New Zealand’s Reputation and Prospects at Home.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6028, 3 October 1889, Page 2

New Zealand’s Reputation and Prospects at Home.

INTERVIEW WITH A RETURNED COLONIST. (Otago Daily Times.) Mr Thomas Calcutt, of Goodwood, who has recently returned from a visit to Great ■Britain, was interviewed yesterday by a representative of this paper with the view of ascertaining from him some particulars as to the light in which New Zealand is regarded in the old country. Mr Oalcutt explained at the outset that prior to his leaving Wellington it had been arranged with the Government that he should, at the expiry of his leave of absence from the Government on the 31st December last, be accommodated with offices in the Agent-General’s chambers, and bo advertised generally throughout England and Scotland as a persom competent to give advice to intending settlors—to those who might .have it in their minds to follow the farming interest in the colony, or to acquire land for occupation purposes. To the carrying out of that programme he devoted his time either in London or elsewhere from the Ist January to the 31st May inclusive, delivering lectures in the country and meeting persons by appointment or otherwise.

“ During that time,” Mr Calcutt says, “in London and elsewhere, I had interviews with upwards of 1700 or 1800 persons, and I also answered 300 to 400 letters a month to . persons whom I did not see ; and all of these were, generally speaking, desirable and eligible colonists, inasmuch as they were men with some means to begin, with, and combined with this they had practical working instincts, so that they might have occupied i in the colony on advantageous position com- ; pared with their position in the old country, i As a rule I never advocated that anyone should come with leas than £SOO, and this only in cases where, from what I could judge, the man was a practical, hard working man, and his wife and children were able to assist him. The result, shortly put, of my five months’ labours —so far a.s I could honestly ascertain the actual results, bearing in mind also what was told to me—would have been the introduction into the colony, from north to south, of £200,000 to £250,000 of capital, and an influx of 400 or 500 people.” Asked if all those were forming people, Mr Calcutt replied that they were, all except one —a man with £IO,OOO who was to send out his sons and has done so. ADVERSE INFLUENCES AT WORK. Mr Calcutt continued : “ The result was inmy opinion infinitesimal compared to what might have been done if it had not been for the following adverse circumstances : —l, the terrible report of tho Baok of New Zealand ; 2, the report of the Gabriel’s Gully Consolidated Gold Mining Company (this alone, I fear, caused a loss of at leant £1,000,000); 3, the To Kooti escapade—for the masses of tho people at Home do not know but that when they land in New Zealand they are in danger of being tomahawked, and that has to bo explained away; and there were several other very adverse notices of public companies and roper'h of companies. All this has to bo fouani. against in tho best manner possible, for persons present themselves at your office with these papers and demand auexplana- ( tiou. Notably there is a paper which ( has a largo influence in London, extending even into tho country districts —I mean tho Financial News. ■ Scarcely a day passed but what there wore some strong adverse editorial comments or paragraphs on New Zealand after a style of which these may be taken as an example : “Financial News, January 3rd.—ln the report of tho Scottish and New Zealand Investment Company, adopted at a meeting in Edinburgh tho other day, it is stated that the colonial property tax upon the transactions of the company now amounts to 2 per cent upon tho capital of tho company. The impost is severely felt by every one of tho land com- ' panies working in New Zealand, and there) may be some sympathy for the view ex- 1 pressed by Dr Rattray, a shareholder, that the company should retire out of thn colony, ‘fairly taxed out of it.’ The company’s dividend on this occasion, (5 per is ; partly made up by a draft of £ISOO ou the i reserve fund, and it was stated that lending i was at a standstill in tho colony, and that a sum of money had been brought Home and lent temporarily at low rates. Financial INetos, January 30th.—Those who have of late been pulling the strings in New Zealand securities contrived yesterday to get them up |to 103. That figure, however, brought out * largo blocks of stocks, and the price closed ! 1024—t- To the public we will only repeat our previous caution. If they choose to bo gulled into purchasing the Block of a colony whoso population decreases year by year, whose taxation is greater than that of the Mother Country, and whose general position offers absolutely no inducement to settlers, it will bo their affair.”

It it were not for these the result would have been very much better. Moving as,J. did a great deal through the country, and having very good introductions to London society and to financial circles in the city, it was very painful to mo to hear the strong adverse expressions that were passed upon everything connected with New Zealand. Nothing was too hot or too heavy to say against, this little colony, and it was looked upon in the city circles and in the large towns as the last in

importance of any of the British colonies. You daily and hourly would meet persons of very fair intelligence and connected with business matters, and they would have the old story of the enormous debt and the paucity of population of the colony ; and the daily papers would chronicle the exodus from New Zealand with capital letters and croc-s----headings, ‘ Another Exodus from Now Zealand.’ You have no idea out bore of the terrible reputation that New Zealand had at Home. It is only, however, fair to slate that just prior to my leaving a bettor tone prevailed, and the very papers that, had been writing the little colony down in so malicious a manner have turned round. There has been a very favourable feeling expressed as to the action of the present Now Zealand Governmentin effecting economy and keeping down unnecessary expense. From careful observation, and from numerous interviews with • men whoso opinions are entitled to the highest respect, and from rny own feeling I believe that New Zealand will yet be acre for acre the best colony that England has got, but that time will not come so quickly as many good and worthy, men here seem to think.” • In answer to a question as to the effect of the announcement of last year’s surplus, Mr Oalcutt stated that ho never saw the announcement of the Surplus except in the British Australasian , a weekly publication of high repute, in London. Ho never saw it in any of the daily papers, although it might have appeared in others that he did not see. THE PEOZEN MEAT TEADE—A NOTE OP WARNING. With reference to the frbzeh meat trade, Mr Calcutt mentioned that at various times he visited many large cities—such as Cheltenham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Worcester, Oxford,; Cambridge, Hull, Huddersfield, Sheffield, and others, and in almost every town he found that New Zealand meat was on sale at different places. ‘‘l made it my business,” he said, “ personally to inquire at almost every shop what they thought of the meat, and the general concensus of opinion led in this direction : First, that it is very good meat indeed ; secondly, in answer to tile question whether the frozen meat was equal to the best English and Scotch mutton, the almost unanimous answer was that it was not; thirdly, in answer to the question whether there is anything against the sale of the moat from a purchaser’s point of view, I was told, ‘ Yes; most persons object to the colour.’ After coming from the freezing chamber the mutton gefs a dingy brown — almost dull mahogany,—.colour, which, although not offensive'in'a sense, is disagreeable to look at. Passing that phase of the question, there is a more serious one. Nearly all the salesmen to whom I spoke—distinct and apart—expressed themselves to the effect that there was a very serious opponent to the New Zealand meat in the shape of the South American, and that within, some said, a year or two, while others allowed a margin of from three to five years, as good mutton would bo-produced in the River Plate country as any that we’ have produced. New Zealand would then ho handicapped by the exceptionally heavy charges, and we cannot expect as good a price as otherwise wo would obtain. Another serious drawback to the good name of the meat is that Victoria, New South Wales, and (at present). South American meat, all- of which is now inferior in quality to the best New Zealand, is sold by unprincipled tradesmen as " New Zealand meat. The consequence is that householders buying mutton which was supposed to be from Now Zealand and finding it to he almost uneatable —dry, hard, withered stuff—became so disgusted that they left the trade, whereas they had not touched New Zealand mutton at all. As to the matter of the rise and fall in the price, as I have this day told a prominent New Zealand sheepfarmer, it is my opinion after careful thought that if the New; Zealand sheepfarmers can average.2d alb net,, with the fat and skins thrown in, during the next three or four years they will do exceedingly well; and my opinion goes further—if - they are led to believe they will get much more I am satisfied they will not. I have,” Mr Calcutt added, "tried New Zealand frozen mutton in London, and always, of course, on board ship, and I have had the best Scotch mutton ; and so far as my individual taste goes I am bound to say that the New Zealand frozen mutton does nob approach Scotch, mutton.”

Do you consider the Scotch mutton better, both being fresh cut ? “No,” Mr Calcutt replied, “that’s all the 1 difference. As I have said, the frozen mutton has a dirty, dull mahogany colour which is not nice to look at. That, however, disappears when the meat is oooked; but it has tho disadvantage in the shop.” r ; THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. Mr Calcutt is of opinion that the dairy industry, although how in its infancy, will grow to as large dimensions as the frozen' meat trade. About it at present he did not know what to say. He had made enquiries as to tho probability of obtaining a sale in ‘Britain of butter, more especially of cheese; and also iof condensed milk; and the almost unanimous opinion of the tradesmen he had spoken to was that, though the butter should be as good as any,,it was badly salted and badly manipulated, and tho condensed milk was also badly manipulated. The butter was factory-made-the little that had been sout over. (Mr Calcutt pointed to the diagrams, appended to Professor Long’s report, on the dairy industry, illustrative of the difference between the ways in' which butter and milk were manipulated in New Zealand and in other countries ) With regard to New .Zealand cheese, Mr Calcutt states that many London men to whom he_ spoke would not have it at all. He asked the reason, and was told , they never could get a uniform article. One man told him that he received one shipment of ' very good cheese, and ho recommended it to his customers. The next shipment was so had, however, that he had to abandon tho New Zealand cheese and return to the.Amcrican article. AN IMMIGRATION AGENT WANTED. ‘ Coming back to your original remarks about the introduction of farming people into tho colony, does it not point to the desirability of having a permanent immigration agent for the colony? ■ ' Mr Calcutt replied decidedly in the affirmative. , THE FLAX INDUSTRY, .. : Eeferehce having boon made to' the development of the lias industry, Mr Calcutt expressed the opinion that that industry was destined to bo a very important and materially increasing one. ADVICE TO NEW ZEALANDERS. “ Finally,” said Mr Calcutt, “ after the experience I have had at Home, after tho thought I have given to the question generally, and after the very numerous interviews I have had all over England with men competent to express an opinion upon various matters connected with the colony, I have come to the conclusion that the colony must •progress, and will progress, in a very material sense day by day almost, and that its worst reputation in England has now passed away for good and all. If New Zealand will but accept tho position and not expect too much, if they will be prepared to accept a fair return for all their products, I believe that permanent prosperity will be maintained. That is tho common sense view—they must not expect too much.” Tho interview then terminated.