NEW ZEALAND.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 2 June 1880, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND.

. — : > „ ; . , -■ (From so English paper.) The capital of New Zealand is WeN lington. Auckland once enjoyed that honour; bat the seat of Government was changed to Wellington some yaawLago,in consequence of the more central position of the latter oily, Being at the extreme' south of the north island, Wellington is in the middle of New Zealand. It has 4 grand harbour-wnot so pretty perhaps as that of Auckland, but large and deep and landlocked, and capable of accommodating the shipping of any port in the world. Vessels of 2,000 tons and more find safe moorings alongside its ample wharves; The city lies picturesquely on the hillsides which slope down to the sea its best houses being principally on tern races surrounding, while the busN ness part of the city is on the flat, Wellington is long and somewhat straggling, the ends being connected by one main street. Through this street lines of rails are laid, along which a steara««tram» way runs bockwards and forwards all day, the engines, being noiseless and consuming their own smoka. The horses of Wellington appear to be quite used to the apparition now. The street architecture Ipf Wellington would do credit to any first-class provincial town. Most of the large buildings are of wood, as Welling* too has suffered in the past from several 1 severe shocks of earthquake, and no one knows when the nest may, come. Hence tbft huge pile of buildings which contains (he Government offices* and has more snores of windows than I dare guess (though 1 have tried to count them several times), is built entirely of wood. Some of the warehouses and shops would not disgrace Manchester or Liverpool, and the same may be said of its churches, museum, theatres, and other public bui'd« ings. All New Zealand cities in this respect owe much to fires, which when they do occur bn,rn with vengeance, often taking the whole side of a street. In this way comparatively few buildings are permitted to fall down with age, and the insurance companies pay. the score. The severity of fires in. New Zealand arises from the wooden buildings— ?their frequency depends a good deal upon the state of trade. It is said to be too common a trick in bad times for a man who cannot sell his stock to insure heavily, and then put a match to jt. Insurance stock is just now a drng in the market hpre, though two years ago there w;is hardly any investment even in New Zealand which paic} so well. When money beoomes easier insurance scares will be remunerative again, though btt.ildin.gs are still of wood. The thirty thousand people who inhabit Wellington are kept going plainly by two things — Government expenditure and commerce. Now Zealand from its isolated position, its native difficulty, and

other causes wLich I cannot enumerate •ow, is very much governed, and the governor, the Ministry, the officials and clerks innumerable, reside in Wellington, Here, too, the Assembly gits for three or four month* in t^e year, each member re- ; eeiving an honora*m w o f £800. Then Wellington has a Jarge shipping trade. \ The province of which it was the capital covers 7,000,000 acre*, the trade of which flows through the centre. Twoyears^ago Wellington overflowed with prosperity. On every tide was enlargement and extension. The people were literally ' making baste to be rich.' Property rose rapidly in value. Land in the centre of the city, which 90 years ago was worth a few hundred pounds per acre, changed hands at as much as £150 : per foot. Speculators bought up blocks of land, cut them into smaller sections, and sold them out in a few weeks at an enormous profit. I hare seen land sales of this kind so crowded, that one could hardly get inside the door of the auction room. People seemed to say in their prosperity, ' I shall never be moved.' It was so when I left Wellington in June 1878, but it is not so now when I revisit it. The beauty of situation is as ever, but a very different tone prevails. About a year ago it became apparent in New Zealand that a change was coming. First there was a deficient harvest, and upon the top of this, a serious fail in the price of wool. The failure of the City of Glasgow Bank followed, which shook confidence the whole world over. These, following rapidly upon the excitement I have, referred to, brought about a change which smote New Zealand like a stroke of paralysis. The banks everywhere •put the screw on.' People who were trading without capita?, or beyonJ their capital, crashed. The mm who seemed, to bo- Hurrying, on to fortune, harried still more rapidly to bankruptcy. I believe that New Zealand is the better for this ; the storm has cleared the air. It is very unfortunate that just at the time that so many eyes in England were turning towards New Zealand this chill was creeping over the colony. Many of those who are landing now are experiencing severe disappointment. The demand for town labour is very much re" duced, and in consequence wages are lower than they were. Farm labourers and servant girls are still in demand, but of mechanics and others the supply is just now in excess of the demand. I ens deavoured to impress this upon your readers in July and September of last year, but would do so more emphactically now. I think that the cloud is already lifting. Wool' is up, and the harvest now being gathered is one of the most abundant that New Zealand has ever known. I Have.- no fear for the* ultimate success of those who are here -now* but there will be in the meantime a struggle for many, which a year ago no one could foresee. In the meantime New Zealand offers a mag« nificent field for capital. Money is in I demand at IQ per cent,, and even more, upon the very best security. Land is much cheaper than it was, and a farmer with capital who comes into the market now has an advantage which he nould not have enjoyed two years ago. > <wp— — — — — —