The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 274, 28 September 1864, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1864.

fiPECTEMUB. AGENDO. " Give every man thino ear, but few thy voice: Take each nmn'n censure, but reserve thy judgment. This above nil,—To thine owmaelf bo true; And it must follow, as tho night tho day, Thou canst not tlicu bo falso to anj' man."

The City Board, it is understood, will go to the Provincial Council for very considerably extended powers to enable them to take away some of the reproaches that now can be so justly laid against the town of Auckland. It is quite evident that an entirely new system of management and procedure must be introduced into our municipal Government. It has hitherto been as signal a failure in its way as the government of the Natives ; and that failure lias sprung from the same, source, vi 7.: afotal disregard of first principles that are as applicable to government in one part of the world as in another. Old world maxims, and old world modes of procedure, 1 have been totally east to the winds, and the ; result is a complete shipwreck", and a tola] failure of the new institutions in both eases. The unrulv Natives were not to be whipped > for being naughfy boys, and fold the next thrashing would be a good deal , more severe than tho last, but were coaxed to bo good by the usual Imperial lon lon a, a , constant supply of which was kept on hand ; in the Native Office. The City of Auckland 1 went on quite as foolishly in if s way. 111- , stead of fho streets being formed with some attention to regularity and utility ; instead of a full and copious supply of wafer being obtained : instead of sewering and surface , drainage being commenced with the com- " mencenient of the city, and extended as the , eitv enlarged, every man did that which was ' right in his own eyes, and, as be considered, for his own inferesfs, and the consequence is that with which we are too , familiar. Tho time has now come, however, when 1 this system must of necessity be changed. I AVe arc now at that stage of our growth and existence when an entire change of opcra- , tions is imperatively demanded. The Area-' • dian days of freedom from taxation are as • muchathingof 1 hep.'.st as 1 he Poyal Exchange ' hotel that once graced Shorthand-street, and served at least as a plaster to bide from 1 public view the festering sores, fho reeking , poisonous filth, that has long been quiet ly [ distilling its odours of sickness and deaf h. J unknown to those who venture not into our , " back' shims." It is to be 1 rusted that. , with the aid of their Engineer, the Board will be able to lay before the Provincial Council a comprehensive measure, calculated to deal even-handed justice to all. and to remove from us the stigma, of being both a dirty and an unhealthy town. But they f must begin and work from general principles, and those principles must be laid down and carried out without being bent to suit private interests, to the public injury. AVe should certainly think it very highly desirable ■ that, the practice of giving publicity to anv 1 new measure to be proposed, vitally affect ing , the public health, the public convenience, and the public purse so much, should be - adhered to here. AVhether the coming Bill • be introduced into the Council by the City Board or the Executive, it could certainly stand a chance of being improved by having its provisions subjected to a thorough discussion through the press. Many minds ' would then be brought to bear upon the subject, many sugestions of an important character might thus be made, and jarring incidents smoothed down and reconciled by a full and fair discussion. The authors and promoters of the bill would liiul 1 heir way considerably smoothed, they would see it more clearly before them; the}' would get at the mind ot the various * sect ions of the community ; and thus having the dangers and intricacies of the channel in which they were sailing brought clearly before tliem, and the breakers a head plainly visible, they might so modify or change their course, if needed, as to be enabled safely to > navigate their new craft, through the dangers that it will have undoubtedly fo pass. For we must warn them that they'may possibly meet with considerable opposition from parties who suffer comparatively little directly from the evils that call so loudly for a remedy, and which press so sorely and heavily upon others. The subject really resolves if.self under three heads, two of which are so interwoven one with the other that they must form part of one Bill; these are, street format ion and sewerage ; the third, viz., AVater-works, will require a distinct measure. The merest tyro as JlO looks around our streets must be convinced of two things, first, that a very large amount ot money requires to be spent upon them, and secondly, that in very many streets there are many vacant allotments. The latter are constantly increasing in value by the improvements made by the adjoining inhabi- i tants. Those allotments ought to be treated 1 exactly in the same way as if houses were built upon them. Every loot of hind in ; every, street within the city boundary must 1 bear its full share, —pro rata according to ' value—of city taxation. This is simple jus- 1 tice, and must not be allowed to be set on < one side. But the taxes that are raised from < roadless, sewerless property in one part: of 1 the town, must not be taken and expended { for another part of it. The City must not c only be divided into wards for purposes of i representation, but also for purposes of tax- ■\ ation. The rates collected from each of these 1 wards should be kept distinct so far as book- \ keeping is concerned. This is a simple and c very easy matter, and the expenditure being 1 likewise kejit distinct, which the contract system of performing the work will render a easy, a great deal of jealousy and recrimina- v tion will be removed ; and the representation j of the different wards will have something j. tangible and nicely defined to look after. AVe p believe the inauguration of these general t principles wil remove a very great deal of t apathy and opposition to the improvement f<

that now exists, from the more fact tliat a resident of an ouilying suburb oi' the city may pav taxes for years, and not have one penny lie so pays spent in nny proper manner in his neighbourhood. The centre of the Town should not swallow up all the taxes raised; the money of the rate-payers should not be spent in carting tons of clay into Queen-street with some insane notion that a street can ever be formed of clay and garden soil. These " sinking funds" for the rate-payers' money will soon be left alcno, if the rate-payers themselves will insist that the money raised in every particular district shall be expended as nearly as possible in that district. And now is the time for them to let their voice and their determination be heard. If they allow it to pass unheeded by them, thoy wiil deserve the evil consequences that will most assuredly flow from their neglect. For they will see the taxes paid by them applied in some fanciful manner to carry out the vagaries of utterly incompetent men, and the property for whose benefit they pay rates will lie left as it is now, a shame and a disgrace both to rate-payers, City Board, City Engineers, and all concerned. If they quietly allow the chain to be rivet!ed round their legs, they will have no good reason to complain. The evils we have pointed out will increase year by year and day by day, and every day's neglect, and every pound of liioney wasted in the disgraceful manner in which it has long been wasted, will only add to future troubles, and increase ten-fold the future expenses that will have 1o"bc borne in i undoing worse than useless work on which such large sums of money have so long been vainly and most foolishly expended. ]n a future article we shall go more into details and show what ought and must be done, giving a sis etch of various clauses that should form a portion of the Sanitary Act, so much required. AVe would therefore now only add, that in the cases of those streets which'"form the municipal boundary, the owners of the land abutting on what we may call the provincial side of these strcels should be taxed in precisely the same manner as those who live in the City boundaiy. The street is equally l'or their use, "their property is equally benefited by it, and their purses ought to be equally opened, and made to pay their proper share of Ihe improvement. Djcsi'i'tj-: the attempts made to thwart the will of the Assembly and t lie action of the Ministry the immediate prospects of the Province at the present time are of a character which, under judicious management, cannot fail to afford satisfaction to all who desire 1o witness its welfare. The back of the King Movement, and all such disturbing causes originating in Maori lawlessness and bounce, being so far broken as to give reasonable assurance that peacc on a sound foundation may (if no further obstacles are Ihrown in the way of the General and Ihe Ministry in finally crushing out the rebellion in Taranaki) at length be established in lliis part of New Zealand, we can now again begin to apply ourselves as heretofore to the pursuits of quiet industry. That long-standing threat to colonists and colonisation—the AVaikato country, Iho land of Maori mvstery and domination, and the hot-bed of Maori sedition, has been penetrated and subdued, and that in despite of more potent opposition than Maori tomahawks and tire-arms, so that instead of exercising, as heretofore, only a withering and blighting influence, that extensive district is now destined to prove one of the most prominent causes in promoting our future prosperity. There needs only in addition, an enterprising population and a liberal government to develope the unrivalled resources of this splendid country, to render it all lliat the highest ambition could desire,— Uniit, gloiious, nn<l froe, I'iTst gom of thu occnr, first itlu of the sea. AVe believe we are not; a whit; too poetical in indulging in these trlowing anticipations AVe have an' extensive country, rich in mineral and agricultural wealth, abounding with facilities for manufacturing pursuits; an extensive seaboard studded with numerous and excellent harbours, with many navigable rivers watering fertile district's and affording a heavy and economical transit to the centres of trade and commerce, and to crown all these advantages wo are blest with one of the finest climates, without e.xception, to be found in cither hemisphere. AVe have neither extremes of heat or cold, we have neither Hood nor drought, we have j neither reptile nor beast; of prey to contend with. Our seasons also are equal and moderate, and ma)' be relied on almost to a certainty, even on a very short; average of years. These are natural advantages of no ordinary kind, and when we add that extensive tracts of this desirable region are now | open to lion/I ft tic and profitable occupation, a portion already sold, we think that we have said all that' is necessary, to present; a clear and concise view of the present actual position of this metropolitan Province of New Zealand. Our numerous resources have frequently been spoken of and adequately described Incompetent and practical men, whose scienf ific ability is unquestionable, to say nothing of what has actually been performed in this direction through the employment of capital and labour. Put the presence of these latter is now the great want of New Zealand, and of this Province in particular. Not that we have not men of capital amongst us both willing and eager to invest in wliatc •exwould tend to dcvelope our rich natural resources. Put the want of practical experience in mining operations, and in the matter of the requisite plant.- and machinery, as also the absence in a large measure of ready ( and eliieient superintendence for the sale working of this class of enterprise, deters many irom entering upon its risks. This disadvantage, we firmly believe, is but a question of time. The influx of population < now immediately looked for, will, in itself, j i go a great way toward the removal of this i 1 obstruction, as it must necessarily carry with 1 it both capital and experience, In this view, a we believe, the time for the profitable invest- j ment of capital 011 a large scale in the de- I velopmcnt of our mineral wealth —coal, iron, I copper, silver, and gold, and other metals of 1 i-omincrce, is by 110 means far distant. Our I goJd-fields, in particular, are yet destined to i ifford to this Province sources of unsurpassed wealth. Coromandel has never yet had c justice done it cither in the extent of its 1 prospecting, or in the labour anil capital em- t ployed, but far beyond its utmost resources .ho Valley of the Thames, an extensive <-' :raet of available country recently v orfeited by its Native owners, and now, f

we believe, only awaiting the fiat of' the Governor to be taken possession of presents one of the most promising alluvial gold iields anywhere to be met with in New Zealand. Nothing but Sir George Grey's scruples in regard to this land, lately the seat of tho most disorderly and unprincipled of the rebel Maoris, have prevented civilization, law, and order from being carried into these districts. AVe may yet hope to sec it thrown open to prospecting, and the result, from all that we have heard of its rich auriferous character, can, we think, scarcely be doubted. Jf oncc the diggers of Dunedin and Australia possessed ocular demonstration of the richness of its auriferous nature, licit her Sir George Grey nor all the means at his command would prevent them Irom occupying it. Independent, however, of these sources of wealth, the more legitimate occupation of the great masses of a country's population, commerce, and the cultivation of the soil, will now have opened up to them in this Province every possible facility and encouragement. There is plenty of good land to be obtained, and on reasonable terms, whether by purchase or under Government emigration sanction. Full information 011 these points has recently been published by us,and can readily be obtained, either in Auckland, or from the newly-appointed emigration agents throughout Great Britain. Ihe agriculturalist and the. farmer coinprise a class of colonists hitherto almost unknown in New Zealand. It has only been in connection with cattle breeding, or sheep farming 011 a limited scale, that these pursuits have, in general, been found to repay the toil and labour necessary to be expended oil them This, however, isnot owiugto any peculiarity of either soil or climate, but chiefly to the high rate of wages which almost invariably has prevailed in this country. Lnder other circumstances we see 110 reason whatever why purely agricultural pursuits might not be made as remunerative and profitable in New Zealand as in South Australia, Tasmania, or New South AVales. In the first-mentioned Colony, now celebrated throughout tho southern hemisphere, and even in Europe itself", for its abundant yield ot cereals »f all kinds, we have reason to believe that the quality of the land is about the last and least of all the causes which go to produce this result. Tho main cause toward the success of that colonv as a wheatproducing. country is to be found in its system oi small farming, where land and all its fertilizing agencies for enriching it arc economised, and where a careful, enlightened, and painstaking process of agriculture, 011 a limited scale, is diligently and perseveringly pursued. The German element in the South Australian population has much to do with this result. There is an amount of industry exhibited by these people, particularly in the first days of their Colonial life, and a systematic adaptation ot their wants and necessities and modes of living to the actual circumstances of their position, which has a powerful influence upon their success, and which we feel assured would be well worthy ol imitation on the part of many an AngloSaxon emigrant. Economy, temperance, and industry cannot fail to produce in New Zealand, what similar habits have so signally secured in South Australia, and, we believe, in far higher proportion to the foil and labour expended. in this Province, however, both cattle rearing and slieep fanning are profitable pursuits, and whether in conjunction with ordinary farm operations or without, present at the present time a wide field for profitable investment. AVe believe the day is not far (.listant when the importation into this country of cattle from New South AVales, and of wheat and flour from South Australia and California, will be a speculation so little profitable to the merchant as would be the consignment of coal to Newcastle. AVe do not, however, believe in a pauper settlement of small fanners. A mixture of men of capital should be introduced, if possible, with this class of emigrants, and settled in their midst, who, occupying larger (but not too large) estates, would be in a position I to give limited employment to less extensive proprietors, and also afford facilities for the procuring of small supplies of stock and seed in exchange for labour. This would afford mutual benefit, and could .not fail to fell upon the gradual and steady prosperity of ihe community. A\ e are very desirous of seeing such a system more recognised and encouraged by tiie Government. In tho new settlements on the AVaikato, and at Tauranga, and we trust Ore long oil the Thames also, we hope to see this plan carried out. AVe must have not only a large number of small farmers located on their limited allotments, but every facility should be afforded these people to add to flie area- of their embryo estates, always to the extent of their ability to cultivate it successfully, while men of moderate capital should be encouraged as Imna Jidc colonists to settle in their midst. This we believe to be essential, as much to material as to social prosperity; it is only through sojiie_ such system that tone and character will be given to a district, and that it will be saved from sinking prematurely to the level of a Yankee back-wood settlement. Of the ultimate prosperity of this Province, as a whole, and. of the several settlements 011 the AVaikato in particular, there cannot be a doubt. Already an immense amount of progress has been effected through the activity of the Government ariS its employees, and ere the coming summer has passed away, we fully anticipate that this beautiful territory throughout will present rine busy scene of bustling activity and life.