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Waipawa Mail, Volume 2, Issue 114, 15 October 1879, Page 2

The opening of tho exhibition at Sydney marks a new era in colonial history. Ecw among tho brilliant crowds that w itnessed tho opening ceremonies would think of the really wonderful advancement the exhibition marked. How that one hundred years ago such a country was almost unknown. The representatives of science and art, and of manufacturing skill, are gathered together, representatives of all nations in one of the world's great shows, in a city which not many decades ago had no existence. That the seeds of a mighty nation have been sown in Australasia, there can be no doubt. Whether we are to take the place among the nations of the world at present held by the parent country, and whether Macaulay’s New Zealander ever will prove more than a shadow, is purely a matter for speculation. Visitors from the old country will not fail to recognise the importance of the colonies, and in that it will draw the attention of the public at Homo more largely to the colonies, the Sydney Exhibition cannot fail to be a material aid to advancement. It is very questionable though whether these advantages are commensurate with the cost of erecting and maintaining it. The American spirit of go-aheadism very largely pervades all classes of society in trie colonies. Such a spirit is good enough in itself while kept in check, but unfortunately, the policy once instituted, it is very difficult to stop it. Compared with the countries of the old world, wo arc as infants, and yet in the colonies we insist on having the same conveniences and luxuries that older nations have. To do this, loans have been raised by every one of tho colonies to construct railways, telegraphs, and other works, which in but few' cases return the interest on the cost of their construction. Such a policy must soon cease. Now that the colonies have indulged in tho luxuries of unprofitable railways, they must consent to increased taxation to pay for them, but the sooner the policy of borrowing is stopped, the better tor the colonies.