The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Tuesday, July 10, 1888. HOW SHALL WE VIEW IT?

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 167, 10 July 1888, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, July 10, 1888. HOW SHALL WE VIEW IT?

Be jnat and fear not; J>t all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country 0, Thy God’i, and truth’#.

The news from Melbourne which we publish in another column conveys a prediction which should give much cause for reflection. In these times of depression we are very glad to welcome people with capital—our fictitious prosperity based upon borrowed capital has disappeared, after just keeping pace with the money that was being squandered, and we have been left a heritage of taxation which is draining the lifeblood of the colony. Our population is leaving us, our politicians seem no better and little more inclined to grapple with the position than the)’ were in the earlier days. It is no wonder then that people look around for relief, and, like the drowning man, grasp at any straw which appears to give hope of safety, and in the same way some view with joy the announcement that a ring of speculators are likely to bring a million and a half of capital into the colony, for investment. If the money is to be applied to the genuine development of the colony’s resources, or to fair and legitimate investment in improved properties, we

can also join heartily in the joyful anticipations which are in the minds of some people. But the project must be regarded with much suspicion, and there is a species of land gambling which it is not to the interests of the colony to participate in. It would be much better for those who intend to make their home in New Zealand a permanent one .that the land craze which now pervades Australia should be avoided. As the Melbourne journal states, the venture would prove an almost certain investment for speculators, and it would relieve financial institutions from their embarrassments, but w e would require something far more assuring than this before we can be in* duced to favor what is indicated by this project. It appears as though it was intended to take advantage of the colony’s at present helpless condition to get a monoply over it. The kauri forests have already fallen into the hands of Australian speculators, and a hold is being got over the mines, It is easy to conceive how dangerous a combination of such interests might become when worked in conjunction with the interests of certain financial institutions. If these doubts were removed, there might be every reason to welcome a large inflow of capital.