The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1886. MR FROUDE ON NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2247, 18 March 1886, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1886. MR FROUDE ON NEW ZEALAND.

iMANrEnglislrwriters ■ iiav.e,.'(|egci ; ii}ed Ulieirimprefi'siims,.of this colony,.and ■Jthei'm'ost.emineiit among their number' Mr' "'Fronde. :'An : ;!ex- ; iiSct.fram his newly published work ion;;" Oceana" expresses the 'following' /opinion of/the. future of New Zealand-: English race should not come. .to New' Zealand, jtp renew the .town; '.life;.w(iich' ; 'they.leave behind them with a hand-to- mouth subsistence as earners, of wages on improved conditions, They will never grow into a great nation thus. They will grow into a great nation when they are settled in their own houses and freeholds, when they own their own acres, grow their own crops, nnd live -out tbjejr days with their children and grandchildren around them. The high wages are the town attraction now, but that cannot remain so for ever. The young men bred in such towns as Auckland will be good for little. Country children can alone be reared in simple tastes and simplo habits," We cordially agree with the sontimenrs so admirably expressed by Mr Froude, and they.are as applicable to any other Provincial' district as they are to Auckland, where ■ he gathered his experience of our colonial existence, Our freeholds are our sheet anchor and for. the greatness that may be derived from tbem we do not require a Public Works Policy or a National Debt, We have never known in New Zealand when we are well off! Life here was freer, healthier, and happier twenty years ago than it is now, and wo venture to prophecy that twenty years hence it will be harder and less enjoyable than it is at present. Prior to the appearance of Sir Julius Vogel on our political scene half tho expensive luxuries which we nrjyfimlf't'to'fc yro enjV WBft'n&Yiiir

tlioughtof, and if occasionally in for-1 mer times the price of produce fell, settlers were not very much distressed.. They had not learned in those days to get head and ears m debt, and when a hard time came they were not Btnotheved by demands which they could not meet, and had only to wait patiently till things took a turn for the better. We think too much of the progress of the colony, and we certainly sacrifice our material comfort in making forced marches towauls that greatness that is associated with density of population, and the increase of manufacturing industries. In the Wairnrapa, before the railway crossed the mountain barrier, which once almost separated this district from the outside world, the' people were more comfortable and prosperous than they are now. Of course there were fewer of them, but happiness is not dependent on numbers, and we have not improved the condition of the individual by the changes which have taken place. The lesson we have yet tolearu in this colony is the old adage that " Mo is the only bird that lays golden eggs."