Dunedin, Saturday, October 30, 1852.

Otago Witness, Issue 76, 30 October 1852, Page 2

Dunedin, Saturday, October 30, 1852.

Self-reliance is a quality of the mind which, in a new colony, amounts almost to a virtue ; indeed we may safely affirm that no body of colonists ever succeeded without it. The burst of enthusiasm and excitement incidental to the foundation of a community in a new country soon wears off, and the laborious efforts made in such a cause, unless founded on a more stable quality, begin to flag as the difficulties increase, and by some means or other these difficulties do increase. The minds of most men overestimate their own powers and resources ; and the newly arrived immigrant almost invariably pictures to himself how much he will do in farming or business, and sets to work heartily. He soon finds that he has more to do than he expected : the expenses of clearing and cropping are greater than he calculated on ; his capital, it may be, is not sufficient ; perhaps he becomes dull and dispirited, thinks he might have invested more judiciously, and hastily determines to abandon what he has begun, and l turns his attention to something new ;— generally speaking, these changes do not advance his worldly prosperity; — and after repeated changes he thinks he will leave the colony, and try his fortune elsewhere. The diggings naturally present their seductive view to his mind. At the distance he is from the scene of action prevents his forming a satisfactory judgment of affairs. Rumours of great wealth, made by some lucky diggers, dazzle him. There is a mystery hanging over the scheme, giving it the attraction of a romance. He may hear perhaps of robberies and murders, of crime in every shape, but such vices are to be met with in all parts of the world, and have but comparatively little effect at a distance, they do not deter him. It is only a determination to persevere in the cause in which he is engaged — self- | reliance, in fact, that quality without which no i man ever rose to eminence — which can save him from the dangerous course of gambler-like staking his all upon a luck cast at the diggings. We never hear a man such as we have sketched | complain of the slow progress of the settlement, the non-arrival of immigrants, the want of capital or labour, the high price of provisions cr the want of a market, that farming wont pay or that cattle and sheep yield no return, but we feel inclined to ask him, what have you done to remedy these evils? Have you cultivated your lands ? have you worked early and late, and yet want labour? If you have not, do you think, if immigrants were arriving by thousands, and capital pouring in by millions, it would benefit you ? The labourer would not work for nothing, the capitalist would not i share his wealth with you; you must have something to buy the labour, or something to sell for the money; more people will make a greater market, but the competition will pro- , portionally increase. If you are in trade, others of the same trade may arrive ; and unless you have made the most of the resources and advantages before you, you will hardly find your- ! self bettered by any change. If you be a farmer or stockholder, the high price of labour is compensated to you by the high price of provisions; you pay much for the care of your sheep, but you get an equally high price for your beef, mutton, and wool ; and as to your market there is no fear of that failing for years to come. That meat would be at 2d. per lb. in two years was predicted by the sage ones on the landing of the first party in Otago, yet, towards the close of the sth year from that date meat is 30 per cent, higher than it then was ; and all colonial produce has shared more or less in that rise. The diggings, to which you so fondly turn your eyes, will put more gold in your pocket by your pursuing your present occupation, than by your joining in the scramble. The diggers must be fed, and the more gold they get, the more will they give for your food. But to pursue any one of these various occupations, you must pursue it steadily, industriously, and judiciously — you must, in fact, have self-reliance. If our grumbler be a labourer, we would ask him, whether he is not better off here than he was at home. Of course, no man by mere labour can realise a large fortune, but he may form the nucleus of one. With frugality and

industry he need not be long confined to the station of a labourer ; he can speedily acquire land or cattle, — and indeed there are not a few in this settlement who have done so. If a numerous family make his first struggle severe, it is but a compulsory accumulation of capital, he will find the brawny arms of his stal worth sons a greater source of wealth than cattle or land : here' his family will cheer his declining years, and lighten his toils in his old age ; whereas at home thejnwould have been a source of much anxiety. What labouring man in the mother country can expect to see his children rise from his own~station, how many see them sink below it ; whilejhere, what prudent man is there who cannot calculate on leaving his family at his death in a higher, or at least wealthier position than he himself started from. He has made one change, and that an" advantageous one ; to | risk another to the diggings might, although thertf are many chances against it, increase his wealth ; but unlike the capitalist, who stakes his money, and can return, if unsuccessful, he stakes his all, his health, his strength, and the liealth and strength of his children. He maybe richer, but he may, on the other hand, suffer positive privation, or he may find his wealth purchased at the sacrifice of the morals of his children. The unlucky labourer at the diggings will scarce himself, much less his children, he distinguished from the outcast from, the gaol, or the companion of the whippingpost ; and that success with the mere labourer is likely to be of long duration is very problematical. It is competition that reduces the price of labour ; and can it be doubted that the gold which would tempt him from the comfortable position he occupies in this colony will not tempt thousands of the starving population from the home country ? To them the emigration to the gold-fields would be a prudent step; they have nothing to lose, and every thing to gain. The result is evident: over-stock -the labour market, and its money value will fall as rapidly as it has risen ; and if such a contingency as the exhaustion of the gold-fields should take place, the shock for a time will be deplorable. Let not our remarks lead to the belief that we complain of any want of self-reliance in Otago: the .very opposite Is the case. We may point, in illustration of this fact, to the few, if any, persons of settled employment who have left.the settlement for the diggings : they mostly co/isisted of persons whose occupations were unsuited to so small a place as Otago— clerks, lawyers, and trades of various grades, and men. whose habits had been sedentary, who found the rough work of the colony unsuited to them. And let us also point to the evidence of selfreliance in Otago. In the North-East Valley the line of road, formed partly at the expense of the inhabitants of that district, is lined on each side by well cultivated small farms, with their substantial weather-boarded houses peeping from out the ever-green woods — the rich green of the oats and wheat crops in this the spring time contrasting with the dark brown of the fern and tufted grass-clad hills in the background — the stout fences — the deep and well-dug ditches draining the surface water into the clear and limpid brook, leaping gaily along over its pebbly bottom, pleasantly suggestive of | trout and fly-fishing (too indolent and luxurious a sport, by the bye, for a colonist) — the fat sleek cattle grazing by the road side — the heavily-ladened dray progressing calmly along, drawn by the labouring oxen— the ploughs with, irresistible progress turning the rich and virgin soil — the stacks of golden grain and the merrysound of the flail ; — all speaking of peace, industry, and contentment, and each year marking the rapid progress of cultivation and civilisation. In., that Valley, where four years since might have been seen one solitary house and one solitary garden, now can scarcely be found one unoccupied section. Formerly the cultivations appeared as an inroad upon the waste lands; now the waste lands appear but as gaps in the continuous line of pretty farms. . Much credit is due to the men of the Valley ; they have done more than well ; and a walk in this direction will repay any one interested in the progress of the Settlement. ;The Half- Way Bush also presents evidence of considerable progress, though, from the extent of this district, the cultivation is rather, as it were, in patches. The settlers have, notwithstanding the distance between them, constructed aipassable road, at their own expense, from the north end, of the district to join the road constructed by the New Zealand Company. To the south a very excellent road has also been constructed, and liberally subscribed to by his neighbours, at the expense of Frederick Brock-Hollinshead, Esq., who is at present carrying on extensive improvements, intend-, ing to build a very handsome villa. This latter road is to be joined by another in course of construction, at the joint expense of Mr. BrockHollinshead and Messrs. Macandrew, leading

to the lime kiln of the latter gentlemen, which will be a great advantage to the public, affording an easy transit of that most valuable manure in a new country, lime. The kiln, is situated on the banks of the Kaikaria, backed by a high hill, the difficulty of ascending which has been obviated by tlie construction of a wooden railway, with an apparatus, worked by horses, for raising the loaded and lowering^ the empty cars ; the whole being the work of jour worthy townsman, Mr. Adam^ and does liim much credit. - The Green Island Bush district presents also a cheering aspect. A considerable breadth of land is under crop ; the plough is constantly, at work, and speaks at once of the industry of the inhabitants. In this quarter private roadmaking has not been carried on, the scattered position of properties being, to a great extent, the cause. r is The progress in the Anderson's Bay district is steady and extensive. Here we have to. nolice an improvement in the agriculture of Otago ■ — the construction of paved stockyards, the goodly pile of manure lying by the side giving a guarantee that the wasteful practice too often followed in the colony of taking all from, r the soil and returning nothing to it is not to be pursued. On another farm we had the pleasure j of seeing in full work a thrashing-mill, constructed in Otago, entirely of native wood, the iron work having been supplied by our skilful blacksmiths. This machine is altogether a most creditable performance to Messrs. Brown, of Anderson's Bay. We understand that it will, in the course of the present year, effect a saving of more than its cost, to say nothing of the advantage to be derived from machine labour where manual labour is scarce, and may yet be scarcer. It requires but a glance from Anderson's Bay at the .Town of Dunedin and both sides of the Harbour to feel that their is no want of industry or self-reliance in Otago. Dunedin itself has not greatly increased ; but the range of hills immediately behind it are dotted with villas and country residences, with the green lawns and clearings peeping out from the bush — here and there houses in course of erection, brick in some instances superseding the oldfashioned construction in wood. On the Harbour may be seen small craft beating up to Dunedin, or running down to Port Chalmers. These crafts, chiefly schooners of 3, 4, and 16 tons, were mostly constructed in the colony. At the beach near the Survey Office mighVtill lately be seen, to the uninitiated that most extraordinary process of cutting a vessel in halves and lengthening her. She has since been completed in a workman-like manner, and is now plying upon the broad waters of the Harbour. Farther down, near the Emigration Barracks, are the keel and ribs of a schooner of 60 tons, being built on the Aberdeen model. A loom has also been constructed in Otago by Mr. Willocks, chiefly of native materials 9 and is expected to be shortly at work. All these machines, vessels, dairy and other articles of daily use, constructed on the spot, speak volumes for the self-sustaining quality of the Otago community. The one loom may in time — and in a marvellous short time too — lead to extensive factories. Little Paisley, as the place where the loom stands is called, may some of these days rival the Great Paisley in its manufactures, and yet be free from many of its vices. Dunedin, too, on a fine Saturday morning, presents a busy and delightful scene. The carts with their well-groomed and well-fed horses hard at work, and an occasional dray from the country heavily laden with produce, or returning with stores and supplies to distant settlers — the blooming and buxom lasses tripping to market with their baskets of butter and eggs—harbingers of homes, happy domestic homes, pleasing to reflect upon. Saturday in Dunedin is all business, and contrasts the more strongly with its quiet and orderly Sabhaths — almost without a sound but of the Church bells, or the yet more solemn music, borne upon a balmy summer breeze, of a whole community united in singing the praises of the Great Creator of all things. Let any man contrast this but imperfectly drawn picture of Otago with its peace, happiness, contentment, and total absence of crime — and the descriptions such as are to be found in every paper of Melbourne and the diggings, with its robberies, murders, sickness, and lavish expenditure of treasury, when speedily obtained as speedily thrown away upon vices and follies, and say which is the more desirable residence of the two. We understand that some of the flockmasters in the Taieri have in contemplation the formation of themselves into a club to shear the flpcks in that district, — a plan well worthy the consideration not only of flockholders, but of those engaged in agriculture. The labourer to be hired at a moment's notice may be said to have disappeared from the market, most of the la-

bouring classes having permanent situations, 01 having small patches of land of their own in cultivation; the chance of obtaining extra hands will be thus diminished, and possibly much oi the harvest be lost from all harvesting at the same time. Some arrangement might surely be come to by the settlers in each district by whicli much of the inconvenience might be avoided : and it would certainly have the effect of promoting* social intercourse and a neighbourly feeling as beneficial as agreeable. The Cultivation of Potatoes.— We are sorry to hear that many of our agricultural friends are neglecting the growth of this most important crop. We would strongly impress upon every occupier of land the importance oi cultivating it largely. The Australian Colonies must look to New Zealand chiefly for some years to come for a supply of potatoes. America may compete with us in flour, but it cannot do so with potatoes. With a population which will probably be quadrupled before next year, with gold in abundance, and from these colonies having always imported this vegetable, we may make sure of a very high price for our potatoes. We understand that one firm here, which has been shipping lai-gely, -will undertake to find vessels next season ; and either to purchase out and out at the market price, or advance £2 a ton and send the potatoes forward on account of the grower. . We have seen a letter from Messrs. Willis and Co., London, to their agents in Otago, in which they advise having laid on the " Slams Castle" to sail for Otago direct, and afterwards to Wellington, about the 10th July. They express an anticipation of her having a considerable party of passengers to Otago. The " Lyttelton Times" of Oct. 9 has the following ill-natured remark upon the late affray in Dunedin : — By the " Comet" we have files of the Otago Witness to the 25th ultimo, but beyond a fray in the streets of Dunedin, in which sticks were freely exercised, and a pugnacious tendency developed more consonant with the proceedings of Milesians than staid Free-Kirkinen, we observe nothing of particular interest. We are the more surprised at this l-emark of our contemporary, from its usually being above the system of running down its neighbours. The tone of the observation under consideration is an evident sneer at Free Churchmen. We may inform our contemporary of the fact, which we hope he will have the justice to reprint — that there was not a Free Churchman, not even a Scotchman, concerned in that affair ; the whole of the parties were Episcopalians, and one is a distinguished member of the Committee of that Church. We mention this for the especial information of the " Lyttelton Times." though, for our own part, we think that the acts of half a dozen ruffians cannot fairly be saddled on the community they belong to, be it Free Church or Episcopalian j but we may once for all remark, that it is a most singular fact, that of all the assaults, — and there have been several committed by the J.P.s of this district, — there has never been an instance of one of the offenders being a Free Churchman. Otago is certainly unfortunate in its neighbours. It would almost seem as if Free Churchmen were a species of heretics, to whom the common rule of justice were to be denied. Some six or seven place-hunters, who seek to eat the bread of idleness, are opposed by the body of the community ; and these parties revenge themselves by committing riots and assaults, seize public property, belie and slander the settlement and nearly every individual of the community, then point to the damage such things do to the progress of the settlement, openly hinting that it would be better to stop their mouths by allowing them to obtain the offices they desire ; and our neighbours, we fear, from a jealousy of our progress, or to serve their own ends, affect to believe that the whole community are the same. It is another most singular circumstance that the whole of these place-hunters are, we believe, Episcopalians ; at least, we are positive that not one of them is a Free Churchman. How utterly the feeling of this community are outraged by the Governor, and how evidently all think they have a right to pick at a Free Churchman is clear, for out of 16 J.P.s appointed for the district, there are but 4 Presbyterians, and that in a settlement containing 1200 Presbyterians, and but 220 Episcopalians, out of a population of 1700. We say again, we are sorry to see our contemporary — The " Lyttelton Times" — joining in the hue and cry aginst a particular creed ; but it is very questionable whether it may not have arisen from a visit paid to Canterbury by a reverend gentleman who lately left Otago — a gentleman who had the singular want of taste, immediately on his arrival here, to. preach a sermon on the unscripturai nature of extempore prayer, a practice almost universal among Presbyterians, and the singular want of discretion to mix himself up with local politics and party animosity.