THE FUTURE OF NEW ZEALAND. (FROM THE "OTAGO DAILY TIMES"

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 417, 16 January 1875, Page 2

THE FUTURE OF NEW ZEALAND. (F ROM THE "OTAGO DAILY TIMES"

ALTHOUGH we do nob forget the proverbial difficulty of predicting, with any approach to accuracy, wliat results^]] follow, not only frjm ant legislative change, but from nnv great public work, t>sp»pi»llv in a new cumtry, we feel tolerably safe in anticipating at least one import aat consequence of the completion of the network af i ail nays tliat will connect the remotest portions of these islands within n. very few years. The commerce that has hitherto been distributed, more or less equally, among a number of small local centres dotted up and down ihe vast pea board of New Zealand, will ultimately be concentrated inco two, or at most three, emporia. The moat accessible seaports- -reversing the dream of the lean and the fat kine — will devout their smaller livals, who will gradually subside info the position of mere villages, or, at most, market-towns. Just as Melbourne and Sydney tower pre eminently above all other cities of Australia, so will Dunedin and Wellington, and it may be, in a much smaller degree, Christchurch and Auckland, overshadow all their less fortunately situated neighbours. But the causes of this superiority will be by no means identical. The greatness of Melbourne and Sidney is due entirely to the fact of their being the possessors of the only safe and accessible harbours to he found along hundreds of miles of an otherwise shelterless coast. Whatever may be the ense in the greater part of the North Island, the same cannot be said of the northern and western portions ot the South Island. The western shores of Otago are deeply indented by u suece a<J ion of magnificent sounds and fiords, one of which — Milford Sound — would itself shelter all the. navies in the world. But so effectually are these inlets cut oh" from the available land in the interior by the rugged barrier of the Soul hern Alps, that for all purposes of commerce they mi«.'ht as well be non-existent. It is not improbable that a more intimate acquaintance with the almost impassable intervening country may yet show that practicable passes exist, through which tolerable roads may be driven: but there distance fiom any habitable stretch of country will always prevent our western sounds being used for much more than harbours of refuge. IVtciscly the s&me objections apply to the cluster of fine harbours at the northern extremity of the provinces of Nelson and Marlborough, We do not think that it would be possible to find in any other I art of the fjlobp such a croup of first-class harbours in such < n-Pi nroTimitv in IVrt, flardv Port. TTnHArwrvnd firm-mllea

lurid around them, but, of any ocess to the interior. A. i ail' way running through a lon,', narrow ravine doe* indeed connect Pir-ion with the plain of the» Wmrttn, but t'-.e tortuous and often windless approach of many leagues in I. ruth to the udinnable haven at the heatf of Quee n Charlotte's Sound, must always debar s'lipithat dep nd entirely upon wind for their motive power fr>in frequenting Picton harbor, which is suitable for steamers only. Now, although Dunedin cannot at present pretend to vie with any of the harbors wo have enumerated yet, remembering what art has done for the Clyde within the memory of living men, we are justified in anticipating that tins inferiority will diminish yearly, and that the matchless facilities that the completion of our lailway sjstem will give to Duner'in for transporting goods of every kiud to and from the agricultural, pastoTal, and mineral* districts of the gi eater part of this island will alone suffice to attract and retain almost its entire commerce. We are awaro that Lytte ton harbor might he greatly improved by dredging, bat. the terrible sqnalls by whjoji it is ' constantly swept render LytfeUon a, most insecure anchifrtfgf, while naturq hat »o stinted the iup|,ly of land that m**fy any possibility be built upon, or used for the transaction of business, that wo do not see that there is room for a very extentive trade there. Indeed, we rate the capabilities of Dunedin for transacting a_greatly exoandei business as hardly second to the advantages afforded by the security of her harbor. We see, indeed, no other possible riral than Lyttelt >n to her commercial supremacy in the South. Wellington, in the North, is equally favoured with Dtmedin, in the South. With the exception of Auckland and the Bay of Idinds, both of which are too remote rom the bulk of the best land to affect tlic question veiy seiioufly, there are no ports in the North Island that can even be called second raie, to compete with the glorious harbour of Wellington. The whole of the West Coast, as far »» the dangerous bar harbour of Manukau, n*ay be said to be with, out a decent port, and it is clear thnt before many years elapse the whole pioduce of the fertile plains of Tarai.aki and Wansrauui must find its depot at Wellington. None of the unimprovable bar ri\eis that have hitherto dore duty as m.ikeshilts for porta will be able to compete with a railway traffic thut has a fiis»-cl;&sbarU>urfor i's teimiuus. On the East Coast there is nothing like a harbour till we come to the tiny little harbour Jet of .N spier. Whether it ia desir. ble that so much of the life and activity of a country should be absorbed by two or thiee ovargroWn centres, instead of being more generally difiused, is not the question at pieseut beiore us. There can be little doubt that serious evils, both political and social, and economical, flow from the aggregation of tuch masses of human beint^f as now throng New York, and as, we suppose, will hereafter throng the Melbourne of the twentieth ctntuiy. Our present concern is merely to point out what is pretty sure to happen, w hether we like it or cot.