The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 196, 2 November 1871, Page 4

The Tuapeka Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1871. "Measures, not Men."

The vicissitudes through which this Colony has passed, and through which it^ appears likely still to have to pass, call loudly for careful consideration by those whose aim is prosperity, personal and social. ' Nfo doubt can exist that in the past grave errors have been committee! in, the ' management of our public affairs, and that our present social and political condition is by no means what it might and would hiive been, had wiser counsels existed and prevailed. Crying over spilled milk is absurd, and so let us look to the future; but let us not neglect the lessons taught by the past. To what is 'our present policy trending ? This 'is the question — the important one/ and one to which a satisfactory answer should be sought jby our'rujerg as well as

by the public at large. What is our social condition ? and what is likely | to be that of our successors, say even i fifty years hence ? We find ourselves in a new country, without any capital, worth speaking" ,of sive the raw mattrlal supplied to u^ by nature, viz , the land ; and out of- this vast Mnd valxi il>le inheritance we have to make ourselves, — to create a nation, nn-l to found, for weal or woe the destinies of, probably, a vast posterity. Ho.v is this trust bein^ fulfilled ? Looking back throu jh the history of the list century, we see immense colonies formed and nurtured into powjiful states, under circumstances, in all import mt-pur-ticulars, wary like our o»vn. We see an amount of prosperity attending them which at onc-e excites our admiration and oir envy. We compare our puny exertions and our tiny results with the" stupendous successes achieve 1 l>y others — .successes wrought out of materials precisely similar to those possessed by us. We find the comparison a wfully un satisfactory ,' an I we cist about for the^reason for thi.sst.ite of things. If we pursue it with honesty of purpose we shall soon find it ; and having found it, we shall do well to learn the lesson it tea lies.

It is known to all men possessed of ordinary business aptitude that if the capital stock be wasted, the business — whatever it may be, find no matter whether small or large — will not thrive, but will, sooner or later, sink the investor and reduce him to bankruptcy. What is true in ordinary business is true, d fortiori, as regards a nation or a colony. It is our duty, therefore, to watch carefully pyer-'the, investment of our capital, which we have already held to be, the land.

The enquiry now forces itself upon vs — What is the reason of the immense prosperity which has everywhere attended the colonisation ot North America, fmd. the much smaller amount of success which has followed similar enterprises in the Australasian group, particularly in-New Zeiland? We see in North America, after a colonisation of barely one. hundred and fifty years, one of the most prosperous states in the world, and re.illy, taking everything into consideration, we might go so far as to say the most prosperous- state. A nation possessed at once of lihevty such as was never before demonstrated under heaven, of Ihws suited to even r emergency — to protect the poor and the •rich, and the one against the other — of civil and religious freedom, in the widest acceptation of the term ; of edueibion il privileges, so complete as fco be the wo;rler as well as the ouvy of ever-/ enlightened community ; of n teaming populition, made up into one glorious Cnd har.uonious whole from and of every kindred, tribp. and tongue — a population fully alive to the priceless supe.-ioritv nf the institutions with which they are blessed, and fully determined to jmaintiin and use them' thoroughly And how his. this state of things ! been brought about ? In several w-ivs, doubtless, nut mainly by co'itinuj/1 persiV.eii' c in o;e un'e iating line of policy in administering and using the capital of the country — the land.

In .America the small capitalist cm and h;is jwqnirerl hint\ on eqiml '■erm.s -with his richer neighhour; and the laws h ive been so wisely frimed a« to prevent the possibility •of large capitalists buying; up for their, own unholy fc aggr'anrlisement lareje tracts of country with a view ■of forming a landed aristocracy, at the expense of the commonwealth, it beinor an axiom that the public weal always must depenrl for intrinsic success upon the efforts of the many far more than upon the lucre' of the purse-proud few. Let us not be misunderstood. We believe religiously in" an ' aristocracy, but it must be one of education and refinement, and wholly unconnected (per sp) with possessions of any kind. And what is . our state ? Take New Zealand, and, if the reader will, Otago. particularly. Why our present depressed condition V How has our capital been invested ? and how is it -being invested ? Have we profited, or even sought to profit, by the noble lessons written for us in such beautiful characters by .the go.d-like nation whose prosperity we have" mentioned ? Not so ! We have in our puny wav endeavoured to chalk out «" miserable cours of out down, and f* pretty' mess we have made . of it ! We have boasted about being the " Britain of the South," enacted " Rule Britannia " upon our penny whistle, and while shouting " jßritons' never will be slaves," have carefully avoided giving any practical effect to the words, by parting with our- capital (land) to a race of wou. J4-J>§ autocrats, wjjp, \vhen the

time comes, will demand serfdom of us, and that in the vilest sense.' At the present rate, anil under existing policy*, far less than fifty years will see the fee simple of all the be.-,t ot our beiutiful est.iteiu the h.mds of a few, and those who ou^ht to have been the uroperfcy owners for the benefii of tham^elves and their posterity will be ten .tuts an 1 serfs to ■the lan i lord. And. why all this? The re tso-.i is written pi linly uuou^i on both sides of the shield : bim,)ly ;\nd only bec.iu-e we h.ive got in to the haliit or' falling out.ibimt public m itters. There .is no unity of- action, no concord amongst us. We

Hii.l }>iute against our rulers, but we neglect to exercise the trailcliisejjo as to alter the existing strite of thi:iy;s. Even further, it is eoniiujj to this.: that in some parts of the colony, at all events,' ttr-irr a crime to spuak one's views- -out cle.uly, and th^ in m who doasit is sure to m-ike enemies. .No matter what the subject, black looks and unfriendliness are sure to follow a health}" expression of opinion. We h.ive written our ideas in sincerity and with fearlessness : we commend the subject to our re.iders and to our represent itives ; and we say that if we are ever to partake of prosperity, a great reform, both social and political, must be .brought •about.