AS OLD COLONIST ON NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6386, 1 August 1882, Page 3

AS OLD COLONIST ON NEW ZEALAND.

At Dundee, on Bth June, Mr T. T. Ritchie, of Dunedin, addressing a meeting of shareholders in the Colonial Real Property Company (Limited), Bpoko as follows :—

After a residence of 16 years in New Zealand I have come to Scotland simply to visit my friends, and certainly it has been none of my seeking that my time has, as yet, been devoted mostly to business, T,hose gentlemen who jjiwe' corresponded with me privately, and the diregfori' of tlie Investment Company with which I am connc^ed, know that neither in private letters nor in my amm\ reports have I been addicted to drawing highly-polqured pictures of the Colony, and I am not going to begin now. Apart from the folly of doin" so, I have no object to gain. I am not a landowner in the Colony; I have no properties in my hands for sale ; and, with regard to the Colonial Real Property Company, I am simply in the position of having been requested to purchase properties in New Zealand at a price to give a present minimum return of not less than 7 per cent., with a prospect of a fair increase of value in the near future. How far I have succeeded in doing so I will leave you to judge, after laying details before you. Any direct personal advantage to myself from the operations of the Company is a thing of the future, for the directors, with the usual caution of Scotchmen, propose to remunerate mo according to the profits realised on the several purchases. My interests are therefore identical with those of the existing shareholders, and with those who may become so. In speaking of New Zealand it must be borne in mind that ■ the islands, lying botween 34A degrees and 471 degrees of latitude, have of necessity a great variety of climate. A iior.ion resident in the North Island, m know little or noting of the South Island. The North Island is ltf extent rather less than England, exclusive of Wales; and the South Island is about the she of England and Wales. The climate of the southern portion of the

South Island somowhat rosembles Scotland, and north of Dunedin tho climate resembles that of the south of England, always, of course, barring the frost and rain of Ji."B«s»> and Scotch winters, of which wo know littlo or nothing. You know without mo tolling you that the climate is one of tho roost pleasant and salubrious in the world. Everything that grows in Great Britain is to bo found very nearly in perfection in New Zealand, llio statistics of wheaU production givo JNew Zealand the highest average of any colony or country. Two years ago, at tho Sydney Exhibition, it was New Zealand wheat that took the first, second, third, and fourth prizes; ana in oats and barley the Colony was nearly as successful. Hut I can imagine some of you saying, " Well, this that you toll us is all very ploasant, and it may be true, but what about the financial condition ot the Colony? What about its railway policy. What about its immense public indebtedness .' What about the high price of land '! And, in particular, how is it, with the soil and climate you boast of, and your high wheat averago— how is it that so many of your farmers are hard up, as is to he. inferred by their constant borrowing '!" Gentlemen, that is coming to tho point, and I shall confine myself for a littlo t* tho consideration of these important matters. First, with regard to the railway policy of the Colony. There has been a great deal of nonsense written on this subject. It was the fashion not so long ago for writers on this side to refer to the Public Works policy as having ruined tho Colony. Wo wero told wo could never stagger on under the enormous load of taxation; and we were constantly being reminded that our debt exceeded that of any other British colony. Now, I lived in the Colony for years before there was a mile of railway in it, and at that time I travelled for days through magnificentagricultural land without seeing a single human being or a house until at nightfall I made some roadside, shanty. 1 have lived in the Colony to see 1200 miles of railway running through thickly-settled districts, which before their advent were as solitary as a Highland moor. Ten years ago, when the railway policy was iniatiated, the population of tho Colony was 2a0,000. It is ndw almost 500,000, exclusive of tho Native raC o—44,ooo. Ten years ago the value of the wool exported was £1,600,000. Last year it was £3,109,000. Ten years ago the value of wheat exported was £179,000. Last year it was £920,000. And for these results wo are indebted in a very large measure—nay, I may say entirely indebted—to our railways. It was never expected that tho railways would yield much of a direct return for some year* How was it possible they could do so ? bull, in 18f J--80 they yielded a return of nearly 3 per cent, the net revenue then being about ±,20U00U; and for the year ending 31st March last the not profit is fully £400,000. Since entering this room I have a telegram from the Agent-general of New Zealand stating that he knows for a fact that the line between Christchurch and Dunedin this year will yield more than o per cent, net upon tho capital sunk, and all lines together £3 19s 3d per cent. So much for the railway policy. . . Let us now look at the public indebtedness, which amounts to £28,000,000, the interest and sinking fund in connection with which, together with the ordinary expenditure of tho Colony, requires heavy taxation. The ability of the Colony to meet this burden must not bo measured by the capability of a similar number of people in Great Britain to meet a like amount. I think that the absurdity of such a comparison will be, on a little reflection, obvious. Yet many writers are fond ot instituting such a comparison. Then remember that the debt in question has been incurred mostly for reproductive works m the Colony and works altogether outside the public debt of Britain. Were the cost of your railways and harbour improvements added to the National Debt, the amount would be enormously increased, not to mention your large poor rates. Out of the Colonial revenue is defrayed the cost of the gaols, lunatic asylums, and tho entire cost of education, for all of which objects you are hero liable to special taxation to a large amount. Ten years ago, when the colonists were not so well able to bear it, the taxation was £3 4s Cd per head of the population. In 1880 it was £3 11s 9d, which in reality is lesa than it was ten years previously, because education was not formerly paid for by tho Colony. If the rate per head of the cost of education, 9s 9d, is deducted from the taxation of 1880-81, it is less by 2s Gd per head than it was in 1870-71. What do you think now of the cry about the increased debt and increased taxation caused by our 'Public Works p»licy ? Let me now refer to tho assorted hard-up state of many of our farmers, and the erroneous conclusions apt to be drawn therefrjm. I shall be very pleased, after this meeting, to go into particulars with anyone interested in detailed information as to the profits of farming and you can compare the sober realities of New Zealand farming with the returns from land in this country, or with the glowing anticipated returns from American virgin land, with its winters of six months' duration and the thermometer below zero. In New Zealand a large number of our farmers are very hard up in consequence of a disease to which they are liable, and one of which you know nothing here, and are not likely to know so long as you remain in Britain. In the Colony there is a strange, burning, overpowering fever, to which, when surrounding circumstances are favourable, immense numbers of colonists succumb. It is called the earth fever or earth hunger, and its constant craving is to add aero to acre, field to field, farm to farm at all costs—an insatiable desire akin to that of the drunkard. In the Colony the desire once created, can always, sooner or later, be gratified; and it is astonishing how .many, throwing every_ consideration of prudence to the . winds, madly seek to gratify their craving for land, more land, and they will burden themselves with debt, and then toil hard to get rid of it, and when they succeed they plunge deeper than ever. But in addition to these fever-stricken patients, on whom we need not no w bestow much sympathy, there is another large class who commenod farming with no practical knowledge and with insufficient capital, and their idea of farming is to take five or six white crops in succession off their land. When compelled to give it a spell they sow grass, and finding that the grass declines to put in a satisfactory appearance they damn the land, and the Colony as no good. When one considers for a moment with what insufficient means many of tho farmers in New Zealand have started, and that many of them have first graduated in other trades, the wonder is not that they are hard up; the marvel is the astonishing measure of success to which they have attained. In a letter, dated the 10th March last, from a practical farmer in New Zealand, sending me a detailed statement of farming returns, the writer says:—"Of course, many people farming here fall short of such returns, and some are actual contradictions of my statement; but, when I look over the country and observe the very few people who started fanning with any knowledge or experience of it, or with means at all adequate to their undertakings, the wonder is that there are not more failures." Another objection frequently taken to New Zealand is the high price of land, and I have been told again and again that land can be bought in America for as many shillings as for pounds in New Zealand. This is perfectly true, but remember when you hear this statement the following facts : First —Compared with America, Now Zealand is a very small place, and agricultural land is of very limited extent. Second-None of our land is situated more than IQP miles from a seaport. This is a most important matter, frequently lost sight of. When once grain is placed on board ship the freight to Lqnd/ni is not much over Is a bushel. There are no protective duties in New Zealand, and ships going there can always have outward freights, which cheapen the Home freights ; so that, notwithstanding the great distance, we are enabled to compete successfully with America. . Finally—Remember that the average yield of wheat is much more than double that of America.

When you consider these things, is it surprising that land in New Zealand should be high in price ? The value of land is what can be taken out of it, and I have not the least hesitation in saying that any practical farmer going to New Zealand with not less than £2000 would lead a life of comfort, and in its genial climate, freo from all malarious diseases, and from all extremes of heat and cold, would renew his youth if well up in years, and woidi} lay the foundation of a substantial fortune for his children.

You are aware that for the last three years the Colony has been in what is termed a depressed condition. Thocause of this depression originated outside the Colony. In consequence of the failure of the City _of Glasgow Bank and the financial crisis in this country, the Colony, which had been steadily pursuing an onward career of progress and prosperity, was suddenly, and without warning, required to come to a dead halt. Like an express engine at full speed, it became necessary to shut off steam and down with every brake. Such an operation is at ail times disagreeable, if not dangerous. To meet public and private engagements tho sum of £3,000,000 was wanted. Th«re was never any doubt of the money being found; but there was for a time a doubt of the money being obtained in time to meet engagements as they fell due. The money was got, and 18 months saw us out of the difficulty. This period, and for some timo after, was a time of the most severe retrenchment, from the Government of tho country down to every individual colonist, and special tax'aticm flf ft highly objectionable nature had to be resorted'to'WOTiler tp make, inepme balance expenditure, The land sales fell from £000,000 to £170,000, tho customs revenue docreased to the extent of £107,000, and the railway returns fell short of tho estimates by £300,000. Whilst the Colony was bracing itself up to meet the emergency, retrenching in every direction, and cheerfully submitting to heavy, oppressive taxation, how were our efforts met and appreciated in Britain? Why, with a perfect howl from the London Timeß downwards. From tho Press of Great Britain generally we received the most ungenerous most grossly unjust treatment. Owing to the action of the British Press, the crisis) in the Colony was intensified and prolonged. Well, let those laugh that win. Now we ate pretty woll independent of adverse newspaper criticism, and the Colonial Treasurer will this year have to boast of a surplus of not less than half a million sterling.

A London street-artist recently; completed on the pavement a drawing of a joint of roast beef, well under-dressed, when a starving dog began licking at it, and endeavoured to run ojt with it. The artist in vain tried to protect it with his crutch, for the dog did not r«fram from his meal until he had licked the picture ciuitoawayT