SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5325, 14 March 1879, Page 2

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

0 POLITICAL AND GENERAL. The month has not been fruitful of political events. The meeting of the " Maori Parliament "in the North Island, preliminary to a larger meeting of Natives about to l>e held, is about the only event of im portance. Apart from some of the ludicrous elements of these meetings, and the endless talk to which they give rise, there is probably some earnest intention in the minds of some ot the leading Natives, of arriving at a settlement with the Government. Judging by the resolutions passed at the preliminary meeting, many of the tribes are evidently not yet prepared, however, for the " Queen's writ" running freely through all Maoridom, and tor an equality of laws and conditions between Maoris and Europeans. The JSritish system of Crown-granting1 land to purchasers, and thus giving individuals an indefeasible right to particular blocks, does hot meet their views, the tribal tenures being more to their mind. But as Sir Geokge Grey and the Native Minister, the Hon. J. Sheehan, attend the more solemn gathering now about to take place, at ■which it is expected that Tawhuo and Hewi will be present, it is highly pro table that some practicable scheme will tie proposed, of -which the return of a portion of the confiscated land, and the opening up of the country for roads and railwuyn, will form a part. The success of Sir George Grey in such a pacification would give him and his Government greatly increased prestige, and there are not wanting those whc, from political jealousy or other interested motives, are endeavouring to make the attempt a failure. An incident of no great consequence in Itself has been made the occasion of some talk in political circles of a supposed split in the Cabinet. It appears that Sir George Grey differed from his colleagues as to the appointment or a "Mr Luckie to a post worth £800 \per annum, but, it is said, gave way. After the appointment was distinctly promised tj Mr Luckie by Ministers, and he had actually entered on his duties, Sir George declared lie would not consent to the appointment unless the salary were reduced to £600 per annum. The dispute which followed is believed nearly io have amounted to a rupture, and the resignation of several of the Ministers. The breach -was healed, however, and Mr Luckie has been appointed at the lower salary of £600 per annum, Sir Geouge so far getting his own way, though doubtless at the expense of some soreness in the minds of his colleagues. The departure of the Marquis of Norhanby for Vic Loria was marked by a public demonstration in Dunedin and Invercargill. The conduct of Ministers in refusing his Excellency the use of the Government steamer Hinemoa, and the absence of every member of the Ministry from the farewell demonstration, caused much comment and some irritation. This contributed to give more heartiness to the expression of goodwill which the people of Oiago, and especially those of Dunediu, exhibited to the Marquis on leaving. The Mayor and Corporation, the "Volunteers, the Friendly Societies, the IFire Brigade, and the leading citizens, all combined in giving the Marquis a cordial reception on his arrival from the North and bis subsequent departure; addresses were presented,and the streets ■were well filled with spectators, who, if not enthusiastic, were cordial in their greetings and farewells. The Marquis, in his reply to the addresses, took occasion to refer to the proposal made by Sir George Grey and the Hod. MiStout, that the people should be allowed to elect their own Governors. In a few well-chosen •■-■• words the -Maryuia expressed his own strong conviction that this really meant nothing less than severance from the Mother Country, and, amidst loud cheers', he said he was convinced .that New Zealand colonists do not desire that. Nor do they. Here there has been a general condemnation of the elective Governor proposal, and the idea finds hardly any support in the columns ©f the Press, and it is nut likely to loecome a party cry,traless some serious difference arises with our new Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, who is expected to arrive in New, Zealand before . the end of the month. Sir Hercules is a man much more likely to be popular than the Marquis, as he is a great sportsman and a man of considerable oratorical power?, with a reputation for bonhommie; besides having a mind of his own, whose influence makes itself felt. The qualities of the Marquis were of a quiet and unobtrusive character, which led to his being rather undervalued; but he held liis own with Sir George Grey, and has earned his enmity. The public mind has been full of a terrible accident from fire-damp, which occurred in the Kaitangata Coal-mine (in Otago), by ■which 34 persons lost their lives. Full particulars will be found in another column. Large subscriptions are being . raised for the 24 windows and 88 children who are thus rendered destitute. Money is flowing in from every part of New Zealand, and it is expected that £10,000 will be realised. The banks have lately been adopting a somewhat stringent policy, and have raised their rates for discount and overdrafts by one per cent. The principal object is to check undue speculation, and no failures have yet resulted. Land is, however, for the moment depreciated, or rather it is impossible to sell. A few months will, however, produce a sounder state of things. Our harvest has been fair, but prices of "wheat are low, and the accounts of the wool market are discouraging. The floating of the New Zealand Agricultural Company at Home, under the auspices of Sir Julids Vogel, is viewed with jealousy in certain quarters; but if it leads, as we expect, to bona fide settlement, its results will be beneficial, not -only to the district in Southland where the land purchased by the Company is, but eventually to all New Zealand, by leading to similar settlements in other places. We need British capital and skill to develop our virgin resources, and we believe good returns for the judicious investment of capital can be afforded in many places throughout this young and prosperous Colony. "We publish in another column particularof the New Zealand Agricultural Corns pany (Limited), which appeared in a Northern contemporary. The facts stated in this paragraph, although in the main correct, do not fully represent the objects of the Company, and we are pleased to I>e able to state that the anticipations of our contemporary that it would be difficult to get British capitalists to sub-

scribe the one million of capital required, have not been realised. On the contrary, we are authorised to state that those interested in the disposal of of the estates, yesterday received a cablegram from Sir Julius Vogbl and Mr Larnach, dated London, 14th February, announcing that the Company had been successfully floated. The estates purchased comprise the Oroydon and Waimea Plains Estates, of G. M. Bell, Esq., and the Wantwood and Caroline Estates, belonging to Joseph Clause, Esq. ; also the Longridge, Dome, and Eyre Creek Estates of Messrs Larnach and Driver, comprising 167,000 acres freehold, besides large leaseholds, sheep, &c, as enumerated in the paragraph referred to. As one of the main objects of the new Company will be to settle families upon the land, giving them long terms of deferred payment, we congratulate our fellow colonists in Southland, and in fact throughout New Zealand, on the successful inauguration of this most promising undertaking. We may be quite certain that if it is as financially successful as there is every reason to anticipate, it will not be the last association of the kind which will be formed in England with the view of breaking up large estates in the best way, namely, by selling them in small lots to suitable settlers, who will be possessed of sufficient capital to work their farms successfully. We understand that ir, the initiation of this scheme and carrying it to a successful issue, Mr Larnach has had much valuable assistance from Sir Julius I Vogel, who by the permission of the Uoj vernment is one of the directors of the ; Company, thus adding one more to the ! many services which he has rendered to the Colony, by introducing a system of i combined capital and settlement which is the fitting complemeut to the Public Works policy. Our readers will recollect that a railway has recently been contracted for, to run over the Waimea Plains, from Gore to the Elbow. This railway runs through the properties now disposed of to the new Company, throughout its whole length. A considerable proportion of the land is already in cultivation, there being about 2000 acres in wheat and 7000 acres in turnips, besides oats and other crops. The railway does not become the property of the new Company, and it will bo a very valuable possession to its fortunate shareholders, in virtue of the increased settlement which must immediately follow. We should, however, be much surprisedif the Railway Company is allowed long to retain this line, as the Government should, at the earliest possible date, avail themselves of their purchasing powers under the District liailways Act. The railway statistics for the four weeks ending 11th January are, a3 might fairly be expected, the most satisfactory yet published. The total receipts for that period are £06,386 ; for the previous four weeks they were £57,357. The fact that the holiday period was embraced within these last returns accounts, of course, for the increase. But the grain season, which has since commenced, and the linking up of the Invercargill line, are together likely to keep up the totals to this point for several months to come. We have now considerably exceeded the Government estimate, which for the financial year was, iv round numbers, £55,000 on the average for each four weeks. During the period ending 14th Decemb the receipts had averaged £49,000 per week; it therefore only needed an average of £00,000 per four weeks for the remainder of the financial year to make up the estimated sum. That this will now be largely exceeded is evident. It we may accept the January return as our standard, our railway receipts are now at the rate of no less than £858,000 per annum. One circumstance which is satisfactory, if it really means what it seems to mean, is the reduction of the average percentage of expenditure from the average of the preceding 24 weeks, which was 74 90, to 71 "95. Of course this is only satisfactory if it has not been attained by overworking rolling-stock and laying up arrears of repairs and renewals, and on this point we have no data to guide us. The Greymouth coal line is the most favourable in point of working expenses, which in that case only bear the ratio of 5462 to the receipts ; and, strange to say, the Wellington line comes next, notwithstanding the disadvantage attending heavy gradients, and the working of the " Fell " system on a portion of it. The percentage in the case of Wellington is 65 92; the percentage on the Christchurch-Dunedin section is 69 43, and on the Invercargill section no less than 80"43. Of the whole monthly earnings, these two Middle Island sections, which now practically form one line, figure for £49,800, all the other lines together only adding up to £16,536. It is very satisfactory to observe that while Victoria is complaining that during the year ending 30th September last the deposits in her Banks have decreased by £697,413, those of New Zealand, a much smaller and younger Colony, have in the year ended 31st December last increased by no less than £1,658,350 —viz., from £7,758,757 to £9,417,107. Even the prosperous and progressive Colony of New South Wales only increased her deposits by £409,434 in the year. Besides this, a comparison of the New Zealand advances shows that additional resources from outside, not of the nature of deposits, have beea used to the extent of about one million. It thus appears that although the increase in advances has been very great, and progressive in its character, resources have hitherto always been available to meet the increasing requirements of commerce. Should the increase in deposits go on, a very slight contraction of advances will in a few months put the Banks in a very strong position ; and although there have been some temporary causes to check the influx of outside capital, these causes are ceasiag to operate, while the increased caution cf the past few months is tending already to increase trade balances in the hands of the Banks. The one thing which needed checking was excessive land speculation, a species of trading that does no good except to a few lucky speculators, and in no way adds to the resources of the Colony. This being effected, a very short period will enable the markets to recover from the over-imports of merchandise which have lately taken place ; the extent of which we may fairly measure by the statement that, as compared with the previous year, we received during 1878 five quarters' supplies instead of four.