English Opinion on the Colonies.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 201, 27 August 1886, Page 3

English Opinion on the Colonies.

Mr G. E. Aldcrton's Experiences

Abroad,

Mr G. E. Ai.nr.r.TON, who has just returned from a visit to England and America, has furnished a reporter with the following notes of his impressionß :—You would liko to know, I suppose, what has made tho sharpest impression on my mind during my tour. I will tell you. Everywhere I went to in America, great progress waa apparent on all sides ; always a stream of new settlers coming in to tako up more land. Tho State Government and tho people vio with each other in proclaiming to the world that the land in that particular section is not only tho best and cheapest in America, but nowhere else in the world could a man mako a fortuno so quickly and _o easily. The Railroad Companies that have land for sale advertise it everywhere and in ovory conceivable form, and with such illustrated " foldors" as they issue it ia no wonder that so many people are induced to go and see the land. In England I found three out of every four farmers you meet meditating emigration, as farming at Home under present circumstances means certain bankruptcy for the majority. To give you an instance of tho state of farming in England, I may say that I stayed with nine different farmers, each of whom was faiming from 200 to 1,000 acres of land, and these men reckoned to lose this year from £200 to £600. -Another gentleman I mot ovpned fchreo farms. From two of these ho had received no rent for throe years ; from tho other no rent for two years, anil 1 f-i tenants proposed that ho should find them capital to put tho land into orchards. I suggested to such of those peoplo as I met the advisability of selecting Now Zoaland as their future home, but I was mot with this unfavourable reply : " Oh, but then New Zealand is so terribly in debt that if we gi thero we should find taxation as bad as it is _ero I" Then there is that wretched book of ffroude's "Oceana," with its thousand and one fallacious statements. That book has had _. tremendous circulation. Every farmer in England must have road it. I saw passengers reading it on the steamer croasiug tho _ > aei_c; I caw it on tho train crossing Amorica j and I saw it on the Atlantic boat. Everywhere was "Oceana," and speak to an English farmer about going to Now Zealand, and he would say: "But have ■you road Froude's ' Oceana ' ? Fronde says iNew Zealand ia bo heavily in debt that tho .colony may have to repudiate; that the ic-loniata can never boar such taxation as will be required to Day interest on borrowed money !" This in England, on the Atlantic creamer, and in America. Always the samo dismal tale—" Nes/ Zealand is so heavily J_ debt that presently her colonists will refuse to be ground down with tho hoavy taxation, ami openly repudiate." And the English press assist to disseminate ♦hese views, being largely influenced fay tho great land companies, who, _a;ri.cig purchased immense ureas of land lv Amorica, naturally want to direct 3Englis_ formers across the Atlantic to buy their land. This little game, howevor.is now playedout,asUi- Senato has passed a law by which aliens cannot own land in the United States, and Englishmon aill have to reside there ai- months before tb_y are qualified to own land, Thon there are U>e agents and lecturers of all these companies, and of all tho different colonies, running up and down England decrying Now Zealand while lauding up their own countries. And what does Now Zea£__d do to defend herself against __1 tfaese libels ? Notbinsr ; absolutely .nothing. Anyone can aay or write what Ahey like about New Zealand in England, and ne one will contradict it. What does vfcho Agent-General do ? Well, he seems to be a nonentity in so far as guarding the reputation of the colony is concorned. He may bo a good agent in regard to financial matters, etc., but in other matters he i? oot a euceeas, if one is to judge hy common repute. He ia said to i_e unapproachable, and rarely attends ■any public demonstration aa the representative of New Zealand, and it ia laid to his ..charge that lie is not the moat fervont believer in the colony aa a field for settlement. His memorandum to the Minister of Land liast year regarding the now land regulations and the superior advantages offered _y Manitoba clearly showed he could not conscientiously reccmmendemigrantßtogo to New Zeoland. Then there isthoColonial Exhibition. Thot.l contend, must do New Zealand harm, because matters have been sp botched in regard to the colony's exhibits that, by comparison, New Zealand is the least productive and progressive of any of the colonieß. When every other court of tho Exhibition was crowded, there was always lounging room in the New Zealand court. What was the cause of this, and who was tfco blame? It is well enough known in London who is to blame. The cause of the failure was a bad arrangement <of the Caurt. What I mean ij this: An English farmer, on going into tho court, would of course look around to find what products the colony had to exhibit. Well, he could not help being disappointed. In every othor Court, a colony's products were all grouped together in a manner that at once impressed tbe visitor with the productive wealth of that oolonyj'but in the Now Zealand Court, things were scattered about and the boat spaces occupied with oxhibits of a scientific eh aracter. The walls were covered with great geological maps, in which probably one in ten thousand visitors might be interested, and there waa on tho floor a great ugly topographical diagram ot the colony, coloured co that it looked like tho entrails of some poor boast that had fallen from a great heieht and been smashed into _, jelly. This map would convey to the ordinary observer tho impression that New Zealand was a mass of mountain-tops, and that land suitable for farming waa very Bcarco. Another thing that struck me as being a great mistake in the New ZeaJand Court was the placing of tho exhibits ■of Maori ouiioß-fighting weapons, mats, carved houses, &c.—in the entranco to tho court. The exhibit itaolf, aa an oxhibit, was of a most interesting character, and reflected great credit on Dr. Bullor, the owner ; and the Princo of Wales was so impressed with the beauty of the Maori girls whose paintings adorned the walls of tho court, that Dr. Bailor presented ono of them to tho Prince. Hut tho impression made upon me on entering the court and seeing the exhibit was not a favourable one. I bad come from the other courts, where everything looked bright and business like ; but here waa the first indication of savagery : a wild country with wild natives. And is that not the impression that would be left on the minds of English country peoplo ? Now, theae things could not help impres-e-og a New Zsalander in London, and causing him to reflect. On my return to New York, I obtained at the Fifth Avenue Hotel copies of the Auckland papers for June, and I devoured their contents with great interest, and when I read that the Government proposed raising another million and a-half loan, I could see no mention of any attempt being made to attract to the colony the email farmers of England who are emigrating to foreign lands. Now, isthere not something radically wrong with tho system of Government ? We have drifted into a system which, on the face of it, has for ite object the borrowing of money to enable the Government of the day to secure sufficient votes to keep them in power, with an Opposition whose duty it ia to try and kick the Government out, and, tailing that, to tear the Estimates to pieces, and waste no end of time tinkering with the salaries of men already not too well paid. This is practically a true bill, however much we may dislike to be told bo. It is the policy we have drifted into, and unless some strong man steps forward and opens the eye of the people to the danger that threatens tbem, it will go badly with the colony presently. How can we—a mere handful of people, less than 600 000, less than that of any state or territory of tho United States, or of any county of England, and less than the population of any second-rate town of Great Bntaingo on continually borrowing a million and a half a year, unless we increase our population ' What possible interest can there be in our going on making railwoys in every possible direction unlesa by so doing we can attract people to the country to take up and settle our lands ? The sanct oning of such a policy by Parliament without insisting upon its going hand-in-hand with a policy of land settlement seems to me the moat reckless gambling. 1 here never waa a time when a colony had a better chance of Becuring the most desirable class of settlers than the present, but the Government appears satisfied with_ merely framing land regulations which in their view nre liberal, but make no attempt to acquaint the probable . emigrant with the nature of those regulations. We borrow a million and a half a year to be squandered on public worka, to be parcelled out with a laviah hand amongst those membera of Parliament who for the time being are eupportera of the Government; but to get a small sum of money for any useful purpose is an impossibility. If, for inBtance, anyone should suggest that a colony that can afford to borrow a million and ahalf a year should set aeide £5,000 or

£10,000 a year to be spent in England In advertising tho Colony and promoting colonisation, that person would be looked upon aa a crank. lam that crank, and I suppose too much travelling hna pit me off my head, but it ia a pity the gentleman who may for the time boing hold the position of Minister of Lanes ia not sent Home every now and again to get a more correct idea of tho " proportion of things." And he too would become a crank, and perhaps lesa money would lie fooled away in useless worka to secure votes, and more to promoto tbe progress and prosperity of tho colony.