THE Wellington Independent "Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice." THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1862. A SOURCE OF WEALTH.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1805, 18 December 1862, Page 3

THE Wellington Independent " Nothing extenuate ; Nor set down aught in malice." THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1862. A SOURCE OF WEALTH.

The Britain of the South, as the colony of New Zealand has been called, has long stood high in the estimation of those in the over-crowded countries of Europe, who, pressed by increasing competition and the excess of labor, over the means for its employment, turn a wistful eye to those lands beyond the sea, where smiling plenty follows as the reward of patient industry, and where daily bread and an ultimate competence are more easily procured. It is notjstrange that this colony should present many attiactions to such a class. With an iin mense territory of fertile land, watered by magnificent rivers, whose soil will bring forth in lavish abundance, not only the cereals and fruits of temperate climes; butthe more luscious productions of the south ; and with the ocean that washes our shores, presenting an almost illimitable source of wealth in its Whale Fisheries ; surely with all those rich gifts, but awaiting developeinent from the hand of man, Nature has blessed this country with every physical advantage. The future progress of the colony depends upon the developement of those resources, and it has long been an existing opiuion, amongst many of our colonists, that nothing* would prove a more profitable undertaking than the establishment of Whale Fisheries here by means of local capital, and with small vessels fitted out and starting from this Port. If it pays the Americans to send vessels out from Boston, and New York, to the Pacific, making a four months' passage out, and one at least as long home-, wards, with all the expenses of wages, loss of time, and consequent loss of interest on the capital embarked ; surely it would prove equally remunerative to our enterprising merchants, who are close on the field of enterprise. if they could hit upon some mode of gathering in the harvest, and transporting it to the English market. Something has already been done in that way, at least sufficient to prove the feasi. bility of the plan, as in 1842, or thereabouts, several vesels, the Victoria, the Indemnity, and the Middlesex, collected the oil from the various stations on the coast, and conveyed it to England. It is not, however, the resumption of such a scheme that we now suggest, but one somewhat different in details. Small vessels of a build and size such as the Lombard and the Trader might be purchased, manned, and equipped here. Almost everything necessary might be procured on tbe spot, the boats could be bailt by local shipwrights ; and scattered throughout the colony, there is a host of hardy whalers, equal in experience, skill, and courage to any men that can be found elsewhere. Thus the means are all ready to our hand, and once out of this harbour, the vessels would be at once on the ground of operations, and no time would be lost or risk incurred. Tbe average seasons during which they would be out would be com. paratirely short, and the oil thus procured could be stored here and shipped as part of our exports in the woolships going home. There is, however, one consideration relative to this trade, which should not ba forgotten ; namely, its uncertainty, which makes it repulsive to individual enterprise. The owner of a single ship embarking in it might incur a serious loss, by making what is termed a clean voyage, that is by falling into a track from which the fish have been disturbed, and coming home with the deck of his ship unstained by the blubber of a single whale. Such things have occurred ere now, but taking an average of the Buccess of several vessels, the result is generally very satisfactory, and if the same individual had more than one vessel engaged in the trade, the gaio3 of one would make up for the losses of another. In short, a number of ships would require to be employed, so as mutually to ensure each other, and this clearly shows, particularly in the case of a young colony, that the most feasible plan would be the formation of a confederation of capitalists, who would share the risks and divide the profits of the adventure. Such au agency would assume the form of a company, and as it has been already shown, that other enterprises adopted by the men and the capital of the Colony, have proved eminently remunerative, it bodes well for the success of a scheme such as is now suggested. There is yet, however, another view to be taken of the matter. Everything which can be added to our pioductive resources, not only benefits those more immediately interested, but likewise adds to the material wealth of tbe Colony, and by augmenting its revenue, through a thousand channels, diffuses good to the whole community. Thus the man of business with a keen eye fora liberal dividend as a shareholder,' while reaping a direct pecuniary benefit, is, it may be unconsciously at the same time acting the pait of the philanthropist, and conferring untold advantages on future generations. We have not yet entered into the financial aspects of this question, but will do so on a future occasion. Meantime, we have indicated its importance to our commercial men, and trust they will give it their consideration. The importance of the Southern .Fisheries as a source of wealth, has long been recognised, and nearly ninety years ago, that great statesman and orator Edmund Burke, in his speech on American affairs in 1774, alluded to tbe rich harvest that could be gathered from it, and foresaw that we were allowing our American brethren to occupy tbe field. His remarks aresp , distinguished by eloquence and truth, that we conclude our subject for the present by quoting then). "

As to the wealth whioh the Colonists have drawn from the sea by their fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at your bar. You surely thought those acquisitions of value, for they seemed) to excite youi envy ; and yet the spirit by which that enterprising employment has been exercised ought rather in my opinion, to have raised esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, > what in the world is equal to it ? Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the New England people carry on the Whale Fishery. While we follow them among the trembling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating in the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's and Davis' Straits ; while we are looking for them beneath the Arctic Circle, we hear that they ' have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold; that they are at the Antipodes, ' and engaged under the frozen serpent of the South. Falkland Island which seemed too remote and too romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting-place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both poles. We learn that while some of them draw the line, or strike the harpoon, on the coast ofi Africa, others ruu the longitude, and pursue their | gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed with their Fisheriea. No climate "that is not witness of their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried thia most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has been pursued by this people ; a people who are still in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood."