AS OTHERS SEE US.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2473, 7 March 1893, Page 3

AS OTHERS SEE US.

The following remarks from a letter addressed to the Minister of Public Works by an old New Zealander now resident in New South Wales are of considerable interest at the present juncture. The writer, who is a shrewd observer, says of the Australian opinion of our politics hero :—“I find from talking with all sorts of people in the hotels and clubs in Melbourne, Sydney, and the country districts, that New Zealand is regarded as the guiding star of politics for the Australasian colonies. The Land and Income Tax is regarded as a sound measure in finance, and the present Government is looked upon as the soundest and most enterprising as well as possesiug the best and most clearly defined intentions in legislation of any of these colonies. New Zealand is also pointed out as the most prosperous and economically sound of all the colonies. Although the real condition of New Zealand is not quite accurately known to these writers, yet in the main what they say is true, for New Zealand is more fortunate than these Australian Colonies, where to the complications and difficulties attendant on the poor getting possession of, or employment on the land, there is the unfavorable nature of the climate, which must always tend to make farming life more distasteful than it is in New Zealand, and consequently aggravates the congestion of the poor in the cities, which is the main source of all difficulties, political, social, and economical, which beset these colonies. You and your Government have certainly the courage of your opinions, and although attempting legislative experiments which must cause timid and Conservative people to gasp in alarm, I think that there is a very general feeling that the novel and daring measures which the present New Zealand Government has initiated and carried out, were really necessary, and will be beneficial. These measures in legislation are regarded as almost ultrademocratical, and yet prudently conservative of all rights which it is of real importance should be safeguarded. I hope you will hold your own in the coming elections, and not lose your head, which I am persuaded you are not likely to do : out spoken courage and a clear head are always respected, even by enemies; a clear head meaning that which can keep in view the correct issues and the safe and right course, amid all the clamour of party and the maze of self-interest and intrigue.”—Wellington Times.