THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1874.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3949, 9 July 1874, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1874.

TllK manner in which Mr. Curtis'* notice of motion to borrow £200,000 for Nelson was received, indicates a very early and very unexpected beginning of the financial storm in Wellington. It will ' e remembered that last year this same question proved the most exciting of the session and that upon it the feeling was so strong as to cause a very narrow escape from a deadlock between tho two Houses. "Whatever changes may have come over the Upper House in other matters, there is no reason to believe the opinions of its members have undergone any change on this important point. In that case the deadlock, which only threatened last year, may be a fact this session and raise issues that might easily lead to a dissolution. The "cheering with which the Nelson proposal wa.s hailed implies concert with other provinces. We have no reason to suppose that, Auckland has been consulted, but we may be tolerably .sure that the opinions of Canterbury and of Otago are well understood. It is also far from impossible that the Government may have been quietly sounded and its support secured. If the latter be the case there will perhaps bo a show of opposition to Mr. Curtis at first. Then we shall hear of a compromise which the Government will accept, and thus strengthened, the conflict with the Upper House may begin. Of course it is only those behind the scenes who will understand the by-play, but there is no reason to believe that the Provincial borrowing will escape the influence of log-rolling, by which the majority of questions have been settled during tho last few years. We shall watch with interest the part taken by our own members. If the proposal be like that of last year, it will be their duty to oppose it with the most thorough union. To sanction the borrowing by provinces on the security of their land fund, would lie suicidal to Auckland and a renewed assent to the unjust appropriation of the land revenue against which wo have already protested in vain. The permission once given, the Southern provinces would not be slow in availing themselves of it and mortgaging as deeply as they could their present and prospective land sales and rents. The whole weight of the colonial debt must then fall permanently on the indirect revenue, and Auckland, from her dense population must become the readiest, the most severe and the most helpless sufferer. It is not to be supposed that this borrowing question will be settled ..nits merits alone. It will necessarily be. traversed by other issues. For instance, it has long been a favourite policy with the Southern run-holder.-;, for Government to borrow on the security of the rental of their runs. The runs, according to their view, should then bo placed in the hands of trustees represent in , .: the debenture holders. By this nivalis they would escape the cry f..r opening up the laud, which is naturally what they least desire. With trustees as landlords the tenure would be much more .secure, and their position so much the better. It is therefore not at all impossible that by skilful compromise, and the creation of a Trust Commission, the support of this powerful section of the Assembly might be .secured. Of the part likely to be taken by the Government it is impossible to speak. Probably, as in the last session, they will be found to change as parties may render desirable and pursue the .-;i;'e policy of siding with the strongest, when they find out clearly which is likely t> > be the strongest in the struggle.

Last year £22(1,000 wa.-; scut fr.'iu Auckland through tho Custom-house to Wellington. If the provincial borrowing policy be adopted we shall in a lie able to make use of this—the heart of our revenue—for thu purpose. \\ o shall be helpless and with nothing to oiler, while our neighbours will l>e dissipating at a furious pace the land fund that should bear its fair share of the bunions of the colony. Wo urgo this view upon our readers. It is common to hear of the superior energy and superior enterprise of the South. Nothing could be more unfounded. Wha.ever they have of superiority in their institutions, they owe to the monopoly for the past twenty years of the laud fund of the colony. No observant man can fail to notice that in starling the most iritling matters they rush insiim-ively to their Provincial Governments for aid. Enriched by the land fund they obnuii tins aid with unsparing hand. Auckland, thrown on her own resource.-; in the p.-st. has displayed without reliance <>n the public exchequer an enterprise unknown in the South. The leading coniiii..-:viiil institutions have always originated in Auckland. Otago has her ipiartx reef-, for example, and of the energy and enterprise of (Jtago we are accustomed to hear a good deal. lint can Otago or any other province point to works such as have been developed on our goldtield '. Her mines are utterly undeveloped and noihing but the richness of her alluvial and the- ease in working the sluicing claims have enabled her to take tho position she now enjoys. We only quote these in illustration of our contention that it is the exclusive enjoyment of the land revenue and that alone which imparts to the South the life and the vigour of which we lutir so much. The error of ISfiG has b<>rne its fruits to the present time : but ihe injustice has grown so gross and pahi;'ble that it cannot in its present shape endure much longer. Is it to take the new shape of provincial borrowing? If so, we shall look to find our members united as one man against it. We argue the question now on provincial grounds only, because we are satis lied from the cheering that accompanied Mr. Curtis's notice of motion that it is on provincial gr-miuls the whole question will be settled. JJut there areother grave considerations which cannot, as the discussi'iii advances, be neglected. Among them not the least important will be how such a diversion of a very large portion of the reveiiva; of tho colony may be regarded. If the Ministry do their duty this will be the aspect of the question to which they will keep their attention most closely iixed and not, in our present condition, sulior any action that may cast the faintest shadow on the public credit on which their policy so largely depends.

The New Zealand liisiipiico Cniu'.v.iiiy held its twunty-Sv.' i i.r'ii i, i : f-\ ..-:;rly meeting yesterday, when tho report

having been read was adopted nem. con. The losses during the half-year have been exceptionally heavy, yet after making full provision for them and for subsequent losses also up to so late a period as the 30th June, there remained the respectable balance of £2G,779 available for division ; the company resolvedupontheusual moderate dividend of 10 per cent., which has absorbed £5000, and the balance of £21,179 has been carried forward to the next halfyear. As was fairly remarked at the meeting, the progress of the company has been most satisfactory ; it began business with a paid-up capital of less than £5000, and now they have upwards of £200,000 of invested funds. All tliis has accrued from profits, and during this period of accumulation the shareholders have regularly received their 10 per cent, per annum upon these accumulations. It was supposed some short, time since that this company had reached the climax of its prosperity, and when the new local offices were started there were not wanting prophets who predicted evil : but the result has been just the opposite to those forebodings. The establishment of the new offices has not in the slightest degree retarded the progress of this company. During the last half-year the premiums taken amount to the large sum of £V>3,2l<>, being the largest amount taken in any previous half-year. This sum shews an increase upon the corresponding six months of 1873 of £11,495, and an increase of £18,ij'J0 on the half-year ending 30th November, 1573. These results are surprising, and speak well for the confidence which the public evidently repose in the institution, and they are highly creditable to the foresight and enterprise of the manager of the company. We observe that the directors contemplate a still further increase of business and extension of the company's operations, and they look to the future with confidence. They are about to propose rtn increase of capital, a portion of the new stock to be offered to the public (new shai eholders) on terms that will bear favourable comparison with the stocks of existing institutions now in the market. We refer with pleasure to these facts and figures, because this was one of our first local joint stock enterprises, and from it sprang many others of equal importance* to New Zealand ; none, however, have exceeded it in success. The directors of this company have during the past 13 years of its existence shewn their capacity to manage their affairs, and the results achieved shew quite plainly that local capital and ability are quite equal to our requirements.

Amonc the many interesting Parliamentary papers furnished us by the Government printer arc copies of letters to sundry persons from the Agent-General in re the matter of immigration. Some of these are instructive, as shewing how the sub-agents have been allowed to regulate their own salaries and travelling charge--, while, according to their own confession, they have been doing nothing to merit the payment of them. The following two Communications will convey smile faint idea of hew the moi'ey goes which has been vnted tor immigration purposes. Addressing Mr. Se.iton, at Glasgow, Dr. Featherston writes : "It will be in your recollection that both you and Mr. Bird) constantly represented to me that you had been promised a salary of £'250 each, with travelling allowances for the whole year at the rate of £1 per diem ; and that upon this representation, I ultimately agreed to carry "ut the engagement which you alleged had been entered into before yon came home. Since that arrangement was made, however, it appears that you have altogether given up travelling, and subsided into a local "agent in Glasgow, drawing, nevertheless, the full travelling allowance of fc'l per diem. In your various reports you confess that no fruits are visible as the results of your labours; and, as you will learn by the extract from the Hon. Mr. O'Rorke's memorandum of February loth, already forwarded to you, the .Minister of l.a:uls and Immigration complains that the services rendered by you appear to him altogether disproportionate to the expenditure incurred in your pay and travelling allowance. • Iso fully concur in the opinions expressed, both by yourself and by the (Government, that I readily accede to the request conveyed in your letter of the "JStli instant, to relieve you altogether of vour present duties, and I propose, therefore, that your services shall be dispensed with on and after the 31st of Ma\\ I have to reijuest that during the ensuing month you will devote yourself exclusively to the duty of procuring the emigrants applied for by Mr. Burns, of Otago. You will be entitled to an allowance to cover the cost of your return passage to Xew Zealand, in terms of previous correspondence. Before concluding, I may add. that while these peripatetic agents have been employed in Scotland, in addition to eighty local subagents. I tind that during the past year, ending March 31, 1573, the number of emigrants despatched, from Scotland amounts to only 540 ; and there can be no doubt that fully nine-tenths of these have been obtained through the exertions of the local agents." Following on this is the subjoined communication to Mr. J. Birch :—" I have the honor to forward herewith, for your information, extract from a memorandum received by the last mail from the colony. 1 need hardly say that the terms of this memorandum place it entirely out of my pover to pay you more than ISs per diem from tile Ist of the present month. Indeed it is by no means impossible that the Government may call upon you to refund the amount which has been paid to yon in excess of what, according to the Hon. Mr. O'Lloiicc's memorandum, it was the intention of the (lovcniment you should receive. In the meantime, as the (Government have east upon me the responsibility of saying whether your services shall be retaiued or not, I have to reijuest that you will without delay report to me how

ytui are at present engaged, and what sue cess is attending j-our eflorts. to secure emigrants fur the colony."'

Glf.n. —I can call spirits from the vsuty deep. HuT.--\Vliy, so can I, or so can any man. But will tliuy come when you do call them .-

It is ijuitu possible the; Government may call upon this gentleman to refund sums paid to him in excess, but will he respond '■ Wt trow not. Xo one knows this better than Dr. Featherston, unless indeed the gentleman himself should he be called on to refund.

A pec i-Li ah disease, designated phylloxera, has broken out amongst the vineyards of the Continent, for which no cure lias yet been discovered. The result will be serious to the large populations that derive their subsistence from the profits of vine-growing, and prices of wine must advance considerably if a remedy for the disease is not speedily discovered. With a view to preventing the spread of this disease to Victoria, the Melbourne Anju--i has advised the absolute prohibition of the importation of all kinds of vines to the Australian colonies from the Continent. In support of this it quotes a letter appearing in a recent number of the London Wine Trade Jtf.rirw which arrived by last mail, from Montpellier,. the chief toTru of the department of Herault, juid which is reproduced in < .r/< ii-o, as shewing, tho magnitude of the disasters caused by the phylloxera. The two departments, Vancluse and Bouehes du Khone, where the vines are said to be now destroyed, counted in IiJGS li") 0,000 acres of vines, producing a yearly average of thirty-four millions of gallons. Herault, which now seems to be doomed to a similar fate, is of the whole of France the department where the vine is mo«t extensively planted, and where it has given hitherto the most unparalleled returns. Dr. Guyot's statistics give to Herault 300,000 acres of vineyards, and a yearly produce of 19S millions of gallons of wine. The following is the letter in ijuestion on the phylloxera and its ravages : —" It is now evident that we can rely neither upon insecticides nor upon high manuring

to stay the ravages o£ this indestructible insect. Both have been extensively tried in all directions on various soils, and under all sorts of conditions, and the result has proved that they have utterly failed, and it is evident that the time is fast approaching -when the fate of our neighbours of the Vaucluse and of the Bouches du Rhone will be ours. The vine is the mainstay of the Herault, and its destruction -will be a public calamity, which will more or less affect every inhabitant. It will, moreover, aflect the public revenue, for»wine is one of those products on which in times of need the Government finds it most convenient to lay additional burdens. It therefore behoves the Government to assist us in every possible way, and this it can do to some extent by promoting canalisation, for submersion is the only remedy which has yet proved in any way efficacious in arresting the progress of the enemy. It is truo we have one other resource — the introduction of American stocks, of which, according to the report of Mr. Planchon, there are some which resist the attacks of the insect; but then there is the chance of their produce not suiting our tastes or our markets, in which case they would have to be grafted with other varieties : but many years must elapse before these would come to perfection, and how is our small viticulturist to exist in the interim V Few would resort to this alternative, and, in any event, the production of wine would for many years be greatly reduced. We await the month of May with the greatest anxiety, and if our worst fears should then lie realised, we may without exaggeration predict that in two years nothing but the wrecks of our noble vineyards will remain to us."

We commend our special telegraphic correspondent's communication to the approval uf readers. It is at once terse, graphic, and comprehensive. It is a, nvdium in jutri-o message. Nothing omitted, ami nothing superlfuous. It may be considered as taking for granted that something is to be done which ir.ay never be done. Hut there is ;•. suave assurance about the message which begets confidence and relieves or.e of all doubts. "Russell of Auckland will go to the Upper Hfluse." We have yet tn learn whether this is likely to be the case. Perhaps " Russell of Auckland" may have some thing to say on his own behalf respecting the arrangement. It takestwo at least to make a contract, even although it bo a Ooverument one. •' Featherston has to go." Fev.there are will be sorry to learn Vis. But what is to be done with the Doctor when he goes and then comes? "The Premier hurries on events by getting his financial statement done in a short time." So far v<; our knowledge of the Premier gots he is never in a hurry himse ,r , but has an aptitude for hurrying others when he allows his work to get to the rear of him. " I believe Government will burke provincial borrowing and pawn provincial forests" —than both of which we think there is nothing more likely. But there will be a good deal of talk before the matter is allowed to go to the House.

It is certain that a better or more useful lot of immigants have never lauded on our shores than those brought by the Queen of Xations. This we may unhesitatingly assort is altogether due to the qualifications possessed by Mr. Samuel Cochrane to carry out the duties lie undertook to fulfil. He went where men and women were most likely to be obtained suitable to the requirements of the eolouy, and from these he made his selection with much care and great judgment. The province has to thank Mr. Cochrane for a class of immigrants 01 which we could only wish we hail many like. Had the Agent-General or Colonial Government, when making their appointment, selected for their agents men of Mr. Coehranes ex-

perience, capability, and trustworthiness, we should not have had the provinces of the colony inundated with immigrants unsuitable for them.

Ik the Legislative Council last night, Mr. "Water-house, in the discussion on the address in reply, made a heavy onslaught upon the Government. He prophesied that a crash must come, and that at no distant date. The telegram is so obscure as to the indebtedness of the colony that we refrain from inakin? ai:v comment until Mr. "Waterhouse's

speech c.-.nes to us in a more intelligible shape.