THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October. 15, 1842.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 32, 15 October 1842, Page 126

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October. 15, 1842.

Lea journaux deviennent phu ueceMsires & mesure que lea horomea tout plus fegaux, et 1* individualisme plma a craindre. Cc serait diminuer lew importance que de croire qu' ils ne servent qu 1 4 garantir la liberty : U» maintiennent la civilisation. De TocatJEVit-LE. De la Democratic en Amerique, tome 4, p. 220. Journal* become more necetsory aa men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared, It would be to underrate their importance to suppoae that they aenre «nly to secure liberty : they maintain civilization. DC ToCftUEVILLX. 'Of Democracy in America, vol. 4, p. 220.

In the planting of a settlement according to anything which may be called a plan there is so much essential to be considered' there are so many points of equal importance, which, except in actual practice, do not appear to be of equal importance, that it is no£ strange that every one who has resided in a new colony and had opportunities of watching the different changes of affairs is ready with a proposal for altering, adding, or modifying. Such is the nature of the subject, that the requirement to which, by any accident, the attention is most directed, will immediately assume a relative importance which it does not deserve ; or rather, perhaps, the relative importance of the others is ldst sight of. The proposed arrangements as to the sale of land so as to " insure emigration of capital," which our readers had the opportunity of examining in our last number, are exceedingly important. Doubtless they attracted the attention of all who think about the matter, as containing a proposition for the supply of that which we, in common. with all other, new settlements — especially, if one may say so, those founded in block — always, sooner or later, feel the -want of. The value of the capital brought out depends not only on the amount, but on the position of it, that i» f who has the use of it. A large body of men from an old country have left comforts behind them : they mean to rough it. Planted in a somewhat out-of-the-way place, with only their labourers about, them, how they would rough it and work ; and, having capital, how well they would me it : but, planted in blocks in a town, all

the inducements to what may be called social expenditure remain as powerful as in their native country. It is a great advantage, doubtless, to have some society ; moreover land must he sold, or where is the emigration fund to come from ? And this offer to the public of -a more or less perfect social state immediately on landing is a great inducement to purchase, since it gives an idea of, and indeed does actually produce (at least for a time), heavy rentals from town lauds ; moreover, it is a bait to men accustomed to comfort, especially with families. Yet it is firmly believed that £100 brought out in the pocket of a settler who should at once start into the country with his labourers, would do more good to the colony than #500 in the hands of one who, though lie may set to work to produce, yet remains near the town, and "takes advantage of this social transfer, and is also led into the social expenditure* This cannot be helped ; you canndfinquisitof ially search out a "man's power of resisting temptation before you agree to sell him land. It may be safely asserted that the necessity for concocting schemes for the Supply of capital to recent settlements arises from the emigrants of all classes being too lavish in their soda] expenditure within the first year of their arrival. The temptation to this expenditure, the facilities for it, -are greater according to the proportion of the total capital which is in the hands of the merchants and traders, whose very living depends upon tempting to an expenditure which, though in other cases beneficial, as tending to the comfort and happiness of civilked life, in this case is not onry unnecessary but deleterious. Even a merchant who intends eventually to farm, and whose profits therefore will be applied in a way more productive than that of others, yet secures those profits by an occupation which, after it has assisted the settlers to procure the absolute necessaries of life, becomes, one may almost say, a direct evil* and the portion of the about-to-be exported capital which he tetams'lis' "profit, to. apply It eventually to production, is comparatively small 1 thus, though his capital is and has been of a certain use to the -community, the mode which he takes to increase this capital is (after supply of necessaries) the least useful of any, nay, ■absolutely hurtful. This social-state-trans-fer system, then, has this direct unquestioned evil, that it tends to encourage needless expenditure. The very name of it in England gives the idea of the new settlement requiring all the supplies of a formed society ; whereas it does Hot require them, but is very much better without them. Men, therefore, come out at the earliest stage of settling who are required only when settling has proceeded a long way. Facilities for transfer are all-important when the transfer is mutual interchange for mutual benefit; but how when .the benefit is al] one way — when the new settlement is giving out its heart's blood for a supply of sugarplums? Facilities for transfer of such a kind are hardly to be desired. As many traders as can conduct the supplying the settlers with salt pork and flour for the first two years are all that is required. Very possibly men have bought land in new settlements who have not brought out with them sufficient capital to work their land, or to employ the labour which their pur-chase-money sent out ; but this evil is made infinitely greater by the inducements to further decrease the already too little. We are not prepared with any scheme which i shall make people live economically in a new settlement, in spite of themselves. We .have no patent restrainer to propose, which shall prevent a class of men, such as merchants and professional meir, from emigrating in greater numbers than and before they are required. If it is determined that the social expenditure must take place — if men will live as luxuriously in a new settlement as at home, or more so, and will have a little law and physic tp boot, why they must have the wherewith to buy it. It would be

ft far cheaper, and we cannot but think better plan, to wait for the enjoyment of these highly refined tastes until they had done something which shduld enable them -to pay for them without drawing upon the original fund : but if it must be so, if the sugarplum must be had at any price, and the new settlement is not to die of depletion, some means must be concocted to procure the needful supplies. Thus, if £1,000 will enable two men to come out with the necessary labour, and, living upon salt pork and flour, to put land enough under culfivation to give them all first a living and afterwards sugar-plums ; it will take £3,000 to enable the same party to do the same thing, only sucking sugar-plums from the first moment of their landing. The sugar-plums must be had — where, then, to get the odd £2,000 ? There are the absentee landowners. Is there no possibility of getting them to contribute something 1 Their purchase-money has sent ua out labour which no capital of theirs has arrived to employ. The fact of their land lying here and there uncultivated greatly increases the expense of farming and transfer "of goods to the actual settler: their very land-buying (which we have been told is a benefit to us, as increasing our emigration fund) is quite capable of becoming an actual evil. There may be too much as well as too little emigration. The author of the article in the Gazelle proposes a plan which cannot now be fully applied here — selling land at such a price, and such an application of the fund so raised, as shall make the absentees contributors not only to the emigration-of-labour fund* but also to the employ men t-of-labour fund. To a certain extent this has been done with us. Part of the college fund, part of the steam fund, part of the religious fund, may be looked on as the employment fund: but these things are distant, and the nature of our arrangement with the Company insures their application to what wejnay call unproductive labour. We have let slip ifte opportunity of -drawing on the absentees for the employment fund by arrangements on the sale of the land. We must offer them some inducement to come ■forward now, and somehow contribute to it. To call a meeting, and present a memorial to the landagents, and request them to send copies of the same to all their clients, with an application for £5 per acre to be expended on their land — this- would be a capital plan if there were the slightest probability of the £5 per acre ever arriving. They wont give us the money, that's certain ; perhaps they might lend it. A Loan Company, the shareholders and managers of which should be principally, at least, landowners in the settlements also, appears to be the most feasible plan for securing their assistance. To them the double advantage of giving greater value to their property and getting good interest on shares in the Loan Company, would induce more liberal terms than parties uninterested in the settlements would offer. It would not do either to have a Loan Company who would advance capital to any parties who could offer good security. The tendency of whatever capital there is in a new settlement is all one way, namely, outwards, through the hands of the various traders. The objects for which capital is required would not be answered by loans for the purpose of a speculation in trade, especially if it were of th« importing class : exception might be made if the loan were required for a whale fishery, but that is matter for after arrangement ; what we require is a loan fund to assist agriculturists. The advance must be made under such conditions as shall insure its application to agricultural purposes. How to insure this? — whether by advancing a sum equal to that already laid out, or that which there can be assurance will be laid out ? All this is matter of detail, not to be considered now. The important point is — that at first the loans be confined to bona fide agriculturists. The money will, until exports commence, be continually passing from

them through all the various channels, but always outwards. When we are self-sup-,p\ied, and can talk about exporting, then ri>Ae Loan Company might do much good, very likely, by lending to merchants and traders, or even professional men ; at this present importing period none. It is necessary to blink the question of who could give the highest, interest, to look at the interests of the settlement as well as the returns to the Loan Company. The body of shareholders should be landowners to do this. M jThere remains still, however, the how ?