The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1898. THE COMING BOOM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 306, 28 December 1898, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1898. THE COMING BOOM.

Per tie cause that keki assiataiee, F«r the -wrong that needs rasistanee, Tor tlie futars in the iistanco, And tio gi«d that jrt can it.

It appears by a recent cable message that the Melbourne 'Argus' is prophesying an Australasian boom during1 the coming year. The grounds on which the* journal ventures this anticipation are not unreasonable. There is a well-founded expectation of an increase in the agricultural and mineral exports of two of the colonies at least, and the loan bills passed in the several colonies during this yeai* must mean that money and work will be more than usually plentiful. ; The result of.these and contingeiit causes, the 'Aldus' considers, will in all probability be a repetition of that period of monetary activity which the colonies witnessed some years ago. One scarcely knows how to receive the news. Of course the natural feeliiig is to. rejoice at the vision of Oomirrg' prosperity; but on the other hand the experiences these colonies have had 6f booms and their effects are very much the reverse of pleasant; and though it is easy to argue that a. sudden access of riches need not necessarily stimulate the speculative spirit to run riot, we know that -in these communf'ties it invariably has that effect. This is particularly the case vyhen the money comes to us through other than the ordinary industrial channels, as happens with loans. True, everyone is quite aware that the loans have to be paid for,, but they are conscious of the fact after a very dim theoretical fashion; practically they never realise it. The old saying that money breeds money is probably timer of the borrowed article than of that accumulated in the more ordinary work-a-day fashion. Once the borrowing spirit is sanctioned in high places it soon finds its way into the lowest, and promises to pay are currerrf: tender among people who have hardly a farthing to their names. When every man may become an investor it is very evident that the field of speculation is enormously widened, and the possibilities of excess practically unlimited. But why rehearse what eveiyone knows? Is it not writ larger in marvellous Melbourne, from which this pleasing prophecy emanates, than in any other colonial city; and do not we in New Zealand understand what is nieant by both a mining and aland, .boom? It was only the other day in Victoria- that Parliament dealt with a measure, the Municipal Loans Extension Bill, the object of which was to relieve the municipalities of Melbourne from the crushing burden which they took upon themselves during the land ; boom at the end of last decade. During the great boom years, whole towns so to speak were added to the capital, and miles' of streets constructed. - The rating on the new additions was high arid the councils had no difficulty in paying their yvvay. But when the re-action set in and population began to drift away from the spacious streets and palatial edifices, the aspect of things changed1 completely. Valuations speedily, tumbled, with the result that to-day they are not a half of what they wea-e inlS9O. !N"ow, Melbourne has always been held up before the other cities .and colonies as the shocking exaanple of Speculative intemperance, but we are not at all so sure that either she or any of her neighbours has laid to heart the lesson her history teaches.It would certainly be no surprise to us to see other cities follow precisely in-her steps. A not uncommon belief here seems j'to, be that 'booming' is the. natural

method of progression for youngcolonies. Taking the term with all its

usual associations as we know it, there could surely be no greater mistake. It is of course admitted that trade undergoes periods of activity corresponding with its periods of depression. These, whether due to an actual improvement in industrial and commercial circles or to a revival of confidence in the anticipation of a brighter future, are welcome and to be encouraged. The'prosperity which comes from the spending of .public money in useful public, works for which there is an immediate demand is obviously of the legitimate kind1 also. But that factitious prosperity, the result of wild speculation, which has unfortunately been so often coincident with the spending of loans in these colonies, is a -thing to be dreaded. Eeason in favour of it as much as you please, its effects are distinctly detrimental and not beneficial in the long run. Booms founded on Joans—and the 'Argus' evidently regards the recent colonial loan bills as the chief foundation of the, boom it presages —are xinquestionably the very worst of the whole breed. But even while we say this we-are quite aware that public opinion here and elsewhere willrejoice over this Christmas message which the 'Argus* brings. Somehow people seem to forget entirely their own bitter experiences of booms and to treasure up the sweet experiences of the fortunate few who come through the furnace unscathed. .