"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1873.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 150, 24 April 1873, Page 2

"OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1873.

It will be seen by advertisement that it is the intention of the Gorernment to float £250,000 of debentures in the New Zealand market. That it is probable that this snra will be subscribed is not altogether a matter for congratulation. There are :■ r i immense number of industries and undertakings t.iat wonld pay well, waiting for the necessary capital. If the loan be subscribed, it will be cvi- . 1. -nee of three things: Ist. That there is a want of enterprise in onr settlers. 2nd. That we have, not sufficient confidence in each other to invest our money in companies. 3. That there is a large amount of money belonging to those who are past t, iking an active part in the affairs of the colony ; or that there is a large sum of " trust money " waiting for investment. We are loth to believe that the first is the reason, — and in fact there is little upon which to base the creed, as all who have watched the settlers of New Zealand are aware that rashness rather than extreme carefulness has been their chief characteristic. A reaction has now set in, and judging from the amount of uninvested capital in the hands of the banks, it is excessive. This leads us naturally to the second proposition. There is undoubted good grounds for believing that it is not safe to invest money in companies; the disclosures and failures that have taken place are almost sufficient to frighten any man not possessed of adequate influence to become a director. Experience has taught people to be \ cry careful, and there is only one step from extreme carefulness to timidity; to the fact that the boundary lias been crossed, we attribute the glut of money in the market. As regards the third proposition, wo believe that New Zealand is not yet sufficiently old to possess a large number of those too aged to look nfter their own affairs ; a few widows without doubt are depending upon the interest of tdeir capital for subsistence, and there is, in all probability t» considerable amount of "trust money." We maintain that the only persons who are entitled in justice to themselves and to the colony to invest in Oiovernment securities are the lame and blind, or those who are practically reduced to either position l>y circumstances. As an abstract principle it is advantageous to borrow money from the inhabitants of a country rather than seek abrond that which in at the door. This is only the case, however, wherethere is surplus money in the country ; and snrplus money cannot exist so long as there is n single industry untried that energy and enterprise could make pay more than Ciovernment interest. Nations nre made by the courage, enterprise, and energy of their inhabitants; neither of theso can exist in a people who aro satisfied with u small rate of interest and little progress. We trust, therefore, that the debentures will not bo taken up unless there is sufficient money in the hands of the clashes we have specified as beio.f justified in investing in Government securities. Ib must be remembered that the Government* power to borrow from abroad is practically unlimited ; also that to procure money without the colony for the prosecution ot private or Company schemes is exceedingly limited. How can we expect foreign cnpitalists to come to our assistance if men of capital living on the ppot aro afraid to invent. The natural remark to the applicant would be, " You can find money for Oovornmont purposes ; why can you nut lind enough to carry out your pi i vate schemes ? It appears to us i hat the question is unanswerable, and we consider that the attempt to float debentures in the colony is a linauc. il mistake.

We trust that there w no foundation for the rumour that Colonel Uaultam will succeed Dr Pollen us General Qovern- , ment Agent in Auckland. We can scarcely brliove that such a step is contemplated. In case, however, that we uiin be deceived, we take tho present opportunity of informing those in authority, that we believe in the impossibility , of making a more injudicious appointment, or of foisting on the people ot Auckland a more unpopular man. Wo have recen ed ft letter from our Hamilton correspondent. lie requests us to challenge Mr Farrell or the Amalgamated Board of which he is chairman, to confute a single statement contained m our local in refeseiiec to tho punt at Hamilton. We may ndd thnt we shall be h.ippj to publish a detailed contradiction of his facts. There was a bitting of the Rctident Magistrate's Court at i Hamilton on the 22nd instant. There were only three cti*L"«, viz., E. Clark (Collector to Hamilton West Highwaj, Trustee-) sued — Kirkwood for 3* Gd, and — Phillips for 7s Od ; the first ca-e was settled out of Court, ami in tho tc/.-nid, judg nent went by default. The third case was that of Wood Biothers v. J. Hars.uit; claim JL'lo, for damages consequent on non-delivery of ionic sheep. Mr Hay appeared for plaintiffs. Judgment was gnen for £13 and costs. We notice that the Waikato Stc.un Company have, in addition to their river traflic, entered into the biuincsi of earners bv road. If competition results in the reduction of the rate of freight we welcome it. It is clear to every thinking man that the exorbitant rate of freight is holding this di-trict back. 'lho "Squatters" near the Wharf, at Hamilton West, were ordered by Constable McGovern, on Tuesday hut, to reniow all their buildings within a month from that date. It appears that the time originally granted to them expires on tho 17th proximo, also that tho squatters intend to apply for an extension of tune. We trust that the Government will give the application their ino^t favourable consideration. ' A number of ratepayers of Ilumilton West ha\c requested , the Board to call a meeting for the purpose of considering | the be»t step to be adopted with regard to the punt, they feel that it is desirable to get the matter settled. We learn that the Board ha* consented to act as requested, and that a meeting will be called for Saturday next. Tho Nutnc Lands Alliance Commission which has been sitting for some weeks in Haw ke's Bay, has terminated if sitting, and tl o Commission stands adjourned tine die. The c\ idence has been mo«t voluminons, in fact, so much, bo, that we have found it impossible to wade through it as printed in tho columns of our contemporaries. W r e await, with some interest, the report of tho Commissioners ; it cannot fail to be an able digeit of the evidence, and a fearless expression of the opinions to bo deduced thorcfrom, as Mr Justice Richmond was the chairman. We may state that this much nppeari to be clear, viz., that Mr Russell, who first spurted the mud about, is tho only man to whom it has stuck. We •hall reserve any further remarks till the report is before us. To a deputation that waited on him with respect to tho San Franciico Mail Service, Mr Parkes explained that he had not only not forgotten tho matter, but that he had not even neglected it. He said that it would not be convenient for him to say exactly what he was doing, but he intimated that as the colony had once committed itself to the payment of £50,000 » ye«r for a trans-Pacific service, and had looked in rain for assistance anywhere but from New Zealand, he thought it wa§ dosirablo beforo accepting any contract to ascertain what help was likely to bo obtainable. He bad mored Sir Charles Cowper to communicate with the American Government on the subject, and tho Agent-General would, if necessary, visit Washington personally. All this is doubtlen very prudent, but at the same timo a bold policy it Bometiraei tho wisest. It will hardly do to wait indefinitely until some positive assurances of assistance are secured, or die the colony may overstay its market. There is a tide in the affain of nations as well as of men, " which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." With New South Wales it lias for a long while been pretty low water, but just now the tide ii on the rise, and our public policy should all bo adapted to suit tho rise. A policy which might have been in the highest degreo imprudent when things wero very dull, and with no sigu of a change, may be a wise ono under more hopeful auspices. — Sydney Mali. A writer in Hanling's Monthly Circular thus comments on tho vice-regal visit to the Waikato :—": — " Tho Governor, I previous to his leaving tho Colony, submitted to anether i humiliating tour to Waikato, and listened with apparent patience to nativo speeches consisting of extravagant compliments and half- concealed sarcasm — the burden of the whole being a demand for the return of confiscated land."