The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1882. THE FIRST TURN OF THE SCREW.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1246, 5 December 1882, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1882. THE FIRST TURN OF THE SCREW.

Money is hardening, and it is understood that the banks are about to raise their rates of discount oii bills over 95 days from 8 to 8| per cent and to allow an extra $ per cent on deposits. This is tho first turn of the screw, and if it fails to have the desired effect we may expect a second twist,to be speedily given.. Advances to the public have been increasing rapidly throughout the Australian colonics. During the past eighteen months their aggregate'growth has amounted to .the. abnormal.rate of. 40 per cent,-while the increase in de posits and circulation 1 has only .been about ten, The consequence is that, the danger signal is now flying, and importers and' speculators m"ußt ; either pull up or be pulled up; This unsatisfactory result of-:affairs: is .general throughout the. principal colonics of the Australasian group. It exists in New .Zealand, and it is to be found in .our own Provincial district of Wellington. We learn that'there morchants;have been-overstocking, that prices .are depressed, and that the preliminary symptoms ;of : 'financial'' reverse arb prevalant. Of course things may take a fnvcrablo turn generally and locally, but it is well, bearing in mind the sharp lesson of 1878-9 to be cautious, and to be prepared for a squeeze, but not, we trust, for a panic. The Wellin ton Monthly Price a very safe commercial guide referring to ihejtate of tho money market, and over importation, says:—" The fluC' tuations in our impor£sjappear/t6 go" in: biennial periods. 'Thus 1874 and 1875 was a period of over-importation. 1876 and 1877, a period' of reactionary decline. In 1878 and 1870 we : again' find importations to bo. excessive; and 1880 and 1881 again represent a period of contraction. In 1882, the apparently inevitable unhealthy growth again appears until the Banks'deem it necessary. ithat;'!a sharp curb should be applied tocheckthis onwardmpvement." It may appear to some of our readers to be superfluous to insist so much upon the connection between excessive importation and inflated.Bank advances, but, with the lively recollection upon us of the depression that .succeeded the .ever-trading'of 1878 and ,1879, ( an(l in view of the warning recently uttered by.the President of -the* chief banking ; institution of the colony,', we do not think; > m can., be., accused of. being .alarmists when we give prominence to the facts to which we have drawn attention,;, We trust; however, that ;on | this occasion, the period of inflation will not extend totjio usual two years. We observe thaj- a faHuig, off, is. reported in the values of. exports' from Enghind to Cthe' Australian Cplbnies." We trust-that it : ' will;be found:.that. this statement applies with full force ■! to New; Zealand, and;.that .the•:effects will be bbservable in the returns of the current quarter when the time shall'arrive for their publication."' Our credit' in New Zealand depends npon. the way. we managei our own business and iipon the credit of the Other Australasia n oolonies. Jf the former can stand a shock from tho latter. 1 In

I the same mjw Fpdfr in uponpur f>r;udence innpt'gping beyond wr m eilins first'inprice, and in&'Ciiy \ of !|Slibu)d we fulfil thefii'st. c6nditioii;WJß-will : M well able second, but we cannot afford to take a double risk; The good harvest which we anticipate and the satisfactory prices' which are being realised and other produce wlllj no doubt,' do:much ; to avert from us the cloud which now threatens. We trust that on this occasion the first turn of the screw will teach, the public sufficient, caution to make any further bank pressure unnecessary.: ■ ■'

'The settler) of Pahiatua at a meetinn held on Saturday last carried a resolution iri favor of forming a Highway Board for the district. "This settlement, tke!young> est. in'the province, shows an amount of energy among its residents both in private and public matters thai, augurs well for the faturo of tho new Highway'.district. In'..agitating for local self government they;have taken a step which:.is to'be highly commended, and; one that must be" beneficial to them. Situated as the set'tleraent is, forty-eeven milei from the centre from whioh their ron,d repairs are now conducted, it cannot be 1 wondered at that they; are.of opinion that there are many things that roqmro' doing on the spot whioh those at heojcl quarters are unacquainted with. Their] notion in endeavoring to form a distinol Board shows that they are a diss of men who are keenly alive to the interests ol t their district, and in whose hands there; need be no fear of placing the reins of; local government, The vast improve--menta they aro makiug on. their individual; holdings will greatly entrance the value of \ their rates, and being so well acquainted with the 'requirements of their; riling; district, thoy will be .able to do the work; more expeditiously and economically than] it can be done'by the, Boaid that meeti, 1 at such a distance from them. We- do! not anticipate that the Mas'.erton Highway Board will offer the. slightest opposition to the wishes of the Pahi'aM settlers; : Iti\ members;have quite, enough on their hands "without, desiring to undertake; operations in the Forty-Mile Buih, and they are intelligent oneiigh to perceive that whatever course is best for the Pahiatua settlement is most eonduoive to the general interests of .their own district.