Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1889.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 302, 27 November 1889, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1889.

Mn. MoN'ruosuaiY, at one time member for Akaroa, arrived, iv Christchurch last wook after a two years' visit to Europe, "vvhevo he has boon staying foi'tho benefit of his health. On his return, he was waited upon by a representative of tho Christchurch " Press," with a view to obtaining froni him any information, that might bo interesting to the colonists. Mr Montgomery declined to enter upon politics, but expressed his readiness to reply to any questions regarding what was thought of Now Zealand at home, and in a^ few words he has contrived to convey a good deal of information on this particular subject. Ho first of all stated what his experiouco was 011 his arrival in England two years ago, not among men iv financial circles, for these, he says, knew as much about our affairs as he himself did, but among those whom he met at hotels, clubs, and watering places, "men who had invested in stocks of various kinds and of different countries, and wero living on their means." What tho impressions of these people were ho puts very clearly by stating the three questions they invariably asked him ou hearing that ho was from New Zealand : — " Are not things in a very bad way there? Ai'e you not very heavily in debt? Do you think you will be able to j pay the interest?" These, it must bo admitted, were very awkward enquiries with which to be assailed, especially as, to the two first, none but an affirmative veply could at that time be given. Perhaps no man is better up in New Zealand statistics than Mr Montgomery, and we m-vy be sure that he made out the best possible case when, as he told his interviewer, he " endeavoured to show that the colony's financial position was perfectly sound." The reception given to his answers, however, must have been not a little discouraging. " They would receive my information courteously, but there was a feeling left on my mind that they thought I was speaking as an advocate, and not judicially. Their impressions seemed to me to be that we had borrowed very largely, that we were constantly having recourse to fresh loans, that we had annually recurring deficits in our budget, and that a great many people were leaving the colony." Altogether, the opinion of these men, whom Mr Montgomery says he met "in London, in watering places, in Prance, the Eiviera, and Algiers," was about as poor as it could possibly be, and if it be taken as a reflex of the views of all those who gave a thought to the colony at all, it is not surprising that our list of immigrants from Great Britain has not been a large one of late years. " Itis a fact," says Mr Montgomery, and we are not disposed to doubt him, "that people will not go out to a colony when they find that it is not progressive, and you may judge that it is an exceedingly important thing for this or any other colony to stand well in the estimation of British people as being financially sound and making steady progress onward. You may also judge, as some people said to me, that of course people wonld not look to a colony that was depressed as a field for emigration. That, no doubt, has told against us, and prevented people with money from coming out to us." Now, if we had to leave Mr Montgomery here, the report of the interview would be the reverse of encouraging, and anything but a cheerful impression would bo left on our minds of English opinions of New Zealand. But fortunately he has a much brighter story to tell of the latter portion of his visit. " Within the last sis months," he says, " I found there was a great change in the opinions of the people I came in contact with. They saw by the published statements that the colony was making the two ends meet, and they would point out tho fact that the colony had got a surplus in the public finances, and that Parliament had decided not to borrow for, at any rate, three years. They also saw by paragraphs in the newspapers that our exports were very large, and, instead of speaking to me in a desponding and doubting way, they said, "Things are looking brighter out there. I think you will pull through. Things will be all right I think." It took some little time after the first accounts for the information to spread, that the colony was not going to borrow for some time, but to reduce expenditure, and put on further taxation. It takes time to remove doubts when once they are deeply rooted in the minds of men. The impression now is that Now Zealand is recovering from the depression — that economy, publicly, and privately, had taken the place of extravagance —and if this policy continues, and we have favourable seasons, it seemed to them that the future of & the colony would be successful. Seeing that, " What will they say in England?" is by uo means an unimportant consideration to the colonists of New Zealand, it is very satisfactory to be assured on such good authority that so favourable a change has taken place in the opinion of those who take an interest in the colony, and it is even more satisfactory to know that week by week, and mouth by month, the foundations upon which this change is based are_ becoming broader and firmer. The rapid increase in the value and volume of our exports is so marked — we may almost say phenomenal — that it cannot fail to attract attention and to produce the impression that New Zealand is a country of magnificent resources, whilo tho disposition everywhere displayed to turn them to the best account affords unquestionable proof that the colonists are men of large enterprise, of undaunted courage, and determined that iio efforts of theirs shall be wanting to lift the country out of the state of depression into which it has been sunk for so many yearß.