SATURDAY, MARCH 7.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3320, 7 March 1868, Page 2

SATURDAY, MARCH 7.

Cheap landof good quality, and cheap money, tend more than- anything else to stimulate settlement in a new country. Where one or other of these elements of progress is wanting, the work of settlement must he arduous, and not unfrequently disheartening. ( Progress must be slow; the accumulation of capital by the rural classes mutt be equally slow ; but where the land is abundant and cheap, and of superior quality, and money can be obtained on reasonable terms, the accumulation of wealth by -the agricultural classes will be rapid, and the progress at the country thus situated, proportionately so. Without naming other countries, which made a start in the world about the same time as New Zealand, lest we should offend the oversensitive patriotism of our morning contemporary, although their material progress bears a marked contrast to anything we nave to show, and would serve to illustrate our argument, we think the condition of the colony justifies us in drawing attention to this all-important subject.; Misgovernment has had a great 'deal to do with bringing about the existing derangement ; but it is not the sole cause. There tore other causes also which, if they have not been quite overlooked, have not received the attention they deserve. And perhaps the reason is, that th«y lie at our very doors. They are in operationevery where around us. They appear to be inseparable from our social and commercial systems. They are part andparcel of the conditions of existence in New Zealand ; and therefore, not coming before the' community in the gross, as evils in government, do,»but appearing to each individual unit under a peculiar aspect, they have not been' closely scanned, nor their bearing up^pn' the whole community recognised as it ought to be. We might sum up the causes which operate against the rapid progress of New Zealand ! as being,, in part, created by unwise legislation, and corrupt administration ; in part by the commercial system j and in a great degree by voluntary neglect. Those causes which are natural cannot be remedied without much trouble; but the natural sterility of the land could be got over were all other conditions' of settlement favourable. We are rejoiced to find this subject occupying tEe attention of our'fellowsettlers in Canterbury and- other .provinces ; and we predict that, until it has been thoroughly gone into, and discussed in 'all its bearings, and a total change of system adopted, New Zealand will continue to be one of the poorest .-dependencies of the British Crown,, notwithstanding its mineral wealth, salubrious climate, and advantageous geographical position in a commercial point of view. - . • t, " . - It is a fact, that the land in the province of Auckland open for settlement, is not on an ! average good. It is poor land ; but there are other natural advantages which would amply compensate. for this defect were they utilised. We need not do more than refer to the salubrity of the climate, which is well known, although our contemporary in his leading article yesterday endeavoured to feed his readers on the air, and essayed to prove that health and a good appetite, and little to satisfy it withal, was the supreme of human felicity in a new country j.and pointed tothese as the great inducements-which New Zealand, and especially Auckland, held out to

• SSL" JS* 6*6 * tbtn <*> P oB *** "SdiTifc £ w. "T"*,',**' *aye nothing whatever 2JSS rf " afl -;- therefore, the poor *W /SiKwJj l^ °f Auckland are in tie eniby.rwiW* 688 and the Pleasures wniclj «u^ 6^ affo^ the bUc charity which l 6ost £4,600 last year, was '•JU?^/,* 0 . 5?^ c men and women wretched m spite of themselves. This is what* our ,•--- argument amounts to. Such ,;..,,asitia we leave itfto the digestion of the "sick and destitute." They may differ in opinion frompur contemporary; but then, he - will have the sympathy of those miserable, because well-paid officials, who did their .utmost to consume the public charity out' of v IB S X6 \ L love > and affeotion" fi» && poorer, ? > i^Pr therefore v haj>pier, and more fortunate brethren. Seeing that tniais sQ,"and,that %>: aalubrifty of our climate is admitted,' we proceed to some other considerations that siiggest themselves to our mind, merely remarkif&g that, although we have heard of perspns who lived "tigon the v air for a length of time, we never heard that they became extremely copul^by^Mnniiifig ' themselves to this I invigorating regimen. <:r the land, as a rule, being poor «ra expensive to mike^at all jhtodiictive, it 1 - 'SS^ 1 * 6 " . Unless waste x land be obtained at a nominal rate, it pannot be ay Reclaimed, .fenced, /and cropped except at a I „ ,(lobb to the proprietor, because the return for the expenditure of capital to be calculated on, unless in the neighbourhood of large l>; 5S? 118 ' 00 * Pay interest on the outlay. '" Our reaaera ire well aware,' hdwever, ihat ' J'Bba'tfduld'iidf'be bought' at a che*p rate in ' wuVp¥dvhice, r except for a very brief period in Governor Ktzroy's time.: 'ThoseT, who were fortunate" enough to secure good land then have, as a rule, done well ; Ibut ■! "can the same be said of any other settlers ? 1 J =£Phe prieeJwhich latid in the neighbourhood > . [ofA«ckland : brQught within, the last eight years, and at which improved farms wejre let, simply renders it impossible for their Holders to make a living after paying the Ln rent. lw Anditwhatyis .true i( of r the ,di9^rict .ijT^^np^ *he, c ity is^ually true of country 'lazids in genteral. lippm *4 to jBIO per acre was a commonjrice for 1 country land,,having ' ft water frontage, in the vicinity of many of r ,.<Qf^r coast from £1 to £3 inlaid.' TJiese were pncw which practically amounted : .to » prohibition against cultivation. sCbe Government land, however valueless, was j jwld an& until of late, it ihvare«lifl<!d nyi^ toah t^e ups^t pfiqe r of :: J lOa v an ; .acr§.j i liipany. case's it .fetched; six and eight tunes the upset, price. And what ■■ was the result ? The purcli&ser seldom improyejdl He-bought <& speculation, in nine cases "out of ten. ! Those who bought and ' went upon' their lknd soon found out to their "cost' that ,they Had made a mistake, and 'saw Bow usele'w it was to attempt to fight against difficulties which it was' impossible for them to overcome. These difficulties' chiefly were^distancefrom a,market where j produce; could beßpld to purchase necessary ' rroppß^.; r roppB^.; bdai'bf, ando^jr In, carriage ; ! Un- : : certain returns owing to a want of practical ' knowledge of the soil' and the seasons';' hign price and xs^city^ of , labour ; and ' the high rates of interest charged for money. There were men, however, who remained upon their land, and to them the country owes what ! little progre'Bs has been made* ■. However, itheyxJiav^,4onoribut: little' to develop the natural capabilities of the soil; and they are jnot likely, with the existing demand and prices for produce, to do i much , • qo r od jer^her, for , : themselves or the counSyr 'They want' capital. They want cheap labour. They want speedy and certain communication with the centres of population. How and when are these wants to be supplied % • The capitalists alone 'can answer the question. Our banking institutions might, and ought to set the example in - this c matter, and then private capitalists would follow the - example. Agriculture would be fostered, and the progress of the jcountry assured. We trust our remarks will be taken in the spirit in which they have been written. The good of the whole community has been and is our constant solicitude. We do not write in the interest of any class, but in the interest of all classes in the