The Depresslon.

Southland Times, Issue 9090, 14 December 1885, Page 2

The Depresslon.

TO THH BDITOB.

SlB, — I am weary of reading tae various letters and articles referring to tbe present depression and the many allasions madeto Sir Julius Yogel as the man w&Uwas expected to bring prosperity to New Bame seem to think that he was in lesguewith tha Deity, and thatihe could bring^prospetity by his. presence, the same as Moses • did. wlen he struck the i rtJctHoreti, andltheifotfir fished out to c[aenchtfie thirst of the thoasanSs of worsiipl> the fiaoie God I know^ap^or'whewetjifr & the i |;pTdea:calfj butr fceSfcas Bignally failed to do anything for thlgodd of the people. He <uc<^eaißQ^in;some'iMtence«^irivincr^»ging bar bdrdetw, ftffd-%oald have done wach

remedy for trie pteacnt deprexmon the causes whioh brought it about must be first ascerlained, and thisougbt to have been done by Mr Jnlioi and bit collesgnes. Seeing that - they hare w>t, I will try to give fo«»e of the leading caam which have brought about the nrefrnt state of matters. When I arrive 1 in Otago tome 26 year* ago, in tke good snip Alpine; the price of land wa> 10b per acre, witfi" an improvement clause, which compelled the purchaser to expend 30s per acre f mote on improvemento before he could get his Crown grant; this was a grand law. Maui «n attempt was made, I have been told, in tte d»y» of the good old' Captain Cargill to abolish the improvement clause but he determinedly opposed it. -No sooner,-how-ever, had the worthy captain retired frota office and' another reigned in bis stead tban the land laws were altered and the downward progress began. This - was in 1860 The ,*pfie»Owas raised to 20a, and if more tban one applied, for the same section on the tame;d»y it was pnt up to auction, Tbus -the..&ona fidt settler, of small means, was J rtiri"up. beyond. his purse and had either to^iwrrbw part or go without the' land. Under this iniquitous law banking companies , rapidlyl'increaged, and loau companies followed in their wake, and' high rates of m> .terest were charged; but then the colony was ' youDjr, produce was dear, work was plentiful, and the settlers could pull along. Wben, " however, produce increased and our litnite i, ? mack 'ta began to be overstocked and trouble 'stared us in the face, land salts falling off, money became scarce ; the best land having s been bought in large blocks by speculators. ' Ourwonderful deliverer came to the front his Public Works and Immigration 1 jcbeaie. The Umporiry relief blinded the and many bought land at high - isl prtces with -borrowed money j but the last Three years has ruined the most of them. It was no great stroke of statesmanship for Sir Julius to propound- a scheme of borrowing, seeing that New Zealand .was then nearly without debt. But what have all those works done? They have driven the market for oata out bf the colony; I do not think '■-' thHtx>ne single yteair^ has passed since 1860 "without some alteration having been made in S the land la w«, and many of them very bad ones, especially in Southland . At last the deferred payment system came out some nine v or ten^years ago, and was hailed with delight by mauyr*/Thfl simple mode of allotipgthe landby ballot when more thanone applied ,wa« soon altered for the worse— all double jippiicationi being decided at auction, whenj in many cases,, the land wai run up much beyond its value. . Hadthedeferred pay mpnt : system been introduced into Ota«o ia 1860J and continued until this day, Otago would had at this moment more settlers than are sow in the whole of New Zealand, and all the public works would -havebeen.done by compaoies with colonial capital 'withont lsc-f debt. What n hM&enwtoDg-canbe;eaßily told, aud what mißbt have been done \ but it is not sp easy to 'say what can be done now to restore, '•%rds6erity.'i:Pne thing is certain, that during the last three years one half oE the farming oornmunity ibave gone iDSolvent. 'The tale of them all has been the same— that owing to the low prices^ruling for grain and stock oh , the one hand and the high interest to pay on other, 'they could not make ends meet. Notwithßtanding*aU this the banks and loan companies are paying large dividends j for £ *exampVß| the B *nk o£ New Zealand's last dividend was'ls per cent,; the. New Zealand Loan Co.'s was 16 per cent. These figures ipeafc^for themselves. Tne Legislation of colony has been influeucwi too much by ?the banks and ioaa^companies, and little re--^fcard has been had to the interest of the proiacingcommuni^ Nothing hasbeftn done in Parliament to prevent their iuio,and hundreds ' r 9Xt rained already. Money lenders have prosoerw amafSairly.^ind- will* soon bethe iole -ownew of the goiter patl of "ihe. colony; I the coloni«il»? h*ve been fleeced of the Cfruiti of tte^|»b6ur^andlmany of them! are '"2 dleavisg oar ihor^ana iaany more will fol- ? 4owF Grealt ttiingr were promised by the ''Government ,bef ore . Parliament met, " but what have they done 7— Nothing. One thing mTeht have been done. They '■ could: have brought iii a bill torestrict the rate of interest and commission. A Drainage -Bill was much" wanted, as were an Indemnify Act to protect mortgaged land from being sacrificed at the will of the mortgagee, and a reduotfon of interest to 5 per cent, enforced. The coose which has been laying the golden Cffn will soon be killed, and what will the Btortibrier :then ? We are the ftutheßt 'trbWtheßnropeahmaikets andhave to com* pete with th« J worldi> The rate of interest, has been double what are payiDg, commission and discdont more than double. How then can we^sucGeed I■■ ■ ; Your cbrrea* pondent is now poorer than he was 26 years ago; has worked hard all the time; been * si itnctiy fteady and economical, and has spent 26 years of the prime of life here j and I may •-"•if thatlamafftir Bpecimen of my fellow* Woartfc-l«tt.*C'» ■ ■ '■■ ALPINE, ' Invercargill, 11th December,