THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND SATURDAYS. NELSON, TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 1875. "THE FINANCES OF NEW ZEALAND."

Colonist, Volume XVII, Issue 1897, 6 April 1875, Page 2

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND SATURDAYS. NELSON, TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 1875. "THE FINANCES OF NEW ZEALAND."

lira recent issue we announced that we hil received from England a copy of a letter H written to Fraser's Magazine by the Hod. B Julius Vogel, in reply to an article which B had appeared in that monthly, of which Mtß Charles bellows was the author. . Ttoß people of JNew Zealand have heard of tbtfß Mr Fellows before. For some time he wsiß remotely connected with a Dunedin p'aperß and his effusions (signed " Master Huffi-B phrey") in that paper were, as Mr Top B says, so extravagant and nonsensical, a^B his "facts" bo incorrect, that people boobßbecame weary of them. His prodiiction'B were always on one subject—namely, tblfl (in his opinion) rottenness of our finance«>B But his misrepresentations would not gjß down in Dunedin, and at last he was'force! B to seek another field where his literal?B and financial abilities would perhaps be»oi«B appreciated. It is stated that he■ went fro*B ' this Colony to Sydney, where he published jB pamphlet, in which he endeavored to WB his readers to believe that New Zealand w^B in a bankrupt state. Whether he succeed B in inducing anybody to believe his assertion' ■ we are not aware. Now, however, he iwß again turned up, and this time inapl^B where his wilful misrepresentations .•jw ■ if they remained unnoticed, do the J>W ■ ] no good. The mere fact that his article fFB peared in Fraser's. Magazine makes !f* B.: portant, and we are glad to know that tMB' Premier lost no time in giving a decided con- ■ tradiction to the wonderful and erroneous ■ assertions of Mr Charles Fellows. . ■ The first, and probably one of tbe^« important, of Mr Fellows's ■tatecnei»tßJj MB 1 the effect that " the Colony.yearly manuka J ture3 surpluses by spending borrowed mon J ■ ( on purposes which should be provided w ■ out of ordinary revenue." Heafctempt" ■ ] prove this assertion;' but, as he is altoffP ■ J wrong in hia "facts," it is needless to iJJJ ■ how he goes about it. His charge th&t W ■ I rowed money is applied to maintain ■ J regular establishment is complefctly ( ■.. proved by Mr Voge+rwiio says also that ' ■ statement that borrowed money isU'eJj.B .*'< pay:iutere»t ou the public debt ia a ictt^ ■ t

jg-i, '**,!"■- " ," , ~*. , i otis" perversion of fact." Another of Mr Fellows's wonderful statements is that "one-half the immigrants who receive assisted or free passages to New Zealand leave the Colony." To show the correctness | of this statement he quotes from a Colonial newspaper (the nameot which, however, he carefully conceals) from which, he says, he learns that, in the year 1872, 10,725 persons arrived in the Colony and 5,752 left it. It will be observed that he endeavors to lead people to suppose that these were Government immigrants, but the Premier shows, by official returns, that in the year named the number of immigrants who arrived was only 4,808. It is evident therefore that bis figures are at fault. Mr Vogel quotes rather extensively from his " Handbook" for the purpose of showing the nature of the public works and immigration policy. In passing, we may state that from this it appears that the Government railways, when completed, will average a cost of from £5000 to £6000 a mile. Mr Fellows next charges the General Government with extravagance—extravagance in the construction of railways, in public buildings, &c. But he is remarkably unhappy in liis " instance," as he falls into the simple error of confounding the General with the Provincial Government. In support of his assertion be refers to a railway in Southland, and-the Post Office in Dunedin, both of which were works performed by the respective Provincial Governments. Without goingany further into details, we may say that the Premier made out a very clear case of wholesale wilful misrepresentation against Mr Fellows. The remainder of Mr Vogel's letter, which altogether occupies eighteen pages of Fraser, is full of interesting facts respecting the Colony, which facts will, no doubt, have a great influence on the minds of many who think of emigrating to New Zealand. At all events, those who read the letter will have a good idea of the present condition of affairs in the Colony. The Premier gives the following particulars respecting our public debt as it stood on June 30, 1874:— Population, 308,000 Total debt, Colonial and Provincial (including£l,soo,ooo which had recently been raised, and of which not more than half a million was expended), £13,411,736 Total debt, less sinking fund, ... ~. 12,500,000 Amount per head of gross debt, £43 10 10f » „ annual charge, 2 10 5 „ „ revenue, 4 12 2\ We cannot conclude more appropriately than by quoting the latter portion of Mr Yogel's letter. He says : — "I should have liked to do more justice to New Zealand. The Colony is as prosperousas any country in the world. It has immense resources, and is sure of a great future. But not only on its resources does ii depend. As a comparatively recent colonist, I may, without egotism, say that, far above climate, toil, and other capabilities, the strength of New Zealand depends on its people. A country may mpport population even in spite of original sterility —as witness Utah, not to mention many spots in Europe. Upon its people depends a country's success; and the colonists of New Zealand have those virtues of fiugality, faith, industry, and energy whioh ensure success and happiness to their possessors. In the New Engltnd States, the grand qualities of the early Puritan founders show themselves in their remote descendants. Generations will live and die in New Zealand, and still the homely virtues of its pilgrim fathers will be reproduced, and will earn for the land a great place amongst the dependencies of the empire to whioh I believe they will, like their ancestors, flory to belong. To the people of New Zealand, who have won their way to success through so many difficulties, that happy phrase, ' the heroic work of colonisation,' is peculiarly applicable."