Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1874.] TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1895. HOPEFUL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4997, 9 April 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1874.] TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1895. HOPEFUL.

According to the Chairman of the Bank of Australasia the hopeful features of the position of the Colonies arc increased production, the rise in the values of wool and silver, the great output of gold, the improved revenue returns, the public and private economy, and the absence of a commercial crisis. It is very pleasing to note that there are hopeful features respecting the position of tho Colonies, still we cannot take as serious the utterances of the Chairman of a bank, that has for the second or third half year paid but a small dividend. Furthermore tho reduction of deposits and noto issue are depressing to shareholders, and the Chairman, no doubt, felt himself called upon to show the polished side, hence the optimistic garbage. Increased production is true only as regards Victoria, the other Colonies show no appreciably expansive movement, The Victorians have not only increased the output of produce, but have also multiplied the varieties, and had it not been so the depression in that Colony would have been more severely felt than now appears to be the case. Mr Gibbs, tho Chairman, must have stretched his imagination to its utmost, when he classed improved rovenue returns among the hopeful signs, for it is a lamentable fact that the revenues of tho colonies are not realizing the elaborate estimates of the various colonial Treasurers, On the Australian Continental! the colonies, except perhaps [ West Australia, have "deficit" writ large in the public ledger. In New Zealand a surplus of a gross character is alleged, and whether it will net anything remains to bo seen,. To speak of improvement in the public revenues is to talk nonsense, in the face of the evidence that is abundant and clear. Every colonial Government is eagerly fixing upon new schemes for taxation to bring grist to the mill. As for public economy, surely there is no one bold enough, tosaythatsuchathing is practised

,in the Colonies just now. Those who look for it in New Zealand will set themselves a task that is fruitless. Mr Gibbs was addressing the shareholders of the hank, and shareholders as a general rule are the most gullible people in the world. Give them a fat dividoml, they will ask no inconvenient questions, will vote fees and thanks all round, and go away quite pleased; give them a small dividend and a large doso of soothing syrup they will show a touching sympathy for the directors and ollioials, hut give them a small or no dividend, and hard and undatable facts, they are up in arms and ready to break and smash all and sundry It has become the rule toladlo out a strong dose of optimistic paregoric when the dimensions of a dividend are comparatively small. It is questionable whether the thninpings of these big drums do the colony any good in the long ran, or whether it would not he more beneficial to expose the truth in all its nakedness.