The New Zealand Herald. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1869.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1842, 9 December 1869, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1869.

SI'EUTK.UUK AGK.VDO. Hive evcrv man thino oar, but tow thy voico; Take cadi man's censure. but reserve thy Judjjiennt This above all,—To thino own self be true And it must follow, ns ths niglit tlio day, Thou cans't not tliou bo false to any man."

Amongst tlio promises to which candidates seeking seats in the Provincial Council have been asked to pledge themselves, is the erection of a market place in Auckland. It is noticeable that this pledge has been exacted in country districts only, and it is, we suppose, because the town has never cared to exert itself in the matter that we owe the fact that a city so large as Auckland is should be without a public market. Yet this want of a public market in Auckland is a matter of great loss to the farmer. "We are constantly being told that farming in New Zealand will not pay, and amongst the reasons given is the low price obtainable for produce ; yet one of the chief causes of depression in price is the want of a public market where seller and buyer may meet, and the middleman's or trader's profit be saved to the

producer. There is scarcely a settler but feels bitterly this want, and it is only a wonder to us that it has never been supplied. There is not a town in the United Kingdom of the size and importance of Auckland which has not its weekly corn and produce and cattle market. Even the necessity for a market lias not escaped the notice of those who laid out the city, for we find an ample reserve placed aside for it. Tct this reserve has never been utilised for the purpose intended. Our country settlers seem, however, to be waking up to the necessity of reform in this matter, and wo arc glad to find it is so. At present it is far easier to grow produce than to dispose of it to advantage, and this chiefly because without a market tho two principal parties concerned do not come together in tho matter. The only remedy for this is a corn market, in which the bona fide buyer and seller would be brought together, and the middleman be altogether done away with. If the profits made in everj' transaction by the latter could be added to the price obtained by the producer, an impetus would be given to production which would benefit alike both town and country. As it is, on the sale of a bushel of grain the proportion of profit made by the trader is out of all proportion when compared with the difference be! ween the risk and cost run by himself and the producer. The farmer labours and toils for twelve whole months, runs the hazard of grubs, blight, weather, and a host of other dangers, and must by the very nature of his occupation receive only once a year auy return for his labour aud the capital which he has invested in his' land. The trader runs none of these risks, but turning his money over and over again for the one transaction of the farmer, reduces the gross proceeds of the latter perhaps thirty per cent, on account of his share in the transaction.

Then, too, if a country settlor requires a pared of grain and cannot procure it from any of his immediate neighbours, he is, under the present system, driven to seek it from some Auckland storekeeper, whereas, if there were an established market in Auckland he would be able at once to find the vendor, not in the person of some middleman, but in that of the grower himself, from whom, if he required the grain for seed, he could obtain the necessary information —which he could not from the other—as to the variety, the nature of the soil on which it was grown; whether early or late sown; and could have the guarantee of a respectable man that the produce was one variety and growth, and not a mixture bought and stored from a dozen different sources. Another great advantage would be the stimulus given to farmers to clean and dress their gram, a matter much neglected now where grain is simply grain, and the difference of price between the well and ill-dressed very little. Then, too, if we had a public market, we should have a regular and reliable weekly return of the prices of different kinds of produce. There is none at present, and much heartburning and angry leeling is often raised amongst neighbours in country districts in selling amongst themselves, when they come to a settlement, for want of an authentic decision on this head. At home the clerk of the market is authorised to exact from every purchaser an account of all purchases contracted by him, for public information. But if a building fitted for a corn exchange erected upon the Market Reserve would be a benefit to the upcountry producer, in respect to tfie sale of grain and other produce; it would be of even greater direct benefit to the settlers within easier distance of the town, and to the citizens themselves. The building would be required but once a week as a com market, and would be on other days available'as a market for vegetables, fish, poultry, and other produce. House-keepers in Auckland would find it of no small advantage to be brought into direct communication as purchasers of vegetables and fruit with the producers, and the latter would find a ready and a better sale for their goods. W"e trust that another session of the Provincial Council will not be allowed to pass without some stepa being taken to utilise the present Market Eeserve. Had we a Corporation, with the extended powers that Corporations else-

where possess, the regulation I ot the market; would probably fall under the control of that body, and such buildings as were required would bo made a charge upon the city. It would perhaps be fairer to all that the necessary cost of the first establishment of a market should fall on the province at largo, inasmuch as town and country would be alike benefited by it. The after loss or profit of carrying it on might be very well left to the city. There is another matter, too, which is connected with the question of the market, and one which caused some little discussion and excitement a couple of years a^o —the alteration of the market day from Saturday to some other day in the week. At that time we earnestly recommended tl\e alteration. There are many and obvious reasons why this change should be made, and when the question for a market for Auckland again crops up, the minor one of fixing a day convenient to all will, we trust, not be forgotten.