. The railways in the colony continue to show favorable balance-sheets, and local industry is gradually becoming more considered. The Government have, however, been strangely inconsistent, for while on the one hand they are cutting down expenditure to the lowest farthing, on the other we read of the proposed defences for the colony—the r fortifying of the principal seaport towns—a work which would prove costly in the extreme, and the necessity of which is doubtful. So far as retrenchment will carry us, the better will it be for the colony, but it appears as if the Government reduced their employes ten per cent, and laid out the amount so saved in the erection of public buildings, works, &c; If the policy of retrenchment is continued for some three or four years, the colony will once more pick up its former position as a good investment for capitalists, but if the laudable system being now carried out by the Hall Government only proves to be a temporary "flash in the pan,"and they again plunge into the reckless extravagance which has characterised former Governments, the credit of the colony will come to a standstill, and capitalists will begin to look upon us with as much suspicion as they do on Chili or Peru, where the indolent nature of the people, as a matter of course, weakens the position of thoße Republics.

Another question which has been apparently forgotten, and the neglect of which Las caused us a loss of some hundreds of thousands sterling, is the price of land. The class of settlers we want in the colony, is practical farmers, having both the will and energy combined ;with capital, to cultivate the soil. The inducements of New Zealand to this class are small indeed. The land (except where it resembles the Biblical hard and stony ground) is put up for sale at a simply exorbitant price as compared with the price good land is offered to farmers in British North America and the United States. No encouragement is given to intending settlers, and consequently farmers with capital are driven away from our island shores. The Canadian House offer special advantages to farmers. They provide them and their families with passages to Canada and placa them on the ground free of expense, allowing them the means of starting the cultivation of the soil without having to expend a large sum of money for transport, etc.* Besides this the land is sold at a most moderate price and time is allowed the new colonists to pay off their debts. By offering these inducements Canada loses nothing by the expense entailed, and gains a most desirable class of colonists. The agent for the Canadains is evidently a man who knows how to induce men of substance to emigrate, and our system of immigrating cannot be placed beside his. What have we doneP We have introduced into the colony a badly-selected class of emigrants (very few of whom were men of substance), and have driven people who were desirable colonists from us to Canada, where the Government know that the only way to get the land respectably settled on is to offer special advantages to outsiders. Even when Grant and Poster were on their tour in New Zealand, and when impressed very favourably with the country, the Waste Lands Board treated them with an indifference as culpable as it was absurd, and haggled with them until they all but lost the money the Lancashire farmers will bring to the colony. In the workings of the various Waste Lands Boards, and the conduct of the AgentGeneral's Departments, we can trace the master hand of a Tite Barnacle, and the culpable desire to comply with the retarding and unbusiness system, embraced by that adept in the art of" itow-not- todo- it," the Circumlocution Office.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18810110.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3755, 10 January 1881, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
796

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 1881. Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3755, 10 January 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 1881. Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3755, 10 January 1881, Page 2

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