The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1887.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7962, 5 September 1887, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1887.

The rapidity with which persons can travel now-adays enables many in the Old Country to visit the antipodes •without being too long away from their avocations ; and, therefore, it is not surprising that amongst our visitors we should have had M. de Harven, the Belgian Commercial Delegate, and Mr. Brodie Hoare, of the National Bank, gentlemen on whose opinions of the Colonies some reliance can be placed, Tho former deals in a comprehensive and impartial way with the resources of New Zealand, dwelling at some length upon the climate, population, trade, and debt of the Colony ; the latter, in the space of a review article, seems to have grasped our position ; and, in a concise form, but very much to the purpose gives his views on the prospeots as well as the drawbacks of the Colony. In the opening chapters of M. de Harven's book there is an interesting aooount of the aboriginal raoe ; and then he proceeds at some length to deal with our forests. He describes in a lucid manner the high commercial value that should be put upon our various woods for cabinetrmaking, shipbuilding, as well as the suitableness of the bark for dyeing, tanning, and other purposes. Phormium tenaoa receives its meed of praise, and there are chapters on gold, coal, sulphur deposits, petroleum, the iron sand and copper ores. There are several ohapters on our railways, publio works, national debt, savings' banks, &c, comparisons being made between our constitution and those in the Continental States. The results are in the majority of oases favourable as regards this colony. Admitting

that our debt is a large one considering the smallnesa of our population, M. de Harven does not neglect to show that the borrowed money has to a large extent been spent on reproductive works, whioh will be bound in time to recoup all the outlay on them. The final paragraph in his book is' very applicable to the subject. He writes : " Publio savings on the continent are now invested in State loans, often used to, o,arry, by means of war, devastation and" death in the midst of peaceful populations. Let us invest these savings in productive works. We can no longer ignore the principle of solidarity, arid often private interest has no better ally than a publio one. The works whioh we must undertake are of such a nature that they will not olash. They consist in spreading ourselves over the world by the close union of three indispensable factors : Capital, intellect, labour. I onoe more repeat it, we cannot find a better field for our operations than New Zealand." Mr. Brodie Hoare does not go into detail like M. de Harven, but his "Notes" on New Zealand, nevertheless, show that he is a man of keen observation. His remarks are of a very different stamp to Mr. Froude's and that class of writers. There is nothing fulsome or what is not the truth in his praise of the colony, nor are his oritioisms unfair or put in an offensive manner. In referring to politios, he says very truly that the " Government is undoubtedly too expensive. The members of the House of Representatives, with their £200 per session, the numerous Ministers, and expensive machinery, seem to the I stranger a oostly luxury." It appears to others in the same light as to Mr Hoare, for those who have to pay for it consider it a shameful waste of money ; and we feel sure the large majority of the taxpayers will agree with him when he says, " A few policemen with walking-stick and two, or three men of business to look after the finances would do all New Zealand requires, and do it better." With regard to New Zealand politics, Mr. Hoare seems to have hit off to a nioety the failing of our leading publio men. He says : — " It seems as if every crude theory was taken up on the authority of some magazine artiole, and foisted upon the country as a supreme effort of enlightened statesmanship. Female suffrage in a country where there must be few women householders : nationalization of, land where the one thing wanted is to induce capitalists to buy and improve the land ; artificial settlement of men without capital on lands which take capital to bring them into cultivation ! Why cannot they let it alone ? I suppose because hon. members must talk about something to earn their £200 per session, and they have nothing else to talk about. Sir George Grey once brought the whole weight of his eloquence and authority to bear to try and exclude matches containing phosphorous from the country, and drew touching pictures of the lingering agonies of poisoned children. The leaders of both parties are tampering with protection, not realising that' the only result must be to take the people from the land where they are wanted, to put them in the towns where they are not wanted." This is so perfeotly true that we feel sure there is no one .in the colony who will gainsay it. ' Notwithstanding the faults in our Government, our indebtedness, and the demooratio feeling of the people, Mr. Hoare says: "New Zealand is a country whioh cannot' be ¥ beaten as a home for Englishmen." This is a recommendation bo telling that we feel certain it oannot fail to have a good effeot with many. Mr.OSoare whilst pointing out our defects, sees also the many good qualities in the people and the great resouroes whioh are lying dormant. " New Zealand must increase in prosperity, "he writes, "the progress of the next; fifty years should surpass a hundred-fold the progress of the past. The depression from whioh she is suffering is in the main agricultural depression, from whioh her varied resouroes will enable her to reoover more rapidly than less favoured regions. The Government is not all that one could desire, but tbe common sense of an educated well-to-do people will do much to rectify what is amiss. The borrowing has been too rapid in the past, and the check just administered will do no harm. The partnership between English capital and New Zealand enterprise is a legitimate one, but the capitalist partner must do his share, and see that the working partner uses the firm's money wisely. I oan only, in conclusion, echo the words which appear, as a trophy at every New Zealand publio gathering : ♦ Forward, New Zealand.' " We need have no fear of such honest criticism as above doing the country any harm. The reverse will be the case, for attention being drawn to the colony by such authorities as M. de Harven and Mr. Brodie Hoare, whose opinions are looked upon as reliable, there is more chance of our getting out a olass of settlers who will help to develop the resouroes of tbe country, whioh, unaided, the present population are unable to do. 'Already there are signs at Home of a reaotion in favour of New Zealand. At the last wool sales we are told " of the special features amongst Australasian wool may be instanced the firmness of the best New ■ Zealand merino greased description " ; whilst "New Zealand mutton and lamb " is growing " more and more in publio favour." We are, it is true, suffering from a long period of depression, but it will soon pass away, when, with a good Government in power, prosperity will again prevail, and the colony progress in the same rapid manner that it has done during the last twenty years.