The Hastings Standard Published Daily. MONDAY, JAN. 11, 1897. RETURNING CONFIDENCE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 217, 11 January 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

MONDAY, JAN. 11, 1897. RETURNING CONFIDENCE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, Kor the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

In the dark days of lK'Jil and lH!)t when banks, building societies and other joint stock companies were sheltering themselvcsin the portals of the Bankruptcy Court, the prospect of restoring confidence not only in (Ireat Britain, but even within the limits of our own colonies .seemed far enough. The ruin to institutions and individuals seemed so complete that the stoutes^ hearts quailed at the [inspect. The tinaneial and commercial crisis of 1h!)M was world wide in extent, and perhaps it was no more severely felt ■ than in Au>trula>ijt. In the colonies I the «■(ili.tp.~i- was due to an almost Midden contraction in values. Several booms of one kind and another caused an nidation of values particularly of j land, and men intoxicated with the golden prospect- rushed madly into the gamble, paying ridiculous prices for mere rubbish. The crash came and many an optimistic financier and j capitalist, and a horde (if -illy paled | market gamblers w< r.- -truck -and | struck with luornd cfTt-it. The ruin | of IKW. seemed to tn\< !-'p the whole of the colonies, and recovery appeared hopeless. On the threshold of the new year ire can look back upon the dismal period, and wonderingly ask if the i cataclysm did not loom larger than it | actually was, That it was not half so j bad as our fancy painted it. we have ' abundant e\ idi-ncu to day in the I bright jmwpectrt that greet the vc*r of ■ grace 1H417. If the crisis was so appalling as we believwl it t<T be, then 1 surely we have rucovcmi in a nurnk-

able short time. No one we hope will dispute that the evidences of returning prosperity are real and discernible. Wool and wheat and butter are in better demand at higher prices, others of our products if lower in prices are readily saleable, leaving a small margin of profit. The gold mining industry is in a flourishing condition, with pro raises of great improvement. At this moment there is every indication that in the immediate future this industry will assume gigantic proportions to the great benefit of all classes of the community. Our farmers are in better heart for tangible benefits are before them. Cheap money, added to higher prices for staple products are the elements needed to gladden the hearts and revive the spirits of the producers of the colony. Land values have run down and may they keep down, for there is no doubt that in the past grossly fictitious values have been asked and obtained for broad acres. A land boom is an unmitigated curse, and may we be spared another such boom. Taking the circumstances of the colonies into consideration, there is little room for doubt as to the confidence of the people in themselves and their country. There may be here and there a timid capitalist or a frightened squatter but the people on the whole have regained confidence. This is the most potent element in our business life, and with the return of canfidence it may be safely asserted that industrial enterprise and commercial speculation of a sober character will again be witnessed and that shortly. The people of the colonies are in a buoyant and confident mood, and the question arises " How does the British capitalist regard us '? " Here again the answer is all that could be desired. The Home capitalists show in the most unmistakable manner that they believe in our stability and have full confidence in our future. The best guage of this is in the price of colonial securities. In the dreary days of 1898, Colonial stocks were down to freezing point. New Zealand per cents 80 and 90 and the 4 per cents between 90 and 95. The other colonies were in a worse position than New Zealand. The case stands differently now, and is the figures for the closing days of 1895, the wonderful change that has taken place can be noted. The comparison is as follows : :i.l PEll CENTS. Dec. Dec. 29 29 189.1. 1896. New South Wales 105.4 lOTA 40/- higher Victoria 102" - „ South Australia ... 106 110 80/- ~ Queensland ... 108 J 105 25/- ~ New Zealand ... 10:3 105} 45/- ~ Tasmania ... 104 105-| 85/- ~ 4 I'EH CKVrs. New South Wales 116 117{ 25/- higher Victoria 10H-1 111* 60/- „ South Australia ... 110} 112.V 45/- ~ Queensland ... 109 11155/- ~ New Zealand ... 109| 112 55/- „ These figures speak with an eloquence and must be reassuring even to the timid amongst us. We have further evidence of British confidence, in the volume of the investments in colonial mining enterprises. New Zealand has benefitted during 1896 by more than half a million sterling, which has been sent out for the development of our mining areas. With confidence within and confidence without, it will be singular indeed if the record for 1H97 is not one for general congratulation.