GOING FURTHER AND FARING WORSE

North Otago Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 6631, 2 May 1888, Page 3

GOING FURTHER AND FARING WORSE

Mr S. A'klnsoo, who rcsldad 1q Now Plymouth for some timo about tiro or throe ycara uinoe, la now lo Sydney, nnd writing to O*plftin Henry Ridgors, of Now Plymouth, says : "I mint tell you you are in no woroe condition thnu we are here. Eiror iiuo» I havo been from New Zealand trade hco beon ln&guishing and getting worso, Here the shops in nosr'y all the main thoroughfares of the suburbs ore inlet—or lot for a w«ck or two, and then amply for n montto or montho, 'bo rentals ia aem« being rtdueed in many etiei to le»s than hull, and ntlll unable to oeure permanent tenants. In the auburbs dffftllirig-hotiMß and cottages are nnleUblo at any prioe, and umaleiblo an well. Even in tho prinoipal stre»t of the oily — George stre«t—m»ny shops art unocoHpiflol. I belitvo there are 10,000 WnnoUou bou»6» in tho au^urbo of Bydn«y. It i« true you rniy hear of Bpioalatorn baying property in Q»or^e nod Pitt itreett in tbo l«st p*r?s it Ll2OO a foot, but that i* bremue Ihere ia to much Erijjliih capital hero, aa vr*ll aa loo^l capitalist*, who pro wanting inroitnjgota for their noooey, On than* propertlei I beird a cspluli«t and ■paculfttor state he couH borrow four fif«b« of tba 7v1200 p«r foot -it Z\ per oenlt Oar banks hero only allow 2 per oent for threo months, and 4 per cant for 12, The land here ia not nearly no good tov> grozing and dairy farming n% tb« gtntrnlity of land on tho West Oonaf, from Mok*u, Waitara, New Plymouth, Oounnke, Hawera, aad right down lo WtDgßnuJ. With the inoreanod area tinder occupntlon tho local markets are glutted with prodtam, and foreign rnflrkets •re bolng soueht I fluitod the far ftmv-d HUwirrß district, from which Syrxy h princip»lly BUpp'lod »ith buM<tr, o'ltooa, »nd bsoon, and found tho land there naa not nonrly ao good am in Tart>n*ki ; yot tbe fnrtfleri in many cifl»s b/tve pttld a rtntatl of from 10i to 35<* and 20« por ooro per annum, the fr^rhold belog valued at L2O, L3O, »nd L4O per sore, Thl« h ab< ut tbs boot land to bo met vrith^wi'hin a 100 miles of Sydney ; »nd for sny within 30 mile* from L3O toLIOO per »ere j« oskod There i* loaac superior land lo be found od tbe Hunter and Richmond rirom, bnt there, if improved, th«y a-<k a for groafer price for, although twloo xho disfanoe from Sydney. Sucely, with yoar good end cheap latxsl at L 4 to L 5 par acre, you ought to make things pny find he feble to compete with tho formers bore, who uro lendina; the produce 'oEnglaod, I think you will allow th*t I know sornotbiriK of England, where I pa«s»ol notan thirty years of taj lif«— a fsrmer'n son. Th«n Jf hare spent nearly thirty youra in diff-irent p:*.r(« of Sontb Afrien, tunaiog, ehcop farming, and gnzjng onttle, hunting olophanta, oonamencing in Zulu country, It ia ton yeara alnoe I l»ft the Oape Colony (South Africa), during which time I luve traveißod Glppaland and Vio*oria from end to end, I b»v« bwon in different parta of Taßmnn'a, and, aa yon know, I have some Ji'tle knowledge ol New ZtaUnrJ, and also New South Wjilbb. I won't find fault with the New South Wales ciimi»to, <ia 1 like it hotter tb*n any oxospt wfino part* of S>utb Afrloft ; but if 1 was some yours younger 1 ahottld eowo *nd buy u thou^aud aorei of land in Now Zoslond, and in tho West Const district, n» I am fully aware ie naust couia to fh« fore in a few years' time."— Taranuki Herald,