THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1876.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4440, 5 February 1876, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1876.

( F:rom: the correspondence which we publish elsewhere, it .trill,be Been' that\the Government have determined- to carry out . tlio extension of ,the Kaipara, Railway to' Auckland, and-to lniprovotlio 'termiiii'at Riverhead and Helenaville. This worlt ago, - But l ; was -'put l off on trariouftprete^^6n'e",of : which,wa3 the -difficulty- of-finding-labour.... However,' ■ we lure-now informed by the " tiie Minister.otPublic r Works hopes?to' ■be'ablelto.'call for. t&ndera^in'April'next,' ■for l theycoristruction of ..the .'extenaioiiVof .the,line :t'rOITITti v c rllep.<_l to /Auckland-''' The "delay T-wHcK*" Bas"tfi^eh ; " "place will be the cause of additional cost,

3* ifjlis e^tißfaototfy-. JHe ffojtk islto / aFlastv. "W"e may mnarifiplxaj theXgettlers of thevKaiQaVa and thi ditizensS,o'f \4acHap3. owe 'Tvlx.' EarribjX ofsKßiveHiaad, vrho has from the first, been persistent in his efforts to iave the line completed, and to have its wfridng. regulated ao as-to be' of service to ihe district, and to be profitable to'.tEe G.vurnment. ; On the'subject of efficient working, we need say_but little at present;'as tre have been the'means' of bringing the: public- many -wellj founded - comjlaints, -not so- much —of- • mismanagemert pure aiid. simple as of attempting to v/ork on some general ;system which .was quite inapplicable to the wants "of the particular district. ; "When the Parliiment meets, we think it will be found that there is a general agreement that, the attempt to work, all the railways fron an office in Wellington, allowing no sccpe or discretion to the. officers in of each line, is a mistake, and has proved a failure in practice. Whether Mr. F. B. Passmore might be improved upon, we do not know ; a man with a less high bpinion of himself, and'a better knowledge of his business, would be more successful in working all the railways in the colony upon a general system. AVe object, however, to the resolution which seems to have been come to at Wellington, that ill the railways shall be worked from that place. , It .is of no. use attempting to steer a ship from the shore; and we feel sure that the details of_the working of the railways throughout; the colony must be, entrusted in a great measure to those who are. on the spot. The present arrangements at the stations of the Kaipara railway are sufficient to discourage traffic, and we understand that it has been found cheaper to: cart.goods from Auckland to Onehunga, to ship them there, and to send them round by sea, | than to send them by the shorter railway route.. ..

We publish to-day a telegraphic summai-y of _ a letter on New Zealand Knance, which has appeared in the -Sydney Morning Herald, and excited much attention there: Like telegraphic summaries in general, it is exceedingly, unsatisfactory and too imperfect and disconnected to enable /us to give it the consideration we should wish. If the Mr. Rankin, who is said to be the writer, be the same Mr. Rankin who wrote a remarkably good book under the title of the "Dominionof Australia," any letter sent by him would assuredly claim attention, and we shall return to the subject when in receipt of the original. We have 110 desire to approach the letter in a hostile spirit, or to decry the writer merely because he has put it forth. New Zealand ought to be, and we believe is, strong enough to regard lightly the criticisms of any individual, but we should have been better pleased had Mr. Rankin addressed himself to one of the papers of the colony instead of. sending his letter to be published where it could , possibly do harm but could certainly do no good. It would also have been more fair, as the letter might have been at once reviewed by persons competent to do so instead of passing without- criticism till too late to be taken up with success. -So far as -the telegram enables us to judge, Mr. ; Rankin attaches more "importance to the overgrowth of ■' trade, stimulated by the expenditure of- borrowed money, than to the liabilities incurred by the Government in connection with that money. His figures are devoted to this 'end, and they deal chiefly with the disparity between imports and exports, which he traces to the artificial stimulus given by the loans. Mr. Rankin assuredly says, nothing in this respect thst is not well understood both in New Zealand and in England. Everyone knows that the markets have been glutted and that importations must decrease. That our merchants are not regardless of this, and that they are preparing to meet it, is amply proved by the decrease of orders sent abroad, the consequent decrease of importations, and the falling off in revenue to which every independent newspaper in the colony liisj been for some time turning public attention. So far, Mr. Rankin tells Us nothing new, and has.sounded his note of warning rather late in the day, if the design be only to sound it for the benefit of New Zealand readers. What other useful object there could be we are at a loss to conceive, and there isnotliinginthe telegraphic summary to enlighten us on this point.' So also: with the results of a possible fall in the! price of wool. We all know, as well as Mr. Rankin himself, that it is the great increase in the price of this staple during ■ the last few years, to which a great deal, of the prosperity of the colony—as of all the Australian colonies that produce any large quantity of wool—is due. So also; do we readily recognise the possibility a' fall may occur, while a great many look on the fall as a very likely event, for which due calculation must be made. : Here again the question recurs in dealing I with Mr. Rankin's strictures, to what, good end is the warning given ? It could hardly be supposed ,we should refuse to share in .the profits'from the high price of : wool, merely because it stimulated trade and would cause a reaction and corresponding depression. All that : the most prudent men can do is to take the full benefit of the good time, and, so I strengthened, guard themselves against, the inevitable reaction to the best'of their .ability. ; _

11l dealing with the sudden growth of' land revenue, Mr. Rankin has also failed to strike upon any thing new. : There is not the least doubt that the land sales have , been abnormal, and, that- they are stimulated both by the loans and the rise in wool. But this stimulus—at all events" 1 so far as the increased price of wool is concerned—has been felt as much in' New South Wales as in New Zealand. A 'few years ago the New_ South Wales; financiers were shewing a considerable: deficit every year. It is, the f land salesj that have relieved the- pressure: in -New, South Wales, and' placed Government in; a position to reduce taxation. For"our! own parts, we regard-the locking up of' t money in r these' abnormal land* purchases! lin both colonies;! as quite' as' serious, and< less easily, remedied ' than the ' overtrading, 'to which; Mr. Bankin attaches .80 much weight, 'and which is already' curing,itself.; For : the • rest, if /there : be' in the letter , demanding immediate 'notice. before it' reaches England,. >.we shall, doubtless hear that Sir Julius ;Vogel, while "in Australia, has not~ allowed the occasion to pass; . !