"ONLY A VILLAGE."

New Zealander, Volume XV, Issue 1366, 21 May 1859, Page 3

"ONLY A VILLAGE."

In on article on Fire Insurance in the Southern Cross, of last week, wo find the following- sentence, which there can be no doubt has been written with a “ carefully-guarded” purpose and that purpose anything but favourable to Auckland: — Much stress has been laid on the fact that about twelve thousand pounds (a large sum for a village—and the City of Auckland is nu more) was sent out of the Province in the form of premiums paid to English Companies.., This certainly would he a largo sum for “ a village” anywhere— even m densely-populated England. We doubt much whether such an amount can be shown to he paid in insurancepremiums in any village, properly so called, or in any other than sonus surlmrban district which the rapid increase of population is causing to be absorbed in the metropolis or some of the principal manufacturing towns of Fugland,

But why the sneer at the City of Auckland as only a village? The very fact of there being properties insured to an extent realising such an amount of premiums, is of itself proof that we have long since passed the villagestage of our existence. For not only does it show that there is a fair average proportion ot property insured among us, but, looking to the j other proportions not insured, that the the total amount ot floating and realised capital and properly must have already reached a degree at least entitling us to be called “ a ton a.” lo say nothing of our Harbour—our two Piers, —our Harbour-Endowments’ reclamations now in process at a rate not oiceu surpassed in the ‘ old world,’ — and our rapidly increasing fleet of intercolonial and inter-provincial craft, comprising vessels of considerable burden: what has made our unpatriotic contemporary so suddenly oblivious of our steam -mills, our foundries, our shlp-buildingyards, our merchants’ and traders’ stores, the spacious offices of our professional men, our four newspapers—with a fifth in prospect, our numerous places of public worship, our Government House and Government Offices, our Mechanics’ Hall, Young Mens’ Association Rooms, Odd Fellows’ Hall, and Choral Society—with a “ Philharmonic” in contemplation, our numerous Public Schools, our Military Barracks, and our Town population — of itself nearly equal to that, we believe, of the respective population of five out of the seven Provinces in the Colony? In 1856, the popuUilon of "the Province of Auckland was, ex • elusive of the military and their families, 15,335, of which about one-third were resident in the City and Suburbs. The Census of 1858, we hear, will show an increase making the total between 18,000 and 19,000, of which, as before, about one-third will in all probability be resident in Auckland and Parnell. To this must be added about 700 for the military and their families; besides all the new arrivals since the Census was taken, making a total of about 21,000. That our streets are still in much the same condition as were those of Sydney and Melbourne until very recently, cannot be denied. But what is one main reason why we are thus village-like? Because the enlightened political party of which the “we ” of our contemporary was once the exponent and head, refused to pay a moderate rate for lighting and paving and sewering the town, and because the same enlightened party [(when they burked the City Council and Harbour Commission Acts) sagaciously flung away Endowments worth at least a quarter of a million, and caused them to be kept lying utterly waste and unproductive for two whole years. That we have not yet Gas lighting our streets, as many an English village has, is true. But did not our great luminary on political questions, (over which “by continuous attention” he has “ attained the mastery,”) only the other day recommend that we should not suffer Gas Works to be established in Auckland, because Mistress Science may some day or other set “ seriously” to work to out-do the Bade Light? It is evidently matter of deep grief to certain obstructives, that Auckland is daily becoming more like a City, and less like a Village, not only in its dimensions and external aspect, but in the intellectual no less than the political advancement of its inhabitants. “ Progress” of tills kind is the handwriting on the wall givin,T notice to such sciolists to glveplace to better because more practical men. lienee, before they finally take leave of the stage on which they have strutted their little hour, they do their utmost to decry and depreciate the place where once they fondly hoped they had established something like permanent sway. Hence Auckland is “ a village,”—“ no more.”