N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1888.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 850, 15 June 1888, Page 16

N.Z. MAIL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1888.

Presumptuous as it may be to question the judgment of tbe London Loan Agents, \ve cannot holn thinking that a great mistake was made in fixing and announcing the minimum price of; the Two Million Loan at bo low a figure as’9o£. It may, of course, be retorted that it is easv to be wise after the event—which we admit lo be as true as it is trite —and that the. Loan. Agents acted for the best in iho interests of the) Colony —which we freely aud fully recognise. But this 'does not prove thatoio errotf of judgment was committed. Wo are quite certairr'that the Loan Agents gave'the matter most'careful consideration, ail'd that their 1 decision the'Office?me of mature'judgment. 1 Bqt fj,t },ba'’satiip time , |hef'e”pau jie little dpuqt. finat th'A'” Or|oV qg ’ifbdffe. tifiiidi f /' Y’Rs unfittingly fftfifep 'into. The agents were avii'are ‘that the Colony urgently needed the money—that in fact the immedi'dte floating of the. loan was 1 deemed iniperativel This whs doubtless impressed upon fchcpl very pogei t'y by (;ho ffoveipbent, and the efi'ecfc vyas to render them nervously apprehensive by showing too bold 'a front aud fixing too high a minimum, or through any pnlucky' contingency, a risk might'be run of the loan’s failing altogether. This was perhaps natural, but it is certainly unfortunate for the Colony that such a feeling of distrust Bhoula have existed in their minds. It is tlie opinion now of some very pompetent judges— after, the pvent, it is trjje—that had the minimum been

placed at 99 the loan would have floated at an average of par or there about. We have no meaus of verifying the correctness of this opinior. The plain fact, however. is, that o.wing to the price at which the loan v»as taken up, the Colony will only receive £1,955,000 out of the ‘ nominal £2,000,000, which latter sum has to be repaid in full, and on which full interest will be due. That is to say, the Colony gets about £45,000 less than the sum nominally borrowed, and still has to pay the loan expenses out of the balance. Had only the price named by the agents beeD realized, the Colony would have got but £1,930,000 out of the nominal £2,000,000, and would have had to pay expenses out of that. This means a large slice out of the sum available for appropriation. It is therefore much to be regretted that the agents were unable to gain a more accurate knowledge of the feeling in the English money market when they had to decide on the price lo be named. This accurate knowledge evidently they failed to- acquire. Had they anticipated that the loa,n would be subscribed fourfold at ru average of lit above the minimum, it pan hardly b,p doubted that they wopld have apted differ entlv. The Irpth is, they .were hirgefy under the iuhnence of that waut-of-cpnhdenpe, apd that tendency to looh on tbp dprk side of things,; whiph is thp bane of Neyf Zealand. ~Sf(e canpot bjame thepij for the tendency i? almost universal among people rpsidpnt in Npvv Zealand or interested in the Colony, but it is to bo regretled all the same. That before the Budget was delivered the agents were gravely apprehensive as to the loan’s probable fate is no'orious But the character of the Budget did much to restore English confidence in New Zealand, notwithstanding the customary attacks from The Standard Rtul the Financial News, agd if that reviving an(| justifiable confidence in the resources and 'good faith and good intentions of the Colony could have ibeen fully utilised, it "might have been i another LSD.OOO or so' in New Zealand’,s pcbliet. "However, 1 the opp'or[lunity is lost and''cannot be recalled. | We c>nlv now dWell ‘upon the' matter as the moral which Mr Fyke sought with his characteristic vigour to inculcate in his speech" as mover of i til's A.d.dress-i.u-Reply, that New Zeailand colonists' should "try to overcome I the bad, habit of V cro.ikI iug.Y It pan do no possible good to bo for ever depreciating this country, magnifying all that goes wrong, minimising all the many compensating considerations, colouring the temporary depression ypfth the deepest gpd tpqst glovying hup.s, and adopting an habitual fone of pessitnism a,ud despair. Th»s pould answer no Iprvicedblo purpose, even were rs b a d a , B Y lv ? terate cyoakeca make them out to, be. In thp prpsent instance is has m a d e things worsp, fp,r proaf'ing h.R3 indirectly pßused the Colony to loae £4U,OuQ or JjuO.QOQ which might have been spent qn public works, thus providing so much more employment, and pro tanta improving matters generally. In no other colony or. country in ihe world does the habit of public self depreciation prevail as it does in Now Zealand. It is not wonderful, therefore, that outsiders believe the worst of us. They naturally argue that it is unlixely we should make the worst of tilings, and that therefore our affairs nui-t lie ai lea t in as bad a stale as our own colonists represent them to' bo,, and- probably worse. 'Who can j hlame them foif 1 thinking so? New Zealand colonists ought to cultivate the habit of ‘speaking and thinking ; more cheerfully "and hopefully of the ; Colony. ‘" Tlltir wfm6 of confidence has i reactedTipoh th& outsiders’, 1 aud has caused New Zealand to be generally j regarded.as (he "black'gheep afnong ! EnglistV the ponfi|flenpo chd'wtT by English investors in : silbscrihing the" loa'n fourfold at an fadvance of has reacted in its turn ; upon the pedple'of New Zealand, and has inspired a'distiiictly improved tone bf confidence and hope fill ness' which luv» been uotipeable since the news arrived. Let ffs all try to take a new departure (rain this epoch, and if we cauuot oonacientioußly praise our -adopted country ou all accounts, let us at leqst refrain from unwarrantable depreciation, or at any rate leave the invidious task to people other than our own colonists. New Zealand is thoroughly sound at bottom, and .only noess capable and judicious administration, feoth in public and in private affairs, to bo second tp.no other colony in substantial progress and prosperity.

When the Customs Duties Bill is in committee it is to be lioped that some means will be found of simplifying, tlie present operation of the tariff iii.certain classes. The different duties, for instance, that are chargeable on different kinds of drapery, arid this difficulty iri definitely allocating some articles to tlicir proper ad valorem Class, is found extreme, and has already driven the unlucky importers to the verge of raving lunacy. Surely some simplification could be adopted without causing material loss of revenue.

A painful sensation was created in town on Wednesday, at noon, when a telegram was received announcing the reported death of tlie German Emperor. Later information was eagerly looked for. It will be seen in our telegraphic columns that the latest message is dated Berlin, Wednesday, 5 a.m., which reports that the Imperial sufferer was then still living, bub that, a new phase of his disease had set in. The epiglottis had become permeable, and was unable to prevent fluids from entering the windpipe. This is probably about, the last stage of the sufferings of the unfortunate monarch. It may be possible _ to. prolong life for a few days yet, but it is to bo feared that the most valuable, life in the world at the. present tim,o is drawing to, a, close.'