The Waikato Time UNKNOWN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1872.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 94, 5 December 1872, Page 2

The Waikato Time UNKNOWN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1872.

TaKUK arc to bo fouud. even yet, men who are opposed to the principles of I he railway and immigration schemes. They aie for the most part, men who would be opposed to any action the result of which they, with their very limited capacity to grasp any subject, they are unable to foresee. We are r.ot loud of boring' our readers with statistics, being - well aware that very few men take the trouble i;o read or to draw conclusions from tliem; it is, however, as uiueli our duty as it is that of the physician to occasionally administer an unpalatable cure for an existing evil. Y\ e will in the first place give the statistics ot* the amount of farm produce of various descriptions imported into jXcsv Zealand during* the last year. We find ( of l!our A 85,0£9 worth entered oar ports, wheat .£47,<131, butter £1,(503, chat! AT),980, cheese £Bl>9, chicory £144, esnrs £1,084, maize JC'27,139, malt 7, oats £21, hay £478, l-.ops £21,408, meal j *£2,941, linseed oil £10,8(59, bacon £683, beef ,J-2U!7o,hfirus A ; 4,220,p0rk £136, vegetables A's,tiG7. ■jThese give a total of over A'23S,COO. I:i other , words A.H'38,000 Jeft this colony last year for the ■' purchase of articles whicji it is S.ittls short of a disfiiice to us as colonists that we do not . export n the above list there is r.oi one article thai could rot be produced in this colony equally well as in j any part of the globe. Let us lor the sal>c of tttlp to arrive at a conclusion, why wo have mt productd ciicngh Lr our consumption, turn to

j anotlicr bible in order to ascertain the quantity of j kui'l in culiivation, and the number of acres under j f;:u;h crop. Sown for wheat I(J<S,?2O, oats (for green '{nod or hay) 1 ( .),8(J1 acres, (for o- r;i i n ) 1,3!). 185; | barley bay o0,?17, permanent artificial jo-rases (including- previous ifem—hay) 8.'J3,21G, I potatoes other crops g-iving a total I of abnuf, 1,1 It wilt be seen by the above j that IS'-.J, jiL' 1- our, of the whole acreage under cultivai l:ori is devoted to the feeding' of stock, leaving only | 'J l-'v_)7'i innler cultivation for the produce of articles |ol food (other than meat) or com'." .re. In order ; to show that this is not the c.:-o i■>.-.■at: our land ;is incapable of carryiipr c we ;;my pc'nt out that the avera'.' - ;.' ■'• !.!•>(' wh'Vi' ::irr hrough- | out the coloit • ...ui it must .a adtiiC:,': ;.j rt-iiu-!::';.; v i was an : e.V'" . • , f'; i ii-iving l given as cursorily as possible a few facts j in connection with the subject, we purpose enquiring j tin.; reason ut their existence, I'he primary cause is I undoubtedly the want of facilities for cheap transI port from the country districts to our populous towns, j We will cake this district as un example; in our j case it would he useless ior the farmer to produce j more wheat than can be consumed in the district, i as the cost of transport to any other market would j be nearly equal to the value of the produce on its j arrival. A railway is evidently the only remedy. | lhis fact is clearly demonstrated by the imports of j oafs into the colony having only amounted in value !to 1. Canterbury, .since the construction of her : railway, has driven all I'oreiyn competitors out of our markets. The secondary cause is the want of suHieioiit population ro cultivate the thousands of acres at present unfilled and almost mi eared for. There are many thousands of acres ihat at the present; time are only used lor sheep runs, and I litis producing- yearly only the value of the (loeces and the increase. We have no desire to disparage theg-razing' industry, we only wish to point out that under more favourable circumstances, as regards means ot communication and numb.r of population, .not Id ol .the £208,000 sent to other countries last, ye.it' would have left, and the colony would be richer by that amount. It would more than have paid one-third of the interest on the d-. bl of the col Miy. In con-i'doring the question of rail ways, the principal consideration is undoubtedly — wili they pay working expenses—but it is not the only one. If they were being- constructed by a company with only the prospect of profit derived from their traffic returns, it would be otherwise ; but. as they are being made by the colony, we can afford to l'orego direct profit if we can see a more than commensurate indirect return. We are, in fact, not entering on the scheme with the object of making money from them at first, but as being the only means of developing the resources oif the country and enabling ifc to carry a population in keeping with its acreage. We arc endeavouring to bring the population to our shores, and our object in calling attentiou to the question is not so much for the information of those already settled in the country, as Lo Jet others without its boundary know what a favourable field this colony is for the small capitalist possessed of a knowledge of farming. Our soil will grow almost anything ; and at the present time we are importing the necessarie3 of life to the extent of nearly il per head of the j population. Any man who has considered the above facts, an d isyet opposed to the public works schcrae, I is an object for pity rather than condemnation.