COMMERCIAL.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 8, 22 August 1861, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

(From the Few Zealander, Avgust SJ Except in so far as o,r commercial ami maritime interests are affected, it would be out of character to comment on political questions in this part ofour.lournr.l • but seeing those important interests so rapid-v on the decline knowing as we do, in what light mercantile men regarded the ominous future that seems to impei d we should fail in our duty did we hesitate to deal witu the past policy hearing on the commercial Question in that frank and out spoken manner which the subject demands. Without having encountered a commercial crisis, without having suffered any dimunition of commercial credit, with a rising Customs revenue, with new avenues of traffic to California ano the bouth Sea Islands, opening upon us, it cannot ire concealed that we are slowlv drifting towards a condition of commercial syncope. Our progress such as it has latterly proved, has been more attributable to thohapul-c of the past, than to the action of the present, whilst, the tuture was a thing at which no one dared to look but with gloomy forebodings. From exporters we bad beconc importers of bread stuffs and other descriptions of agricultural produce—from the requisite Commissariat supplies we derived little or no advantage b»c»i.,« i 1,0,0 were derived principally from the colonies of Australia. These-arc facts patent to every one. Looking, therefore, at the reckless manner in which, the Taranaki war was entered into, at the puerile, vaccilating, and ruinous wav in whion it was conducted, with every prospect of a much more extensive and disastrous war impending u’ir»n our own immediate borders, and with the tame authority renaming to guide that w:. r , what else oonM bo M-nec-ted thau ibat the labors of on settlerssttcmiA bn mvaivW. that war rather than agriculture, should engross me native mind, that mortgagees should turn an anxious eve towards their bonds, tnat proprietors eager for peace and prosperity should wish to realise, that the community should he on the tenter hooks, and that the Banks should

5 contemplate the probability of contracting their operations. All these were possible contingencies which weighed heavily last week—the arrival of the mail has however materially changed their hue, the forthcoming change in the Government has had an instant end talismanic etfect —the most desponding have become reassured—the shares of the New Zealand Bank which were banging in the balance, have been greedily run after —for be it peace or war there is that confident assurance that in the hands of Sir George Grey the business will be conducted with so much intelligence, promptitude, and skill as will more than restore the Colony to its lost position. Such is the all-pre-vailing impression, and judging of the future hy the past, remembering how speedily he extinguished the first New Zealand war, it iih-/ no means surprising that, w.th the numerous resources at hia command, the most implicit reliance should he placed in his ability to suppress the present. It cannot he forgotten with what rapidity the Colony advanced after the close of the former war. Will it be less likely to push forward on the settlement of this? We feel convinced that it will not. And we entertain a confident hope that terms of accommodation conducive to the true inters sts of both races will ho arrived at. Sir George Grey returns at the most critical —the turning point of the fortunes of New Zealand. Great will be his glory if he succeeds iu the undertaking; and that he will succeed—triumphantly succeed, even those of his former opponents scarcely entertain a question. it is more to be reanimated than to he restored that we require—to have our energies turned in a secure and peaceful direction—to lay open our country' to the beneficial employment of capital and labor desirous of finding investment iu our soil. There are abundant sources of wealth yet to be developed—these with tranquility restored, with industry in full operation, with population setting in, will quickly elevate New Zealand to the position which has been a.-s.gned and which must eventually be bee’s, however much war, the schemes of colonising companies, and other untoward events may have retarded so desirable a consummation. Gold, the coveted glory of all countries, exists in greater or less quantities throughout the Islands. At Coromandel, iu the immediate vicinity of Auckland, where it was first discovered, the diggings were discontinued because it was found to abound most on native. and fo. bidden, land. At Nelson considerable Quantities have been obtained, though the fields are rugged and hard to be worked. At Otago, where the amount of the prec.ous metal is alleged to equal, if not surpass, the most famous of the Australian gold fields, operations are about to be conducted upon a very extensive scale. Already, the herds, the flocks, and the farms of the South have been left to take care of themselves. As yet, hut little excitement has been produced in Auckland—nevertheless should present assurances be confirmed, as the season advances, in common with every other Province, we must count upon the loss not only- of our floating but much of our fixed population. We have before been subjected to such an ordeah California and Australia, by turns, stripped us of our thousands ; hut they not only returned, with money in both pockets themselves, but brought other money makers along with them. And, as it was with them, so we feel persuaded it will he in the case of Otago—we shall sustain a temporary loss to acquire at ultimate peimament gain. Our shipping will meet employment—our carrying trade will be increased —and our shipw rights, who have so long and frequently furnished us with valuable exports in the creations of their handiwork, will receive an additional impetus from the traffic certain to ensue.