MELBOURNE AFTER THE BOOM.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7252, 7 March 1889, Page 6

MELBOURNE AFTER THE BOOM.

PROSPECTS OF NEW ZEALAND. Mr Bendlx Hallenstein, who has jus fc returned from Victoria and New South Wales, gives an interesting account of his impressions in a letter to the Otago Daily Times, After referring to the " boom" in Melbourne and the reckless nature of the gambling which took place, he says:— Times will be bad in six months, they will be worse in twelve months, and still worse in eighteen months—how much longer it is difficult to s&y. As yet every shop, every warehouse, every office, and every workshop is occupied; but what will be the position when the many buildings now in course of erection in the city are completed, and when the thousands of private houses which are springing up in every direction require tenants? Then the army of men which has collected from all Australia and New Zealand will be disbanded, and with it the circulation of the almighty dollar will cease. The clank of the hammer which greeted the ear from morning till night will be heard no more, and the proprietors of the great iron fonndries ana workshops, who never earned money so fast before, will have to lessen their hands; and every manufacturer, every importer, and every shopkeeper will gradually be compelled to do the same. Melbourne, hating taken three paces forward where it ought to have taken one, will have to retrace its steps. Already in every direction buildings in all stages — some with the foundation barely laid, others nearly completed—are stopped for want of funds. Gradually, however, the downward precess will be arrested; the energy of the people will assert itself, and again will the industries and commerce of Melbourne flourish; but the boom will not be forgotten in the memory of those who have witnessed it. Some may have benefitted thereby, but the majority of people will hold it in memory worse than " Black Thursday." Permit mc now to say a few words about New Zealand. Happily, we have sown our wild oats; and, if I rightly grasp the spirit of the people, we are determined to forge our way steadily ahead. Though Victoria and New South Wales are rich countries, we bid fair to equal them in our mineral resources; while as an agricultural country we stand pre-eminent in the southern hemisphere. Our coal, our climate, our pure water, and our immense water power are material factors in developing our manufactures, in several of which we have already made a name for ourselves. The present prosperous season has given heart and renewed confidence to our settlers, many of whom, even previous to the turn for the better, had by industry and eoono my successfully overcome former difficulties. It will take a few good seasons before there is any marked expansion in trade, but business is much sounder. Banks and wholesale houses have determined to restrict credit and confine it to legitimate traders, and everyone, after years of losses, is determined to make a profit on his labour and capital. Agricultural properties are saleable at prices at which people can make them pay. It is ruinous to the country that they should be higher, and if the mortgage companies and financial institutions who hold so large a slice of the country are wise, they will recognise that it is so their interest Co sell land at prices on which the farmer or runholder can make a fair return in average seasons. Anyone purchasing on a basis different from this must eventually lose his money. To some extent the same rule ref rs to town properties, where the average income must form the basis of its value. Where this is largely deviated fro v, as has lately been the case in Melbourne, the result must be ruinous. Iα conclusion, I desire to say that, looking at all the advantages with which nature has gifted our colony, I have no doubt in my mind that gradually New Zealand will become the most populous colony in Australasia, and one in which wealth will be most evenly distributed. I may be too sanguine, but I also believe that in not very many years New Zealand Government debentures will stand as high, if not higher, than those of any of the colonies. I have always had unbounded faith in New Zealand, and it is a gratification to mc that both in the neighboring colonies and at Home our great resources are being daily more recognised.—l am, &c., Bendis Hallenstein. Dunedin, March 4th.