The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 1891.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3007, 22 October 1891, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 1891.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

Trrn article in the London Times ■'New Zealand Past, Present and Future" lias reached tlio colony. The authorship is attributed to Sir Julius Vogel and from our knowledge of his style we believe rightly so. There is little information contained in it which is not already known, to well informed New Zealanders. The article nevertheless is interesting reading for them, in the iirst place because it divulges the motives of a man who has fixed an indelible mark on the country, and in the second, for the reason that he has put the present position and the future prospects of the colony clearly. Presuming of course, as regards the latter, that the country will bo relieved at an early date from the incubus of the present (lovernment with its fads, class legislation, and vindictive taxation. It is natural that lie should defend the great work of his life, and there can be no question that had he not allowed himself for the sake of retaining power to swerve from his original proposal (that the borrowed money should only be expended on the approval of a non-political Board of high standing) we should have much more to show for our outlay to-day. He lays great stress on the fact that the policy was mainly, by means of roads and railways in the North Island, to settle the native difficulty. lie claims that had it not been for that policy we should have been under the necessity of continuing fighting and that the cost would have been nearly as largo as that of the public works in the North Island. It is impossible of course either to endorse or contradict this statement. The fact remains, however, that the construction of roads and railways has rendered certain the suppression of any rebellion in a very short time, and the natives fully recognise the fact. He regrets that two features of his policy'had to bo abandoned. To set aside a special landed estate, and, as he puts it, the proceeds to be applied to the cost of railways and the other, the making of a through trunk line between Auckland and Wellington. As regards the first he has carefully concealed the fact that money and land, at the prairie value, was to have been handed over to Messrs Urogden to the full cost of the railways, and that that firm was to pocket the profits which accrued from the increasing value. We cannot help congratulating ourselves on the rejection of this portion of the scheme. As regards the non-con-struction of the line between Auckland and Wellington, this has been a "i-eivous misfortune and has retarded the progress of the North Island to a degree impossible to estimate. That this is so is unquestionably due to two causes. First the over-estimation of probable native opposition and the foresight of the Wellington representatives win saw clearly that if their city was first to be joined by the iron rail to the fertile district of Taranaki that the trade would fall into the hands of their merchants instead of those of Auckland. The native bogey was kept alive miinly by those whose lucrative occupation aa Maori doctors would have disappeared had the main reason of the public works policy, as iSir Julius tells us, been firmly carried out. The dispute aa to which route tho line should now follow is rampant and tho wires are pullod by the merchants and tradesmen of the two terminal citios. It matters not one jot to the settlers in this district which way tho line goes, they are only interested that it shall be completed in order that it shall yield increased revenue and thus directly lessen taxation and do so indirectly by adding to the populat ion. Settlers can afford to stand aside and let tho urban population fight _ the battle, insisting at the same time, thactho work shall bo completed one way or tho other. This, however, is a diversion from our to.vt. Sir Jalius gives some interesting figures which should answer satisfactorily tho i:-'>torie who are ready at all seasons »'/> play tho vote of the dirty bird. The ospcvta from nolony during thirty-eight years hare vouched the value of one hundred nnd sixty-lire millions or an average of ,£4,312,000 per annum. Hetakosthe population at the end of 1890 as 623,000 and arrives at £14 pep head as the valine of the exports, on the basis that the average population was 308,931. The average for throat Britain is £(3 7 a (jd per head, but, as Sis Julius 1 pojr.fr> out these exports are largely

composed of fronds the raw mnfOfi.il of which had been imported and that tho cost of tins if dorluc'ed would materially lessen tho average. In another table he compares tho agricultural statistics with those of New South Wales and Victoria. In New Zealand ho gives the area under cultivation with crup or Uujrlish* grasses as 8,015,42:); in Now South Wales 1 104,475 ; in Victoria, 2,G27,'2G2. The average yield per acre is vastly in favour of New Zealand for every crop enumerated. The writer, in conclusion, dilates in eloquent terms on the beauty of the country, its useful rivers, its undeveloped mineral resources, its climate, and educational advantages. The picture he has drawn is one eminently calculated to attract, population. He poiuts out that it is specially attractive to farmers, and dilates upon the facility with which the freehold of the land can he acquired. His article should certainly have the eject of attracting the attention of this class. But, alas! news travels fast in these days; and we fear that the policy of the present Ministry is calculated to more than counteract any good that might otherwise have accrued. When a farmer learns that the land occupier is taxed higher than any other class; that the aspirations of the party with a majority is to gradually arrive at the stage when the land shall bear al! taxation ; he will certainly look for another country where RadicalSocialists are not in the ascendant.