Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1892.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVII, Issue 5206, 12 February 1892, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1892.

Mb F. Battley, whose long association with the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company as a prominent element in its management, has caused him to be well known and regarded as an authority on financial matters, lias been interviewed by a representative of the Christchurch Press. Mr Battley's presence in Christchurch just after a visit to England, afforded the Press a most favorable opportunity for seeking to obtain an authoritative confirmation of its view that disastrous financial disorganisation is being occasioned by the Government's new taxation. That Mr Battley, in a measure, confirmed the Press' view is not all remarkable. The Press' view is, indeed, inspired by the financial interests, to which Mr Battley belongs. It was only, therefore, to be expected that Mr Battley would say that the Ministerial policy is causing the withdrawal of capital and preventing the investment of fresh capital. We believe that these things have actually happened; but not as the result of the Ministerial policy so much as in consequence of misapprehension and alarm unnecessarily caused by the Government's opponents, many of whom could not be satisfied, except at the cost of the bulk of the colonists. The London Economist's extraordinarily vigorous denunciation of the Government's taxation was, as everybody now knows, based upon the most stupid errors. The assumptions having been wrong, the deductions were worthless and misleading. But, there has been no retiactation. Whatever may be the nature of the Government's taxation, it is the duty of true colonists to judge it honestly and on its merits. The Government certainly should not be held responsible for blundering misconceptions, whether intentional or accidental. If it be wrong to frighten capital away from the colony by a too vigorous taxation, it is a crime to frighten it away by raising false alarms. Mr Battley mentioned to the interviewer instances in which negotiations for the investment of capital were suspended as soon as the Government taxation scheme became known. Is it not more probable that such negotiations were suspended because the capitalists at Home did not comprehend the scheme, and had been misled by the Government's enemies ? and is it not a fact that now the scheme is better understood, these financial relations between Home capitalists and New Zealand are being resumed 1 Where are the evidences of the withdrawal of capital'! Is trade worse than it was when Sir Harry Atkinson pursued a policy that is supposed by those who are now crying out to have been characterised by the greatest possible amount of financial wisdom ? If one of the chief blessings of Sir Harry Atkinson's policy was that it induce.l an influx of capital to the country, and if, as we are told, where there is plenty of capital there is plenty of business and no lack of work, how did it happen that during a whole decade of Sir Harry's term trade was wretchedly dull and employment so scarce that the cream of our working people left us in desperatim? Mr Battley says that already it is almost impossible to obtain loans on mortgage, though there is plenty of money in the banks. What has taken the banks, then ? YY e could understand that, perhaps, large borrowers trammelled with enormous estates and overwhelming liabilities might not be such favorites with our great financial institutions as heretofore; but the land still remains. Notwithstanding that the Ballance Ministry reigns, New Zealand has not yet gone down in the Pacific ; and, moreover, the soil is being used for the purposes of production. Moreover, the bulk of the cultivators of the soil have been so relieved by the Government's system of taxation that their properties constitute better security than ever for loans. Then why should the banks lock up their coffers ? There must be some mistake here. Where capital exists it will always be available for payable productive enterprise. Why do the banks keep money here if it is not required, or if they are afraid to administer it ? And how, if the rate of interest is rising in consequence of the Government's taxation scheme, is it that the Government negotiated the renewal of a loan of half a million the other day with one of our banks at a half per cent, less than the original price—4 i instead of five per cent ? Mr Battley refers to the " state of opinion in England." The Government, however, are responsible only for the acts they actually perform, and not for what people may attribute to them and false interpretations of their intentions. Mr Battley acted wisely in interviewing the Premier on the question. No man that we know of could possibly speak with greater intelligence and authority on the subject than Mr Battley, and his representations to the Premier will, we dare say, give rise to further explanations which will remove false impressions, reassure the great capitalist institutions, and enable them, with more success than ever, and with even greater advantage to the colony, to resume their necessary operations.

The letters of "Betsy Jane" and Mr J. M'Quade on the Maerewhemia Reserve question are held over till to-morrow owing to pressure on our space. Mails for the Australian colonies, United Kingdom, and Europe, via Hobart, per Te Anau, close at the Bluff at noon to-morrow, 13th inst. Mr Pelargy's four-horse coach will run from Kurow to Duntroon daily in time to catch the train to Oamaru, and will return from Duntroon to Kurow on arrival of the train from Oamaru. Mr F. A. Joseph, in a letter to the Otago Witness, advocates the candidature of Messrs Reid and Neill on the ground that it would be of advantage to have a couple of tertchers on the Education Board ; and makes the following statement" It is a notable fact that our Education Board does not contain among its members anyone who has had practical experience as a teacher. This probably accounts for the too frequent strained relations between the Board officials, the teachers, and the School Committees." From this statement it is clear that the writer's knowledge of the subject upon which he writes is extremely limited, otherwise he would have known that Dr Hislop, who is, and lias been for years, a member of the Education Board, is one of the oldest teachers in Otago. Experience certainly does not warrant Mr Joseph's assumption that the presence of teachers would make the educational coach run more smoothly. Teachers as a body, though there are bright exceptions, ate highly conservative, and, in some measure, it is only natural they should be so. Their conservatism, however, very prejudicially affects their fitness for the administration of the education system, for in view of the widely varying circumstances of different localities in an education district embracing all manner of communities the successful and smooth working of the system depends very largely upon a liberal admistration, founded upon the sound basis of consideration for the varying necessities of a scattered people. The best means of securing this is by having the membership of the Board distributed over as wide an area_ as possible, and by electing a good proportion of country sett'ers—men who, like Messrs M'Kerrow and Ramsay, for example, are in sympathy with the residents and teachers of country districts. '

A meeting of members of the .Sunflower Minstrels is called for to-morrow (Saturday) evening, at S, 30 o'clock, at the Globe Hotel. The following voting in the Education Board election is recorded :—Strath-Taieri, Messrs Green, Jago, and Ncill ; Mornington, Messrs Clark, M'Kerrow, and Reid. The monthly meeting of the Oamaru North School Committee, which should be held this evening, has been postponed owing to the absence from town of several members. The annual general meeting of members of the Oamaru Amateur Athletic Club will be hekl in the chess-room at the Atlienanuu to-night, at 8.30 o'clock promptly. The business will be the election of ollicers and general. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received the following telegram from tluiir London oliice, dated 9th instant In wheal there is an improved feeling. The market, is steady, and quotations are unchanged since last telegram. That we as a colony are not burdened by excessive penury is proved by the fact that wo make little or no effort to utilise our waste products. An instance in point is afforded by the tons of seaweed lying on the beach, thrown up by the gale. In the Old Country this would long ere now have been carted away and sold. It makes the very best manure in the world, anil for asparagus, tomatoes, etc., it is absolutely unrivalled. Same of our gardeners might take the hint. Trusting innocence is not generally supposed to be an attribute of newspaper men, but the simple-minded editor of a northern contemporary gives the lie direct to this popular prejudice by heading an article on the necessity of subscribers not overlooking payment of their subscriptions thus : " l'ay for your newspapers !" He expects his subscribers to read the article in face of a warning like that. Such ingenuousness is positively refreshing. A resident at Redcliff informs us that the flood was far worse in that locality than at Waitaki North. The gale was similar to that experienced here, beginning about the same time. The flood came down the river, however, faster than it bus ever been known to do before. The new race has been badly damaged near the head works anil the water has been turned out of it until repairs are effected, which will be for some time. It is estimated that LloO damage was done to the race. The crops have been badly damaged, especially on the Education Reserve and Messrs Rogerson and Fleming's estate at Chetnole. The ground lying low, the water rushed over it with considerable force, and grain was washed about and heaped up in all directions. Even crop that hail been stacked will require to be re-stacked. Those settlers whose property faced the river lost a considerable number of sheep and cattle but no horses. Our Waimatc correspondent writes: Waimate weather has once again taken a turn towards clearing up. On Tuesday, in the morning, it looked very dull and foggy, but towards evening it began to clear, and yesterday (Wednesday) turned out warm anil sunny and helped greatly to dry up what the rains of Sunday and Monday hail done. No damage to speak of was done in tile upper part of the district, but down near the sea some serious losses have occurred. Messrs Studholme have had between two and three hundred sheep drowned, anil two ponies belonging to Mr Middleton were also lost in the same way. The scouring out of two of the fords over the Waimatc Creek has been a great inconvenience, people having to go three and four miles of a round because of the fords being too dangerous to admit of crossing. The Gorge train was stopped a little way before it could come to the Waihao Forks, and had to return to Waimatc. It will, however, after to-day run as usual. The weekly meeting of the Onward Lodge, 1.0. G.T., was held in the Eden-street Hall last night, Bro. Wilson, C.T., presiding. After the ordinary routine of business, the election of Lodge Deputy was proceeded with, Bro. W. Hart being appointed, and the Lodge was then closed in order to give members an opportunity of visiting the garden fete. The Court of Appeal has decided that shop assistants do not come under the description of persons engaged in "manual labor." It had already been decided that omnibus conductors and drivers did not, though a driver of a horse and cart who loaded and unloaded goods did. It is now the intention of European engineers to store the waters of the Nile to such an extent as to enable a greater extension of the cotton and sugar-cane crops in that region. The Bruce Herald says : —" We arc informed on reliable authority that a very valuable lode of cinnabar has just been discovered in Bruce County. This is a metal not very largely distributed, and wherever it is found it is highly remunerative. There are, indeed, very few such lodes in the world. Cinnabar is the ore of quicksilver—which, as everybody knows, is of enormous value in gold - saving processes, and in the industrial and art world. It has also the additional value that after the metal is extracted, the residuum forms the basis of that brilliant vermilion paint- which has an almost fabulous market value. Tlio discoverers of this lode are naturally very reticent, and although we have been told where it is—or at any rate had the locality indicated, we do not see our way clear to mention it, and therefore merely say that it is in Bruce County."