OUR HOME LETTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9179, 8 October 1888, Page 9

OUR HOME LETTER.

Now that Parliament has prorogued thi colony has fallen into its .usual every day course of life. Compared wit! times not long past, when the loai expenditure was in full course, thing are now dull. We are now suti'orinj the reaction, and by 'contrast w. imagine that everything is stagnant But anyone who looks beneath the stir face must see that in reality the founda tions are being laid for true and iastinj prosperity. We are too apt to thin! that if our cities are not showing signs of rapidly-increasing business, ii thei, populations are not increasing, if shop; and warehouses are not being erected then the colony is not making progress But to have rapid advancement ii our towns is in all likelihood a delusive symptom. At the present time in city in the colony is so prosperous as it was a lew years ago. Hut, on tin Other hand, most gratifying progress is being made in the settlement of tin country. it is true that the selling juices of country lands are lower thai they were, bin that means that the"* are;'now at a value which will enable? those who take' them up and work them to make a good profit Coincident with the change in tin state of affairs in New Zealand comes most fortunately a considerable rise in the prices of our chief exports. We must not expect again to advance in the show of wealth which we make, us we did in the years lollowing 1870, to progress by "leaps and bounds' (nothing less would content Sir Julius Vogel). Our ambition now is for caln and steady advancement by the settle lnent of the country, ami by the in crease of our productions. To that wi are now settling down in earnest. Since the Parliament adjourned \vi have had but little in the way oi political discussion. On September 11 Air. Withy addressed his constituents of Newton (a suburb of Auckland). Mr. Withy is esteemed as one of the best el our representatives, Me has not been long ii resident in the colony. He is a man of independent means, beyond the inlluenee of any clique. What is perhaps more valuable and rarer here, he is a man of settled convictions, who will not. move from what he thinks to be right in order to be popular lor the moment. Mr. Withy placed before' his constituents a plain state meat of the linancial position oi the colony, and showed the absolute necessity there was for the most rigid economy in administration. Mr. Withy is a decided Freetrader, on which question lie is at variance with a considerable section of his constituents, lie received a vote of thanks and confidence. Mr. Frank Lawry, who represents Franklin North, addressed Ins constituents at Otahuhu on September 25. Mr. Lawry has proved himself a useful ami practical legislator, and the: course which lie has taKen has approved itself to ins constituents. He received a cordial vote of thaiiKS and confidence. The Hun. Mr. Mitciieison, Minister for Public Works ami Native Affairs, aim the lion. Mr. Hislop, Colonial Secretary, have visited Auckland since the close of the session, in order to look into certain matters connected with the departments under their charge. They have now returned to Wellington. It has been stated that the Premier will visit Auckland shortly, and will address ii meet oil political topics. Tiie term of Governorship of Sir William Jervois will soon be at an end, and a very general wish has been expressed that lie should be appointed for another term. His administration lias been exceedingly satisfactory to all parties, lie lias kept free of all political complications, and lias always been on good terms with his Ministers. He and his family are greatly liked by all classes. Tawhiao, known as " the Maori King," has now left his place of residence in tiie King Country, and iias taken up his abode with some of his more immediate followers at Mercer, on the Waikato Kiver, about forty miles from Auckland. One of the tribes owning a large district in the King Country has ottered to hand over to the followers of Tawniao, who lost nearly all their land by contiseation, a territory of 60,000 acres on wnich they may live. in our last summary issue we stated that the Audit Committee of the .rank of New Zealand- shareholders had called a meeting for the 3rd October to present their report. The report lias been read, and uas proved to be of a very trenchant character, it discloses that, owing to fall in value of securities and losses both in Australia and New Zealand, it will be necessary to write Off'the reserve fund and £3 from tiie £10 snare. Notwithstanding the unpleasant character of the report to shareholders, it has been remarkably well received, not only throughout New Zealand but also in Australia, tiie shares now standing at a good premium. This is, no doubt, due to the composition of the committee, which is of admittedly high standing and representative of all parts of the colony, it is felt that the cloud which has for sou!" time hung over this important institution has been cleared away, and even shareholders feel that, however unpalatable the facts, it is better that they snould be out, and contidence restore'!. It is also felt that this disclosure, coining at a time when revival in colonial trade and industry has distinctly set in, will stimulate that revival by affording assurance that the bottom has been probed, and that enterprises may bo entered upon without fear of hidden weakness or disaster to come. Another source of conudence is the announcement that the affairs of the Bank had been submitted to the scrutiny of financiers in London of undoubted standing, who have expressed their satisfaction, and have applied for £'2u0,000 of the new capital issue of £500,000 proposed to be made. Indications point to there being a rush for the shares, and, as this addition to its capital will give, the Bank £1,200,000 Of paid-up capital, and a reserve liability if £1,500,000, its position is made very strong. The half-yearly meeting of the Colonial Bank was held at Dunedin on September 20, when the usual dividend at the rate of 7 cent, was declared. The accounts showed that a good profit had been made during the half-year. Considerable attention has been attracted during the month to the affairs of some of the archipelagos in the neighbouring Pacific. On September 27, news was received that there had been an outbreak of hostilities in Samoa between the followers of Malietoa and those of Tamasese. It will be remembered that, some time ago, the Germans virtu-lily took possession of Samoa. They landed from their war-ships a numerous body of armed men, deposed Malietoa, who has always been recognised as King of Samoa, and! insisted on the natives swearing allegiance to Taniasese, who has for soma years been favoured by the Germans— a rival to -Malietoa. Malietoa was taKen by force on board a German man-of-war, and finally was conveyed to Europe. He was then liberated, and is now on his way back to Samoa, but whether under any agreement with the Germans is not known. In the meantime/ his followers, comprising by far the larger number of the tribes, drew together, and determined to attack the supporters of TamaS"se. The details of the fighting will be found elsewhere, but;the conclusion was that Malietoa's men were completely successful. The winning side acted under the generalship of Mataafa, a relative of .\faiietoa, ; who lias been elected King, but whether merely as locum tfii-ns for Malietoa. or permanently, is ,i,,t known. The Germans took no p... l in the fighting, and did

! nothing at all to support the cause of I the man whom they had placed on the throne. In regard to another group of islands a transaction of a different character has been carried through. Earotonga and the neighbouring islands, known as the Hervey or Cook Group, have not been disturbed by wars for many years, while a large trade has been carried on in the export of produce, chiefly through j the Auckland firm of _ Donald and Edenborough. But amidst all the annexations going on in the Pacific by the Germans and French, the Rarotongans began to be afraid that they would be J taken possession of, and some time ago sent a petition to the British Government asking that these islands should be taken under the protectorate of England. This has now been done to the satisfaction of all concerned. The protectorate will give a stability to all the trading operations of the group, and will conduce to the prosperity of ilia islands. During last month, Mr. Westgarth, the well-known linancial agent, has visited the Australasian colonies. He lias had interviews with several of the leading politicians, in which he had broached a scheme for consolidating the colonial loans into 3 per cent, stock. It is not likely that anything will be attempted in that direction for some time to come. Mr. Paton, the representative of the English Emigration Society, has just spent some time in New Zealand. He came here to gain information as to what held this colony tiered for, the operations of the Society with which he is connected. Mr. Meadows, who is a member of a large firm of produce merchants, has also paid us a visit, his object being to make arrangements for the export of dairy and other produce. Mr. Meadows gave some most useful information as to the, kinds and qualities of butter and cheese which would most readily find a market in England, and as to how it could best be prepared. The strike of coal miners at Newcastle, N.S.W., still causes considerable inconvenience throughout these colonies. Newcastle coal was largely used throughout all the colonies of Australia, and was even used for special purposes in New Zealand, although we have abundant coalfields of our own.