A PICTURE OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 1651, 4 August 1881, Page 6

A PICTURE OF NEW ZEALAND.

Ik a lengthy article the Yorkshire Gazette, 'n a recent issue, discusses the financial and other positions of New Zealand. It points out that the traduces of the colony in Britain are again at work, and after referring to the extravagance caused by the borrowed money, and the enormously expensive Civil Service which was created, it points out that in consequence of those things existing, "to say that New Zealand is on the verge of bankruptcy is idiotic. The islands which according to Maori legend were fished out of the Pacific by the Titanic God Maui, abound in mineral wealth; the lands are of boundless fertility, and only small portions are cultivated ; the shores form aseries of harbours and estuaries affording wonderful facilities for shipping; lines of railways and excellentroads extendoverthe face of the land; the climate is probably better suited to the Anglo-Saxon than any other in the world, unless it be the southern counties of England; coal, iron, and gold are found in close proximity to each other ; cattle and sheep thrive in the clover-covered valleys; the seas team with fish of valuable kinds; the forests contain every species of timber requisite for either ship or house building, or for ornamental purposes; and the colonists are famous for their energy and enterprise. Truly such a country and such a people will take more suppression than a few millions of national debt can effect. A generation of carpetbaggers has done its worst, but we believe the people of New Zealand have fairly realised their position, and feel that they must look to themselves for their own future. It is well that this should be so. Their • native difficulty' is practically dead, and they now have nothing to distract their attention from the extension of those industries which will unquestionably make New Zealand the wealthiest colony of Australasia. No one need lose confidence in her future, and we are convinced that the preseut is a most favourable time for the purchase of New Zealand lands and the introduction of capital into the colony."