THE DEPRESSION AND ITS REMEDY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1966, 29 October 1891, Page 11

THE DEPRESSION AND ITS REMEDY.

The following is the concluding portion of the letter addressed to Mr A. 8. Paterson, president of the Chamber of Commerce, on the above BU v jec L : — New Zealand has many advantages that neither California nor Australia possesses. The country requires no irrigation, which is a blessing and a curse, for wherever wafcer ia left stagnant under a hot sun (which is Bure to be ihe case where the irrigation canals are crude and uncontented ) malarial' fever, often fatal to children and making life a burden to mat), sets in. New Zealand is under British rule— not a land of freedom to me the revolver There have beeD 60 murders in San Francisco in the last two years, and nobody hung, and a similar proportion in every village and hamlet all ovf-r tbe country. The sentiment of the country is in favour of murder, and juries acquit under the most absurd defencs of emotional insanity and self-defence The marriage tie is not respected ; there ia one divorce to every four marriages recorded in the courts, and goodness kaows how many people do uot go to the expense of involving the aid of the courts. Train and stage robbery are in full moving, as in Jack Sheppard's days. Labour troubles in New Zealand are but a small matter compared with these things As long as the constable's baton flourishes to knock sense into thick skulls, the demagogues may be safely permitted to ease their bosoms of whatever perilous sbuff is troubling them, and the sentiment of the c immunity is in favour of order, they are of the British race t New Zealand can now offer attractions not inferior to all countries compeHng for immigration. Mexico and South America are out of it for misrule, and the Hinted Skates has nothing t.o boast of in the way of social order ; therefore, if I may be permitted to suggest, advertise your resources. People grew fruit in California 300 years ago, bub they did not advertise their resources. I will venture to suggest by way of illustration what might the difference have been if the recent exhibition had been held in London instead of New Zealand, or the bulk of tbe products put into a car and wheeled all over the United Kingdom, under the title " Now Zealand oi) Wheels." I am aotually told that the prevailing depression is partly owing to the exhibition ; but surely that is really too pessimistic a view. Might not the result have been different if instead of, or in addition to, publishing a dry handbook of New Zealand statistics, there had been published a book containing photolithographs of, say, a shep.p-shearing shed in full swing, showing the wo^k of robbing the orossbreds of their fleeces, the bales of wool piled ap in the wool stores and an auction sale g«ing on, tha interior and exterior of the freezing works, the Hon. Matthew Holmes' herd of Clydesdales, Mr Menlove'a shorthorns and Mr K. Fergusson's polled Angus cattle, of the bacon and bam curing establishments and the dairy fnct-ories, and scattered throughout the United Kingdom and sold at a fraction of cost or given away. Of the Mosgiel Woollen Factory ; the Styx Apple Company's orohard; the lives and names of settlers — Mr Donald Roid, for instance, Mr John Anderson (of Wyndham and Napier), and plenty more. The prices of land in different sections ; the capital required to work the different industries ; and, if you like, tbe failures that have occurred in the past and tbe reasons thereof ; the want of capital, experience, or whatever it m*y be ; the Vesey Stewart settlements and f-he Lincolnshire farmers on the Piako Swamp. Sheaves of wheat and barley may be photographed with a man alongside of them to show how tall they are; settlers' homes and running streams and bluegum plantations and what not, are all more vividly presented by the photolithograph than any other way. The sturdy lads playing football and cricket, rosy cheeks and strong limbs, are not among the products of America Surely a picture might, be presented of New Zealand life that would not be without its attraction, and every fact given could be vouched for by reputable men. When I told a California rancher New Zealand was a land of green grass and running water, he said it was worth while going there for that alone. The difference between Southern California and tha interior of Australia and New Zealand is the difference between Egypt (an irrigated country) and Palestine — the land of bondage and that of promise. The one, " a land where thou sowest thy seed and waterest it with thy foot as a gardt a of herbs " ; the other, » a land of hills «nd valleys,

and drinketh water of the rain of heaven and a land which tbe Lord thy God careth for— tbe eyes of the Lord tby God are always upon it, from the beginuiog of the year even nnto the end of the year." New Zealand wants no land boom, neither is likely to have one, for speculation prices are too high. That is a thing of the past. Neither did Southern California aim at a land boom The ' eastern people were invited to grow fruit, but \ instead r f that they praferred to lay out towns and gamble in land. Now the gambling is done; the cultivation has begun in earnest; the American is not without resources — when one fails he tries another ; and the nurserymen for the past two years have b°rn quite unable to supply the demand for trees. Again, every device is being used in the way of advertising to induce people to put their oapital into fruit growing, to meet the aversion t.o leave city life. If the landowners cannot themselves they will be content with their money. Many advertisements now being distributed in Sau Francisco offer land upon almost any terms. The owners will plant and care for tbe trees and take the price of the land out of the profits, if the investors will only pay for the planting. One advertiser, advisiDg city people to buy five or 10-acre fruit ranches, after setting out fully the profits to be derived, goes on to cay :— i " Even if there is no profit the cost is ao little, why not run one for fun ? If you are a city man take the children down in the fall, fill 'em up with peachep, stuff 'em with pears, eat all tbe frm'fc you can, dry all you can, jam all you can, and can all you can't." The American is nothiDg unless practical, and settlement on the lands is now slowly progressing. I travelled in the Alameda with an English gentleman, who informed me he bad lust come through with a party of 40 settlers for K>rn county. They will find onfc that it is the boss country for peaches, and for malaria it takes the cake. My point is, the Americans advertise and the Np' Zealand people do no's. The advantages of a 40-acre fruit ranch in California have been b'azoned all over the world, the merits of a 200 acre New Zealand farm have not, It is impossible to gpt the most out of large holding". Ploughing 10,000 acres of land to grow wheat is not farming, bnt gambling. Farming is a busiI ness proposition. The true farmer recognises | the law of average, and does rot put all his eggs in one basket. He Hyps on his land, and off it. FT is pigs and poultry and cows pay his rent and more; be grows more than, one kind of crop, has pasture and corn land, and roots, and a draught mare or two ia foal. That kind of farming never fails, bat it wants a man to do it. They are building up in America in their large cities a race of typewriters, stenographers, lawyers, doctors, real estate and insurance rustlers, politicians, and book fiends. I lived some time in Alameda, a suburb of San Francisco with 10,000 inhabitants, and s wealthy resident, a pioneer of d 9 and a man of strong sense, said to me that if it were not for the real estate and insurance men Alameda would be a cow pasture. It is for the temperate climate of New Zealand, without the fierce extremes of beat and cold, with its contant showers and its British rule, to build up a race of men. With kind regards to yourself, and trusting that your next report may indicate a brighter and commercial outlook for New Zealand, " the land of any one." Of course, on the Napoleonic principle tba*. "war should pay for war," land selling should pay for advertising. I need not suggest that to a business man. Oa board s.s. Taluno, off Napier, 20th July 1891. John Houghton.