VAILE SYSTEM: FROM A SHEEP FARMER'S POINT OF VIEW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8663, 4 September 1891, Page 3

VAILE SYSTEM: FROM A SHEEP FARMER'S POINT OF VIEW.

TO THE EDITOIi. Sib, There is a Mr. Peter Oliphant, and one or two others, who are constantly doing their best to dishearten Mr. Vaile, but so far, he has always risen to the occasion, much to his credit. He must be a man with a large heart, or he would have been in his grave long ago. He has also the Commissioners to fight, and a set of people that are always advocating the sale of our railways. What is.it we want to send from New Zealand to bring the gold back from England that we send them in interest—wheat, starch, wool, mutton, butter, cheese, apples and produce of all sorts, shipped to England. Run our railways free of charge to sea ports for these things, and they will be sent home in such abundance that money and men will flow into this country in a way we little dream of. The cry will not be, we must get the people on the land, tlxejob would be to find them land. Some will ask, but what is to pay the working of the railway ? Leave the import taxes as they are now till such time as we can take them off. The extra labour required on farms, and works of all sorts, will pay the railway freights, and suppose it did not quite pay all working expenses the first year or two, let the colony pay the balance, and this would not be hard, as money would be plentiful. Look at our education system. It is free, and no one grumbles now, and yet there is no return of any sort. from this source, unless it is that we are educating children to populate other countries. You constantly hear people say, Look at our wool and mutton returns. Our exports are greatly 011 the increase, yet business is little better. How is this ? Farmers have found out there is little freight to the seaports on these things and little labour required to produce them, and the money stays in his own pocket, and there is of course little spending power and few buyers. This sheep-farming is not profitable to a country, nor yet of much profit to the farmers where their lands can be cropped. If a farmer keeps three sheep per acre he gets about 20s to 30s per acre return without v employing any labour. If lie grows potatoes he gets from six tons to 12 tons per acre, at £1 10s per ton. This would bring him from £9 to £18 per acre. This means farm labourers, and so on. With all cropping, what does this mean? Great spending power in the country and import duties, about, I don't know how many fold. If we wish this to be the first country in the world let us do all we can to help Mr. Vaile with his railway system ; he aims at all this. I should like to say a few words to these people that talk about the sale of our railways. Suppose a syndicate bought them, we would most likely have to sell them at much under what they have cost us. The syndicate would work them cheaper, no doubt. This means less spending power among their employes. This syndicate would be in London, another drain of interest; they would charge us for carrying our mails. This would be auother drain, nearly equal to what we now pay on the whole capital. They would charge us for all our civil servants and public men travelling on them. They would carry our children to school in the morning and back at night for a few thousands per year. Oh, it would be a <*rand spec for us.—l am, etc., George L. Thomson, Faskin, Matakohe, August 31,1891.