THE New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1895. MR WARD’S JOURNEY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2411, 17 January 1895, Page 2

THE New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1895. MR WARD’S JOURNEY.

With which are incorporated the Wellington Independent, established 284 b. and the New Zealander, >

Thebe is no reason for any misstatements or misunderstandings. The fact is substantial that Mr Ward goes Home on public business; important public business, which is not the less real on account of the necessity for keeping it undescribod. A specific statement has been made, for - some purpose or other, that the Premier was much astonished ’to hear of Mr ■ Ward’s intention to proceed Home on private business. That statement we have authority for describing as absolutely without a shadow of foundation. The statement that Mr Ward Las improperly led the Australians to have the Postal Conference at Hobart has no better ground, for ■ the arrangement was not made or suggested by Mr Ward at all; The fact is that many members of the Postal Conference have to be at the sitting of the Federal Council in Hobart. That all should meet at Hobart is not tho suggestion of Mr Ward at all, who explained that ha wag going on to Melbourne. But the members who. have to attend the Postal Conference decided that it would be more convenient to assemble at Hobart, and they,advised. Mr Ward accordingly, knoWing full well at the same time that he was going’ on to Melbourne. They have Consulted their own convenience as well as.Mr Ward’s. It is absnrd to .accuse him of making them lose their time by the employment of false pretences. But these - statements are scarcely worth notice. What the country wants is to be enabled to understand Mr Ward’s position as a delegate with a mission. Firstly, it has precedents to-reoom-ihend it. Sir James Mollwraith, Sir George -Bibbs, and the Eight Hon Cec’.l Ehodes, to say nothing of the Victorian Treasurer, have within recent times all gone to London on public business, which it was not thought desirable to proclaim from the house-tops. The statement thatMr Ward's mission is from the public point of view.inoomprehonsible simply reflects on the understanding which cannot comprehend it. We will not mention the list of grave matters requiring his attention. To do that would be to handicap the Minister undesirably, and might make success impossible. We will refer only to two subjects which have been recently ventilated. These are the Vancouver steam service and tho Bed Line Pacific cable. Anyone knowing what has transpired regarding, both these ought to have no difficulty in understanding the necessity for further personal negotiation of » delicate nature, more particularly when wo assure them that there are definite proposals before the Government. It is all very well to state offhand that Mr Perceval and others can do perfectly well whatever business has to be done in these matters. But it cannot bp forgotten that Mr Ward has made himself pjS.ster of these subjects, and that his n/aatery is acknowledged by the menjhera .of the Postal Conference now about to assemble lit Hobart, who have,, of their own motion, . paid .hint the highest compliment in- that regard. Into the rest of the business requiring Mr Ward’s attention we cannot, for obvious reasons, enter. They are covered by tho cloak of reticence which tho representatives of other colonies have recently employed, and successfully .employed. When the proper time arrives for taking the public fully into tho Ministerial confidence Mr Word will justify himself; we fee) sure, very fully. In tho meantime we can watch his departure with a hopeful mind. CHEAP MOSEY. Now that the scheme is’getting Into full swing, we ask ourselves the question why money should be very much dearer in the Colony than in Great Britain. There were many reasons/for the difference,. some years ago, but there are none now. Money is falling in all directions, and, therefore, must fall here. ,> The .equalisation of the. price is one of the benefite which the scheme has already brought within meaaureable distance. It is possible that before many months three millions will bo, circulating through .private hands. And, as a matter |f course, if : that eomes .about- the ’ rate of 'interest must everywhere fall considerably. The opponents of tho scheme contend that the fall of interest }s ft great .economic change which is progressing J all over the world, and they conclude that .the movement would have fitpbpased New Zealand duly in the course of its .development. However much ’ this rather .more than half truth may make ns smile, wo can , at all events see no reason why people who admire the principle of cheap money should cavil so strenuously -against the means by which it is being brought about. Two things are before ns to consider. One is that the settlement pf tbp land cannot bo allowed to degenerate into tips banishment of the settlers from the land from: sbepr inability to pay interest charges. . Another is that in tho great markets of the world pur produce must not be l/ftjjdicapped by rates of interest very much more heavy than those ruling jn ’tie centres of those markets. The advantages of securing the settler ip Jn 3 possessions at a rate cheap enough to enable his produce; to take even rank in the .world's npniete is, we trust, self-evident, ’Jf the chepp money scheme gives us that advantage, as > it most certainly ought, it will meet with very rapid extension,' The reasoning Is simply this, that the successful investment of three millions must prove the feasibility of investing thirty millions; fifty; as many millions ns may be necessary. It willrhspeforo bo wise for all concerned to adapt thomsoLvc# to tho conditions which are coining, and bo prepared to deal with ‘money .on the jowest terms. Thfl financial institutions may find business less profit- ’ able jp 000 way, but as that will be the .consonance pf yefy greatly increased profits in other ways, <jtee to prosperity 1 which- follows in’ in- ‘ dohtodness, ihere iwill he" ,oay?e 9s -for fiomplajnt but rejoicing, ' 5

THE AUSTRALIAN BANKS,

Everyone will of- course wish v.-c-lT to tho project for., reducing the too numerous iauka ’in Australia by amalgamation before the opening of the period for the repayment in gold of the deposits. Whether when the period comes the deposits will be repaid, or whether, in case of inability to pay, the depositors will give_ a fresh lease of life—these are questions independent of amalgamation, which rests on the broad ground of diminished expenses. Amalgamation ought to come as the only means of saving the community from a totally unnecessary tax tho tax of keeping up too. - many banks. As for the deposits, we think the financial writers and talkers make a great deal too much of them. The embodiment of their fears was seen lately in a letter from tho pen of the city editor of a prominent Sydney daily paper, published in London, in which the fifty millions of deposits were passed in rueful review, and the fact deplored that twenty-five of these must be sent out of the country by a spent community. But what reason is there for supposing that these .creditors who preferred 3 j or 4 per cent, a year for a period, to tho certainty of a partial loss, will not prefer to make the same arrangement again in 1907 ? is, on the contrary, cmc reason for believing that in the event of any difficulty about payment they will renew. It is that the interest rate is everywhere going down. We should not be surprised if by 1908, the first of the crucial years, the rate will have fallen so low that the depositors ’in the Melbourne reconstructed banks will be thankful to be allowed to leave their-de-posits at less than the rate they now get for them. The outlook certainly is more hopeful for these banks than it was. Whether this is so or not, one thing is certain. If the Victorian Government had boldly come to the rescue of the first bank that was tottering in 1893, there would be now no necessity for-fending off a new series of panics by hopeful discussion. Tho fact that the Government of Mr (now Sir James) Patterson had not the prescience and courage displayed at a later date by the Government of New Zealand is responsible for these unsatisfactory things'in, the Australian financial position, by which itis made so great a contrast to ouv own. THE EESIGNATION OF M. CASIMIE PERIER. Immediately after the resignation of the Ministry, comes the startling news of the resignation of tho President of the French Eopublic. M. Casimir-Perier was elected in June last, within three days oftho assassination of bis predecessor. The election met with universal satisfaction, principally because it showed the stability of the Eepublic. Ifet many weeks before M. Perier had been compelled by an adverse vote to resign the Premiership, but when an unexpected turn of the Wheel of Fortune took, him into tho Presidential chair, there was only one drawback to the universal acclamation. It was due to. the fact that tho now President was detested by the Socialists, Tho significance of that, reservation in the 'predictions of a successful career is accentuated by his resignation, which is clearly in consequence of tho Socialist troubles in Paris. The Times’ correspondent only tho other day announced the possibility of a Socialist revolution. Immediately afterwards the Government of M.Dupuywasousted by an adverse vote, ostensibly for failing to protect the State against the action of the railway companies. That vote tho President regards as a minor matter in itself. But as bo bolds it to be the sign of a bad state of tilings he has promptly sent.-in his resignation. Thore is gfcat, excitement and consternation in paria,’ and many attempts were made to induce tfio President to alter his decision, but without effect. Whether ho intends to seek re-election or not time will tell. THE DEBENTURES OP THE ASSETS COMPANY. One of our Southern contemporaries has published a statement, on tho authority of its London correspondent, that -t7’>o,ooo worth of these debentures have been paid off out of tho first of the two millions raised tor tho Bank of New Zealand under the Guarantee Act of last session. The statement has very much surprised the directors of the Bank of- New Zealand, and has caused tho President and his officers to tog} a thrill of delight. They know pf courso that no such payment can have been made but of any of the guaranteed money recently raised. They would like to believe that ,the diligent correspondent responsible tho news —a very diligent .and painsinking man he is,' with 'a talent for invention —has discovered some outside source of supply. But as there are not in the financial world any .benevolent fairies who live to pay other peopla’s debts, they feel, and of course very reluctantly, that the news is altogether too good to be true. Sorrowfully, they feel that they must brand the' result .of this correspondents well-meant activity as a canard of the ■ first magnitude, - - '-towTHE fruit industry. Pendino the revision of the railway tariff rates, the Governments in view of the fact that the fruit season is well advanced, have decided $o encourage the fruit.industry by the establishment of a uniform rate of carriage irrespective of distance) They have fixed a rate of ■6d for parcels up to 561 b, and of a shilling up to a cwt., for tho carriage to the centres of native fruit, with the proviso that ’empties are to be returned free of charge-Th’o’-steamers bring over Australian fruit at cheap rate 3, which arrives in very in-, ferior condition as a rule. Tho’ new arrangement will give our people tl/,e choice of an article in superior Bonfiltiou, fresh, plentiful and appetising. There is every reason to anticipate for the native industry a considerably advanced position in the local market. THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. The December quarter’s figures-'being now available, ‘we have ’ compiled the results of the revenue collections for the first three quarters of the year:— Customs ‘ ... ... ... - ... .£1,134,468 Stamps. ... 450,298 Postal and Telegraphic ... ... 33,414 Land and Income Tax ■ 283,590 Baer Duty ... ... ... "... 48,089 Eailways 779,252 Bogiatration and other fees ... 37,143 Marino ... ... 14,676 Miscellaneous ... ..." ... 29,396 Territorial ... ... ... ... 191,473 -■ -62,995,799