THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1875.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4272, 23 July 1875, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1875.

TnE correspondence respecting the negotiation of the last loan of £4,000,000 will be read with deep interest. It jives a clear insight into the negotiate* themselves, into the nett amount reieSkV and into the disputes attending th* tion which liavo occurred between Sir Julius Vogel and the Crown Agents, Sargeant and Julyan, with whom and with Dr. Featlierston, Sir Julius has been at issuo in this matter. The simple facts aro plain enough. The Crown agents, the Agent-General, Mid Sir Julius were appointed by Order in Council joint commissioners for negotiating tlio loan. All parties were igreed that it would bo useless to put it on the market in the usual way.

The Crown agents and Dr. Featherston state that they were informed the liabilities of the colony were such as to render it advisable the whole amount should bo sold at one operation. They wero awaro that a portion of the previous issue was still in the hands of speculators and that the demand for our securities wa3 of a very limited character. It was hopeless therefore to expect the market could absorb so large an amount at once, and there was 110 alternative but to rosort either to a contractor or to a syndicate. The former we take to be a firm engaging to do its boat that the loan shall realise a certain price, and the latter a number of contractors united for the same purpose. In either case the subscribers would bo under the disadvantage that after their applications had been met the balance might be put or the market by the contractor or by the syndicate at a lower price. "To resorl to either of these expensive and by nc no means popular agencies," say th< Crown Agents and the Agent-General " was a step nothing could have justifiee but the absolute necessity of raisin" a least double the amount the public weri prepared to lend." They would havi preferred the syndicate, and they refusec .Rothschild's first offer of 88 nett, but fount "asyndicato unwilling to guarantee ai acceptable price for moro than half the amount required." They had consequenth to re-open negotiations with Rothschilds and eventually closed with them at 9] nett—the debentures to be at 4i per ccnt and to be redeemed in not less~than fiv< nor more than thirty years from lsl March, 1875. Rothschilds allotted the whole four millions, and the deposits or allotment wero paid to the credit of the colony at once. Out of them £280 OCX was paid to the Bank of Englanc to repay advances made on ° the security of the £800,000 of deben tures guaranteed by tho Imperial Go vernment and placed with the bank as security for advances, and a furthei £380,000 was appropriated to same pur' poao. Thej £800,000 is therefore released and is availablo as a security for furthei advances when required. They aro 01 opinion that by negotiating tho loan ir two parts they could have appealed direct to the public in the usual way, " with a very considerable saving to the Colonial exchequer and with tho probable advantage that only a comparatively small portion of tho loan would have fallen intc the hands of speculators." They add thai " reports current in well informed circles incline us to believe that the greatei part of tlio loan is now held on speculation and will for a long time to come be pressed upon tho market whenever remunerative sales can be made." This opinior is certainly strengthened by tho fact tc which they do not advert, that tho loar went down to a discount after allotmenl and that the Stock Exchange refuced t< regard it as in tho hands of the publie and therefore entitled to quotation on its lists. They warn tho Government to ab stain from any attempt to place furthe: loans on the market and refer to th< rapid depreciation in our securities ti

warrant the advice. On the Ist February !, the market price was 97. The negotiation _ of this loan reduced tho price to 93 while the loans at of tho Capo Colony were, we observe, at 98. Tho depreciation could not therefore bo due to any change in the >• general market. They believe the price obtained to be favourable under tho circumstances and it was no doubt a good il prico considering tho necessity of obtaini, ing tho money. Still tho fact of rapid 7 and steady depreciation is undoubted. In January last year after, deducting commissions, tho colony received £97 4s 2d per cent, for half a million _ negotiated. In May of tho same year, a million and a-half netted • n\nety-jivc pounds Jou* shillings and twopence, and tho last :oan only netts 91. So speak tho Agent-General and the Crown agents, winding up their report with the expression of regret that Mr. "V ogel so far diflers from their views as to decline signing the report, and to liavo determined to mako a separate one for , himself. Sir Julius, in his separate report, complains bitterly of tho AgentGeneral for having concurred with Julyan and Sargeant. Uo charges the latter with having so conducted the loan with Rothschilds as to secure its failuro from a " natural reluctance felt by those interested in colonial loans to seeing such a house as Rothschilds embarking in the business. lie took up the negotiations and with " Featheraton's assistanco carried them to a result which those persons who liavo spoken to me on tho subject have told they considered a brilliant success." He adds, " I was under tho impression Featherston coincided with me, and I was amazed at seeing his signature to tho letter referred to." Ho believes the loan would have failed through a syndicate and calls tho meeting of the agents at which tho report was framed " a secret conclave," as, although they submitted the report to liini they did not invite him to attend the meeting

at which it was drawn up. Ho says that Rothschilds authorise him to say "the wholo loan of four millions was moro than fully applied for, and wo could have given the whole loan away and not kept sixpence for ourselves. Wo have made 1700 allotments and never had a better list of subscribers. Several banks and • insurance companies subscribed largely, and wo have every reason to think they will hold the stock as an" investment. ' The prieo to the public is 93 and Rothschilds receives 2 per cent., reducing the nett return to 91. Rothschilds did not buy but they guaranteed the salo of the wholo loan, namely tlireo millions at onco and one million within twelvo months. Respecting the depreciation of our debentures the figures of Sir Julius agreo generally witli those of the Crown agents and Agent-General. "I niay," in conclusion, says Sir Julius, "expressthe hope that it will be some time before it will necessary for the Government again t» have recourse to the money market and that by that time New Zealand securities will have very much increased m value." So ends this lengthy correapondenco. Tho importance of the subject will command general attention but wo aro bound to confess after carefully perusing this correspondence rtr' W ° canno ' l seo what solid point of difference there ia between tho commissioners. In the main facts all agree. The Agent-General and the Crown Agents dcclaro tho loan a successful negotiation under the circumstances. But they bring into strong relief tlio steady depreciation of our stock in the London market and warn the colony not to expect new loans for tho present. Sir Julius Vogel does the same, and unless it be that he considers tho other commissioners have gono too fully into tho case and laid too much stress on this very important point, we cannot conceivo what .are the grounds of dissent and why our commissioners should have wound up what His Excellency's speech styles "a successful negotiation" by this unusually bitter correspondence.

The discovery of tho Victorian and New South Wales goldfields brought into existence in the Australian colonies a new order of men. These were they who nuide gold mining their sole pursuit. From that day to the present the digger has followed hia calling, leaving on the

shortest notice one locality to follow upon a "rush" to some other. Oftentimes forsaking good payable claims and incurring many dangers and privations, too frequently only to find that they would have been more profitably employed had they remained on the ground they had given up,—the gold miner's pursuit, as a general rule, is one of a long-continued, broken career—working in Victoria this month, in New South Wale 3 another, and in New Zealand upon the first report of a new "find." The genuine digger would be ready, upon the shortest notice, to follow on theroute to the Arctic regions should the expedition which lately started upon a voyage of discovery to the North Pole return with the news that auriferous quartz had been discovered between the clefts of an iceberg. Why is the miner a wanderer in the face of the earth 1 His nature, affections, and instincts are the same as his fellow-men. He would like to marry and "settle down." He would prefer to be a dweller in his comfortable homestead, and become a resident among residents. He would, in fine, like to be as other men are. And the reason why he is not is because the law will not permit him. Goldfields Acts with their amendments ; Goldfields Regulations with their infinity of complications ; and Goldfields officials lording overall, will not allow him. " Pay an annual licence," says the the law, "and you may scratch over, and dig and search for gold in any province in which you may happen to find it; but the land shall not be yours. There are so many feet long by so many feet broad for you and your mate 3 ; but should you leave it unworked for so many hours, be the ground rich or poor, or your absence from it ever so urgent, any other man or set of men may 'jump* your claim. It matters not how much labour you have given ; how many long weeks you have searched before you have found ; how much you have outlaid, but you must subject yourself to the decision of a Warden, only too often an interested person, and not unfrequently an unjust, tyrannical, domineering official. If a stronger party jumps your claim and you appeal to the authorities, it is quite the chances of heads or tails whether you arc allowed to retain your right or give it up." Thisrelatesonlyto ourgoldindustry ; for if a man desire to purchase a section of land to work it for coal, or copper, or tin, or iron, or for some valuablo earth, there i 3 no difficulty in accomplishing such an end. But should he ask to buy a piece of presumedly auriferous land for a term of years, or to purchase it in fee simple to him and to his heirs for ever, the thing is out of tho question. And to it is the digger is compelled by the laws to lead a semi-vagabond life. There is nowhere for him that ho shall rest the sole of his feet on tho floor of his own household.

Wo have been led into this channel of thought by a letter which appears elsewhere in our columns from Captain W. C. Daldy. The question he asks is, "Aro we making the best of the goldfields which a kind Providence has placed in our hands. The complaint," the writer goes on to say, "is true that capital does not combine with labour in developing this sort of wealth, and the reason is easily found. Under our present system there is 110 security for either. Wardens' Courts, rents, pegging claims, miners' rights, &c., i£c., are a farce, and enough to destroy any industry. The colony exported last year about £1,300,000 worth of gold. What is there to prevent its being three or four times that amount 1 We have plenty of auriferous land unworked. The answer to this is, there is

no security for labour anil capital." Tliis is only too true. The gold digger is allowed no safe or permanent tenure ; and yet the question has been asked times out of number through the -Press, and in our Legislatures, what should bo done to keep the digger in the country ? Various suggestions have been offered ; but it has never come to giving the digger a substantial interest in the soil by allowing him to become the proprietor of a section which ho could call his own, and by which he could work it in part or in whole in whatever manner and whenever it so pleased him. Why auriferous ground should not be alienated in fee has been to many a mystery. Were a miner allowed to become the purchaser of a section of, say two or three acres, should it provo paying ground, and he did not'possess the means of working it, lie would have no difficulty in obtaining from others the necessary aid for thoroughly and efficiently developing it. And again, if there was little below the soil, there is always the surface to cultivate. Need we say that, under the present system, such a thing is impossible. One great existing evil in our mining laws is that so much good ground is wasted. One man pegs out a triangular claim, while some other, at a distanco, lays oft' his ground in full accordance with his fancy ; while, between the two, there is an area, larger or smaller as the case may be, which is wasted. There is 110 reason, that we can see, why .an auriferous district should not bo surrcyed in parallel sections and offered for sale, just as is done in the case of agricultural or rural lands. The subject is one of too much importance to bo passed over by merely a few cursory reforenoes, and it is one we shall resume again at an early opportunity. Wo concltido our present remarks with the same wish as expressed by Captain Daldy. It is, that what has been here said may bring to the front all shades of opinion 011 this most important subject from men of experience. Our columns will be freely opened to all eapablo of discussing the subject intelligently.

The quarterly meeting of tlio Auckland Chamber of Commerce was held yesterday afternoon. The chairman stated that the Chamber had received from the Minister of Justice a copy of the new Bankruptcy Bill, but they were not at liberty to make it public, as it had not been brought before the House. Then, we ask, what was the use of sending the bill to the Chamber, if the contents of it are to be kept a profound secret until it comes before the House to be made law ? It is just one of those measures the public should know all about previous to its receiving the sanction of Parliament, because there are very many outside the Chamber quite as competent to give an opinion upon bankruptcy legislation as those inside of it. The suggestions of men of large commercial experience, such as bankers, merchants, middlemen, and the like, should of course be received with all the weight they are entitled to. But it would be as well at the same time to ascertain the opinion of th<> smaller class of traders, who are so often, and occasionally to a most ruinous extent, the victims of fraud. There may be also those who are not likely to be affected one way or the other by the insolvency laws, but whose opinions or suggestions for this very reason may be extremely valuable The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce might deem it expedient in the interests of that body to ask the Minister of Justice to have the draft of the bill printed in ttie public journals, otherwise a feeling of jealousy may be raised out of doors that the exprea sion of a wider opinion has been withheld from those who might consider themselves entitled to offer one.

The Committee of the Mechanics' Institute recommended last night, that if a greater amount of public support could not he tained, the Institute should be closed forthwith. This recommendation took the sub-

scribers present: by* surprise, but these only, numbered sixteen. The committee, in such circumstances, could not expect less than an expression of disappointment. The discussion resulted in a general feeling that an extraordinary expenditure had been ir.ade f upon newspapers and magazines, while the library was starved of books. But the answer to this was that this expenditure was in the interest of library subscribers, who preferred to take out magazines and newspapers rather than books. It was well said that if the Institute were closed, a property worth £2000 would revert to the Government. The fact is undeniable that the management has been a failure, and for this much the out-going committee must bear its share of the responsibility. They may not have deserved to fail, but theirmcrit does not alter the fact. The recomendation to close the Institute was a confession of failure. The motion to adopt the report was rejected, and an amendment carried unanimously that the report be "received." It was explained that the amendment was intended, not as a censure upon tl e committee, but a dissent from their recommendation. There is certainly a mat er here well worthy of public attention. A property worth £2000 is worthy of being retained as an endowment for some useful purpose. Happily the subscribers resolved to carry on for another year. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, at the annual meeting held yesterday, amongst other things, stated that the Chamber had made a representation to the General Government as to the non deliverance on Sundays of the San Francisco mails arriving upon that day. The Government, it appears, had not replied to the request preferred. We feel that to demand that the Post-office officials should be made to do work upon Sunday is to impose upon them a hardship ; but under the circumstances that the mail only arrives thirteen time 3 in the year, and that the probabilities are as six to one against its arriving at all on Sunday, we think it would not be unreasonable to ask the officials, in the interest of the pnblic, to accept that small risk. A mail steamer arriving on Sunday morning, for instance, would certainly leave early on the following morning—if not sooner. The conscquence would be that correspondence which affected mercantile- transactions would not be available to be acted upon, if necessary, to regulate business with the other colonies. It has so frequently been demonstrated as a fact that the Auckland portion of the July mail would reach here via Sydney much earlier than if sent, as at present, via Dunedin, that the Government can have no excuse—nor will they seek one —to do other than comply with it. Is* the House, yesterday, Mr. Murray asked for information as to the reported stoppage of free immigration. The reply to tliis was that all papers relative to the subject would be shortly laid before the House. An assurance was, however, given that free immigration had not been stopped. Ministers must have been aware ef this fact some weeks back ; although knowing the general curcurrency the report had obtained, not a word was said to remove a false and somewhat damaging impression.