OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 425, 6 March 1890, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

|VBOM OUB OWN 00BBBSP0NDBHT.] Sydney, Feb. 12. The plentiful rains which have fallen over nearly the whole of the colony have given an earnest of pastoral and agricultural prosperity which is gratifying in the extreme, coming as they do at a most critical time. The " January rains" are the main reliance of the colony to provide grass and water for the fall of the year, but old colonists tell us that they are not now nearly so regular in their incidence as they were in earlier years. This may be true or not, but, whether or no, great calamities follow when the rains do not fall. Last year, for instance, there was no rain wortb speaking of between January and May, and, in consequence, large numbers of stock died from sheer hunger and thirst, and the whois colony Buffered from the depression which ensued. Thia year we arc safe from a disaster of this kind, for some months at least, and it is to be hoped that due advantage will be taken of the years of plenty to provide against the drought, which from tho nature of the Australian climate, is certain to recur sooner or later. , General prosperity is slowly, but surely returning, Tho wool clip is larger in bulk and better in quality than at one time it was expected it would be, and the price obtained for the higher staple is 20 or 25 per cent, higher. This, of itself, means some millions of additional wealth, a considerable propor tion of which will be spent in the colony in constructing fresh improvements, thereby employing labor and giving an impulse to trade.

Then there is the harvest, which, notwithstanding the ravages made among the late crops by rust, will etill he very much better than last year. It will talcs, I am afraid, two or three good harvests to set our farmers npon their feet, as the price of grain is very low and there are the losses of two previous bad seasons to be made up. Still ball a loaf is proverbially better than no bread, and the harvest of 1889 is certainly an improvement on some of its predecessors. The mining industry continues to advance, especially at the Barrier, the production of silver and lead having more than doubled during the last year, and now standing at

abiut two millions. It is instructive, however, to notice that whilst the gross output of the mines has increased to nearly two millions (of which perhaps halt is profit), the nominal value of the mines, as assessed oy the market price of thsir shares, has increased to more than twentyfour millions. To pay dividends on this enormous capital would require about three, fourths of the silver production of the whole world. Let the Barrier field be an rich as it may (and its history shows that it is a marvel of mineral wealth) it cannot perform impossibilities. It was said of a certain judge that he was grievously handicapped by a preternatural sagacity of countenance. It was impossible for any human being io be as wise as he appeared to he; consequently people who judged by appearances were always disappointed when he opened his mouth. So with mining fields. It is impossible for any field to be as rich as combined credulity and avarice regard it, and those who back these deceptive and inflated views with their hard cash are almost certain to lose it unless they can find some one more credulous than themselves, on ■qihom to palm off their purchases. If the yield of the Broken Hill could miraculously bo quadrupled in a single day, it would still be far shqrt of the amount necessary to give a sound end remunerative return on the vast amount of capital locked up in shares. Putting morality and commonaense qn one side for the moment, and regarding tha matter from a purely commercial point of view, this inflation is one of the most threatening factors of the moment. The money that is being employed in developing the mines bids fair to add a large and honestly earned increment to the wealth of the country. But the tenfold larger sum that is employed in inflating a big bubble from this substratum of fact is so much taken from the real wealth-producing, interests of the country, and causes serious misgivings to those who have its welfare at heart. A large proportion of it has to be financed, thereby raising the money market against those who are really engaged in legitimate enterprises. Furthermore an enormous premium is offered to deception. By misleading statements respecting assays, lodes, and what not, properties whose success is, after all, very problematical are represented as proved to be already rich beyond the dreams of Croesus. Those which are really rich are regarded as being about five times richer than they are. There can only be one end to a fools’ paradise of this kind, and that is a thorough and complete disillusionment. No amount of writing or speaking, however, will bring it about. A large proportion of the speculators of today will follow their delusion until it brings them to ruin. The man who tells the truth, and thus warns the public against being drawn into the vortex, is voted a pessimist. But in the meantime all branches of commerce and industry are suffering from this absorption in a form of gambling which apparently presents irresistible fascinations to a large proportion of colonial men of business.

Matters political remain without change. Ab far as the Assembly is concerned, the Government stand pledged to enforce their policy even to the abolition of the duties which at present have a protective tendency. Considering that their opponents are within three or four votes of their own fullest strength, and that a great number of Freetraders object to thia logical enforcement of the principles of the party, it is obvious that the attempt must fail, and that the Government, if they persist in it, will find themselves unable to oarry on business. How go astute a tactician as the Premier allowed himself to be placed in such a position baffles comprehension. The merest tyro, one would imagine, would keep clear of pledging himself to perform the impossible. The prevalent impression is that ho would try to evade the pledge op tfae pretext of Federation. In any case, however, the Protectionists are strong enough to force an appeal to tha country, and they boldly declare tbat this is their intention. The present prospect, therefore, is that of a total deadlock in much needed legislation, with nothing better than a grand melee to look forward to at the end of it. This suits admirably the free lances who have elected politics as a field for making tbeir livelihood. The more excitement and conflict there are the raora important personages do they beoorfie, and the better their chance of fighting their way to the front ranks io organise fresh attacks. But I question whether anyone wbo has the real welfare of the country at heart regards the outlook with satisfaction, whatever his fiscal opinions may be. It is doubtlees a necessary stage of development through which we must pats. Settled and stable peace is often preceded by~desperate conflict. But it is conflict concerning vital principles, not mere matters of " tweedledum and tweedledee." Under either protection or freetrade the community is virtually at the mercy of monopolists who retard and delay the progress of the country just ae It pleases them, ahi le»y a merciless toil on the aotoings of their fallow,citizens into tbs bargain. However, kt the Freetraders and FMsctlonisU decide whether the tariff shall aonifjn half »< dozen more duties er balLa>doeen lets. The land question, gaunt and grim, is waiting for them, and if they do not settle it, it is likely to settle them,

More to the purpose than ths ad aaptandum twafidle. that la written and talked about the tariff is tfec arrival, shortly expected, of Henry George, Not many people, perhaps, have leisure or application tnoqgh thoroughly tg study the magnificent work, I’Program and poverty,” Bqt on the minds of thousands he has thoroughly Impressed th(s first ifiiom of Justice and equity that to every men belongs the product ot bis own labor, of bls own thrift, of bia own enterprise. And, whet is true of tha individual is true also of the larger entity, the body politic. Before it can rightly assert and defend the liberties of the individuals who Compose it, id must assert and defend its own, Frpm a social and monetary point of view the .most important .of them is tbat the increase in tho value of lend which follows settlement, apart ot course from improvements 1 effected by individuals, belongs to the com* nsunity Which tcr.letred it nd the person

who happens to be in titular possession. The State cnnHH forego this, its indefeasible right, without opening the doors of injustice and oppression. Thousands believe this now, but I make hold to think that alter Henry Geoige’s visit, it will be grasped by tens of thousands and will become a more living and vital question in practical politics than any others which have occupied tha arena,