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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5371, 3 February 1879, Page 4

We have several times had references, in recent ne\v3 from England, to the proposal for the establishment of a museum for the colonies and India, to be erected in London. Before referring particularly to that subject, wo may remark that it would seem likely that the commercial and social disturbances at home may not afl'ect the colonies so injuriously as many supposed, and indeed they may in some respects have beneficial results. When the announcement was made of the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, one of the causes was stated to be the advancing of large sums of money to firms for the purchase of land in New Zealand. The statement was true, and without explanations might have given rise to a feeling that the purchase of laud in this colony was an unprofitable speculation, and that this was a place of depreciating values in land and otherwise. The investigation of the ailairs of the firms which employed the bank's funds in buying land in this colony, will show that these were highly profitable speculations, and in the full blaze of publicity, which otherwise could not have been gained, this will prove the great increase of value which ha 3 taken placc in land in Now Zealand, and tlio certainty which attends agricultural and pastoral operations with our climate and soil. There is one drawback, however, and on this point we are likely to hear much mora. It was shewn, by inquiries before a Parliamentary Committee last session, that Messrs. Potter, Wilson and Co. had spent large sums of money for land on the East Coast for which they may not receive anything at all. These transactions were made through agents, who paid money to natives on blocks on which the Government had paid sums, and which had been proclaimed as not open to private dealing. It is contended that, in regard to some of the blocks, the negotiations were entered into by Messrs. Potter, Wilson and Co.'s agents in a perfectly regular manner, and with the sanction of the law and the Native Lands Court. The sums paid were large, amounting in ono caso alone to upwards of £20,00() for a block of land called Waingaromia. Probably the purchaso of land direct from the natives, involving prolonged and complicated negotiations and careful attention to frequently changing laws, and conducted, as tho business must be, through agents and interpreters, is too difficult an operation for an English firm to undertake. It is not at all likely that the natural flow of capital from England to aid in the development of tlieso colonies will be checked by the industrial crisis at home. Indeed, the disturbances of trade, manufactures, and agriculture must render capitalists chary of extra risks in England, and must dispose them to invest in the colonies. It has certainly been abundantiy proved of late years that of all England's investments, tho most secure and profitable have been those made in the colonies. It has been recognised that ono cause of the distress now existing in the manufacturing districts of England is, that British manufactures have been to a great extent superseded in many markets by those of other countries, which have begun to manufacture for themselves, and also to export. The mo3t secure markets for England have been the colonial, and, considering the immense extent of the land yet lying waste in these countries, they will certainly, for many years to come, present an increasing field for the consumption of English manufactures..

It is proposed that the Colonial Museum should bo established in a central position in London, with libraries and reading and lecture-rooms attached, to afford a complete representation of the commercial resources, and of the social and political condition of all the different dominions under the British Crown. This museum would bo an emporium where collections illustrative of all connected with India and the colonies would be formed, and would be available for distribution

throughout the principal seats of trade and industry in the British Empire. It •would also contain the offices of the Agents-General for the different colonies, and, in short, would be the centre in Europe for all colonial business. It would really be an Imperial Museum, and would shew within a small compass all the characteristics and all the productions of thegreatest and most widely-spreadempiro that has ever existed. The establishment of the museum, and the concentration of the offices and business of all the colonies, would be a practical step in the way of that federation of the Empire which lias been often spoken of, and which must ultimately take place when the colonies more nearly approach the position of the mother country in population. Indeed, it will be found that the choice will ultimately lie between federation and separation. However, we are yet a long way from the time when the question must be decided because of that crisis having ' arrived. It is, however, a legitimate aim, and might be greatly assisted by the establishment of the museum spoken of, that the Empire should be, to the greatest possible extent, self-sustaining and selfsupporting. Looking at the great capacities of the British colonies, it is quite possible for them yet to furnish to the mother country the great proportion of the breadstuffs she requires. It is also important, for the sake of England herself, and for maintaining to the utmost extent the commercial connection, that British manufacturers should have the best opporunities of ascertaining the kinds of articles required and in demand in the colonies. This matter has often been neglected, and England has gone on making articles which were unsuitable for colonial markets till colonists were forced to take American manufactures, and England lost the market for that particular class of articles for evermore. America, indeed, has one advantage for supplying colonial markets—that a great proportion of her people are engaged in the same pursuits as the colonists of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand : bringing virgin soil into cultivation and felling the forests; and therefore hermanufacturerscanreadily make themselves acquainted with what is wanted, and apply inventive genius to the necessities which arise. It may be anticipated, however, that the establishment of an Imperial Museum will enable the British manufacturer to keep up with the American. Care would have to be taken that the museum did not become fossilised, and in order that it should be kept up to the requirements of the day, each department would have to be under the superintendence of the Agent-General, or of some competent person acting under his direction.