D.—No. 6

26

ESSAYS ON SETTLEMENT OF THE GOLD FIELDS.

the diggers are consumers of very large quantities of the most heavily taxed commodities —spirits, tobacco, oilmen's stores, and the coarser kinds of soft goods, for instance. Many articles, which to an agricultural or pastoral community would justly come within the definition of luxuries, are to the miners articles of absolute necessity ; many articles comprised within tho general description of oilmen's stores being of this class. Heavy, therefore, as the general average of contribution to the revenue is, the miner's contribution is considerably above that average, even without taking into account the special taxation to which he is subject. Consciousness of this fact not unnaturally induces a sense of injustice, and, rankling under this, the miner is not disposed to regard New Zealand as a desirable place for permanent settlement. A judicious revision of the tariff, by which the mining population would be relieved from undue pressure, would do much to remove discontent; and if some of the special burdens under which they as a class labour —the obnoxious export duty on gold, for instance —were lessened or removed, many who under the present system only await a favourable opportunity to relieve themselves by leaving the Colony, would make up their minds to settle here permanently. A reduction of taxation, if in any way possible, would of course render New Zealand a more attractive field for emigration from other places, but the advantages of such a reduction would be much more readily realized by the digger on the spot than by the intending emigrant in Britain. It is needless in such an Essay as this to enter on a discussion of the various causes of the existing high rate of taxation, or of the means by which it might be lessened or made less oppressive. This subject is already attracting the attention of the public generally, as well as that of public men; and while some of the causes are sufficiently patent, and the remedy obvious, there are other causes which are not as yet generally acknowledged, but towards the acknowledgment of which the public mind is being gradually led and educated. For the present purpose it will be sufficient to remark, that any change which will reduce the incidence of taxation, and so render the cost of living less, will materially promote the settlement of the mining population. As the Auckland gold-workings consist chiefly of quartz reefs, it is probable that a larger proportion of the mining population of that Province wall settle there permanently, than is the case on any of the alluvial gold fields of the South. There is a permanence about quartz-reefing which does not appertain to alluvial digging, and the capital and expensive machinery required for quartz mining gives the reefer such a settled interest in the locality, as to dispose him to settle down permanently, if permanent settlement be possible. If a supply of suitable land can be thrown into the market, there is every probability that a good deal of the money made on the Auckland gold fields will seek permanent investment in the Province, the climate of which is so much more congenial to the Victorian miner than that of the Middle Island. Everything which will render the miner on the alluvial gold fields of the South and West contented and disposed to take up their permanent abode in New Zealand, will have an equally or even more satisfactory influence on the quartz-reefers of the North, and it is therefore unnecessary to treat separately of the two classes. Having now briefly endeavoured to indicate the causes of the disposition shown by the mining population of this Colony to go elsewhere to invest the money made here, and pointed out some of the means by which permanent settlement here might be induced and promoted, it may be sufficient to say in conclusion that the subject is deserving of the most serious and earnest consideration of every person interested in the future welfare of this Colony, or who has adopted it as his homo and that of his family. Every additional settler who purchases, reclaims, and cultivates land, by so doing benefits the Colony as well as himself, and adds considerably to the value of the lands remaining unsold. Every new settler is, in this respect, an additional attraction to the settlement of others, and is also an additional security against an increased individual burden of taxation. In this latter respect, every settler in the Colony has a direct pecuniary interest in promoting settlement, and the mining population being actually on the spot, it is of course desirable that they should be induced to settle permanently. While that population is a floating and unfixed one, there can be no security against its being largely and suddenly reduced. The discovery of new and rich gold fields in any other part of the world would attract thousands from our shores, as the discovery of our gold fields drew thousands from Victoria ; and in addition to the commercial crisis and depression which such an exodus would certainly occasion, it must bo borne in mind that the permanent demands on the revenue of the Colony would remain unchanged, that the decrease in population would not render any great decrease in the public expenditure possible, and that the burden would have to be shared between a considerably smaller number of contributors. This is a danger to be guarded against, and it is by no means an imaginary one; but it is one which is lessened by every additional individual who settles permanently amongst us. By securing permanent additions to our population we also increase the possibility of the burden of taxation being lessened directly by legislative action, for the uncertain character of a largo proportion of the present population of the Colony must be an important element in the consideration of any proposal to reduce the taxation. With a permanent and reliable population, such a step might be safely taken, where, with an equal population of an unfixed character, it would be fraught with considerable danger. If on no higher grounds than selfishness, it is therefore to the interest of every real settler that the thousands who now temporarily dwell amongst us, should be induced to settle permanently in this Colony, and it will be well when the best means of promoting and attaining this end receives the consideration of the Colonial Legislature, and when the question is dealt with and decided on broad grounds of public policy, uninfluenced by party spirit or personal interests, and with a single desire to promote the prosperity of the Colony, to make it the home of a numerous, contented, and powerful people, and to assure tho great and glorious future which, unless wantonly sacrificed, lies before New Zealand.