The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 187, 17 June 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 1879.

* Contrasted with the great provinces oi the Middle Island the land, both arable and pastoral, in the North Island is very imperfectly enclosed, cleared, slocked, andcultivated. One of tli e results from the present depression will, we anticipate, be to return to the land in this Island the labor which has been diverted from it. We have during the past few years had too many merchants, too many storekeepers, too many commission agents, and too many tradesmen of all classes, Business has presented more attraction. 1 than hard out-door work, and thousand! have depended upon the prosperity o: the times rather than on their own oxer tions for a livelihood. The high rate; of wages which have prevailed amon< carpenters and other mechanics hav( drawn men away from the axe, tlu spade, and the plough, and it is quit* evident that in the fnture many in tliesi classes must rely on their original em ployment for their future prosperity The Colony has over-traded not only ii goods but in dealers in then), This has been evident for the past two years during which time trade has not real!) paid those engaged in it, Still the} have lived on in hope of a magic de velopment of colonial prosperity. Tin first tightness in the money market has however, proved fatal to their dreams and the retrenchment which slioulc have began two years ago is takins place now. We look forward to ai exodus from the professional ranks o: the Colony, the traders an(J t]ie me chanics, on to land, and this will b< better for New Zealand than even i new loan, It may be urged that ever, produce of all descriptions is now de pressed in tlje market, There is, how ever, but little doubt that tjiongh ar exceptional period of monetary pressure may reduce/the price of oats, wheat and potatoes, in the long run farming intelligently pursued is a sure living and a certain'source of colonial pros pei'itv, Money isunk in land comes back again oflfl js rarely lost by prudonl men. Had the vast gunjs recently paic for speculative building sites tjjrough out the Colony been applied to fencing clearing, and ploughing, they wouk have been as fruitful of good as they have been, of evil. We trust the Colony and particularly the North Island, wil now soberly and diligently try to malu headway through tlje slow but satisfactory development of its broad 3 cl ' efi '