4 
 
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 NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS.
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PBINTJBD BY GILBERT AND HIVINGTON, LIMITED, 
 ST. JOHN'S BQUABE.
 
 AS IT IS. 
 
 JOHN BRADSHAW, J.P. 
 
 FOR THE COUNTY OF CHESTER, AND THE COLONY OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 SAMPSON 'LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 1 88, FLEET STREET. 
 
 I88 3 . 
 [AH rights reserved. ]
 
 DU 
 
 Mil 
 
 fin jHemortam 
 
 OF A DEAR LADY ; 
 
 WHOSE ACQUAINTANCE WAS MADE IN NEW ZEALAND : 
 
 A GOOD WIFE A BELOVED MOTHER AN ADOKED SISTEB 
 
 THE FIBST OF MANY FRIENDS KINDLY GIVEN IN A NRW HOME; THE FIRST 
 
 TO BE LAID BENEATH THE COMMON SOIL.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 INTRODUCTORY . 
 
 OUTWARD BOUND 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS . 
 
 SOCIETY . 
 
 STATION LIFE . 
 
 ON THE FARM . 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STOCK AND ITS MANAGEMENT . 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE NEW ZEALAND ALPS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT MANNER OP MEN WE ARE 
 
 10 
 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 61 
 
 76 
 
 96
 
 viii Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY . . . . 119 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE CHRISTCHURCH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1882 . . 136 
 
 * 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 COLONIAL INDUSTRIES 157 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 PUBLIC WORKS . . .187 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE NORTH ISLAND . .215 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 " How WE ARE GOVERNED " . . . . . . 242 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 EDUCATION . 274 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 ON RELIGION . 308 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 FRAGMENTS 326 
 
 APPENDIX 363
 
 NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 IT will generally be acknowledged that a book, to be 
 satisfactory, should have a definite aim. It should be 
 written with a purpose, and that purpose ought to 
 be kept distinctly in view. Its object may be either to 
 amuse or instruct, and it may often combine the two ideas 
 with great advantage. In the present volume, it is to 
 be hoped that matter will be found both new and sug- 
 gestive something which will give a better idea of life 
 at this side of the globe, and something which will tend 
 to confirm or deter the intending emigrant. 
 
 But little detailed information about the colony 
 has been supplied by persons who have made of the 
 country a permanent home a home from which to 
 compel a living by the toil of their hands and the sweat 
 of their brow. This it is the endeavour of the author 
 now to place before the public, and, while he attempts 
 to do so, he fully recognizes the difficulties of such an 
 undertaking. In the first place, it is not easy for a 
 stranger to convey the true value of his experiences 
 to strangers, unless the latter should be able to seize a
 
 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 certain impression of his individuality. In the second, 
 it is next to impossible to draw apposite and trust- 
 worthy conclusions concerning the condition of a country 
 relatively to others, unless a life of travel and somewhat 
 extensive opportunities for comparison have fallen to the 
 lot of the writer. In the present instance that lot has 
 been more or less chequered : his numerous and varied 
 facilities for studying life and social divergencies both in 
 the Old World and the New commenced at Harrow ; 
 then followed a certain period spent in Paris, Italy, and 
 many parts of the Continent. 
 
 This happened, too, in those good old days when the 
 travelling carriage was entered at Marseilles, and the 
 route was by road until Naples, bright with many a 
 villa and fragrant with orange groves, was reached ; 
 when the Papal " Lascia passare" was a necessary 
 credential to avoid delay at the Porto del Popolo, 
 and plate and linen furmed a heavy item in the baggage 
 of those intending to winter in the City of the Seven 
 Hills. Next came a long, but not uninteresting period of 
 twenty years, spent in the rapid whirl of business cares 
 a time when North and South America had frequently 
 to be visited, and when the somewhat irksome restraints 
 of office life were varied by changeful scenes and friend- 
 ships formed in many queer corners of the earth. Even 
 yet we sometimes long but long, alas ! in vain for but 
 another of those old fern-hunting expeditions among the 
 mountains of Tijuca, the bright-winged butterfly flit- 
 ting across the path, or the many- tinted humming- 
 bird hovering above the scented blossoms. In our 
 New Zealand home, . often do the recollections 
 of more stirring times . .touch . the chords of latent 
 memory ; the storm at sea, the solemn burial, when 
 calm at last prevailed, the ship on -fire, but above all
 
 Introductory. 3 
 
 and over all, the glories of the primaeval forest, the splen- 
 dour of the Alpine snows, and the grandeur of the 
 Atlantic gale. To us we trust that scenes like these 
 have taught the truths which they must have been 
 intended to convey : the omnipotence of God the 
 littleness of man. 
 
 In a certain sense, New Zealand is but a little world. 
 In proportion to the big cities of the earth, its towns 
 are small, its villages still less. Its people, spread over 
 an area almost identical with that of the United 
 Kingdom, number no more than a sixth part of the 
 population of the English capital. Such small com- 
 munities are likely to become narrow, especially 
 that portion of the people which has seen no 
 other country of the world. A large proportion of the 
 colonists have found here but a second home, and the 
 argument does not apply so forcibly to these. But the 
 tendency is very marked in the young people who have 
 been altogether brought up in the country. They may 
 be clever, well-educated, and even the children of those 
 who have seen more, but their world is New Zealand ; 
 they read, but what they read seems more like a tale of 
 fairy-land than actual fact. They see nothing in this 
 country like to the Old World buildings, towns, and 
 ruins, which form the setting of the picture. As 
 children we used to pass St. Paul's, and walk with awe 
 among the tombs in the old Abbey on the Thames. We 
 visited the Tower, and saw the knights clad in the 
 armour of Agiucourt and Cressy. Our museums are 
 full of ancient monuments and mummies, antique jewel- 
 lery and work from the ladies' bower, all speaking of 
 the past ; and when we read, these things occur to the 
 mental vision, and give life to what would other- 
 wise be dead. It is said that colonists born and bred, 
 
 n 2
 
 4 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 when first they visit home are not impressed by what 
 they see. They miss the plains, the waving tussuck, the 
 bright blue sky and atmospheric purity of their native 
 land. Our fields look like gardens, our churches are 
 only old bits of building, our churchyards but a number 
 of graves. They fail at first to grasp the wealth that 
 tillage hides, the history those churches tell, the love 
 that in those old churchyards lies buried. But notwith- 
 standing this they have a country, and they love it; 
 they have their tales of how their fathers strove suc- 
 cessfully with great and many difficulties. They have 
 a history, but it is not ours ; they have experience, but 
 it is of the new, and not of the old. 
 
 The object of the following pages is to place these 
 and other characteristics of this country before the 
 reader in their cosmopolitan rather than in their purely 
 colonial aspect; and to consider them rather as they 
 affect those who are about to leave their native land 
 than as they appear to colonists themselves.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OUTWARD BOUND. 
 
 WE were recommended by " an old colonial " to come 
 by sail round the Cape, on the ground that as time was 
 of little object, we and all our belongings would, by so 
 doing, arrive together. This was very good advice for 
 a family man ; but the untrammelled bachelor would 
 probably prefer to come by Suez or San Francisco. The 
 extra fares by steamer and the expense of transhipping 
 in Australia or carrying a large family across the 
 American continent, would generally prove prohibitory. 
 Steamers do not always serve in connexion, and hotel 
 bills have to be encountered. Transhipments, too, 
 cost more to a stranger than to one well acquainted 
 with the ways and customs of the road. The farmer, 
 ignorant of usual charges, and unwilling to seem a nig- 
 gard, is apt to pay heavily for any little services 
 which may be rendered, just as he would do under 
 similar circumstances either in Liverpool or New 
 York. Then come boatmen, cabmen, theatres, and other 
 places of amusement, the latter rendered all the more 
 irresistible by the tedium of a long voyage. Practically, 
 therefore, our friend was right. By all means come by 
 sail, if economy is to be studied. But in that case it 
 is necessary to be prepared for' a few discomforts 
 which are not ordinarily to be found by the more
 
 6 Neiu Zealand as it is. 
 
 expeditious, if costlier, steam service 'via Australia or 
 the States. 
 
 When making a selection from one of the many ways 
 by which the colony can be reached, it will bo advisable 
 for a proposing settler, unless he happens to be a mil- 
 lionaire, to take the cheapest. As a rule, six weeks, 
 more or less, are, when leaving old ties for the 
 purpose of undertaking new responsibilities, but of 
 little moment. Money is likely to be of far more. 
 Supposing a man, by the sale of his property, to have a 
 larger sum standing at his credit in a bank than was 
 ever the case before; he is inclined to think twenty 
 pounds spent here, and twenty pounds spent there, 
 of little consequence. He will still have a large sum 
 left, he argues, to take out to the colony. He is apt to 
 run into mild extravagances which hereafter he may con- 
 sider had better have been left alone. A person about 
 to emigrate should recollect that he will shortly arrive 
 in a new country where past experience will avail him 
 little, but ready money form a large ingredient in his 
 future. It may be longer than he thinks before he 
 can even settle down ; it will certainly be much longer 
 than he thinks before any return from his labour can 
 place him in easy circumstances. With such a prospect 
 the wise man will spend as little as he can in coming 
 out, and arrive with as much cash as possible in his 
 pocket. 
 
 To those intending to come by sail, a few suggestions 
 may tend to make the voyage somewhat less irksome, 
 and minister considerably to the comforts of the tra- 
 veller. A small private store of luxuries, when a voyage 
 of long duration is in prospect, is of more importance 
 than might at first sight appear. Talk to shipping 
 agents, and they will assure the applicant that any
 
 Outward Bound. 7 
 
 private supplies are altogether unnecessary that their 
 company invariably finds all the stores that can possibly 
 be wanted, and that not to do so would be both a slur 
 on the management, and in a short time bring it to 
 irretrievable discredit. True it is, that most vessels 
 are well stored with live sheep, pigs, and poultry of 
 all descriptions ; that they carry a certain supply of 
 potted meats, good butter and bad, biscuits, preserves, 
 potatoes, and cheese. Yet sheep do not seem to thrive 
 after being a month at sea ; pigs have a foolish habit 
 of jumping overboard, cutting their throats by suicidal 
 contact with the waves, or dying asphyxiated in their 
 sties ; poultry moult at improper times ; potatoes take 
 to growing when ieast wanted so to do, and cheese emits 
 an odour far from appetizing. Knowing all this, we 
 would recommend a small supply of jam and some really 
 good tinned potted meats ; also some tinned " coffee 
 and milk" a comforting and popular beverage at sea, 
 whatever it may be on dry land. Nor should a small 
 swing lamp be forgotten, with kettle over head, from 
 which to brew a cup of coffee after the galley fires are 
 out, or perhaps the last hot glass of grog. 
 
 A few other trifles will greatly add to the comforts of 
 the voyage, and some of these are almost necessary. 
 The traveller by sail round the Cape must, as a rule, fix 
 up his cabin. This may be done in two ways either at 
 his own cost and under his personal supervision, or the 
 ship will undertake to do it on such terms as may be 
 arranged. The latter course is preferable, and will be 
 found in the long-run cheaper. In either case a few 
 brass hooks, on which to hang the boot and clothes' 
 bags ; a square piece of ticking, or some such strong 
 material, to be nailed to the side, and containing a 
 couple of rows of pockets, in which to fit brushes,
 
 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 
 bottles, and other little articles, will help to make the 
 
 cabin more shipshape. A supply of line, to prevent 
 the cabin boxes from rolling from side to side as the 
 ship lurches, will add to the immunity of shins, and 
 greatly assist the placidity of their owner. By all means 
 take a lounging-chair, in which to enjoy the soothing 
 pipe, or rest when feeling ill at ease. Label it, ticket 
 it, do all you can to make it private property, 
 and from the very first assert your rights, or some 
 one in time will come to think it his, and make you 
 feel an intruder, where by all law you should be owner. 
 There always are a few on board who think the deck or 
 skylight seats will make an easy resting-place until they 
 try. To such short-sighted ones true kindness is to 
 show no pity. If so improvident at first, how can they 
 hope to make good settlers ? Tell them to net a ham- 
 mock or shift as best they can. 
 
 A sea voyage always presents features more or less 
 similar. To the sailor, busy with his professional 
 duties, time slips rapidly away ; but the passenger must 
 occasionally feel the tedious monotony of three months 
 passed between the cabin and the poop. Any little ex- 
 citement, such as the passing sail or harmless joke, is 
 gladly seized upon to occupy the vacant hours. In our 
 case the usual squalls and succeeding calms, the 
 favourable breeze and adverse winds never exceeded a 
 medium intensity. Once only during the " southing " 
 were we under doubled-reefed topsails. Thus we were 
 compelled to look within ourselves for any variation in 
 our daily life. Of course there were little quarrels and 
 little tiffs, but the general harmony was maintained. 
 Myself and wife, a brother-in-law, a west- country farmer 
 with his wife, four daughters, and four slouching boys, 
 a Wellington wine-merchant and his bride, a north of
 
 Outward Bound. 9 
 
 Ireland family, a hydropathic doctor, an ex-officer,, an 
 ex-bank-clerk, a Scotch engineer, steady and hard- 
 working, with two or three young men who seemed to 
 have no idea of why they had left the old country, or 
 what they were going to do in the new, constituted a 
 fair sample of the human cargo generally carried by 
 such ships as ours. The details may differ the general 
 type remains.
 
 i o New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 WE sighted land the day previous to reaching Lyttelton. 
 It was afternoon, and although the sun, setting in 
 full blue ether, bathed the distant mountains in a 
 flood of mellow light, it rendered the shore-line 
 hazy, and its objects indistinct. We were not there- 
 fore prepared for the lovely panorama which warmed 
 our hearts when first stepping on deck next morning. 
 In front, the verdantly clad hills of the Peninsula and 
 Port Lyttelton ; behind, a long range of snow-capped 
 mountains, distant about sixty to eighty miles, their 
 peaks rising from 3000 to 5000 feet above the sea. 
 Behind these again might have been seen, had the in- 
 tervening ranges permitted, Mount Cook, the loftiest 
 mountain in the middle island, its summit 13,000 feet 
 high, and clothed with perpetual snow. Above was a 
 clear blue sky, unstained by the slightest fleck of white. 
 We had seen views quite as lovely, but none which 
 possessed exactly the same shade of colouring. The 
 tone was not so warm as that to be seen from the top of 
 Milan Cathedral when reflected upon the Italian Alps, 
 nor was it the cold clear blue characteristic of North 
 American skies, neither did it call to mind the 
 grey shadowless intensity of the tropics. It had a 
 tinge of each or perhaps more correctly, it was a
 
 First Impressions. 1 1 
 
 combination of the three, but it possessed an individuality 
 all its own. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the New Zealand sky 
 always wears the smiling aspect which it did that day. 
 Here as elsewhere we have rains, storms, and moun- 
 tain mists. But it must be conceded that the num- 
 ber of days in which it is a pleasure to live ; and when 
 the sky appears of the bluest and the landscape at 
 its best, far exceeds the proportion in most other 
 habitable countries. It has often been said that moun- 
 taineers fail to appreciate the beauty of their native 
 scenery. This may after all be but a popular delusion. 
 Take them away and set them down in some smoky city 
 or monotonous plain, would they live there contented ? 
 or would they not rather pine for the exhilarating air of 
 their mountain slopes and the far-off beauties of their 
 native glens ? At all events in New Zealand we have 
 seen one of the oldest settlers start up suddenly from 
 his seat in the railway carriage, and with outstretched 
 arms pointing to the mountains, and with animated ex- 
 pression, exclaim, "Isn't that lovely?" Indeed we often 
 hear, instead of the stereotyped " Is it not a beautiful 
 day ? " the expression, " Does not the country look beau- 
 tiful to-day ? " Whether it be from the rareness of the 
 atmosphere, or the greater variety of the mountain tints, 
 we know not, but a true lover of the country always 
 finds something fresh to admire in our island scenery. 
 
 Two transatlantic ships had just made the port 
 before our own, and as the Harbour Board at that time 
 possessed but one tug, we were left until late in the 
 afternoon to enjoy the beauties of the landscape, so that it 
 was quite dusk when we set foot on the harbour jetty. 
 We believe that the one of our party most delighted 
 at being again on shore was our little fox terrier
 
 1 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 " Wasp." It was vastly amusing to see him prick his 
 ears, and sniff the air, evidently in some doubts as to 
 his whereabouts. That he had suspicions of being no 
 longer on board was clear, but it was not until the 
 actual soil was reached, and a patch oF grass smelt and 
 eaten, that he seemed fully to realize the pleasant fact. 
 Then his enthusiasm knew no bounds. Every street 
 corner was investigated, and every open door attracted 
 his attention. Dear old dog now no more ! a link that 
 bound us to kind friends at home, and happy lines in 
 pleasant places. 
 
 We were soon carried by train from Lyttelton to Christ- 
 church ; a luxurious mode of transit, far different from 
 the toils of the pilgrim fathers, or of those early settlers 
 who had to drag both themselves and their weary loads 
 over the summit of the Port Hills. And here it may be 
 remarked, that the new arrival has, now-a-days, no 
 hardships to undergo, for the better-class hotels are 
 both cheap and numerous. The usual charge is ten 
 shillings a day, including sitting-room ; whilst bachelors 
 and persons intending a longer residence are placed 
 by arrangement on better terms. Food is plentiful 
 and excellent. Soup, fish, poultry, beef, and mutton, 
 vegetables, tarts, with bread and butter of the very 
 best quality, ought to satisfy all grumblers. To the 
 poorer class of emigrants the Government barracks 
 afford protection until they have found a first situa- 
 tion. Those in an intermediate position will find 
 at the smaller hotels or lodging-houses, which every- 
 where abound, beds at about two shillings a night, one 
 shilling being charged for each meal. Under such 
 circumstances a person can calculate to a nicety what he 
 is spending, and adjust his daily bill either to the depth 
 of his purse, or to his. own inclinations. .
 
 First Impressions. 13 
 
 The day after our arrival was Sunday, and the sun 
 gave us a kindly welcome, making all things appear 
 bright and good. It was pleasant that Sunday morning 
 to form part of a large congregation in the Church 
 of St. John. Service had of course been held on 
 board ship, and some of the children were trained to 
 sing fairly well. But the change from this to a well- 
 filled church, with accompaniments of organ and able 
 choir clothed in regulation surplices, was very great. 
 Remember too this was the first opportunity afforded 
 us of seeing a number of our future countrymen and 
 countrywomen assembled together. To find such a 
 crowd of well-dressed people well-dressed, that is, 
 according to their several stations earnest in their 
 attention to the service, and evidently appreciating the 
 sacredness of the place in which they were collected, 
 was a sight which altogether came up to, nay, exceeded 
 our most anxious anticipations. And as the sunlight 
 streamed through the painted windows of the apse, we 
 could not but feel grateful to have once more fallen 
 amongst others who, like ourselves, were offshoots from 
 the old country. We have attended the services in 
 American churches, but never could dismiss the 
 thought that though in church, that church was not 
 in England. There was something foreign which could 
 not be forgotten. Whether in the highly-trained 
 quartette which took the place of our more congre- 
 gational choirs ; or in the congregation itself, which 
 remained seated whilst the Te Deum was being 
 sung to a most elaborate setting; or maybe in the 
 delivery of the minister, which, while perhaps more 
 correct than that of some of the clergy at home, still 
 grated on the nerves from the pervading: accentuation of 
 the stage ; from one or other or from all these causes
 
 1 4 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 we never could feel quite at home. Here all was of 
 home homelike. The same service was read without 
 alteration the same hymn-books used to which we had 
 bsen accustomed the same attention paid to kneeling 
 and standing ; in short, the whole scene rendered it 
 apparent that the Church of England and the Church of 
 New Zealand were one and the same, undivided even by 
 external forms. 
 
 It was pleasant, that first Sunday afternoon, to saunter 
 through the public park, and note the numbers of well- 
 clothed and respectable people enjoying the sunshine like 
 ourselves. Where, it occurred to us, are the great un- 
 Avashed those unhappy beings who, through their vices 
 or misfortunes, do not possess a Sunday suit ? Certainly 
 our first impression was, that no such class existed in 
 this country ; and subsequent experience has shown that, 
 although there are many such hidden away in secret 
 corners, their position is too often one of choice and not 
 of necessity. The whole air of Christchurch breathes a 
 solid respectability ; while the park in which we are 
 sitting, surrounded on three sides by the pretty river 
 Avon, and on the fourth by the Christchurch College 
 and Public Museum, gives an opportunity for all to 
 cultivate a taste for the beautiful, and add to their stock 
 of general knowledge. Plants and flowers from all 
 parts of the world are acclimatized here : the surrounding 
 woods, planted with English forest-trees, give evidence 
 by their healthy growth that the soil and climate are 
 congenial to their tastes and habits. But what shall we 
 say of the weeping willows, for which the banks of the 
 Avon are justly celebrated ? They grow, as generally 
 throughout New Zealand when planted in favourable 
 situations, with a most luxuriant habit and to a large size. 
 Beautiful in summer with their light green foliage, they
 
 First Impressions. 15 
 
 are scarcely less beautiful in winter when their elegant 
 branches trail the ground. Christchurch might well be 
 called the city of the weeping willows. But what makes 
 Christchurch, and indeed the larger portion of Canter- 
 bury, so pleasant to the new comer, is the feeling of home 
 which it keeps alive. It is hard to believe that so many 
 thousand miles of sea intervene between ourselves and 
 the old country. It is not that its general appearance 
 can be compared to a cathedral city such as Ely, or even 
 Southwell it is all too new and business-like, and yet 
 to a certain extent it possesses the repose of these. Still 
 less can it be compared to a large manufacturing or busy 
 commercial town at home; it is all too bright, and 
 cheerful, and lovely. It is as though a magician had 
 transported some of the prettiest villas from the lakes of 
 Cumberland, and set them down, with their gardens all 
 gay with flowers and evergreen shrubs, in an uncertain 
 rotation along the several streets ; that he had then 
 flown to Oxford ?nd stolen some of its Gothic archi- 
 tecture, to be reproduced in another form in the numerous 
 public buildings which everywhere adorn the town; and 
 lastly, that to fill in any gaps remaining, he had brought 
 from Canada, or some small lake-town of the United 
 States, a number of those pretty ' four-roomed wooden 
 cottages which abound there. Such a, description may 
 seem fantastic, for Christchurch is not a collection of 
 Cumberland villas, neither is it Oxford or any Ameri- 
 can town. It seems a realization, with a difference, of 
 all three. To add life to the picture, tramways run along 
 the principal streets, four-wheelers and hansom cabs, 
 drawn by capital horses, are on the stands ; a large 
 railway station, numerous merchants' warehouses, ex- 
 cellent shops which would not disgrace any town at 
 home, sawmills, engineers' and other manufacturing
 
 1 6 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 establishments, are placed in the business quarter; and 
 last, but not to be forgotten, is the handsome cathedral, 
 designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, situated in the central 
 square. All this will give a fair idea of Christchurch 
 as it is, with its many churches, handsome residences, 
 asphalt side-walks, and broad streets. 
 
 The first few days were passed in delivering some 
 of our letters of introduction, and in taking hurried 
 peeps at the surrounding neighbourhood. The latter 
 included visits to Amberley and the Mount Grey Downs, 
 to Whitecliffs, situated under the Malvern Hills, and 
 lastly, to Leeston. Our intention before leaving England 
 was to settle in South Canterbury, and in this we were 
 confirmed by the advice of one who knew the country 
 well. The little we saw of the district about Christ- 
 church fully confirmed us in our intention. The fact is 
 that land in so central a situation, and which is worth 
 anything, has been taken up long ago, and now sells 
 at such prices as to put it quite out of the power of a new 
 arrival, unless he be very wealthy, to buy with any 
 prospect of future success. The land which can still be 
 bought at a comparatively reasonable rate is not worth 
 anything as an investment, and would only lead to future 
 disappointment and loss. The general appearance of the 
 couctfy, when taken as a whole, is disappointing to 
 the casual observer. To one who has heard or read 
 of the rich plains stretching from the Port Hills to the 
 mountain ridges, the journey by rail from Christchurch 
 either to ^shburton, Whitecliffs, or Amberley, is not a 
 little disconcerting. It has been stated that the journey to 
 Ashburton alone would be sufficient to cause an intending 
 settler to turn tail, and re-seek his native land. But 
 were he to do this, he would return with a greatly mistaken 
 idea. The country around Christchurch consists of a
 
 First Impressions. 1 7 
 
 very unequal quality of land, ranging from the most arid 
 and stony tussuck to the richest swamp. Unfortunately 
 for first impressions, the rail has everywhere been carried 
 through the poorest country, with the exception of the 
 line from Lyttelton to Christchurch. That the amount 
 of good land must be considerable is evident, not only 
 from general report, but from the large amount of agri- 
 cultural produce raised in the district. But it makes the 
 intending settler shudder when he learns the value put 
 upon such land and not only the value put upon it, but 
 the price at which it can be sold. Some of the fine grass 
 country between Lyttelton and Christchurch would 
 readily bring from 50/. to 601. per acre. From personal 
 knowledge we know that some of the fat Leeston swamps 
 would bring from 25Z. to 30/. per acre ; nor would the 
 price be less for any of the more highly cultivated and 
 really productive land in the district, some of which expe- 
 rience has shown to be capable of producing an average 
 of from forty to forty-five bushels of wheat per acre. 
 But from this class of land we fall almost immediately to 
 the cold clays of the Mount Grey Downs, which are dear 
 at 10Z. ; or the more shingly plains, for which 5?., or even 
 3Z., would prove equally costly. These were some of the 
 reasons which induced us to leave many kind friends in 
 Christchurch, and push south with the idea of com- 
 pleting a previously formed intention. The following 
 chapters will give the reader some insight into the 
 causes which have rendered good land in North Canter- 
 bury so dear, and are now tending gradually to raise 
 properties in South Canterbury to the same level.
 
 1 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 THE subject of "Society " is dangerous ground, for society 
 contains many gradations within itself, each claiming 
 to be more or less its true representative. To one stand- 
 ing, as it were, upon an eminence, and taking a telescopic 
 view of the globe, how puny and contemptible the narrow 
 conceptions of mere cliquism must appear when compared 
 to the " Society " of the entire human race. The late 
 Bishop of Lichfield, formerly Primate of New Zealand, 
 realized the great idea of one comprehensive human 
 family ; and both by preaching and in conversation 
 endeavoured to promote a wider-reaching unity. In the 
 course of a life passed in hard work, he once preached in 
 the four quarters of the globe within the short space of 
 six months. " The longer I live," he used to say, " the 
 smaller I think the world." Truth was, that the longer 
 he lived, the more he recognized the necessity of an all- 
 pervading Christianity ; and, as he did so, the kinder and 
 more tender he became to each member of what we call 
 " Society." He went forth in an apostolic spirit to 
 approach and reconcile the English and American 
 churches ; but was, whilst attempting to do this, not 
 at all to be imposed upon by the hollow and specious 
 fallacies of every speculative " Down Easter." 
 
 The word Society, as a prefix to the present chapter,
 
 Society. 1 9 
 
 must be taken in its primary and more general sense. 
 It must be taken as meaning " the persons collectively 
 considered who live in any region or any period," rather 
 than as " a number of persons associated for any tem- 
 porary or permanent objects." 
 
 Let no one coming to New Zealand seek to emulate 
 the fanaticism of the recluse, or expect to find the 
 haunts of the social butterfly. The colonists, as a rule, 
 are a hardworking, painstaking, ordinary sort of people, 
 adverse to " side," and esteeming each other more by 
 the rule of personal worth than by that of mere money. 
 Only those who have seen both sides of the picture, 
 not only as exhibited here but in other countries, can 
 estimate to the full the effect upon society of such con- 
 ditions. 
 
 We remember a friend some time since expressing the 
 opinion that New Zealand was like old England one hun- 
 dred years ago, combining with this all the advantages 
 of modern improvement. This was a realistic remark, 
 and in the main true. It would be absurd to claim for 
 New Zealand that its sons and daughters are individually 
 better, in any sense, than those of our countrymen to be 
 found elsewhere. But this is certain, that society is at 
 present simpler in its habits than at home, perhaps 
 because it cannot be otherwise. As a rule it does not 
 possess the means for too much self-indulgence, but on 
 the other hand it does not regret the want of them. 
 People are content to be as they are. Busy five days in 
 the week, they are grateful for one day's holiday, with 
 what is left after Sunday duties are performed, thrown 
 in. Rejoicing in a brilliant atmosphere, their needs are 
 few. When occasion requires, they do not object to 
 black their own boots, and expect new comers to do the 
 same. 
 
 C 2
 
 2O New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Here as elsewhere, society is progressive. The days 
 when settlers had to do everything for themselves are 
 long since past. We know one lady who, with her sister, 
 was partially brought up in a big tub : that is to say, 
 her mother, when busy with household matters, could 
 find no better place wherein to keep her precious off- 
 spring from mischief, and away from the swift stream 
 which flowed in front of the door. We have heard of a 
 house which consisted of one solitary apartment, and 
 where, when bed- time came, the only means of securing 
 a necessary privacy was " lights out." We have seen 
 the sketch of an interior whose walls sloped inward like 
 those of a tent. Here the young ladies had to dress for 
 balls, their beds being stretchers, whilst saddles and 
 bridles hung above the pillows. 
 
 But these things are of the past. People live and 
 dress now very much as they do elsewhere. The houses 
 are comfortable and well-furnished, with servants to 
 attend to the heavier domestic duties. Servants, how- 
 ever, are not the well-trained retainers of the old country. 
 They are chiefly Irish, and they arrive in the colony quite 
 untrained material. A new hand is usually at a consi- 
 derable discount, and owing to neglected antecedents 
 it is sometimes difficult to know how to begin to teach. 
 Picture a girl fresh from the south of Ireland, who knows 
 no fire but one of peat, to whom the coal-scuttle and 
 black-lead brush convey .no meaning. Under such cir- 
 cumstances something of this kind would occur, as in 
 truth it did. " Kathleen, go and fill the coal-scuttle." 
 To whom Kathleen willingly but helplessly replied, 
 " An' please, mam, shall I fill it at the pump ?" Another 
 amiable young person was once told to make some toast. 
 This she attempted to do by cutting the bread into slices, 
 placing the slices in the toast-rack, and laying the whole
 
 Society. 2 1 
 
 before the kitchen fire to cook. But many of these girls 
 in a short time make good servants. A few prove hope- 
 lessly unteachable, and what becomes of the latter must 
 ever remain a mystery. Perhaps their only function 
 in life is to become mothers to a future generation, 
 whom we may hope necessity will train to be more 
 useful members of society than their parents. But, 
 good as some of these girls become, they never soar to 
 any great heights. They wash well, sometimes cook 
 well, often work hard, but rarely care to master the 
 higher branches of the cuisine, or take kindly to needle- 
 work. They want method, and this is presumably 
 to be attributed to absence of discipline when young. 
 But, after all, it is not difficult to find any number 
 of good girls quite up to colonial requirements. Our 
 ladies are in the habit of supplying any deficiencies, and 
 admirably as a rule they do so. It is a great advantage 
 to any lady managing an establishment in the colony, to 
 understand baking, dairying, jam-making, and general 
 cookery; also to have well-defined views about clear- 
 starching and poultry. Jf our fair friends at home 
 understand all these things, and add to them a general 
 knowledge of gardening, with a capacity for making their 
 own dresses, they are in a fair way towards becoming 
 good settlers' wives. 
 
 Society in New Zealand is probably fully up to 
 the standard of an English country-side. Our know- 
 ledge of the country is in this respect confined to 
 Canterbury, and it must be left to others to give 
 a more extended experience. The gentry are gene- 
 rally descended from families of good position, and it 
 would perhaps astonish not a few to find that the 
 conversation frequently turns upon . mutual acquain- 
 tances and their doings in the old country. This.
 
 2 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 makes life very pleasant, and helps to maintain old ties. 
 The daily press tends to keep up the connexion ; its 
 columns each morning containing telegrams of the lead- 
 ing events of the day before in Europe or America, 
 with the addition, two or three times a month, of more 
 extended details, brought by mail steamers via San 
 Francisco or Melbourne. Lawn tennis and cricket 
 flourish during the summer months, whilst during the 
 short winter several packs of harriers make the run- 
 ning. Picnics, dances, athletic sports, agricultural shows, 
 coursing, and endless race-meetings fill up the intervals, 
 and would, if followed up in their entirety, leave but 
 little leisure for more serious occupations. It must not 
 be expected that a new comer will be able to indulge to 
 the full in the pleasant society which surrounds him, or 
 to the extent which " old chums " can safely do. The 
 former has not only a business to attend to, but he has 
 both to learn and make it. Pleasure should at all times 
 be tempered with moderation, but more especially in the 
 colonies, where a man Has to work hard and late for a 
 living. We should be sorry, therefore, if any were to 
 conclude from the list of amusements just given, that in 
 New Zealand he had found some new Utopia, where the 
 ordinary trials and anxieties of life do not exist. Our 
 recreations are mentioned for the purpose of showing 
 that, after hard work, facilities are at hand by which a 
 well-earned holiday may be enjoyed. 
 
 One thing is very noticeable in colonial life, namely, 
 that never, if it can be avoided, are long-dated, or fixed, 
 invitations issued. This may probably be accounted for 
 by the greater freedom of social intercourse which exists, 
 when compared with that of an older and more thickly- 
 populated country. The custom no doubt originated in 
 the fact that visitors were scarce, and that every one
 
 Society. 2 3 
 
 who happened to show his face was welcome. Now that 
 the country is more thickly peopled, the same feeling 
 continues. Old hands may be found who lament the 
 restrictions of the present day, but to the greater num- 
 ber these restrictions are light enough. All that is 
 required from a man is not to come to dinner in shirt- 
 sleeves or collarless, with hair unkempt, himself and his 
 clothes redolent with the grease and dust of a sheep-yard. 
 And here it may be remarked, that New Zealand affords 
 queer samples of dress. During the day a suit of 
 many patches and of nondescript colour, for sun 
 and wear have had too great a " down " on that 
 suit for much colour to survive; anon a metamor- 
 phosis a respectable individual attired in the garb 
 of civilized society. The fact is, colonists are workers, 
 not only in name but in deed. Not gentlemen farmers, 
 but men who have entered upon their present life as a 
 real business. As such their men treat them, and, 
 however friendly all may be together, they know as well 
 as possible that between the master and themselves it is 
 a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence. Each year we 
 get from home a welcome Christmas-box ; each year that 
 box contains a supply of dogskin gloves. The history 
 of these is shortly as follows : one pair goes to 
 decorate our hands when driving on the sharp winter 
 mornings ; another one or two go to a friend, unprovided 
 with good English dogskin gloves ; the bulk of the ship- 
 ment, after serving a few days' apprenticeship, descends 
 to the hedger to protect his hands from gorse, or to the 
 boy who is a smart rat catcher, to put those vermin off 
 the human scent. 
 
 Most men, and ladies too, would in this country rather 
 jump upon a horse after lunch, on an impromptu ride to 
 some neighbouring station, than go by regular invita-
 
 24 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 tion. An invitation, if any, would be given somewhat in 
 this wise. " Oh, you had better come home with us," or 
 " What are you doing to-morrow ? You had better 
 bring your people over to us." Of course meaning good 
 quarters for the night, and this without any packing 
 requisite ! Every convenience will be found. Brushes, 
 combs, and other toilette necessaries are always in store, 
 and placed as a matter of course in the bedroom. 
 Believe us when we state that this is not the worst way 
 of visiting friends. 
 
 The consideration of this freehanded hospitality leads 
 to another point; we would urge upon those who intend 
 to visit or settle in New Zealand, the desirability of 
 bringing letters of introduction. How often has the 
 remark been made, and especially by young men, " I 
 have lots of letters in my portmanteau, but I don't intend 
 to deliver them ; it's such a bore." Those who make 
 such foolish statements must either have brought letters 
 to the wrong sort of people, and found out their mistake, 
 or they must estimate at little worth the value of 
 their friends' kind intentions. Letters of introduction 
 at once place the new arrival in a comfortable position. 
 The effect these have upon an old colonist is, that 
 "he is one of us." To those who prefer pothouse or 
 billiard -room to good society, we would say, "By all 
 means, you duffer, keep your letters in your portman- 
 teau.*' To those who would enjoy society, we would 
 say, " By all means deliver your letters ; they will pro- 
 cure you a hearty welcome." It does not much matter 
 to what particular class we belong, letters of introduc- 
 tion are always useful. The difference between emigrat- 
 ing to Buenos Ayres and New Zealand is very marked, 
 or rather we ought to say was very marked, because it is 
 some years now since we visited the former place. But
 
 4t 
 Society. .25 
 
 at that time there was an almost total absence of ladies 
 in " the camp," and consequently men deteriorated 
 rapidly. In New Zealand ladies are everywhere, con- 
 sequently the rules of good society prevail. 
 
 One of those circumstances which add to the present, 
 and will maintain the future prosperity of this coun- 
 try, is the number of solid yeomen which it possesses. 
 A large percentage of our farmers is formed of men who 
 have fought a good fight, and are now in absolute 
 possession of their farms, untrammelled by mortgages 
 or other liabilities. They are men who possess from 
 one or two hundred, to two or three thousand acres. 
 In this respect alone how closely New Zealand follows 
 the old country ! In the latter it is hard, now-a-days, 
 to say where one class ends and another begins ; from 
 the peer to the mechanic, the dividing-line is every- 
 where broken by intermarriage. Just so out here, 
 between the largest run-holder and the smallest " cock- 
 atoo" it would be difficult to draw any clear distinction. 
 Of course between the two extremes a great difference 
 exists, but then extremes have a happy knack of meeting, 
 somewhere, we suppose, about the middle. 
 
 One of the great charms of an agricultural or pas- 
 toral life lies in the power of getting men of the 
 right stamp to work for us and with us. It may safely 
 be said that there are many men of this description 
 in the colony, and in sufficient quantities to make 
 such a condition between workmen and employer, when 
 sought for, obtainable. In old days people did the 
 ordinary work of the year themselves. When harvest or 
 any extra labour was required, the farmer had to trust 
 to a migratory population, a population which had no 
 interest in the work but that which depended upon 
 receiving a large cheque. Now-a-days the introduction
 
 26 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of machinery makes us less dependent upon promiscuous 
 labour. The good all-round farm labourer and well proved 
 ploughman are beginning to be appreciated. These men 
 not only take an intelligent interest in their work, but 
 by staying upon the same farm have the satisfaction of 
 seeing the result of their previous labour. When we 
 consider that the success of any crop depends upon every 
 operation being carried out correctly from first to last, 
 it must be evident that permanent labour is better than 
 any advantage which can be offered by temporary hire. 
 It is just the same with respect to the sheep stations. 
 The managers and shepherds to whom the care of the 
 sheep is intrusted are generally men of good character, 
 whose connexion with the station has been of long 
 standing, and who are thoroughly up in the working of 
 the flock. To become a head shepherd a man has usually 
 to serve a long apprenticeship. To become a good 
 manager is no easy task. 
 
 Another class of labourers requires mention, this is 
 the peripatetic class. In this colony these are known 
 by the name of " Swaggers," or " Sundowners : " 
 swaggers, because they carry a swag or bundle on 
 their backs containing a blanket and their other worldly 
 possessions ; sundowners, because they never approach 
 a habitable place before sundown, lest they should be 
 requested to take a further stroll. And still these 
 wanderers must be divided into two categories the 
 one honest and hardworking, making a good liveli- 
 hood by alternate shearing, harvesting, and threshing, 
 which, if Australia happen to be included in the circuit, 
 will give more than ten months good returns out of the 
 twelve; the other idle, "blowing," undesirable, sponging 
 alike on the runholder, the farmer, and the hotel-keeper 
 an individual who won't work unless he is obliged, and
 
 Society. 2 7 
 
 sometimes not even then ; a disgrace to his kind, and 
 fit only to be classed with the " casuals " of an English 
 workhouse. 
 
 Let us conclude this chapter with two anecdotes. 
 A friend put up two or three of these gentry for the 
 night. The next day, as it rained he still housed and fed 
 them. The third day they had to go on their usual 
 pilgrimage. Some hours later, passing along with a load 
 of wool, one of his drays stuck fast in a river-bed. Our 
 two loafers happened to be there : " Lend us a hand," 
 said he, "to get the drays out of the river." "Not 
 we," they replied, " unless we get paid for our work." 
 Two fellows, in dry autumn, were resting by the 
 road side. While smoking their pipes, they happened 
 to set fire to the " tussuck," or dry native grass- 
 One ran for his life. The other, when asked by a 
 passing shepherd to assist in putting out the fire, which 
 by that time amounted to a conflagration, with the fate 
 of twenty-four cornstacks depending upon the exertions 
 of the next few minutes, responded, " Not I. You go 
 to h 11 ! " 
 
 When we know these and other well-authenticated 
 facts, which might be told, can the colonists be blamed 
 if they refuse to give a night's lodging to one, whom 
 people at home might consider a belated traveller, but 
 whom they know to be an incorrigible loafer?
 
 28 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STATION LIFE. 
 
 SHEEP-FA BMING may be defined as the one great idea 
 which induces many young men to seek New Zealand. 
 With equal truth it may be asserted that the fulfilment 
 of this idea is, in the generality of cases, next to 
 impossible. Impossible, so to speak, when the capital 
 which the majority has at command is taken into con- 
 sideration. Sheep-farming necessitates the employment 
 of a large amount of money. 
 
 We have little experience of sheep-runs, except in 
 two countries, the River Plate and New Zealand. Of 
 Australia we know nothing, but the experience gained 
 in the first two countries is presumably applicable 
 to the fifth quarter of the globe. Some few years 
 ago the largest and most prosperous sheep-runs in the 
 River Plate were worked by capitalists, either retired 
 from or in active business, assisted by good managers for 
 the conduct of the necessary detail. At that time young 
 men taking a small run were apt to pay too many visits 
 to the capital a greedy absorbent of hard- won profits. 
 The earnings of the sheep-run, consisting as they do in 
 the increase of stock and sale of wool, are dependent 
 upon the market value of one article ; and should this be 
 depreciated below its nominal value for two or three 
 years, the small capitalist is less able to stand the brunt
 
 Station Life. 29 
 
 of such depreciation than the large proprietor. His 
 expenses are proportionately greater his capital less : 
 where the one could swim the other would sink. Taking 
 next the position of flock-masters in New Zealand, it will 
 be found that the majority of runs are occupied by men 
 of comparatively large means. To buy them out would 
 entail the expenditure of thousands ; in some cases of 
 hundreds of thousands. They form an institution which 
 has risen side by side with the growth of the colony. 
 Their vested interests are now great, but to attain their 
 position they have had to fight hard, and see many of 
 their co-workers fail in the struggle. Those of the early 
 settlers who have succeeded, have merited their success. 
 If to-day they can send their sons to an English 
 University, it is because they have battled, and won a 
 well-earned victory. The man who in early times started 
 from Christchurch, himself the driver of his own bullock 
 team, his dray containing what was to him a large 
 capital, perhaps almost his all, who, against the advice of 
 friends, forded comparatively unknown and oftentimes 
 most dangerous rivers, and at last reached the land of 
 his selection, deserves some meed of praise, and a solid 
 recognition in his present life. And when the land was 
 found and occupied when bales of wool, the product of 
 his toil, had to be shipped by himself and his fellow- 
 workers, in small boats on a rough coast, in all weathers, 
 and under hardships which caused many to succumb, 
 surely such a man, although working for himself, did 
 much at the same time towards thejdevelopment of his 
 adopted country. 
 
 Perhaps ere long sheep farms on a small scale will 
 pay better than they have hitherto done, in consequence 
 of the refrigerating process for the export of meat, 
 which is now being gradually developed. This will
 
 30 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 cause a better demand for fat sheep, and no doubt a 
 considerable rise in their value. Some years ago, when 
 travelling in the States, we found that sides of beef could 
 be bought in Texas at from 3d. to 3\d. a pound. Butchers 
 in England were at that time charging from Is. to Is. \d. 
 a pound. It did not require much foresight to arrive at 
 the conclusion that in these days of rapid improvement 
 and invention some method would be found to approach 
 the 3J. to Is. The event has justified the prognostica- 
 tion. By a similar reasoning it is not difficult to foresee 
 that sooner or later mutton, which the farmer is to-day 
 selling here at 2rZ., will find its way in considerable 
 quantities to the home markets. The quality of New 
 Zealand mutton is excellent, and no permanent difficulty 
 can arise on that score. No doubt many of our flocks 
 are grown for their wool without much attention being 
 paid to the carcase ; but once a demand for a good 
 quality of mutton sets in, the supply will in a few years 
 become ample. 
 
 When considering the value put upon sheep-runs, even 
 old settlers are sometimes deceived. During the present 
 week the largest auction of runs which ever took place in 
 the country was held in Otago. Canterbury runholders 
 generally considered the runs in Otago not worth having. 
 The value of the properties was, in their estimation, 
 destroyed by rabbits ; no adequate stock of sheep could 
 be raised. Much to our astonishment, and presumably 
 to that of many others in South Canterbury, the sale 
 alluded to gave the following results. The annual rental 
 realized was 68,854/L The previous rental had been 
 24,659/. The upset price was 37,216Z. Three runs only, 
 out of one hundred and seventy, were left unsold. The 
 price given may have been too high ; the purchasers 
 may have over-estimated the value of the leases ; but after
 
 Station Life. 31 
 
 making due allowance for such contingencies, it would 
 seem that the sale represented an important and per- 
 manent increase in the value of pastoral property. The 
 following extracts taken from the local press on the 
 subject, would point to the same conclusion. 
 
 In writing of the sale of these lands the Timaru 
 Herald observes : " The competition seems to have been 
 just about equally keen for all the subdivisions of each 
 run, and purchasers who were bent upon securing the 
 whole of a large run, had to pay as high a price for 
 the last subdivision of it as the first. Let us take as an 
 illustration run 261, formerly occupied by Sir Dillon 
 Bell, at a rental of 852/. This run was subdivided into 
 six runs, namely, 261 and 261 A, B, C, D, and E, to be 
 let on terms varying from five to eight years. Sir Dillon 
 Bell was evidently determined to keep the whole of his 
 run if he could ; and he succeeded in buying all the sub- 
 divisions ; but he had to pay for them 400/., 147/., 265?., 
 405/., 505/., and 405/., respectively, amounting in all to 
 a new rental of 2127/. In this case the competition 
 became keener as the sale proceeded, Sir Dillon Bell 
 having to pay more for the remoter parts of the original 
 
 run than for those nearer the homestead And so 
 
 it went on throughout the sale, the old lessees bought 
 back the whole of their runs in a good many instances ; 
 but there was not a single instance where by securing a 
 particular subdivision a runholder got the rest below 
 their value." The reason for mentioning this sale is to 
 show that in 1882, notwithstanding all said to the 
 contrary, runs have their value, and that the present 
 occupiers perhaps understand their value best. 
 
 Sheep-runs in Canterbury are held under somewhat 
 mixed conditions. The run proper is held on lease from 
 the Crown : but numerous facilities have been given to
 
 32 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the runholders, and in fact to any other colonist, to 
 secure large areas of freehold land upon the runs. 
 These facilities have been used in many cases for the 
 purpose of what is called " gridironing " the country ; 
 that is, runholders have bought and made freehold, first 
 of all, all those sections lying contiguous to their home- 
 steads, accessible to water, or possessing valuable 
 frontages. They then left the back country to take 
 care of itself, feeling pretty certain that the latter would 
 not be so valuable to any as to themselves. They were 
 very right in doing so. In a country where manhood or 
 rather, a short residential suffrage is permitted, what 
 protection can the lessees of Government land expect 
 for the capital which they have invested, except that 
 better private security which the law and their own 
 position allowed them to adopt when turning leasehold 
 runs into more or less freehold estates ? Everybody 
 knows full well the power of a popular cry, how irre- 
 sistible it may be in its action, how unjust in its 
 immediate effects. Let a demagogue put forward a 
 specious idea the masses are almost sure to follow. In 
 New Zealand the demagogue has shouted, " War to the 
 runholder ! give the people their land." What then 
 could men do but protect their property so far as was 
 possible their own, if not in fact, yet almost entirely 
 'so in equity, from the greater value their exertions had 
 given to a previous desert, and by the cost of all the im- 
 provements which had been put upon it? When the 
 popular cry is raised, " The soil belongs to the people," 
 all that the people can fairly demand is to have a chance 
 of buying as much land as they can. At the same time 
 they must not expect to find the value of land standing 
 still. They must not expect to find that they can buy 
 land in 1882 at the same prices that they could in 1860.
 
 Station Life. -;-; 
 
 - / \J \J 
 
 Railways, roads, and bridges have been constructed, 
 tussuck plains have become large towns ; and steamers 
 glide daily into ports where formerly only a few sailing- 
 ships occasionally put in an unwilling appearance. 
 Let the people buy what Government land they can in 
 the open market, and at the market price of the day ; 
 but it cannot be tolerated that the world should be 
 kept stationary for persons who hesitate to do now 
 what they could well have afforded to do some years 
 ago. The men who have habitually knocked down 
 large cheques in beer-houses, never tried to buy land 
 when it was cheap ; and but few now-a-days, when, 
 although large cheques be scarcer, wages are stiU 
 good, try to save money for such a purpose. The 
 land here, as elsewhere, remains in the hands of those 
 who have the greater forbearance ; who in their several 
 degrees occupy a respectable position upon the social 
 ladder ; and who, having secured by greater thrift a 
 certain amount of capital, employ it to the best advan- 
 tage. It is useless for radical and sentimental poli- 
 ticians to talk to hard toilers in a new country of the 
 disabilities and injustice which everywhere beset the 
 path of the working man. Such claptrap is simply 
 a product of the lowest form of political organization. 
 We feel it to be so, because we mix with working-men. 
 We are in the habit of seeing many who for lack of 
 education, and misusing the money which they possess 
 throw opportunities to the winds. We know that a 
 working-man in New Zealand can, if he is saving, 
 secure an honourable position both for himself and his 
 family. We have often found that a man who is to-day 
 trading upon our charity might have been richer than 
 ourselves. Are we then to listen to those who, having 
 misused their opportunities, pose before us in the lighf, 
 
 D
 
 34 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of injured individuals ? Surety not. Here, as at home, 
 a Socialistic agitation with regard to land, means robbing 
 the industrious to reward the idle. Exceptions must 
 always occur. The man struck down by illness or 
 accident the widow with a large family left dependent 
 on her care the poor orphan such as these ought here 
 and everywhere to obtain the sympathies of their more 
 fortunate neighbours. 
 
 It has been asserted by some of the extreme radicals 
 of the colony, that Government did wrong to sell any of 
 the land in the country as freeholds. The land belongs 
 to the people, they say, and it ought from the first to have 
 been let on long leases, at the end of which the people 
 would be able to re-let it at greatly increased rentals 
 owing to the improvements which would have been 
 placed i pon it. They have suggested that for the 
 future no further sales should be made, but that a 
 system of leases should be substituted. It is evident 
 that such a policy would be suicidal, and no other 
 course would be likely to retard the advancement of the 
 colony to the same extent. The suggestion militates 
 against the commonest principles of political economy, 
 and nothing could tend more to restrain the importation 
 of fresh private capital. Security could only be given to 
 lenders on perishable improvements or floating stock. 
 Fortunately the idea is never likely to become law ; and 
 even were it to do so, all the best land is already freehold. 
 
 We have endeavoured to show that the power of 
 possessing a run now falls to the lot of the capitalist 
 only, or to a body of smaller capitalists banded to- 
 gether. Years ago every run in New Zealand, except 
 in the Maori country of the North Island, had, to use 
 the colonial phraseology, been " taken up." To-day a 
 new comer must buy out the present occupier. To do
 
 Station Life. 35 
 
 this requires capital. Many runs are for sale at the 
 present time, especially in the back country ; some 
 few on the seaboard districts. The reason for these 
 runs being for sale depends on various causes. One 
 man will say, " I am old; if I were ten years younger 
 nothing would induce me to sell my run." Another lets 
 his run go bit by bit for agricultural purposes, getting 
 a very fair price for every acre of freehold which he 
 sells. Some desire to part with their properties, either 
 because they have families growing up for whom they 
 wish to provide, or because the responsibility of borrowed 
 money with its contingent anxieties makes them feel 
 that by selling they would be in a more comfortable 
 position. 
 
 Many of the chief evils consequent upon the pos- 
 session of some of the large estates have accrued 
 from the proprietor wishing to secure too soon what 
 would be considered in England an enormous free- 
 hold. A man rented a run from Government, say' at 
 from 6d. to 9d. per sheep. Finding at a given period 
 that the lands, of which he held a conditional lease, were 
 open to public selection, what did he do under the cir- 
 cumstances ? Fearing that all the valuable land under 
 his lease was about to be bought up by new settlers, 
 he felt bound to protect himself by purchasing, at 
 the Government price of 21. per acre, that part of 
 the property which he considered most valuable. But 
 a simple calculation will show that he added greatly 
 to his liabilities by so doing. The purchase may have 
 been made with the idea of selling again to the farmer 
 at an enhanced price, and of cutting up the estate 
 into smaller blocks ; but times may have been bad ; 
 settlement did not come so rapidly as was expected. 
 In the interim, heavy rent or interest had to be fouud
 
 36 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 for that 'portion of the run which had been made 
 freehold. 
 
 Many people in this country, whether farmers, specu- 
 lators, or runholders have tried to become large landed 
 proprietors, without estimating the probable cost. Land, 
 no doubt, is valuable property, especially in a new 
 country where its increment is exceptionally rapid. But 
 the pertinent question is can holders of large freeholds 
 keep them until they become generally salable or avail- 
 able for agricultural purposes ? If they can and in 
 many cases they do so their fortunes are made. If they 
 cannot do so, their position is difficult. It must be 
 understood that many sheep-runs are held on quite as 
 firm a tenure as properties at home. There are stations 
 on the freehold of which not a single pound is borrowed, 
 and where the proprietor lives almost the life of an easy- 
 going English squire. 
 
 It may be taken that the present value of a leasehold 
 run in Canterbury, including goodwill and improvement, 
 is from 1Z. to 15s. per sheep kept. Thus a run of 20,000 
 sheep would stand in at about 17,500/. to-day, perhaps 
 at more. A great deal depends on situation. Where a 
 freehold exists, the cost would be increased in proportion 
 to the extent and value of the freehold land. The price 
 for the latter under the hills would range at from about 
 3L to 5/. per acre ; but some runholders possess far more 
 valuable land, which is better adapted for agricultural 
 than pastoral purposes. In addition to the sum to 
 be paid to the outgoing tenant, an annual rental would 
 accrue on the leasehold to Government, say at the rate 
 of from Ls. to Is. 6d. per sheep, according to locality. 
 The annual clip would do well if it averaged 6 Ibs. per 
 fleece of a fair stapled merino wool, yielding at home 
 about lid. to 12rf. per Ib. The cost of shipping from
 
 Station Life. 
 
 37 
 
 a New Zealand port to London may be estimated at 
 about If d. per Ib. The cost of getting the wool from 
 the interior to the seaboard will vary from $d. to ft/, 
 per Ib. according to distance. Shearing ranges at from 
 15s. to 18s. per 100 sheep. What the incidental ex- 
 penses of management may be depends entirely upon 
 the natural aptitude of the runholder for business. 
 Taking the above rough estimate as something tangible 
 on which to base a calculation, it will be found that the 
 working of a run carrying 20,000 sheep would be some- 
 what as follows : 
 
 Gross return in London on 120,000 Ibs. 
 
 of wool, say at ll^d. per Ib .5750 
 
 Interest on original outlay of 
 
 17,500Z., at 6 per cent, per 
 
 annum . . . . .1050 
 
 Kent at Is. 4d. per sheep . 1330 
 
 Cost of shipping and charges 
 
 at home, at If d. per Ib. . 875 
 Forwarding to port of shipment, 
 
 \d. per Ib 250 
 
 Shearing at 17. per 100 . . 170 
 
 3675 
 
 Balance . , . .2075 
 
 From this apparent balance all costs of shepherding, 
 mustering, and incidental expenses must be deducted. 
 These it is difficult to estimate ; but it is a well-managed 
 run where the net profits amount to over twelve per cent., 
 including interest on capital. Taking then twelve per 
 cent, as the basis of profit, including interest on the 
 original outlay, about 1000Z. a year would be left for 
 the various expenses mentioned above, the cost of living 
 and feeding all hands employed, and personal expendi- 
 ture of various kinds. There would be also some return
 
 38 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 from the sale of surplus stock ; but from runs of this 
 description the cast-off stock is never very valuable, and 
 it would be safer to assume that all such moneys will be 
 required for maintenance and improvements. The above 
 calculation is based on the supposition that no part of 
 the capital employed is borrowed. The profits will 
 necessarily be reduced, in proportion to the amount of 
 borrowed money used in working the run. 
 
 This calculation has been shown to a friend, himself 
 manager of a New Zealand station. He agrees with 
 the figures given as being the most accurate estimate 
 which can be arrived at for the purposes of general 
 calculation. He thinks, however, that it may not be 
 clearly understood that the above estimate alludes 
 solely to the run proper, without taking account of 
 any freehold property. It must be evident, upon a very 
 superficial examination, that the possession of free- 
 hold property includes a larger outlay than that con- 
 templated above. If 3. to 5/. per acre be invested in 
 freehold land, some extra return for the increased capital 
 expended must be obtained. This is generally found 
 in the growth of turnips, and the raising of cross-bred 
 sheep, half Merino and half Lincoln or Leicester, to 
 supply the butcher. The system is peculiar, probably, 
 to the runs of New Zealand, and no trustworthy 
 estimate of its profits can be given ; but its growth 
 has arisen from the conformation of the country. 
 The runs proper are confined almost entirely to the 
 mountain ranges, which can support nothing but 
 an ordinary well-constituted Merino. Each runholder 
 when he bought freehold land did so on the low lying 
 downs or the flats situated between his homestead and 
 the sea. These freehold lands he has to utilize by 
 raising a sheep which will produce both mutton and
 
 Station Life* 39 
 
 wool. These "runholders may be considered as carrying 
 on a twofold business, namely, that of wool-growers and 
 producers of mutton. The homesteads attached to their 
 properties are for the most part pretty and attractive, 
 situated under sheltering hills, where conifers and 
 deciduous trees grow with great luxuriance. Generally 
 a well-shaded verandah surrounds the house; its sup- 
 ports covered with every variety of creeper, from the 
 monthly rose and fragrant jasmine to the luscious fig. 
 Apples, pears, peaches, and all the luxuries usually 
 to be found at an English country seat, everywhere 
 abound ; and if the gardens are not always so neat as 
 they would be at home, a more generous climate gives a 
 result far in excess of what can be produced in England 
 even by greater care. 
 
 Geraniums, verbenas, fuchsias, dahlias, and the lemon- 
 scented verbena are left outside the winter through. The 
 passion-flower climbs the trellises, and even occasionally 
 thrusts itself through the chinks in some downstairs 
 floors. Amidst sheltering plantations of fir may 
 be found the ubiquitous lawn-tennis ground. The 
 greatest difficulty to a new comer is to realize that the 
 growth of the conifers and deciduous trees is the 
 result of only fourteen years. Previously the blue 
 gum, with its many species, generally known in Europe 
 as the eucalyptus globulus, held supreme sway; but its 
 roots, like those of the ash, were found too exhaustive, 
 and it is now relegated to positions in which it can do 
 the greatest amount of good with the least possibility of 
 harm. Still it has been a useful tree. Without its 
 quick growth it would have been impossible to secure 
 shade or shelter in New Zealand. 
 
 Station life is often regarded as an occupation which 
 made no demands for extra labour. It is, no doubt,
 
 40 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 true that those whose business is chiefly confined to 
 certain periods of the year, can find more time than 
 the farmer for taking a run to town, or for even more 
 extended absences. But the runholder's is an occupation 
 which must be attended to. It is for him to have aii 
 experienced eye for stock, and also to realize the 
 capacity of the land for producing a certain quality 
 of wool. Beginning on some runs in November, and 
 not finishing until January or February, the various 
 flocks have to be brought down from the hillsides for 
 shearing. Lambs have to be weaned, the breeding ewes 
 to be put together ; and one portion or another of the 
 flock is perpetually passing under the master's eye. On 
 many stations, added to these ordinary duties, large areas 
 of land are laid down each year both to turnips and grass. 
 It is no uncommon thing to hear of 2000 or 3000 acres 
 being seeded down, and 1200 to 1500 acres being put 
 into turnips in one year. 
 
 And yet, despite its laboriousness, station life is 
 very pleasant, at least if it can be estimated by 
 the cheery faces and ready welcome which everywhere 
 meet the guest. A man with 60,OOOZ. invested in sheep 
 and land can enjoy life on a New Zealand run, to all 
 intents and purposes as much as any country squire in 
 England, and probably more than a flaneur of the 
 London streets.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE FARM. 
 
 IT has always been difficult to get a large body of farmers 
 to work together, even for an object which affects their 
 common interest. Still more difficult has it been to 
 reduce the practice of agriculture to anything like 
 unity of system. Farming consists not only of well 
 ascertained facts, but relies for its success upon inde- 
 terminate results. We well remember, as a student of 
 history, being much struck by a remark made by Sharon 
 Turner relative to the departure of Mary Queen of Scots, 
 from France that she embarked, nobody denied ; but 
 on what day, whether of the month or week, she did so, 
 remains a matter of uncertainty. Each of her suite gave 
 a different date and time in their journals, which have 
 come down to us. If, argued Sharon Turner, such dis- 
 crepancies occur in matters of fact, how difficult is the 
 position of a writer, when analyzing the more doubtful 
 motives which have produced history ! The moral is 
 not far to seek. If it be difficult to agree upon matters of 
 fact, how much more difficult to coalesce upon matters of 
 opinion. We do not think that farmers should be too 
 hastily blamed for absence of cohesion or enterprise : to 
 those unaccustomed to the work, the difficulty of changing 
 st system already introduced upon a farm can hardly be
 
 42 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 appreciated. As one field after another comes under its 
 ordinary rotation, the farmer naturally hesitates before 
 adopting an experiment which might probably throw his 
 whole management into confusion. True, he may make 
 trials of new manures, and other artificial stimulants 
 which happen to be brought under his notice, but it is 
 yet an open question whether the use of many of these 
 will pay, or ought to be adopted on a large scale. It is 
 doubtful whether the farmer of the present day has not, 
 by stimulating the immediate producing capacity of his 
 land, and by copious overdrafts upon its power, placed 
 himself in a worse position than his predecessors, who 
 limited their practice to a good dressing of farmyard 
 manure, with the occasional assistance of a sound and 
 wholesome fallow. This is not positively asserted to be 
 the case, but it is a matter well worthy of consideration. 
 Any positive assertion that fallowing is necessary would 
 not prove that it is so ; at the same time it is acknow- 
 ledged to be of the utmost importance in the garden ; 
 and if in the garden, why not on the farm ? But 
 the proverb, " Tot homines, tot sententiae," still holds 
 good. In any case, it may be asserted that the man 
 who undertakes to manipulate land, if he would under- 
 stand it so as to make it answer to his call, must 
 treat it as he would a reasonable being. Men sometimes 
 require a rest, and the farmer ought occasionally to give 
 his land, so to speak, its Sunday out. Probably the land, 
 if it could talk, would tell many a farmer that he had 
 given it more than it could take, and that if still more 
 were given it must die of surfeit ; that it wanted rest 
 to digest its food, after which it would make up for lost 
 time. It has been said that sermons are to be found in 
 stones, and if in stones surely in land. " Turn me over," 
 the land would sometimes seem to say, "and let me
 
 On the Farm. 43 
 
 drink in the wintry showers and hoary frosts. Let me 
 digest the good things with which I am satiated, and you 
 will find me ever grateful." In any country, manuring, 
 although acknowledged to be necessary, must be done 
 systematically ; and should never be over-done. To 
 manure in Canterbury to any great extent, either with 
 artificials or from the farmyard, would not at present 
 pay, even if such a practice were suited to the climate 
 which may be doubted. The latter is often so dry that, 
 however valuable manure may be on a small scale, 
 as in gardens where copious waterings can be given, 
 its effects are liable to be lost on a farm should a dry 
 season supervene. In a dry season the farmyard appli- 
 cation may do harm, owing to the unrotted straws acting 
 as so many funnels for the emission of a valuable moisture. 
 This danger would more particularly apply to arable 
 land ; a good dressing always does good to pastures, 
 especially if applied just before the winter rains set in. 
 But arable land must be renovated, in New Zealand as 
 elsewhere. The difficulty consists in the method by 
 which fresh food is to be applied ; probably the best 
 way is to take a little extra pains to secure a good turnip 
 crop, to be eaten off by sheep netted on the land. The 
 effect of such a treatment would be seen for two or three 
 years, and it possesses the advantage that the manuring 
 crop itself is, in this country, a paying one. The cost of 
 putting in turnips is limited to two ploughings, in most 
 cases only one, to harrowing until a fine tilth is secured, 
 and to sowing half a pound of seed broadcast to the acre, 
 covering with a stroke of the chain or ordinary harrows. 
 No further cultivation is necessary, unless the crop fail ; 
 in that case the land may have to be again harrowed 
 and sown. Last season a turnip-field of twenty-four 
 acres, in this neighbourhood, kept five hundred sheep,
 
 44 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 folded, from the 3rd May to the 1 2th August. It is not, 
 however, the ordinary practice to fold sheep. As a rule 
 a paddock of one hundred acres, or more, is sown with 
 turnips, and when the crop is ripe a large quantity of 
 sheep is turned into it. These of course run over the 
 whole field, first eating the tops and other green food, 
 next the roots, and lastly the shells. The worst feature 
 of such a system is, that the sheep always camp in one 
 spot, and the good which they do is not evenly distri- 
 buted over the entire surface. 
 
 Mr. Bering, one of the many farmers sent to the 
 colony from England to obtain information for the benefit 
 of those at home, gives to farmers in New Zealand the 
 following salutary advice the extract is selected from 
 one of his letters which was published in the New Zea- 
 land Country Journal, for March, 1882 : " How long," 
 he says, " you will be able to continue to produce heavy 
 and remunerative crops with the exhaustive practice pur- 
 sued, time must tell. The rotations of crops by all large 
 proprietors is thought to be amply sufficient to restore 
 the fertility of the soil. It may prolong its departure, 
 but it is certainly a serious mistake to suppose that the 
 annual removal of phosphates, potash, lime, and ammo- 
 nia, in grain and cattle sold off the farm, without replac- 
 ing them by the application of manure can go on ad 
 infinitum." But an almost virgin soil is wonderfully re- 
 cuperative, much more so than a person accustomed only 
 to that of the Old World could imagine ; and we are of 
 opinion that if farmers in New Zealand were at present 
 to confine themselves to good and deep cultivation, with 
 alternate sowings of clover and turnips between the 
 white crops, no further manuring would be necessary for 
 years to come. 
 
 It is most difficult for an intending settler to estimate
 
 On the Farm. 45 
 
 what his chances of success as a farmer in this country 
 would be. Success depends upon many radical causes. 
 It is needless to speak here of personal adaptability a 
 point which can be entered into more fully when con- 
 sidering the class of people best fitted for emigration. 
 For the moment it is more to the purpose to consider the 
 condition and prospects of farming as at present exist- 
 ing in the colony. Thoroughly to understand these con- 
 ditions, it must be recollected that the two centres of 
 immigration in the Southern Island were Christchurch 
 and Dunedin, the one the capital of Canterbury, the 
 other of Otago. The two capitals are distant from each 
 other about 200 miles. Settlement radiated almost 
 simultaneously from each, and has but recently met, about 
 half way between the two centres. The point of con- 
 tact, or South Canterbury, is in fact one of the most 
 sparsely inhabited of the grain-raising districts in the 
 colony, when compared with its productive capabilities. 
 This is owing solely to the chapter of accidents. For 
 many years there was no shipping port between Lyttelton, 
 the port of Christchurch, and Port Chalmers, the port 
 of Dunedin. To-day two intermediate harbours exist 
 those of Timaru and Oamaru. The country behind 
 these latter ports embraces many thousands of acres of 
 good agricultural land and also includes some of the 
 largest sheep-runs. Each year more of the produce of 
 the immediate district goes direct to England from these 
 two ports. While possessing swamps nearly, if not 
 quite, as rick as those situated at Kaiapoi and around 
 the Ellesmere Lake, it includes a large area of agricul- 
 tural land of a strangely uniform character, capable of 
 supporting a far larger population than either the better 
 known Canterbury Plains or the mountain slopes which 
 lie behind Dunedin. But at present Christchurch retains
 
 46 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 its pre-eminence, and Dunedin is essentially the business 
 city of the colony. Further north and further south the 
 same principle of radiation is going on. Settlers in 
 South Canterbury are in the happy position of just 
 beginning to feel the effects of a strong competition be- 
 tween the northern and southern capitals. They find 
 that being at the point of contact will both stimulate 
 their energies and prove of great benefit to the sale of 
 th^ir products. 
 
 Whilst land of really good quality in the more settled 
 districts near Christchurch commands from 20/. to 25/. 
 ah acre, very good land may still be bought in South 
 Canterbury at about 9/., and that too within moderate 
 distance of a railway. In some localities it might per- 
 haps be obtained for 5L, but in such cases the situation 
 would be further removed from all necessary conveniences, 
 and make the marketing of produce more expensive. 
 The prices above named seem altogether too high for the 
 pockets or ideas of many an intending settler. Most 
 people when emigrating expect to find an " el Dorado." 
 As a fact, they only arrive in countries where a good com- 
 petence may be secured. The Western States of North 
 America, with their cheap land and apparent prosperity, 
 offer greater attractions. Each intending settler must 
 act as he thinks best for his future interest ; but before he 
 decides irretrievably one way or the other, the following 
 considerations may be suggested. In America land is 
 cheaper, and from its greater surface produces a larger 
 proportion of the world's supply of wheat ; but settle- 
 ment in that country, even under such seemingly better 
 conditions than New Zealand can offer, has its draw- 
 backs. Each acre tilled does not yield so much produce. 
 Life is far harder than in this colony. Society is totally 
 different from that of home, possessing as distinctive
 
 On the Farm. 47 
 
 a character as that which exists between one of our 
 country sides and the rapidly growing suburbs of some 
 manufacturing cities. The climate is not so equable. 
 To most Englishmen one great objection would be, 
 that in the Western States they must forego their 
 nationality, and live under a foreign flag. Settlement in 
 Canada may be far preferable to settlement in the States ; 
 but Lower Canada offers few inducements to the farmer, 
 and Upper Canada or more especially the now develop- 
 ing districts farther west, possessing, maybe, many 
 attractions for the young and active can for the family 
 man hardly bear comparison as a place of residence with 
 the better climate and more settled districts of New 
 Zealand. We have been in Canada, but not in Mani- 
 toba. The former is a pleasant place for a man with 
 a fixed income to live in ; but the long winters pre- 
 clude it from being a country in which the thews and 
 sinews of the farmer can be used to the greatest profit. 
 What would the Canadian agriculturist say to a country 
 where his teams can be utilized 300 days out of 365, as in 
 Canterbury. In New Zealand ladies can drive beneath 
 a bright sun, and in an open carriage, the winter through ;, 
 the summer is not too hot ; the society is essentially 
 English ; and the soil under right cultivation yields a good 
 return. But in the greater matter of choosing a new home,, 
 as in the minor crises of life, each must decide accord- 
 ing to his individual taste. We must not be considered 
 as advising any one to emigrate ; such a responsibility 
 would be too great. No doubt the great stream will be 
 attracted for years to come to the North American con- 
 tinent, and it is well that it should be so, for New Zealand 
 is not the home for the impecunious vested interests are 
 too large ; but where money centres, there money is 
 more readily made.
 
 48 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Many persons have an idea that land in the colonies 
 ought to be, or is, for sale at its original cost. At one 
 time land was cheap, but we very much question whether 
 the tiller of the soil in those early days made more out 
 of it than he can to-day. Labour was scarcer and far 
 dearer; the appliances for cultivation and harvesting 
 were more imperfect; while produce was moved at a greater 
 cost. Wheat was often left lying on the ground, because 
 hands could not be found to tie and stook. A crop in 
 this condition has been known to have been lifted by a 
 sudden gale and blown in wild confusion to manure the 
 neighbouring paddocks a total loss to its helpless 
 owner. People are fond of talking of the good old times ; 
 but would the rising generation, with its underground 
 railways, its comfortable first-class carriages, and tele- 
 graphic facilities, like those days to be recalled ? Pro- 
 bably not. 
 
 There are two courses open to a man intending to buy 
 a farm : the first, to purchase what is known as an 
 unimproved farm ; the second, to invest in one which 
 has been more or less cultivated, and with fences, gates, 
 stabling, a homestead, and other conveniences, already 
 placed upon it. Of late both could be bought at about 
 the same price per acre ; and for the reason that those 
 who have capital, when compared with those who wish 
 to farm without too much spare cash at their bankers, 
 are as the few to the many, To the latter the unimproved 
 land will, for reasons presently to be explained, offer the 
 greatest inducement, and will consequently be in greater 
 demand. The unimproved farm will consist either of 
 land still in the native tussuck, or be in English grass, 
 from which probably a crop of wheat has already been 
 taken. Owing to the extensive " breaking up " which 
 is everywhere being carried on, the native tussuck is
 
 On the Farm. 49 
 
 rapidly disappearing. The system generally adopted by 
 the purchaser of an unimproved farm is as follows : 
 during early summer the land will receive its first plough- 
 ing ; this consists of a furrow made as shallow as possi- 
 ble with due regard to the inequality of the ground, of 
 the width of at least twelve inches, and turned over com- 
 pletely on its face. The land in this state is left to itself 
 till the following April (the month corresponding to the 
 English October), when it is cross-ploughed to the depth 
 of about five or six inches, according to the nature of 
 the soil, and in that month or the following is sown 
 with wheat. Perhaps a second wheat crop follows. 
 Then oats, seeded down with a bushel of rye grass, and 
 five pounds of clover. The land is then left to itself for 
 some years, in order to subdue the sorrel and other weeds 
 which two or three white crops have probably developed 
 in somewhat alarming quantities. Those who have some 
 concern for the future of their land omit the second 
 wheat crop, except under extraordinary circumstances. 
 Perhaps, had proper care been exercised in the eradica- 
 tion of weeds the present system would not have been 
 too exhaustive for a virgin soil; but the stubbles are 
 left untouched until ploughed down for the next crop; 
 land has been plentiful and easily to be obtained ; and 
 probably the mischief was often done before its extent 
 was fully realized. Necessity is now producing a better 
 system, which, long in vogue nearer Christchurch, is 
 gradually extending to the south. Very few of the un- 
 improved farms have been bought for cash. They were 
 mostly bought on the principle of deferred payments, a 
 principle which from its apparent advantages often caused 
 the purchaser to give a higher price for the land than its 
 value at the time warranted, or than he would have 
 done had the terms been less liberal. Auctioneers when
 
 50 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 advertising properties for sale, were accustomed to wind 
 tip their notices with some such expression as " Terms 
 most liberal." This in reality meant that the chances of 
 a man being able ultimately to secure the freehold of his 
 iand had been calculated to a nicety. Should unfavour- 
 able seasons intervene, the probability was greatly against 
 his doing so. Perhaps a man may be considered safe 
 when he has paid fifty per cent, of the "purchase-money, 
 but a few moments' reflection will enable the reader to see 
 that, when the first two corn crops have been harvested, 
 a large amount of capital is necessary to make the land 
 fairly profitable in the immediate future. At first a ring 
 fence only had to be erected, and a shanty in which to 
 live. The land once laid down in grass, divisional fences 
 must be put up and stock purchased, while a large por- 
 tion of the profits accruing from the grain crops have 
 been expended in paying instalments, already amount- 
 ing to perhaps thirty-five per cent, of the purchase- money, 
 interest being payable upon the balance at the rate of 
 six or seven per cent, per annum. We are only supposing 
 a case, although it is one which has frequently arisen. 
 Many an example might be found to prove our calcula- 
 tion to be erroneous, but buying land on deferred pay- 
 ment is very often a critical transaction. It entails 
 much risk, and is not a method to be advocated : some 
 who have bought under it have been successful, but for 
 one who is, three or four come to grief. The large land 
 companies, aware of this, have at last made their condi- 
 tions somewhat easier. They have introduced during the 
 past two years a system which enables the farmer to rent 
 land for a term of years with the power of purchase at 
 the end of a stated period. This allows him to utilize on 
 his farm for the first few years of his occupation, any 
 capital which he may possess, and so to make the most
 
 On the Farm. 51 
 
 of it. If at the end, say of five or six years, the occupier 
 is not in a position to purchase at the price which has 
 been fixed upon, the land might very probably pass from 
 him to some new comer, but any improvements which 
 had been effected would be taken over at a valuation. 
 
 The best method to adopt when about to buy an 
 unimproved farm, is personally to select one or more 
 blocks of land, and buy them out right from the company 
 or private individual to whom they belong. If the 
 buyer's capital be not sufficient to pay the whole of the 
 purchase- money and at the same time work the farm, a 
 mortgage can readily be arranged, with a safe margin, 
 which will place the investor for the first few years of 
 his occupancy in the same position as a tenant farmer 
 at home ; but with this difference, that so long as 
 he can pay interest on the mortgage, all improvements 
 will be his own, and he has an excellent chance of ulti- 
 mately obtaining a clear freehold. Under any circum- 
 stances the one great consideration when buving tussuck, 
 
 <_> v O 
 
 and either outright or under the deferred payment 
 system, is to recollect that the farm, whatever its extent, 
 is not already made, and that to make it fairly remunera- 
 tive it will be necessary, sooner or later, to expend 
 about o/. an acre in various improvements ; that all 
 the money rolling in from the first grain crops is not 
 income, but will be wanted to procure stock, erect 
 fences, purchase grass seeds, and provide the numerous 
 conveniences necessary to make a comfortable home 
 from a raw soil. 
 
 When buying an improved farm, the value of the 
 improvements will often have to be weighed against the 
 time and money which must be expended before such a 
 farm can yield a good return. This is especially the 
 case in more recently settled districts, where necessarily 
 
 E 2
 
 5 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the previous occupier has had all that he could do to 
 pay his way. Except under peculiar conditions, such as 
 death, the natural inference is, that before selling, the 
 late owner had got as much out of the land as could be 
 got, at all events with the capital which he had at com- 
 mand. If an improved farm can be picked up in a 
 situation where the soil is naturally good, it is pro- 
 bably better for an intending purchaser to invest in it 
 instead of trying to make a farm out of original tussuck. 
 Expenses for improvements mount up with extraordinary 
 celerity. If the land is sound, and the improvements 
 considerable, it is only necessary to exercise a little 
 patience, and set to work to improve the paddocks one 
 by one. Few if any farms are really worked out in 
 New Zealand ; they are often only dirty. Improved farms 
 are generally not to be bought under the deferred pay- 
 ment system, but a man with his title-deeds in the bank 
 holds a position which is not permitted to the deferred 
 property owner. 
 
 In any case, whether the settler take virgin or improved 
 land, he must expect to find it raw. After the original 
 vegetable fibre, generally limited to the depth of four 
 inches, has been extracted by one or two crops, it will, 
 to use an American expression, want its "wildness" 
 taken out of it. Most of the remarks made above must 
 be understood to refer to South Canterbury, or to those 
 portions of the Southern Island, equally far removed 
 from the older cultivated lands. In the latter districts, 
 farms rule at such a price as to be beyond the reach of 
 the ordinary immigrant ; but for those who possess the 
 means it would be almost better to purchase a farm, or 
 more properly an estate, nearer to the towns. Dear as 
 these may seem at present, no doubt they will rise in 
 value ; if not in proportion to the land that has just
 
 On the Farm. 53 
 
 been described, yet to a considerable extent. To those 
 who come to New Zealand in order to enjoy life, with a 
 minimum of care and a maximum of pleasure, really 
 good land in a central situation will even yet prove the 
 best investment. Except that it is wrong to covet a 
 neighbour's goods, it is hard to imagine a more fortunate 
 lot than that of the farmer possessing 2000 acres of 
 unencumbered land, of the value of from 20/. to 25Z. per 
 acre, and who, having gradually worked up to his present 
 position, lives in a bright sunny clime, and surrounded 
 by all that makes life enjoyable. 
 
 Farming in New Zealand is in a state of transition. 
 When land was first broken up the return was so 
 prolific that people became careless. The general cry 
 was, " It does not pay to do too much to the soil ; 
 climate is our farmer here." Stories were rife as to how 
 one man got a splendid crop of potatoes by planting 
 them at the bottom of the furrow as he ploughed, and 
 leaving the rest to nature. Or again, of how one 
 merely skimmed the land, strewed turnip seed broad- 
 cast after the plough, and finished by one stroke of the 
 harrows. By this method he sometimes secured a 
 magnificent crop, whilst his neighbour, who had bestowed 
 more trouble on the cultivation of the land, did not 
 obtain half a crop. These and many other such instances 
 of good fortune have no doubt occurred, and will, doubt- 
 less, occur again. We remember one year a sluggard 
 in the home counties secured a fine crop of oats by 
 sowing long after the season when the land could on 
 an average be brought to sufficient tilth for the crop, 
 and on that occasion beating those who had sown at the 
 time which experience had proved to be best suited for 
 the seeding. So, too, in New Zealand one hears of won- 
 derful yields obtained under exceptional circumstances.
 
 54 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 This may have been so, but it would be dangerous 
 to try the system in nine cases out of ten. Perhaps the 
 crop which it is sought to emulate may have been grown 
 on rich swamp ; a totally different result might follow 
 on the downs. Perhaps a certain seeding may have been 
 given on the downs tried on the swamp, it proves a 
 failure. A young and hard-working New Zealand farmer 
 once jokingly said to the writer, " Well, I can't grow 
 potatoes. Last year was wet, and I planted them in the 
 swamp and got no crop. This year was dry and I 
 planted them on the shingle, and again got no crop." 
 "Well, next year," we said, " plant some on swamp and 
 some on downs, and then you are sure to be right." 
 To show the happy-go-lucky system which many have 
 pursued, it was once quite common to hear such a con- 
 versation as the following during a Saturday jaunt to 
 some market-town : " What are you going to do with 
 that forty-acre paddock of yours ? " " Well, I don't know; 
 perhaps I'll chuck in some oats, or maybe a bit of spring 
 wheat." This sort of things reminds us of the story 
 of an old West of England farmer, who, passing along 
 the road, heard one of his neighbours exclaim, apostro- 
 phizing a rough bit of plough, just as he was about to 
 sow it with barley : " Well, I don't know whether 
 you are fit for it or not ; but here goes for a thump- 
 ing big crop." But times in the colony are chang- 
 ing. People begin to say, " Any fool can grow wheat on 
 tussuck land, but it requires a good farmer to grow it 
 afterwards." That people are beginning to realize 
 this shows us that many failures have taken place under 
 the old system, and that a new era is about to commence, 
 and indeed has already begun begun, too, long ago on 
 some of the older farms. The stranger may, in some 
 places, see cultivation which would do no discredit to an
 
 On the Farm. 55 
 
 English country side. Hedges well trimmed, paddocks 
 well ploughed, and the whole giving evidence of a well- 
 founded prosperity. Everywhere, to a greater or less 
 extent, scarifiers and grubbers are being inquired for, 
 even if not yet extensively employed, and the signs of 
 the times point to a very decided and near progress being 
 .made in the development of husbandry. 
 
 Perhaps, in a work of this description, it might be 
 expected that a calculation would be given as to the pro- 
 bable profit to be made by farming in New Zealand. 
 To do so would be to solve an often disputed point, 
 whether in New Zealand or elsewhere. It is perfectly 
 easy to make farming pay on paper : figures can be 
 twisted according to the ability and desire of the writer. 
 The object which we have in view is to show generally 
 the conditions under which a man must expect to live, 
 and to leave him to fill up the blanks for himself. 
 It would not be reasonable to expect the barrister 
 already arrived at the top of his profession, to 
 tell a briefless brother fresh from the schools, what 
 income he would be likely to make during the next ten 
 years. The income would depend both upon capacity 
 and opportunities the latter either lost by some slight 
 negligence, or utilized by a systematic attendance in the 
 courts. So it is with the farmer. Brains cannot be 
 equalized, land cannot be uniform, nor will seasons and 
 opportunities be similar. One man will lose when 
 another will be found to come out on the right side. 
 All that can be said is, here the starting-point, there the 
 goal ; the start being fair, the latter must be reached as 
 best it can. 
 
 But one practical piece of advice may safely be given : 
 do not buy too hurriedly. Settle, upon broad principles, 
 in which part of the colony it is desirable to make an
 
 56 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 investment, and, having done so, act with caution. 
 Having arrived at a conclusion, by careful observation, 
 it is advisable to act upon the personal judgment which 
 may have been formed. A year's preliminary intercourse 
 with future neighbours will give frequent opportunities 
 for ascertaining where the best land is situated, and the 
 districts which have produced the most well-to-do farmers. 
 Having mastered these and other necessary particulars, 
 the chances are in favour of a good purchase being made. 
 For the unmarried man thus to look round for twelve 
 months, will be easy, and his expenses light. To the 
 married man with a family, such a delay may seem to 
 entail an unnecessary expense, but this may not prove 
 to be the case. Life in a lodging-house, although not 
 the most agreeable of lives, is not expensive; while a 
 step taken in the dark may prove the forerunner of a 
 far larger expenditure. 
 
 The size of a farm capable of supporting a family must 
 greatly depend upon the method of living, and the con- 
 stitution of its members. From the farm of ten acres, 
 any-sized property can be bought, until we come to that 
 of the large proprietor who has paid 40,000/. for a free- 
 hold of 5000 acres. There is everywhere diversity 
 enough to suit all tastes, and, more important still, all 
 pockets. For a medium-sized farm of 500 acres, pro- 
 bably a working capital of 5Z. an acre would be required. 
 Were the emigrant to ask old colonists, they might con- 
 sider this to be an extreme estimate ; they might forget 
 that the first freshness had been taken out of the land, 
 and that much remains to be done. In a new country 
 many improvements will be found necessary, especially 
 if it be the desire of the investor to farm well and with 
 due regard to safety. A capital of even 5 1. an acre will 
 in many instances require good and careful management.
 
 On the Farm. 57 
 
 In the old days it was thought that the best farmer was 
 the man who knew nothing of agriculture until he came 
 to the colony. Whatever may have been the case 
 formerly it is not so now, and many instances exist to 
 the contrary. Indeed it is not reasonable to suppose 
 that people can be right when they assert that know- 
 ledge gained from a previous training at home goes for 
 nothing. Such an assertion is not only not true, but it 
 cannot be true, for "knowledge is power." It may be that 
 experience will have to be adapted to circumstances, to 
 an altered climate, and to a different kind of soil; 
 but experience still remains. It may take an English 
 farmer two or three seasons to master a totally different 
 method and learn the capabilities of the soil ; but being a 
 farmer, he is more likely to do so than if he were an 
 artisan. Whatever those who are not farmers may find 
 to prove their mettle, the farmer has only one thing to 
 learn the potentialities of altered conditions. 
 
 Apropos of labour, it may be supposed that the results 
 of a sovereign are more productive here than at home. 
 The ploughman may be paid 20s., beyond his keep, and 
 a head man, if a good workman, even at the rate of 
 22s. 6d. to 25s. per week ; but then he works three horses 
 and a double-furrow plough. Horses are far cheaper 
 and equally good, while provender is certainly no more, 
 and on the average less. One man is supposed to plough 
 from two and a half to three acres per diem, an amount 
 often accomplished for days together, but he can hardly 
 do this if really good ploughing is required. Yet even 
 so, two good acres of honest work can be got through. 
 The quantity of land which can be turned over in the 
 day results from two or three causes ; these are, the 
 rareness of the atmosphere, which enables horses 
 to work with little fatigue; the workable character
 
 5 8 ' New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of the soil ; and the excellence of the ploughs in 
 use. For all other operations labour-saving machinery 
 is extensively and almost universally used. Very little 
 crop is now cut save by the reaper and binder ; grass 
 seed is harvested with a stripper; grain is sown very 
 generally by the drill, and if not, almost entirely by 
 broadcast machines. Turnips and grass are always 
 sown by machinery ; and for these crops, and especially 
 for the latter, a Cambridge roller is a necessity upon all 
 farms. 
 
 To fill these pages with an account of the how and 
 the when these and other machines are to be used, 
 would be to write a treatise on practical agriculture. 
 Enough if it be understood that everything above men- 
 tioned is necessary to successful farming in the 
 colony. The man who knows how to work these im- 
 plements at home will have a very good idea of how they 
 are managed in New Zealand. If he understands what 
 is meant by good ploughing at home, he will know, 
 when he sees ploughing at the Antipodes, whether it be 
 good or bad. Taking the cost of land to be 9/. an acre, 
 it may be asked what return can be expected from land at 
 that price ? On such land forty bushels of wheat would be 
 considered a good crop in the most favourable season 
 (forty-five and fifty have been grown during the last 
 three years) ; a poor one would, be twenty bushels ; the 
 mean would be thirty bushels. A good crop of oats 
 would be fifty bushels ; a poor one, thirty bushels. We 
 read sometimes that enormous crops have been grown ; 
 eighty bushels of wheat, eighty or ninety bushels of 
 barley, and 120 bushels of oats. Such yields have never 
 been produced on land of the present value of 9/. an 
 acre. Many of them exist only in the brain of igno- 
 rant outsiders. A publican takes a farm, knowing no
 
 On the Farm. 
 
 59 
 
 more about his new profession than he knows about hunt- 
 ing. He puts in a crop of wheat by contract. When it 
 is maturing he pays it a visit, and selecting some of the 
 largest heads, makes a small sheaf with which to deco- 
 rate his bar. Authorities come in for a glass now and 
 then; the sheaf is produced, and the crop is put down at 
 seventy or eighty bushels. The result given by the 
 threshing-machine is probably thirty-five, but in the 
 meantime the report is circulated in the papers that Mr. 
 So-and-so expects a fine crop of eighty bushels of wheat 
 from his farm near the Such-and-sucn railway station. 
 The above is a fact, but the practical settler must not be 
 buoyed up with the idea of marketing crops of anything 
 like such an over-estimated value. 
 
 As far as possible it is better to steer clear of figures ; 
 but it may be interesting to some readers to have a rough 
 idea of the cost of converting native tussuck into a 
 paddock of waving wheat. It would be somewhat as 
 follows : 
 
 Breaking up, Ss. to 12s. per acre. 
 
 Cross-ploughing, 6s. to 8s. per acre. 
 
 Harrowing, three strokes, 2s. to 3s. per acre. 
 
 Sowing, ]. per acre. 
 
 Seed, 1| bushel at 5s., 7s. 6d. per acre. 
 
 Kolling, Is. to Is. 6d. 
 
 Cutting, stocking, and stacking, 16s. to 20s. per acre. 
 
 Threshing, 3|d. to 4d. per bushel. 
 
 Carting to station, \^d. to 2|d. per bushel. 
 
 Railway freight, \\d. to ? per bushel. 
 
 The first figures represent prices ruling at a depressed 
 time ; the second, prices which would have to be paid 
 when labour is in greater demand. Carting to the 
 station and railway freight depend entirely on distance. 
 The cartage given above would cover from three to five
 
 60 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 miles ; the railway freight, about fourteen miles. If a 
 farmer wishes to send wheat home, the extra expenses to 
 cover freight, with all risks and charges until sold in 
 London, would amount to from Is. lOcL to 2,9. 2d. per 
 bushel. From the above data readers must form their 
 own conclusions.
 
 6i 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STOCK AND ITS MANAGEMENT. 
 
 WHEN the new arrival has had an opportunity of ex- 
 tending his excursions, either by rail or road, one of the 
 first things which must strike him will be the excellence 
 of the stock. Shortly after landing, a friend introduced 
 us to an old set-tier to one, in fact, who had dragged, by 
 weary steps and great toil perhaps the first plough which 
 ever crossed the Port Hills, to his rough cabin on the 
 Canterbury Plains a cabin erected by himself at a spot 
 beyond what is now Christ church. He kindly invited 
 us to visit his place. The introduction was made so 
 unostentatiously the invitation given so much after the 
 manner of " just step in and see us as you pass," that we 
 imagined ourselve3 about to visit the home of some 
 ordinary " cockatoo." On the first fine day we trudged 
 along the Feudaltown road to visit our friend, and learn 
 what could be learned. We found a comfortable house, 
 solidly built, and presenting all the appearance of a well- 
 to-do farmer's residence in an English county. After a 
 hearty welcome and refreshing glass of beer, it was 
 proposed that we should take a walk around the home 
 farm. We gladly consented, and issuing forth, chatted 
 freely by the way. The house was surrounded by com- 
 paratively small paddocks, in each of which two or three 
 horses were grazing. They were looked at and admired,
 
 62 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the thought meantime arising, can these be the horses 
 usually employed upon New Zealand farms ? At last 
 we carne to a paddock where a young mare was feeding, 
 a creature perfect almost beyond measure. " What do 
 you think of her ? " said our host. "Well," we replied, 
 " she is, as far as we can see, perfect." " Yes," responded 
 he quietly, " I think she is one of the best Clydesdale 
 two-y ear-olds I have ever seen. I imported her from 
 Australia, where she cost me three hundred guineas." 
 We can see you now, Flora Macdonaid, even at this 
 distance of time so great the difference between a pure 
 bred and a mongrel. In the former case the symmetry 
 is perfect, remaining impressed upon the memory ; in the 
 latter, the picture is evanescent, owing to the many cor- 
 responding types everywhere to be met with. The per- 
 fect form of the thoroughbred is retained, because each 
 crossbred which afterwards may be seen, acts only as 
 a foil, to bring out its salient beauties with greater 
 vigour ; the mongrel under similar circumstances eludes 
 the memory, lost among the crowd of an omnipresent 
 brotherhood. We do not pretend to be a judge of horse- 
 flesh, beyond a certain point beyond the point, that is, 
 which the farmer attains as much from necessity as from 
 choice. But we pretend to have some taste for art- arid 
 what is known as " the line of beauty." Hence it is 
 that beauty of form remains impressed on our retina, 
 and that Flora Macdonaid stands in almost as clear 
 perspective as the day on which we paid our visit. 
 
 We came, next, to the young stock, for the most 
 part yearling bulls, pure representatives of the short- 
 horn breed. In the sties we found pigs possessing all 
 the characteristics of the pure Berkshire. We began to 
 think that, instead of being on an ordinary farm, we had 
 met with the homestead of a veteran breeder and frequent
 
 Stock and its Management. 63 
 
 prize- taker of one who possessed his acres, and many of 
 them, who had spent thousands upon his enterprise, and 
 done what he could to give to New Zealand cattle of the 
 right sort. We had travelled more than our host, and 
 had greater opportunities, but not so utilized ; we could 
 not fail to pay a mental tribute to the man who with his 
 own hands had built at first a rough settler's shanty, who 
 had converted seas of tussuck into well-cultivated farms, 
 and by care and thrift had become the owner of many 
 hundreds of productive acres. We could not but re- 
 member that, instead of investing savings in securities 
 returning a large and certain interest, we were in the 
 home of one who had devoted his money to the purchase 
 of animals of the type which we have endeavoured to 
 describe, and if for his own, yet also for his country's 
 good, had done so at a great risk. 
 
 But such a farm is only one of the many sources 
 through which animals of the most valued pedigree have 
 been introduced into the colony. The New Zealand and 
 Australian Land Company, the Christchurch Stud Com- 
 pany, and many private persons, have, by introducing 
 good blood of all descriptions, assisted to raise the position 
 of stock to the point which it has already attained. One 
 of the principal causes which has conduced to the pre- 
 sence of so much good blood lies in the fact, that if an 
 animal has to be imported across the seas, it can only 
 pay to import the best of its kind. The result is, that 
 good blood everywhere abounds. There are few, if any, 
 country districts at home where such good stock can be 
 seen within a given radius as in New Zealand. We do 
 not for one moment assert that " scrubbers " are not to 
 be found, often in too great proportion ; but their exist- 
 ence must be attributed more to the neglect and parsi- 
 mony of the breeder than to the stock from which they
 
 64 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 are descended. It is of no avail for a man to possess 
 good blood if he does not intend to feed it well. It is of 
 no use for a farmer to think that any worn.out animal is 
 good enough for stud purposes if the price be but low. 
 A persistent system of careless breeding has existed too 
 long of crossing and re-crossing various breeds, until 
 all traces of the original type have been lost beyond 
 recall. When flocks or herds have got into this con- 
 dition, the only safe plan is to commence de novo. 
 
 Once, when attending the weekly sales at the Adding- 
 ton yards, near Christchurch, we asked an auctioneer 
 what sort of sheep such and such pens contained. " Oh, 
 cross-breds," said he. They were indeed cross-breds 
 Merino, Leicester, Border Leicester, Lincoln, and Cots- 
 wold, with a touch here and there of the Down, blended 
 in a proportion which would utterly defy a solution of 
 the entanglement. The same has been the case with 
 horses, beasts, pigs, and all other farm stock. Now-a- 
 days the numerous agricultural shows, past experience, 
 and the necessity, through competition, of producing a 
 better animal, tend towards a general improvement in 
 the pureness of blood. And it must ever remain a sub- 
 ject for congratulation that the imported stock and its 
 progeny still exist in their original purity, and that it is 
 within the power of those who wish to do so, to produce 
 and perpetuate a pure breed of that class of stock to 
 which they may turn their attention. 
 
 Sheep being by far the most important stock grown in 
 this country, ought to be first considered. We feel sure 
 that many of our b?st flocks, especially cross-breds, and 
 the pure long-woolled varieties, will bear comparison 
 with anything that can be seen at home. The climate of 
 New Zealand, and the character of its soil, are, when 
 united, all that can be desired for promoting health and
 
 Stock and its Management. 65 
 
 growth in sheep, combined with a useful and strong class 
 of wool. We are speaking now more particularly of the 
 agricultural land. The Merino grazes upon the hill, 
 and in a country which would, for the most part, be 
 useless either for a long-woolled sheep, or for agricultural 
 purposes. It is only on the lower slopes of the ranges 
 that English grass can be cultivated with any prospect of 
 success. Upon the hills native herbage is the most 
 nutritious, and this is suited only for Merinos. These it 
 keeps in far better condition than could be expected, 
 although the stock raised upon it can never vie with the 
 matchless flocks of Spain and Saxony, or compare with 
 the finer wools of Australia. The finest class of merino 
 wool can no doubt be produced in New Zealand, but it 
 would be upon more valuable lands, which can be better 
 utilized by growing a more marketable breed of sheep. 
 The runs proper can, with care and good management, 
 yield a good return of sound-stapled merino wool, of 
 medium to good quality ; but that is all. They never can 
 attain to such a pitch of excellence as to cause their wool 
 to rank in the home-market with the best merino from 
 more favoured climates. Our sheep-walks are situate at 
 more or less high altitudes, and in consequence have a 
 tendency to pauperize both the growth of carcase and 
 quality of wool. To produce a Merino in full excellence, 
 it is not only necessary that the herbage should be suitable, 
 but that the climate should be such as to develope the 
 grease and bring the wool to a full maturity. This 
 capability the runs in New Zealand do not, and, we 
 think, never will possess. 
 
 New Zealand runholders endeavour to improve their 
 flocks in the most praiseworthy manner. To accomplish 
 their object they spare no expense. Costly rams are 
 every year imported from either Tasmania or Australia. 
 
 F
 
 65 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 A flock of even the Vermont (American) Merino is to 
 be found. These sheep are both coarse-woolled and 
 gross-bodied, and, in our opinion, as little suited to be 
 crossed with the mountain flocks of the colony as is the 
 cart-horse with the thoroughbred. We believe that if 
 instead of importing fine-woolled rams from abroad, our 
 flock-masters were to select those of their ewes which 
 gave the heaviest clip and showed a maximum density of 
 wool, and to these put such of their rams as embodied 
 the finest points and beauty of form, they would do more 
 to secure a satisfactory result than by importing fresh 
 blood at great cost. Were they to do so, they would 
 have one great advantage, namely, that the stock upon 
 which they relied would be already acclimatized. Any 
 infiltration of new blood into a flock is a serious matter. 
 Given good stock and style upon which to commence 
 operations, selection must be the safest and surest plan. 
 When Mr. Ellman began to improve may we not say 
 establish ? the Southdown breed, what was his mode of 
 operation ? A cross with the Leicester had been tried, 
 and was a failure. The promised advantages to be 
 derived from the Merinos were delusive. After these and 
 other failures he understood, and was careful to practise, 
 the true principle of breeding selection. Again, how 
 did Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, apply himself to reform the 
 breed of sheep as then existing in his county ? " The 
 sort of sheep," says Youatt, " which Mr. Bakewell 
 selected, were those possessed of the most perfect 
 symmetry with the greatest aptitude to fatten, and rather 
 smaller in size than the sheep then generally bred. 
 Having formed his stock from sheep so selected, he care- 
 Fully attended to the peculiarities of the individuals from 
 which he bred, and it appears did not object to breeding 
 from near relations, when by so doing he could put
 
 Stock and its Management. 67 
 
 together animals likely to produce a progeny possessing 
 the characteristics which he wished to obtain." 
 
 We cite these instances of the process of evolution 
 developed in the well-known cases of the Southdown 
 and Leicester, each excellent of its class, for the purpose 
 of proving that the men who perfected these breeds 
 worked upon true principles. They worked up, not 
 down. They worked from the best that their flocks 
 contained. They worked from the thickest- woolled, 
 squarest-shape ewe that could be found, and mated her 
 with the ram which possessed the finest points and most 
 graceful carriage. Such should be the practice in New 
 Zealand, because therein consists the true principle of 
 attaining perfection. 
 
 How often in our show-yards do we see rams take a 
 first prize, or high honours, which have not been bred in 
 this country, but in some other colony. What a grand 
 thing to be able to say, " I took the first prize with a 
 sheep for which I gave so many pounds ! " Sometimes 
 such sheep are exhibited as an advertisement to help 
 the sale of ordinary stock. But prize sheep do not 
 necessarily make a flock, and even the few home-bred 
 pampered sheep which take prizes, seldom fairly represent 
 the flocks of their owner. We assert that in many cases 
 they do not represent them at all. Many such instances 
 will occur to the minds of those who, practised judges of 
 sheep, examine seriatim the pens in any of our show- 
 yards. It is one of the worst features of the show system, 
 that an animal which may with great propriety be called 
 a phenomenon, takes the first prize wherever he may be 
 exhibited ; his usefulness as regards the improvement 
 of stock in the country may be " nil." The process of 
 getting up stock for show is so well understood, that 
 various means have been suggested to mitigate the evil. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 Ne^v Zealand as it is. 
 
 It has been urged that no clothing in winter should be 
 allowed, and that exhibits should be taken direct from 
 the run to the show-yard. Many honest men have 
 pursued the latter course with what result may readily 
 be anticipated. If the best animal in a show is to take 
 the prize, the judges are bound to give their award 
 on the merits of the animal as it stands in the show- 
 ground. At the same time they may feel that by giving 
 the first prize to a pen of whose antecedents they are 
 often perfectly cognizant, they are not promoting the real 
 object of the association, or benefiting the country at 
 large. In England we found that, unless great care was 
 taken, the object of our local shows might easily be 
 negatived. A prize was given, say, for roots. A man 
 would select a few of the largest roots grown in his 
 field; he might even condescend to cultivate a few in 
 his garden for the special purpose of obtaining a prize ; 
 or make an exchange with an accommodating neighbour. 
 But this did not meet our views. The prize was awarded 
 subject to a visiting committee returning it as their 
 opinion that the roots shown were a fair sample of the 
 farmer's crop. Just so when we come to consider the 
 question of prize sheep. Take the exhibited pen for 
 what it is worth ; but before finally awarding the prize, 
 let the judges ascertain that the pen really represents a 
 fair type of what is produced for flock or stud purposes 
 upon the farm or run. We feel sure that the introduc- 
 tion of such a system would give the greatest satisfaction, 
 and be most conducive to a real improvement in stock. 
 Agricultural shows are degenerating intoa simple business, 
 while the persons who subscribe to them are induced to 
 do so under the impression that they are working for the 
 general good of the farmer and runholder. 
 
 Merinos, as we have said, are for the most part con-
 
 Stock and Us Management. 69 
 
 fined to the back country, but most of the runs possess 
 thousands of acres of valuable freehold laid down to 
 English grass or turnips. On these, half and three- 
 quarter-bred sheep are raised, which have most valuable 
 characteristics. The rams mostly used are of the Lincoln 
 or Leicester breeds. The wool produced is of good 
 quality, and generally commands a high price in the 
 London market. The wethers are kept for wool-produc- 
 ing purposes until they become four or six-toothed ; but 
 this depends entirely upon the ideas and circumstances 
 of the runholder. The four-tooth ewes are often sold to 
 form the breeding-flocks of the farmer. When it can be 
 avoided we do not think that a cross beyond half-bred, or 
 at" most three-quarter-bred, should be kept on the bulk of 
 the freehold land which lies under the hills. The climate 
 in such situations is generally too cold, and the grass too 
 sour, to bring a further cross to full perfection. Nor 
 does the extra weight of wool obtained under such con- 
 ditions pay for diminution in its value, when compared 
 with the price usually to be obtained for the half- 
 bred fleece. Half-bred wool, like that grown in New 
 Zealand, possesses a character which is rarely, if ever, 
 to be found in any other country, and usually commands 
 a ready sale. Some runholders, recognizing this, have 
 begun to breed back to the Merino from three- 
 quarter-bred ewes. Such a course is likely to prove a 
 mistake, and a greater mixture of wools and more uneven 
 character of sheep will be the inevitable result. A well 
 established breed of half-breds, pure and reliable in its 
 character, would be a great addition to the flocks of the 
 colony ; but such a breed has yet to be established, and to 
 do this would probably be a work of time, and entail 
 considerable judgment. We believe that a gentleman 
 in the neighbourhood of Geraldine has undertaken
 
 70 Neiv Zealand as it is. 
 
 such an experiment, which it is to be hoped will prove 
 successful. This half-bred mutton would rank as prime 
 in the home markets. 
 
 The number of sheep kept on farms is each year 
 rapidly increasing. We believe it is correct to state 
 that already the produce of wool from farms is greater 
 than that from the runs ; at all events this is so in 
 Canterbury. As cultivation improves, the proportionate 
 production will be still greater ; but the position which 
 farmers already occupy with regard to the production of 
 wool is sufficiently important. Two methods are open to 
 them when desiring to establish or keep a flock of breed- 
 ing ewes. The first, and perhaps the system usually 
 adopted, is to buy Merino or cross-bred ewes from the 
 runs as may be required. In that case the produce con- 
 sists of half-bred or three-quarter-bred lambs. The 
 second is to start with half-breds, and gradually to work 
 up to the pure long-wools. The breeder who takes a 
 pride in his flock beyond the immediate gain, will 
 certainly adopt the latter course. 
 
 If his cultivation be good and his land in fair heart, it 
 will also prove the more profitable system. His sheep, 
 from their better and more even quality, will come to 
 maturity earlier, and always obtain the best market price 
 of the day; while his wool, from its greater regularity 
 and known value, will give to himself and the buyer 
 greater satisfaction. It is urged that the nearer we 
 approach to the long-wool the less the value which we 
 obtain per pound. But when the greater weight of the 
 clip and earlier maturity of the sheep are taken into 
 consideration, the profit will usually be found greater. 
 
 In this part of the country the Lincoln cross is the 
 favourite, as it is not considered to run so much to seed 
 as that with the Leicester. But our land possesses a
 
 Stock and its Management. 7 1 
 
 strong subsoil, a fact greatly in favour of the Lincoln. 
 In many parts of the island, no doubt, the Leicester 
 would prove the better cross. But whichever is em- 
 ployed, farmers at home must recollect, when calcu- 
 lating the result, that oil-cake is never used, and that, 
 whether it be from a drier soil or a greater sunshine, 
 long-woolled sheep do not acquire the same coarseness of 
 flesh as they do in the old country. A sheep of this class 
 killed when he is fourteen months old, and with proper 
 feeding, makes most excellent mutton for marketable 
 purposes. Take him at the age of from twelve to 
 fifteen months, and he will suit both the farmer and the 
 butcher. We are not speaking of that epicurean mutton, 
 of which old squires like to boast that it has been 
 pastured for four years in the home park, but of the 
 commercial mutton out of which the producer can make 
 the most coin with due regard to the palate of the con- 
 sumer. The gentleman farmer takes a pride in his 
 Southdown flock ; the man whose business it is to pro- 
 duce mutton for the million, prefers something which 
 will weigh a little heavier. In this our day of small 
 profits and quick returns, money-grubbers must be con- 
 tent with something less than four-year-olds. 
 
 In passing from sheep we feel that we are leaving 
 pleasant memories behind. What can be more delightful 
 than to see a flock of ewes upstanding, square-framed, 
 their individuality un distinguishable save by the shepherd ? 
 What sight more refreshing or typical of innocence than 
 that of the lambs gambolling about the pastures ? What 
 more satisfactory than to harvest a paying crop of wool ? 
 Of what have poets oftener sung than of the ideal pas- 
 toral life, of Damon and Phyllis discoursing sweet love 
 beneath the shady tree, their flocks meanwhile browsing 
 the country round ? And yet the imagination of the poet
 
 72 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 may fall far short of the reality. His ideas of pastoral 
 life may tend towards the sensual the reality never. 
 The bearing of a sheep as it lifts its gaze innocently and 
 trustfully towards the shepherd was never so tenderly 
 portrayed, or more faithfully recorded, than in those 
 sweet and sacred words, "As a lamb was dumb before 
 his shearers, so opened not He His mouth." To draw 
 lessons from nature, to compare the type with the reality, 
 this is one of the true pleasures of a country life. To be 
 able to do so or not, is one of the best tests which a man 
 can place before himself when considering whether a 
 colonial and country life is suitable to his tastes, or the 
 reverse. 
 
 Cattle at present occupy a secondary position in 
 this country. The space which is suitable for their pro- 
 duction is not large enough to support the vast herds of 
 Texas or South America; nor is farming sufficiently 
 developed, or their marketable value sufficiently certain, 
 to warrant the ordinary farmer making their production 
 a part of his business. Here and there, where men pos- 
 sess large estates, parts of which are not suitable for 
 sheep, but only for grazing beasts, their cultivation no 
 doubt pays. After four to five years' keep, the price 
 realized for them when fat may amount to from 8/. to 14/. 
 When we come to consider the number of sheep which 
 can be kept upon an acre, the value of the wool, and the 
 quicker return which they give, it must be apparent that 
 sheep offer greater inducements than cattle to the small 
 proprietor. In addition to this, they manure the land far 
 more effectually than beasts can do. Bullock-raising 
 is then at a discount at present, although very possibly 
 we shall see a gradual improvement in value during the 
 next few years. The low price of mutton prevents beef 
 from proving more remunerative than it is. Once let a
 
 Stock and its Management. 73 
 
 sufficient outlet be found for fat sheep, either from an 
 export trade, or the gradually increasing wants of our 
 population, and beef will advance in proportion as mutton 
 rises. With mutton costing the consumer from 2d. to 
 2^cZ., beef cannot be very dear. 
 
 The foundation of our present breed of cattle con- 
 sisted in importations from Australia. Many of these 
 animals showed a coarse bone, and a tendency to 
 develop beef in the lower rather than in the upper 
 parts of the body. In later years valuable members of 
 the shorthorn, Hereford, and Ayrshire families have been 
 imported, with such good effect that the general appear- 
 ance of the stock is very creditable, and the beef of 
 excellent quality. Dairy farming is at present in its 
 infancy, but already trial shipments of butter and cheese 
 have been made to the old country. Refrigerating 
 chambers in the ships trading to New Zealand ports 
 will soon give a great impetus to this branch of agricul- 
 ture. The New Zealand and Australian Land Company 
 have started a dairy on a large scale upon their Eden- 
 dale estate ' in Otago, whilst in other localities, where 
 the character of the land is suitable for the purpose, 
 butter and cheese factories on the American* principle 
 are being erected or proposed. The butter of New 
 Zealand, if properly manufactured, is second to none, 
 and Akaroa cheese already possesses a colonial reputa- 
 tion. The parts of the Southern Island most likely 
 to be devoted to the dairy interest will be Bank's 
 Peninsula, the rich swamp lands running in many parts 
 along the eastern coast, and some of the richer parts 
 of Otago. The establishment of this new industry is 
 likely to add considerably to the wealth and trade of 
 the colony. 
 
 1 Siuce the above was written, Ibis estate has beeu sold.
 
 74 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The Clydesdale has formed a basis for the breed of 
 draught horses, and as fine specimens of the class may 
 be seen here as anywhere. It speaks well for the quality 
 and numbers of our horses that it has been thought 
 desirable to publish a New Zealand Stud Book, under 
 the auspices of the Canterbury Pastoral and Agricultural 
 Association a body which takes the position of the Royal 
 Agricultural Society at home. Almost every district has 
 its horse parade in early spring, and of course there are 
 numerous classes for the draught, the thoroughbred, the 
 carriage-horse, hunter, and even the child's wee pony, at 
 the annual agricultural shows. When present at some of 
 these we have often wished that certain of our country 
 friends at home could be there too, in order to appreciate 
 what the energy of their brother farmers has effected 
 in so short a time. If any weakness amongst our horses 
 exists, it will be found in the classes for the carriage- 
 horse and hunter. Owing to the importations for the 
 most part having been confined to the heavy Clydesdale 
 and thoroughbred racer, useful and compact carriage- 
 horses, and hunters well up to weight, are in short 
 supply. Time will no doubt improve this defect, and 
 already strenuous exertions are being made to produce a 
 better animal of these descriptions, for which there is 
 an increased demand each year. 
 
 Prices of horses are such as to suit all requirements. 
 The shearer's hack usually a seedy-looking weed, of 
 most suspicious appearance can often be bought, saddle, 
 bridle, and all, for from 3. to 5/., while a really good 
 riding-horse will cost from between 20Z. and 30/. 
 Plough-horses are obtainable at all prices, their value 
 having of late fluctuated very greatly. Three years ago 
 80/. was paid for a sound young horse of the right 
 stamp, while to-day 40/. would represent the cost.
 
 Stock and its Management. 75 
 
 The cheapest team which has come under our notice 
 is one picked up by a farmer next door to ourselves, 
 who put three plough-horses together at a total cost 
 of 181. We have not critically examined them, but they 
 look, and indeed must be worth the money, and as he 
 is a canny Scot he will no doubt see his own again. 
 On an average, good useful farm-horses may at present 
 be picked up for about 30/. apiece. 
 
 Pigs in New Zealand are like that much-abused animal 
 in other parts. Sometimes one can hardly give them 
 away ; at others they possess an exceptionally high 
 value. Notwithstanding this, no homestead with any 
 pretensions to the name should be without a few, to 
 act as scavengers, and afford an ever-welcome supply of 
 bacon, pork pies, brawn, and ham. 
 
 Poultry, ducks, geese, and the turkey everywhere 
 abound, and are often sold at prices which make the 
 town-folk consider them cheaper than butcher's meat. 
 Canterbury is essentially a habitat of the turkey. The 
 birds are turned out into some rough bit of land, and 
 left to their own devices. When one is wanted, a pot 
 at a promising-looking specimen will soon fill the 
 Inrder.
 
 76 New Zealand as it AS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE NEW ZEALAND ALPS. 
 
 THE one feature which lends perhaps its greatest beauty 
 to the Southern Island is the range of mountains, 
 covered with perpetual snow, that stretches from the 
 Southern Lakes in Otago in one unbroken chain almost 
 to the Otira Gorge. This pass is situated on the high road 
 between Hokitika and Christchurch, and is the principal 
 way used when crossing from the east to the west 
 coast. The highest point of this range is Mount Cook, 
 attaining a height, according to some, of 13,000 feet 
 according to others, of but 12,600 feet. However this 
 may be, the comparatively slight elevation above the sea 
 at which its actual base is situated, causes the mountain 
 itself to assume a grandeur unknown to many snow- 
 capped peaks of greater altitude. The New Zealand 
 Alps, with their broken glaciers, rocky precipices, and 
 virgin summits, present to the Alpine climber as tempting 
 a field for the exercise of endurance and real "grit" as 
 can be found in older haunts. 
 
 Between the higher and lower ranges two groups of 
 lakes have been formed, the one in Otago, and the other 
 in the so-called " Mackenzie country," a district Avhich 
 is part of the Province of Canterbury. The principal 
 lakes in Otago are Lakes Wanaka and Hawea to the 
 north, and Lake Wakatipu further south. On these
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 77 
 
 several towns are situated, while steamers already ply 
 on Wakatipu. Taking these lakes as a basis for opera- 
 tions, several mountain peaks are within easy distance. 
 We may mention those of Earnshaw, 9165 feet high ; of 
 Mount Aspiring, 9910 feet; of Castor and Pollux, 8638 
 feet ; with many others of an almost equal altitude. Still 
 further south are Lakes Te Anau arid Makipori. Of 
 them all Lake Wakatipu is the longest, covering in its 
 sinuous course a length of more than forty-five statute 
 miles. Te Anau presents a wider expanse, besides 
 which its western shore is intersected by large arms 
 running up between the mountains, after the manner 
 of the fiords common to the coast of Norway. This 
 group of lakes is approached from Dunedin by those 
 who wish to commence their tour from the north, and 
 from Invercargill by those to whom the southern route 
 is more convenient. 
 
 The Canterbury lakes, consisting of Lakes Tekapo, 
 Pukaki, and Ohou, lie more or less near to the base 
 of Mount Cook, Mount Darwin, and other peaks around. 
 Amidst these ranges are to be found the celebrated 
 Tasman and Godley glaciers. We confess that our own 
 days of Alpine climbing are long since past and gone ; 
 that at the best we never became much more than the 
 summer tourist ; that the " arete " of the Weiss-Thor 
 was the most dangerous work which ever fell to our 
 lot, whilst the Ober-Aar-Jock was the most uncomfort- 
 able, thanks to the Oberland guides, who insisted upon 
 hauling our person over the rocks as if it had been a 
 kitten at the end of a string. Yet only once to have 
 gone down a " crevasse," not knowing where the fall 
 might end, until, jerked up by trusty guides, one found 
 oneself again in the light of day, gives more idea of 
 the difficulties which beset the path of the mountaineer
 
 78 Neiv Zealand as it is. 
 
 than could be learned without that grim experiment. 
 Although then our experience has been limited, we 
 will undertake to say that in the Tasman and Godley 
 glaciers, with their surrounding peaks, the mountaineer 
 will have work cut out worthy of the first sealer of the 
 Matterhorn. 
 
 Lake Tekapo is generally reached by the high road 
 passing over Burke's Pass, which, running through 
 Fairlie Craek, Albury, and Pleasant Point, takes its start 
 from Timaru. 
 
 Many smaller lakes than those mentioned are scattered 
 here and there over the country, but those mentioned 
 are most noticed by tourists. From all we have heard, 
 or gathered from photographs, the scenery about the 
 Otira Gorge offers great attractions to travellers in 
 the Southern Island. Not that its beauty is Alpine as 
 the country already indicated ; but it is described as 
 possessing a character all its own, its native forests 
 and tree ferns giving in summer almost the idea of sub- 
 tropical vegetation. Whether such a description be 
 right or wrong, " the gorge "is no doubt one of those 
 things which the traveller ought to "do." While on 
 the subject of scenery the hot lakes in the North Island 
 must not be forgotten. They attract many visitors. It 
 has recently been stated, on good authority, that as many 
 as 800 people from Australia and America visited these 
 springs last season, and that the numbers increase with 
 each succeeding year. They are celebrated for their 
 medicinal properties in cases of paralysis, rheumatism, 
 nervous affections, and disorders of a similar nature. 
 
 Whether their waters be more efficacious than those to 
 be found elsewhere, far be it from us to decide. People 
 go and return in a better state of health; but to what 
 extent this depends upon a change of life and diet, or
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 79 
 
 how far upon the waters alone, must be decided upon 
 the same grounds by which the springs of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle or Langen Schwalbach are judged at home. 
 But " the tourist element," said a public man, as quoted 
 by the Timaru Herald, " is going to be one of the chief 
 factors in our prosperity." The Herald is inclined to 
 think that the public man was not far wrong, and goes on 
 to state that " This may at first sight be thought an 
 insignificant source of wealth to a colony of the im- 
 portance of New Zealand ; but if it consists, as it un- 
 doubtedly does for all practical purposes, of an accession 
 of several thousands of rich people, it manifestly signifies 
 a great deal. In our opinion and we are not altogether 
 without data to go upon it already produces an appre- 
 ciable effect upon the revenue." Individually we have but 
 little doubt that the exhilarating air, our beautiful scenery 
 and bright climate, will offer, as time rolls on, sufficient 
 attractions to the Australian to cause him to visit spots 
 where lie may secure a thorough change from the parching 
 heats of his own home. New Zealand is distant from 
 Australia but four days by steam, and the communication 
 between the two countries presents each year greater 
 facilities, combined with gradually extending mercantile 
 relations. The American comes it is difficult to say why 
 or wherefore, except on the supposition that he comes to 
 drink the waters. What induced the man who travelled 
 from the States to far-off India with the sole purpose of 
 seeing the well at Cawnpore, and having seen it to 
 return directly home nobody can tell. Maybe he was 
 moved by some affecting story of the Mutiny, which had 
 sunk deeply into his heart ; maybe it was the result of 
 some sudden impulse. But the fact remains he did it. 
 Many young Englishmen too are to be found travelling 
 about the country for pleasure, and perhaps instruction.
 
 8o New Zealand as it is. 
 
 A.D. 13JB2 must be looked upon as a red-letter year in the 
 New Zealand calendar. Not only did a yacht reach its 
 shores from home, but Mr. Green, a member of the 
 Alpine Club, whose name has been a household word for 
 the past two months, ascended to the top of the hitherto 
 invincible Mount Cook. When we recall to mind what 
 Switzerland was forty years ago, and compare her then 
 condition with her present, we cannot fail to realize 
 the large amount of riches that the habitual traveller 
 can pour into a country which he has selected for an 
 annual playground. It is probable that hotels for 
 summer use will be built in beautiful localities, where at 
 present only rock and tussuck can be seen. Perhaps in 
 days to come the story of our camping out may possess 
 no greater significance for the traveller than the already 
 almost forgotten coaching reminiscences of our grand- 
 fathers and grandmothers. 
 
 When leaving home, a friend presented us with a large 
 work, comprising, with its copious index, some 734 pages 
 of well-written matter, including numerous woodcuts 
 illustrative of the text. The title was, " Shifts and Ex- 
 pedients of Camp Life/' The work no doubt displays an 
 enormous amount of research, and presumably of real 
 experience, but the effect upon an old traveller will 
 possibly be somewhat similar to that caused by a perusal 
 of Messrs. Silver and Co.'s list of "-necessaries." We re- 
 member once hearing a young fellow in South America 
 describe the fate of his swinging cot and portable wash- 
 stand, the latter enclosed within its polished case. He 
 had not arrived at his destination more than a fortnight, 
 when the lot was gambled away at a race meeting, or 
 lost over a game of euchre, we forget which. The fault 
 may not have been so much his as a fond father would 
 imagine. Once in camp, the necessaries of civilization
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 8 1 
 
 become valueless. It is far easier to do as others do 
 Avash in the neighbouring creek, and sleep between two 
 blankets, or wrapped in a warm opossum rug than to be 
 incommoded by washstand or cot. The mere possession 
 of these at once creates a difference between yourself 
 and your companions. In camp all should be on an 
 equality. Instead then of starting from home en- 
 cumbered with articles which the shopman assures you 
 to be perfectly necessary, set out upon your travels with 
 as few impedimenta as possible. There are few places, 
 to which the traveller can go now-a-days, where some 
 town does not afford an opportunity of buying articles in 
 the country itself far more suitable for his purposes 
 than those to be acquired in Bond Street or Cheap- 
 side. 
 
 In our case the camping out was to be of short 
 duration, and the preliminary preparations occupied but 
 little time. Our " buggies," a generic term in the 
 colony for every description of vehicle on springs short 
 of the " express " waggon, were carefully overhauled, all 
 loose bolts screwed tight, and the wheels well oiled. 
 Our horses' feet were seen to, and loading operations 
 were commenced. The kit which it was thought neces- 
 sary to take consisted of leather bags, containing a 
 change of raiment, rolls of rugs and blankets in which 
 to sleep, water-proof sheeting to prevent the damp from 
 rising during the night, tents with their poles strapped 
 to the sides of the buggies, tether ropes for the horses, 
 with iron pins for securing those ropes at night. 
 The above, and " billies " in which to cook and make the 
 tea, a small hatchet, a screw wrench, a little oil, and 
 some spare rope, comprised the gentlemen's part of the 
 preparations. To the ladies fell the victualling depart- 
 ment, and this, it is almost needless to say, was well 
 
 G
 
 8 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 attended to. Tinned salmon, bloater paste, cakes, 
 bread, jam, butter, and a round of cold corned beef as 
 a piece de resistance, provided ample security against 
 starvation. Plates, spoons, knives and forks, and other 
 necessary implements, were not forgotten ; nor, wonderful 
 to say, were pepper, salt, and mustard. Added to these 
 an allowance of flour and baking-powder with which to 
 make scones in case ' the bread fell short, and our 
 victualling department was a miracle of forethought, 
 well worthy the attention of an army commissariat staff. 
 Hidden away in one of the traps was a bottle of Hol- 
 lands for the parting cup at night. Before setting out on 
 our homeward route we sincerely wished that the bottle 
 had been two. 
 
 The party consisted of four ladies and three gentle- 
 men, one of the latter a boy from school, whose duty it 
 was to make himself generally useful. A cheerful young 
 fellow, best known by the pseudonym of " Bruny," 
 joined us en route, and acted as out-rider and clief -de- 
 cuisine. To make such an expedition as ours successful, 
 it is very desirable for its component members to be 
 fairly intimate, and of a cheerful disposition. This was 
 certainly the case in the present instance; and we all 
 look back on our " camping out," as one of many 
 pleasant episodes. 
 
 The first day's journey was forty-eight miles from 
 point to point, and terminated at the pretty station- 
 house of Ashwick. Leaving Timaru, and skirting the 
 New Zealand and Australian Land Company's Station 
 of the Levels a large estate comprising about 80,000 
 acres the first village reached was Pleasant Point, a 
 place of some importance, and including among its build- 
 ings two hotels, a railway station, both a Scotch and 
 English church, a public cemetery, and public park. The
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 83 
 
 latter at present is in the condition of some American 
 cities, very imposing on paper, but as a matter of fact 
 existing in little more than name. In the locality are 
 many good residences, with farms attached. Passing on 
 we camped for the mid-day halt a mile or two beyond the 
 " Cave " a solitary hotel and railway station, looking 
 dreary and uninviting in its lonely desolation. We had 
 taken tbe precaution to borrow a feed of oats from a 
 friend's stable by the way, and whilst we attended to tlie 
 horses, the ladies boiled the " billy." On this occasion, 
 but on this occasion only, we enjoyed the luxury of a 
 table-cloth for table-cloths boing considered unnecessary 
 to camp life, the destiny of the present one was to be 
 relegated almost immediately to the service of the wash- 
 ing-up department. The ladies were but " letting us 
 down gently," as an artist of our acquaintance used to 
 say when caught with an early B. and S., from the refine- 
 ments of civilization to the rougher experiences of the 
 camp. Before we broke up the final camp at the Pukaki, 
 we began to think that if we were ever again to become 
 respectable members of a refined society it was time to 
 make a start homewards. As day succeeded day, and 
 meal followed meal, our " table " was spread with more 
 regard for the useful, and less for the aesthetic. Each 
 began to look after his or her individual necessities more 
 than after general effect. Camping out is very pleasant, 
 bat also demoralizing. After a pleasant halt, our General 
 who by the way was a retired officer of the Royal Navy, 
 and quite at sea when commanding field forces of mixed 
 sexes gave the order to proceed. But the young lady 
 portion of the brigade required two or three separate and 
 distinct commands before resuming their allotted seats. 
 At last we were away, and rolling along in quiet vetturino 
 fashion towards Albury, a small settlement, and the pre- 
 
 G 2
 
 84 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 sent terminus of tlie Timaru and Albury branch line. It 
 consists of a store, a blacksmith's shop, two or three 
 houses, and two somewhat pretentious hotels. To the 
 ordinary mind, one hotel would have been thought suffi- 
 cient under the surrounding circumstances. Here a halt 
 was made, during which the ladies filled their pockets 
 with " lollies," and the gentlemen made an opportunity 
 for a quiet " nip." 
 
 Leaving Albury, the road followed the course of the 
 new railway works, which, when completed, will carry 
 the line about fourteen miles further, to a new terminus 
 at the village of Fairlie Creek. Shortly, the hills between 
 which we had been travelling began to recede, leaving 
 a pleasant and fertile valley, dotted with numerous well- 
 to-do-looking homesteads. These followed us until the 
 valley once more contracted, at a point where the road 
 commenced slowly to ascend towards Burke's Pass. At 
 Fairlie Creek another short halt was ordered by the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, for the avowed purpose of buying some 
 twine wherewith the better to secure his hat. But this 
 done, a quiet beckon with the fore-finger brings us once 
 more face to face with the question, " Well, what will 
 you take?" "I can't think," said one of the young 
 ladies, " what business father can have at all these 
 places." Possibly not, but the business, whatever it was, 
 was not of that intoxicating character which the unini- 
 tiated reader might be led to expect. The glasses were 
 very small, the liquor much diluted, and the price of six- 
 pence a glass unproportionally exorbitant, when viewed 
 with regard to the actual alcohol. It must be remem- 
 bered too, that coffee and milk had formed the mid-day 
 beverage, instead of the " Sherry, sir ? " of the modern 
 luncheon table. Just as daylight began to fail, we arrived 
 at our destination for the night Ashwick.
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 85 
 
 Situated at the foot of a rather steep hill, em- 
 bowered among 1 luxuriantly growing conifers and 
 deciduous trees, Ash wick presents a good type of the run- 
 holder's home in New Zealand. Before the hall door 
 a well-grassed lawn slopes towards a pleasant stream, 
 while a verandah, adorned with the spoils and implements 
 of the chase, running the length of the entire front, 
 gives an idea of comfort agreeable to the senses. Need- 
 less to say, we were received with the proverbial hospi- 
 tality. Ashwick presents to those fortunate enough 
 to have been sheltered beneath its roof, a homelike 
 welcome quite its own. At many stations we meet with 
 well-furnished rooms, good libraries, and the ordinary 
 accompaniments of a refined life. Here something more 
 is to be found. It is not that money has been expended 
 in lavish profusion ; perhaps had such been the case the 
 charm would have been broken ; but we find what money 
 cannot buy, and seem under the subtle influence of artistic 
 genius. We are recalled once more to scenes familiar in 
 far distant lands, whether it be by the photograph of our 
 old school-chapel, or by the familiar faces to be met with 
 in the drawing-room album : by the pictures hanging 
 upon the walls, copies and mementos of our academies ; 
 or may be by those little nothings which, collected during 
 a long course of travel, and comparatively valueless in 
 themselves, possess from old associations a special value 
 to their owner. All these and suchlike things recall 
 scenes far different from the present, and remind us of 
 a culture which can be met with only at the centre of 
 the Old World. Let art, we thought, pursue her way 
 amid difficulties and inevitable discouragements, rejoic- 
 ing in the thought that after all her influence may be 
 world wide, and give to people unknown a better idea of 
 the ethereal and sublime. Frequently has a sneer been
 
 86 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 directed by those who have seen the Laocoon and the 
 Apollo Belvidere, the Venus de Medici and the Yenus 
 of the Capitol, in their original glory, upon the casts 
 which have been placed in the Crystal Palace at Syden- 
 ham. But has it ever occurred to critics such as these 
 that art even at secondhand is still art; that perfect 
 lines and symmetry of form even in the plaster tend to 
 develop a taste for the beautiful amongst the million, 
 which, from their inaccessibility, the very originals must 
 fail to do ? Yet it is true. If we cannot always see 
 " The Huguenot/' in the full harmony of its colouring, 
 and fresh from the master's hand, is it not a pleasure to 
 refresh the memory in the photograph. If people in a 
 distant colony have not seen the work, is it not better to 
 trace the fair contour of the figures, the tender pathos 
 of the situation, in the photograph, than not to possess 
 any idea at all of the artistic conception ? However 
 science may, in certain cases, have assisted to debase and 
 vulgarize the mediocre, she has given to true art an 
 extended sphere for good. 
 
 The next morning opened with a relentless drizzle, 
 precluding all idea of departure. It looked as if we were 
 in for a three days' south-wester. Ourselves, a party 
 of seven, with two other casuals in the house, we were 
 sponging upon our host's kindness. But we were in for 
 it, and had to manage as best we could. Being self-in- 
 vited we were hardly in the position of invited guests. 
 The morning we wiled away by smoking, and eating figs 
 plucked from the verandah trellis. Most of the after- 
 noon was spent in the display of some rather extraordi- 
 nary acrobatic feats upon the ropes of the woodshed 
 hoist. The evening was devoted to dancing. Nothing 
 would content our host, who is himself a perfect per- 
 former, but that the carpet should be taken up in the
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 87 
 
 drawing-room. We are sorry to say that the talents of 
 the male sex were hardly up to the requirements of the 
 occasion. But there was one dear old fellow, very ami- 
 able, but very large, who performed most successfully ; 
 and it was interesting to watch how light his step, when 
 compared to his specific gravity. His movements almost 
 bordered on the graceful, and would have put to shame 
 many a man of lighter build. After the ladies had 
 retired, a few songs, a couple of speeches, and " Auld 
 Lang Syne," with hands united, sung in honour of one of 
 the number who was about to pay a visit to the old 
 home, concluded what was, in spite of the weather, a 
 most enjoyable day. Could we but repeat the little jokes 
 which were played, or the intermittent chaff which was 
 thrown about, we should give a much better idea than we 
 have done of station life under difficulties, and of the 
 harmless fun, which is one of the characteristics of the 
 colony. But better as it is. The fun, good in itself, 
 would hardly bear repeating, when removed from its 
 surroundings. 
 
 Next morning gave promise of better weather, and we 
 started after breakfast, if not overwhelmed by showers of 
 rice and satin slippers, yet still accompanied by the good 
 wishes of those we left behind. After a pretty drive of 
 eight miles we arrived at Burke' s Pass, where we were 
 most hospitably entertained by the engineer of the Mount 
 Cook Road Board, who resides there in a most comfort- 
 able house, with his wife and family. 
 
 Burke' s Pass is a pleasant little place, with its houses 
 situated on either side of what we can compare to nothing 
 better than an English country green. It is situated 
 some 500 feet below the top of the Pass, and contains a 
 church, schools, the inevitable hotel, and several other 
 buildings. The tout-ensemble gives more idea of home
 
 88 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 and the old country than many a more extensive and im- 
 portant place. Being on the high road to the Mackenzie 
 country, and a necessary halting-place for travellers, a 
 considerable traffic passes through at certain seasons of 
 the year. 
 
 Soon we top the Pass, and are looking down upon the 
 Mackenzie Plain. The day is lovely, the sky a pure blue, 
 but a spur of the mountains to the right shuts out from 
 view Mount Cook and the snow-capped ranges. After a 
 drive of some twelve miles, we breast the ridge and im- 
 mediately Lake Tekapo, with Mount Cook in the distance, 
 opens to the view. The lake lies at our feet. On our 
 right, a station house, surrounded by trees and built upon 
 a small peninsula, presenting from its narrow neck almost 
 the appearance of an island, forms a fore-ground. On 
 our left, the new bridge which spans the outlet of the 
 lake, and the hotel, with its gardens, stabling, and sur- 
 roundings, perform the same office. The setting sun has 
 just begun to bathe the hills with a flooded light, 
 the atmosphere is perfectly clear, with the exception of 
 one solitary dense white cloud, which nestling in a 
 mountain valley appeared held down by an almost super- 
 natural power so clear were the peaks above it. The 
 effect was very fine, and Tekapo is certainly a beautiful 
 lake, but hardly equal to Pukaki, at least from the 
 bottom end. A few moments spent in enjoying the calm 
 and beauteous scene, and we are away across the bridge, 
 standing at the hotel door. 
 
 Such a well-ordered hotel too, it was a dear little 
 Scotch wife attending to all that was necessary 
 indoors, whilst her husband divided his attention be- 
 tween the bar and stables. Nursing by times her baby, 
 and by times attending to her guests, it struck us all that, 
 if that woman failed in life it would be her husband's
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 89 
 
 fault, not hers. There was much to attend to that 
 evening. A four-in-hand from Geraldine, consisting of 
 a fine team of chestnuts, imported from Sydney, had just 
 deposited five guests, exclusive of the groom. We formed 
 a party of eight, for " Bruny " had joined us by the way. 
 An American lecturer and two young Englishmen, who 
 were travelling d cheval, with gun-cases at saddle-bow, 
 completed the party. The two latter, with guns and 
 " swag," could hardly, we presume, do more than travel 
 at a walk, and " Bruny " incontinently pronounced them 
 to be " new chums." As a rule, " new chums " have 
 but little chaff to encounter. We have had a cadet who 
 looked as much like an old chum on the day of his arrival 
 as he does to-day. But if a new hand elects to go to 
 festive gatherings of the " gentle shepherds " with spats 
 beneath his trousers, he must expect to suffer. We 
 always thought the fashion of wearing spats affected and 
 idiotic in young men, even at home. If it appeared so 
 there, what effect must it not have upon the dwellers in 
 a back country ? Adding up the numbers, it will be seen 
 that our hostess had to provide for sixteen guests in the 
 parlour, besides any servants or teamsters in the hall. 
 She was fully equal to the occasion, and if dinner was a 
 little late, it was, when served, quite worthy of her repu- 
 tation. Remember we were far up country, where 
 travellers arrive in uncertain numbers, and where the 
 facilities for catering to their wants are naturally few. 
 
 Strolling about that night in the clear moonlight, we 
 could not but compare the present surroundings with 
 those of many a small Swiss hotel amid the mountains 
 in days gone by. In both cases we saw nature in one of 
 her grandest forms in both cases all that was wanted 
 to make the rock evolve its hidden gold was man. As in 
 Switzerland, the natural beauty of the country has con-
 
 90 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 duced to its present prosperity, so in the mountain 
 valleys of New Zealand the same cause must gradually 
 be effective. It is difficult to conceive that men who 
 live so near to a second Switzerland, distant but 100 
 or 200 miles from their very doors, can hesitate long 
 before turning such an opportunity to a profit. We 
 cannot but think that the few pioneers who have 
 already tested its advantages will prove the forerunners 
 of comparatively large numbers. 
 
 The most prominent object at Tekapo is the handsome 
 bridge which crosses the river close to the spot where it 
 issues from the lake. This has lately been erected by 
 the Mount Cook Road Board, at a cost, including the 
 approaches, of about 7000/. The Board recoups itself 
 for the expenditure by charging a small toll, which is 
 cheerfully paid in consideration of the great convenience 
 afforded. A single horseman is charged one shilling, a 
 carriage and pair three shillings, while foot passengers 
 can pass free of toll. The principle of the bridge is 
 suspension ; but it is rendered almost perfectly rigid by 
 being directly suspended on three ropes on either side, 
 instead of on one. The longest ropes passing over the 
 heads of solid stone-and-concrete piers, almost meet 
 near the centre. The other two also passing over the 
 piers, meet the roadway at points which make the spaces 
 between the point of contact of the first rope, them- 
 selves, and the bases of the piers equidistant. By this 
 principle we should conceive that an equal bearing power 
 is given to the whole length of the structure. The 
 rigidity is further increased by timbers that support 
 the bridge from beneath, their heads far out over the 
 stream, which runs swift and strong below, their bases 
 resting against the foot of the piers. The sole designer 
 and architect of the bridge was Mr. Marchant, the
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 91 
 
 engineer to the Road Board. Mr. Marchant has also 
 designed a bridge to span the Ohou, another river, in the 
 Mackenzie country, and which the board may probably 
 begin before long. This design, which we had the 
 pleasure of inspecting in the offices at Burke's Pass, 
 appears a model of strength, combined with cheapness in 
 construction. 
 
 Next morning the sun shone warm and bright, no 
 cloud visible, save our friend of the previous evening, 
 still resting in the little mountain valley, where it seemed 
 determined to make a permanent abode. That cloud 
 began to haunt us. By what persistency could it 
 keep its solid cumulus unbroken when all around was 
 bright and clear? Driving over the Mackenzie plain, 
 we forded two or three creeks and rivers, passing, as 
 we travelled along, several of the up-country stations. 
 We had been led to expect that we should find but rough- 
 and-tumble buildings : instead of these we saw comfort- 
 able houses, surrounded by trees and trim paddocks. 
 The present aspect of the country is wild in the 
 extreme, and the only signs of life which we encountered 
 were a few stray sheep and horses, with a couple of 
 bullock teams taking heavy bales of wool down to 
 Albury. However wild the country may seem at present, 
 it is capable of better things. We have the authority of 
 the Government surveyor for stating that he has tasted 
 good fruit here. We have ourselves seen a fine sample 
 of wheat grown at one of the stations, whilst it is well 
 known that good oats, mangolds, and turnips can be 
 produced. Certain kinds of trees grow luxuriantly so 
 soon as they have obtained sufficient hold upon the soil. 
 It is alleged that the winters make the country too cold 
 for farming purposes, and strong nor'-westers during 
 summer make it too dangerous. But what cannot the
 
 92 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 hand of man accomplish ? The soil is in many parts 
 rich, and the summer warm, if short. The country 
 which it most nearly resembles is Sweden, and Sweden, 
 we know, produces excellent cereals. Ignorance, and 
 perhaps vested interests, tend to delay settlement ; 
 but whan the railway is carried beyond Fairlie Creek to 
 Burke' s Pass, and perhaps to Tekapo, we venture to 
 predict that a fair future lies before this generally 
 despised district. 
 
 A somewhat tedious drive of twenty-eight miles was 
 all forgotten when the beautiful panorama that gradually 
 unfolded itself as we skirted the shores of Lake Pukaki, 
 occupied our sole attention. The sun lit up a scene on 
 which the eye could dwell with long and undiminished 
 pleasure. As a foreground, the ferry house with its 
 island garden, and the ferry itself, with one or two boats 
 lying in the stream, gave life to the picture. Out upon 
 the lake a few small islands, covered with scrub and 
 venerable trees, gave strength to the middle distance ; 
 and as a background Mount Cook towered heavenwards, 
 its peak some thirty miles beyond the further extremity 
 of the lake, but looking in the liquid atmosphere as if 
 it sprang perpendicularly from its very surface. The 
 snow-line appeared to descend almost to the level of the 
 water. Seldom, if ever, can a giant mountain be seen 
 in such perfection standing alone in the full splendour 
 of its white-robed glory. Here no lower ranges inter- 
 cept the view or detract from its pure symmetry. The 
 minor peaks on either side, snow-capped as itself, served 
 but to lend a greater grandeur to the principal object in 
 the landscape. What an unrivalled situation, we thought, 
 for a new Lucerne or Thun ! What fair beauties, hidden 
 from the gaze of all but a favoured few ! 
 
 But the sun was already verging towards the horizon,
 
 77ie New Zealand Alps. 93 
 
 the ferry had got to be crossed, and the camp pitched. 
 Let us away then for the moment. -The duties entailed by 
 travelling in a country where hotels are not, and servants 
 are distant, must be attended to. After crossing the 
 ferry, a site for the camp was soon chosen, conveniently 
 near to the river bank ; horses were tethered, and the 
 ladies' tent erected. The pot was soon boiling merrily 
 on a blazing fire, lighted at the foot of a grand old 
 boulder. We colonials, accustomed at all times to do 
 many things for ourselves, felt quite at home under these 
 circumstances, and our halting-place soon presented all 
 the appearance of an old-established camp. Those dear 
 old camping days ! The perfect freedom from care of 
 that camp life ; the merry jest and yarn told at night as 
 we lay stretched at length round the flickering flame; 
 the pleasure of the passing hour the source of many a 
 future reminiscence ! If hotels be built upon the> very 
 spot, the luxury may be greater, the expense certainly 
 more considerable ; but where then will be the perfect 
 freedom, the self-reliant '' camaraderie," which can only 
 exist under the open vault of heaven ? 
 
 But even in a camp troubles will not altogether for- 
 bear us. During breakfast next morning, our horses, 
 having broken their tether, trotted gently past. "Halloo ! " 
 said our commander; "there go your horses." " Never 
 mind," we said, " don't bother about them ; they'll stop 
 and browse on the other side of the hill; we can get 
 them after breakfast," But could we ? Not at all ; the 
 wilful brutes must have felt the pleasure of an unaccus- 
 tomed freedom, and started at once full tilt on a volun- 
 tary gallop of fifteen miles. For hours we toiled over 
 that hot plain, lured by hazy objects, which looked at a 
 distance like horses quietly feeding, but which, on a 
 nearer approach, proved to be but weather-worn boulders.
 
 94 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 To make a long story sliort, we did not get them back 
 for two days, when the ferry man kindly secured them 
 for us. The sensation of being horseless in a wild 
 country, like the one we were in, is not pleasant. The 
 probability is discussed as to whether the animals will 
 cross the rivers or not ; whether they may not work 
 their way back to the country where they were foaled or 
 reared. Their instinct in this respect stops little short 
 of the marvellous. When once they break from camp, 
 a frequent occurrence, they are often not to be 
 found until they turn up browsing in the accustomed 
 paddock as quietly as if it had never been left. The 
 " Donkey," for so was " Bruny's " horse christened by 
 the young people, for no reason that we could learn 
 except that he was so long-suffering and forbearing, was 
 the only one of the animals which behaved with perfect 
 decency. If the Donkey did break his tether, he was 
 always to be found with his nose in the oat-sack, or 
 quietly nibbling at the grass in the best pasture he could 
 find. He often got loose when wanting water, but after 
 satisfying his thirst, he invariably returned to his favourite 
 feeding-ground. Would that all horses were in this 
 respect like the " Donkey." 
 
 Owing to the loss of our horses, the further extension 
 of the trip to Lake Ohou had to be abandoned, but we 
 believe that lake to possess its own wild beauty. Our 
 time was, however, fully occupied by the necessary camp 
 duties and pleasant boating excursions on the lake. On 
 the latter occasions the " General " assumed the more 
 appropriate duties of High Admiral, but we fear that 
 he had an awful crowd of lubbers for a crew. Some- 
 thing of this kind used to take place. He would sing 
 out " Starboard your helm ! Starboard, can't you ? Don't 
 you see you are taking us bow on to that rock ? " To
 
 The New Zealand Alps. 95 
 
 whom the helmsman, "Which is starboard, father?" 
 " Put your helm to the right, can't you r " came the 
 order. Or when the admiral was at the helm himself, 
 and was endeavouring to make the port in true seaman- 
 like fashion : " Ship your oars ! " he would shout ; when 
 of course some fair rower would persist in leaving hers 
 at right angles to the gunwale. After repeated com- 
 mands we did sometimes manage to bring-to pretty 
 creditably, although the admiral would insist upon giving 
 orders with a pipe between his teeth, which may partly 
 account for a somewhat indistinct utterance and the 
 consequent confusion. We may casually mention that 
 it has not yet been ascertained whether the admiral or 
 the writer are the greatest smokers in South Canterbury. 
 But if we both have a weakness, it is for " baccy." 
 
 One day our camp was enlivened by the arrival of a 
 party of three ladies and three gentlemen, on their way 
 to the Tasman Glacier. The united muster of buggies 
 and horses caused it to present quite an important 
 appearance. We lunched together, and thoroughly en- 
 joyed such a social gathering in the wilds. Perhaps the 
 magnificent chicken pasty, and excellent preserved milk, 
 which the strangers brought luxuries unknown to our 
 camp gave an additional zest to the meal. 
 
 It was a sad day when the hour arrived for breaking 
 up camp and returning on our tracks. Sadder still when 
 we gave one long last look upon the dear Pukaki Lake 
 and its beautiful surroundings. But we were supported 
 by the hope, which it is to be trusted may be realized, of 
 a similar expedition to be organized in the future.
 
 New Zealand as il is. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT MANNER OF MEN WE ARE. 
 
 IN the preceding pages we have endeavoured to depict, 
 in the most realistic language at our command, country 
 life and country occupations as they exist in the colony. 
 Perhaps to some people a few of the incidents related 
 may seem too trivial in their nature to justify any notice 
 in a work which pretends to instruct, or even to amuse. 
 These we would remind that 
 
 " Nought so vile that on the earth dorh live, 
 But to the earth some special good doth give." 
 
 And that 
 
 " Great floods have flown 
 From simple sources." 
 
 Others might object that the deeper thoughts called 
 into existence by the beauties of that Nature which 
 surrounds us had better be left unexpressed. We cannot 
 think this. "We love to find 
 
 " Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, ' 
 Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 
 
 Nay, more, we cling to the thought that 
 
 " All places that the eye of heaven visits 
 Are to a wise man ports and happy havens." 
 
 When beginning the present chapter, the words of
 
 What manner of Men we are. 97 
 
 the same great poet, as put into the mouth of Brutus, 
 start' almost involuntarily to the lips : 
 
 " There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
 Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
 Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
 Is bound in shallows and in miseries." 
 
 Such a passage reminds us of the full significance of 
 the subject which we are about to consider. But while 
 discussing it, one fact, of which no thoughtful man can 
 doubt, namely, that 
 
 There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we will, 
 
 must ever be kept in view. To feel that our usefulness 
 in life, so far as regards our present sphere, is closed for 
 ever; to feel an inward force, despite our very selves, 
 pointing to new fields in which to labour, may tinge the 
 mind with sadness for what is past, but cannot fail to 
 give new hopes and incite to fresh exertion. To those 
 who only float with the stream, the idle puppets of the 
 idle hour, an internal force like that described may seem 
 ideal. To those who have wrestled with that force it 
 is a stern reality. To one who has no ties at home 
 to whom the world lies open, fair, and tempting; to .him 
 who finds no reasonable prospect of supporting or pro- 
 moting the future interests of his family to these, and 
 such as these, emigration legitimately offers its attrac- 
 tions. To one who with wilful petulance seeks to escape 
 from home restraint or irksome duties, or perhaps would 
 find in foreign lands release from the holiest ties, emi- 
 gration would say, " Forbear, and do thy duty in that 
 position of life to which thou hast been called." There 
 is a season for all things a place for all men. The peer 
 should not seek to be a commoner; the commoner should 
 
 H
 
 98 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 not envy those whom Providence has placed above him- 
 self. Happy the man who can not only agree with, but 
 act up to the old, old motto, " Avec ce queje tiens, je reste 
 content." To know how far one ought to dare, must be 
 left to the inner conscience ; for who but it can tell ? A 
 friend once wrote, " It is a serious matter to leave one's 
 country." And so it is. But circumstances may justify 
 the change; and if so, sail forth with faith and con- 
 fidence, being sure the while to keep unsullied that 
 honour and religion on which the majority of our 
 nation so justly prides itself. Emigration must always 
 be looked upon as a serious matter, and a course not 
 to be adopted without due consideration. That, under 
 certain circumstances, it is advantageous both to the 
 State and to the individual, experience clearly demon- 
 strates. Without it, what would the United States have 
 been to-day? Where Canada? Where the Australasian 
 Colonies ? What would be the position of those at home 
 if North America were not, and Australasia yet in the 
 hands of untutored savages ? 
 
 But what manner of men make suitable colonists ? 
 That is the question. Certainly not the habitue of the 
 pavements, unless he be prepared to doff his old ideas. 
 Certainly not he to whom work is irksome. Certainly 
 not the dissolute, who has wasted his substance in 
 degrading self-indulgence. Unless the leopard can 
 change his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin ; all these 
 had better keep away. To succeed as a colonist requires 
 a man of sterling qualifications ; the hard worker the 
 patient one. To obtain success is as difficult as at 
 home, perhaps more so ; and this is a point which ought 
 to be fully recognized. But in order to give some con- 
 ception of what future arrivals should be, perhaps it will 
 be better to describe what manner of men we are. And,
 
 What manner of Men we are. 99 
 
 as, in the colony, life for the most part resolves itself 
 into working upward from small beginnings, it will be 
 more consistent to begin with the labourer, and, step by 
 step, arrive at the employer of labour. 
 
 We have already alluded to that class of men called 
 " swaggers," some of the most worthless of whom we 
 have compared to the idle casuals of the English work- 
 house. Of these nothing more need be said. They are 
 the waifs and strays of society, to be found in every 
 country and in every clime. Their proportion to the 
 population of New Zealand is no greater than it is 
 elsewhere. But the better part of our peripatetic 
 labourers, that which prefers a roving life, yet is at 
 the same time willing to work, deserves more particular 
 mention. It forms a class peculiar to itself; full of 
 good intentions ; but if of the true breed, rarely carrying 
 such intentions to good effect. Often do you hear one 
 say, " I've done with drink ; I've had enough of that ;" 
 or, "I think I shall settle down now; I'm getting tired 
 of knocking about." But the cheque once more in 
 hand, the self-same man in a few days is reduced to 
 his normal condition of being without a penny in his 
 pocket. And yet these men are not drunkards in the 
 ordinary sense of the word ; they cannot fairly be called 
 slaves to drink. What they do is done more in the 
 spirit of good-fellowship, or from the love of excitement, 
 than from the love of liquor. They are often good 
 fellows in their way ; kind and liberal to each other ; 
 and only their own enemies. We have heard young 
 fellows say, who have had to work and camp together 
 with them, that they would rather be in such company 
 than in that of men who would generally be considered 
 more respectable and the steadier workmen. This is 
 easily to be understood. The steady man has migrated 
 
 H 2
 
 i oo New Zealand as it is. 
 
 from some country side which has furnished his sole 
 experience of life. His ideas are contracted, his know- 
 ledge of the world nil. But these " swaggers" have been 
 in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. As one of them 
 once said, " It's the first start, sir ; after that, all comes 
 easy." Their minds are stored with reminiscences; their 
 manners more or less polished by contact with the world. 
 Their speech, for the most part, is devoid of provin- 
 cialisms, whether of accent or idiom. It can readily be 
 understood which of the two classes would, for a time, 
 be productive of the most agreeable companionship. 
 Facts of this kind are more readily grasped from the 
 relation of real experiences than from the expression of 
 abstract speculations. A few instances out of the many 
 Avhich can every day be met with, will do more to 
 confirm the above remarks than any amplification of 
 individual opinions. 
 
 An example or two, taken from a " camp " attending 
 the machine which thrashed oar grain this year, will, 
 without going further afield, prove sufficient for the 
 purpose. The cook attached to this camp could not 
 exactly be called an idler, for he had upon his hands 
 almost as much as he could attend to. But camp 
 cooking is of such a nature, that a man can perform his 
 duties, and at the same time find place for gossip. In 
 the present instance our cook was somewhat of a cha- 
 racter. He had been in the line, the artillery, and the 
 navy. He had been officer's servant and Serjeant's 
 batman. He had been a coffin-maker in Texas; and for 
 six months, at an out-station, had herded cattle in the 
 same country. He had worked on the American lakes, 
 and been employed at a skating-rink at Campinas, in the 
 province of St. Paulo, Brazil. He had driven an engine 
 in a brickyard at Botafogo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro,
 
 What manner of Men we are. IOF 
 
 from which occupation he suddenly found himself, in 
 consequence of an accident, converted into an indoor 
 patient at the hospital. There, after his recovery, he 
 settled down for a time as paid servant, until one day, 
 when in attendance in the dissecting-room, the doctor 
 expressed a wish to see his lungs upon the table. This 
 made him quake ; but a feeling had been growing, as 
 each case of fever came in, that he must sooner or later 
 become a victim. One day the doctor said, when they 
 were busy with a subject, " Won't you take a glass of 
 that brandy ? " A mortal terror seized him lest it 
 should be drugged, and that if he took a pull at the 
 bottle, no power on earth could save him from imminent 
 dissection. This clenched the matter, and behold our 
 friend a wanderer once more. He had been in India, and 
 seen service in Afghanistan ; at the Cape, and was mixed 
 up in some capacity with the Zulu war. He had shipped 
 from New Orleans, and often crossed the North Atlantic; 
 and, finally, after being ship's cook, found himself in 
 New Zealand, where, as we write, he serves in the latter 
 capacity in a migratory carnp. What he will next be- 
 come, heaven only knows. But, at all events, a very 
 good cook he makes ; dressed with white cap and clean 
 white apron, such as would have delighted the heart of 
 the late M. Soyer. 
 
 Possibly some of his yarns may be exaggerated, for it 
 is the privilege of all old travellers to improve upon their 
 experiences ; but that the foundation of them was the 
 result of actual travel, we can vouch from our knowledge 
 of the people, countries, and towns which he described. 
 Those of his stories which we were not in a position to 
 verify, we believe to be true from analogical deduction. 
 That he had been a soldier was evident from his well- 
 shaven, cleanly appearance ; and perhaps it may warm
 
 IO2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the heart of the vieux militaire to know that, as a rule, 
 the old soldier in the colonies never forgets his previous 
 education ; that long after the uniform has been dis- 
 carded, a former discipline reasserts itself by a greater 
 cleanliness and method than is to be found amongst the 
 general crowd. But this our friend was particularly 
 neat and clean. And why was this ? Had he not 
 drilled in the ranks, side by side with Lord Cole, when 
 that nobleman was learning his goose-step ? had he not, 
 even if at a distance and unknown to himself, seen and 
 realized the power that civilization and culture have on 
 man ! 
 
 This is how our cookey became a coffin-maker. Stroll- 
 ing about one morning, without a cent in his pocket, he 
 saw the following notice affixed to a shop window : 
 "Wanted, a smart man, inquire within." By a short, 
 process of mental arithmetic, he arrived at the conclusion 
 that he was smart enough at all events to apply. " What 
 shall I have to do ? " said he to the " boss." " Waal, I 
 guess I require a straight-up, smart coffin-maker." " I'm 
 only a joiner," thought our friend, " but possibly I 
 might make a coffin. Anyhow here goes." " ' I'm 
 your man,' I says, * but sorrow a bite I've had, and I 
 feels tired. I'll just sit down, and start work to- 
 morrow.' You see, sir, he was making a coffin, and I 
 wanted to see how he did it. Next morning I started 
 work, and when the first coffin was finished, I asked him 
 how it would do. ' That's jest fine,' says he ; and that's 
 how I became a coffin-maker." 
 
 On another occasion, when the consequences might 
 have been more serious, this is how it happened. "During 
 the Afghan war I volunteered for the front, and marched 
 with the contingent to the up-country depot. When the 
 draft was ordered on, my name, by some accident, was
 
 What manner of Men we are. 103 
 
 not included on the roll. ' I beg pardon, sir,' said I to 
 the officer, * but I volunteered for the front, and my 
 name is not on the roll.' ' Well, it can't be helped 
 now,' said he ; ' you're wanted here, my man.' It 
 wasn't so much that I wanted glory, but I thought I 
 should find more loot at the front ; and go I would. 
 That night I changed my uniform for a kind of brown 
 dress used by the natives attached to the camp, and, with 
 a loaf of bread, away I went. Sometimes I followed the 
 road, sometimes the telegraph, posts, and crossed the 
 rivers by the railway bridges, until I came to the chain 
 of sentries round the camp which formed a sort of 
 reserve to the army in front. It was no use dodging any 
 more, so up I walked to the first sentry and gives myself 
 in charge. They took me before the officers, and I says, 
 
 * I'm a soldier of the th Regiment wishing to go to 
 the front.' ' Why arn't you attached ? ' says they ; 
 ' where' s your company?' 'I don't know,' I says, 
 
 * where my company is ; but they would not let me 
 come, so I came by myself.' ' Well,' says they, * we 
 don't know what to do with you, or whether you are a 
 soldier or deserter; but as you've come so far we suppose 
 you don't mean to desert.' c Not at all,' says I, ' I 
 want to go to the front.' Well, it was arranged that I 
 was to be a prisoner at large, able to go about the lines, 
 but to answer to my name when called upon. So I 
 started once more for the front. But matters were get- 
 ting dangerous for stragglers in those passes, and when 
 I met a troop of the commissariat, who were just about 
 to camp, I joined their mess and thought I'd better 
 return with them; and so I did. Life was very jolly in 
 the camp, and what with my penny whistle and a story 
 or two thrown in now and again, they got accustomed to 
 me round the camp-fires. The officers, too, they came
 
 1 04 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 and listened ; and when it was thought that the enemy 
 was upon us, and they all set to work to make trenches 
 well, I worked as hard as any. I didn't tell them it was 
 as much to save my own skin as theirs ; so I got a good 
 deal of glory from it. The end of it all was that I was 
 sent back to the depot, and the officer says, ' Really I 
 don't know what to do with you, my boy ; I've got a 
 good character back with you. You'll be let off for the 
 payment of a new kit.' ' 
 
 So run the stories as told round the camp-fire, growing 
 no doubt with every repetition : a modicum of truth 
 mixed with a considerable amount of hyperbole. We 
 said to cookey one day, when he was describing one out 
 of the various regiments in which he had served, " Why 
 you must be one c-f those fellows who enlist for the sake 
 of the bounty, and afterwards take French leave as soon 
 as possible." The man looked blank for the moment, but 
 rallying to the defence he said, " Of course I was, until 
 they got to know me too well." And yet that man once 
 met my wife, as she was passing into the harvest- field, 
 with a " Please, marm, allow me to open the gate ; it will 
 soil your gloves. It is such a pleasure to meet a gentle- 
 man who has travelled so much as Mr. Bradshaw." 
 Pray observe the equality which travelling had engen- 
 dered, but also the politeness which it had called forth. 
 What would Hodge have done in a similar situation? 
 Truly travelling " emollit mores nee sinit esse feroces" 
 We are inclined to think that, beyond and besides a 
 natural tendency to rove, many of these men are con- 
 firmed in their vagrant habits by the glimpse which they 
 have had of a life higher and far superior to their own. 
 This tends to unsettle, and prevents them from desiring 
 to fall back upon their old status in society. Many do 
 so, no doubt ; but the more aspiring seek in the excite-
 
 What manner of Men we are. 105 
 
 ment of the camp to realize among themselves a more 
 exalted ideal. 
 
 In the same camp could be found one who could sing 
 many an Italian street song, with true hurdy-gurdy intona- 
 tion and nasal twang. Another could talk of Florence, 
 Trieste, Ancona, and even of the little republic of San 
 Marino. A third had been in the Royal Artillery. 
 . It would be superfluous to fill these pages with more 
 instances of the kind. Enough has been said to show 
 the class of men who form the migratory working popu- 
 tion of the colony. It is not probable that any will be 
 induced to become one of the number from a perusal of 
 this volume. Yet who knows ? Men of this sort seem 
 as it were to fall from the skies, and to be recruited by a 
 natural destiny. Most probably they are largely com- 
 posed of deserters from ships, or of thorough born and 
 bred colonial wanderers. The steady station or farm 
 hand comes from an altogether different stock. These 
 no more mix with the " swagger " than oil with water. 
 The shepherd is most probably from the Highlands of 
 Scotland, sprung from an industrious, God-fearing 
 ancestry, and carrying into his new country a similar 
 tone, shorn though it be, through wider contact with 
 the world, of some of its primitive superstition and 
 native narrow-mindedness. The ordinary English shep- 
 herd, well up as he may be in his work, would, as yet, 
 find some difficulty in securing a situation. His habits 
 and movements would be thought too slow. The man 
 who is wanted here, is one who can ride up hill and 
 down dale, taking note as he goes along of what may 
 require his immediate attention. As a rule, the English 
 shepherd would be out of his element. The farm hands 
 from Scotland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, 
 and possibly from some of the western counties, are most
 
 io6 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 suited of all English labourers for this colony. Those 
 from the clays of Kent and Sussex, from Hampshire or 
 Wiltshire, or any of the true types of the unqualified 
 yokel, are, with but few exceptions, too slow in their 
 movements. They have been accustomed to drive four 
 horses in a string, with a single-furrow plough and a boy 
 to help ; here they would have to manage three horses 
 abreast and a double-furrow plough, and they can't do 
 it. They are always tinkering, instead of getting on. 
 At present the best men consist of those coming from 
 the above-named counties, with a small proportion from 
 the nortli of Ireland. Men from the south of Ireland 
 may generally be seen following the contractor's plough, 
 or, at the best shearing, and working at piece-work on 
 their own account. They are not generally much sought 
 after for permanent situations. Men with thews and 
 sinews of their own can generally earn good wages, say 
 from six shillings per diem upwards. Perhaps to-day the 
 present rate may be seven shillings; but to earn this, real 
 work must be done. A man at this wage will soon drop 
 out of a gang if his capacity for work does not come up to 
 the fixed standard of the contractor. Yet, with work offer- 
 ing at six shillings a day, men were to be found during 
 the past year on strike. They paraded the streets, with 
 watches inside and chains outside their waistcoats ; in 
 some instances with rings on their fingers ; in most, clad 
 in a good suit of broadcloth. They sought to raise a 
 cry in favour of the " unemployed." In their opinion, a 
 man was unemployed who could not get eight shillings 
 a day. It is hardly necessary to say that the Minis- 
 ters at Wellington, to whom they applied for a relief 
 of their grievances, did not see it ; that the public 
 did not see it ; and that but little sympathy was 
 evoked in their favour, even among the industrious
 
 What manner of Men we are. 107 
 
 of the working classes. While the cry was at its height, 
 men over and over again refused to work at six shillings 
 a day. What they wanted was eight. Rather than not 
 get eight, they would not work at all. It must be re- 
 membered, when considering their case, that living is 
 cheap ; that if a man gets thirty-six shillings a week, 
 fifteen shillings in camp and twenty shillings in town 
 will pay for board and lodging, leaving at least a clear 
 sixteen shillings for luxuries or the savings-bank. 
 Such are the circumstances under which the cry of the 
 unemployed was raised. The men at last seem to have 
 realized their true position, and feel that for some time 
 to come, wages will not rule at the extravagant rate at 
 which they did under the high pressure of an extensive 
 public works policy ; perhaps never again. 
 
 Carpenters, stonemasons, and brick-setters receive a 
 handsome wage, varying from eight to fourteen shillings 
 a day, according to the supply of labour, and the necessi- 
 ties of trade. But when considering these high wages, 
 it must be remembered that the men take certain risk. 
 They are not always paid down weekly, as at home ; and 
 owing to the contractors being, in many instances, men 
 of straw, they are sometimes fortunate if able to secure 
 a fair dividend on the balance owing for work done. 
 Many instances of this kind have come under our notice, 
 and we think it is safer to assume that it would be far 
 better for a workman to accept lower wages under a 
 solvent contractor, than to grasp at the higher rates 
 which could possibly be squeezed out of the weaker 
 employer. 
 
 There are depressions in trade in New Zealand as 
 elsewhere, when labour is in poor demand and full supply. 
 But take one time with another, the steady mechanic, 
 artisan, or day-labourer, will do well.
 
 io8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The bank or mercantile clerk, the shop-keeper's assis- 
 tant, and men fitled for similar positions, had better stay 
 at home, unless coming out under! positive engagement. 
 They would find the pay to be no higher, and the 
 difficulty of securing employment perhaps greater. The 
 shop-keeper prefers an assistant who knows the wants 
 of his customers, and already understands the run of the 
 trade. He might probably prefer one who had been in 
 some rival establishment, and who could possibly give 
 him a hint as to what was being done in other stores. 
 Numerous young fellows, the sons of well-known clerks 
 or business-men, are waiting the chance of a vacancy 
 turning up among the junior stools in the merchant's 
 counting-house ; and it is the same in the banks. If an 
 advertisement appears in the daily papers, perhaps thirty 
 or forty applications are the immediate result, and for 
 junior clerkships the probability is that the lowest tender 
 will be accepted, provided satisfactory references are 
 forthcoming. These conditions do not offer much 
 temptation to the emigrant. We believe, too, that the 
 liberal education provided at the Government schools 
 will tend, as it has done at home and in Germany, to 
 swell the ranks of those seeking what may be called 
 " genteel " employment, in preference to the harder lot 
 of the tillers of the soil. 
 
 But if New Zealand be unsuitable for the clerk or 
 shop-keeper's assistant, what can be said in its favour 
 on behalf of those pampered beings usually known as 
 domestic servants ? We can see them now. Breakfast, 
 with meat, at eight ; lunch, with beer and cheese, at 
 eleven ; dinner, with beer, at one ; tea at four or five ; 
 the whole to conclude with supper and beer at nine. 
 Then the free tap running, when the carriage of some 
 neighbour turns into the stable-yard. The more of them
 
 What manner of Men we are. 109 
 
 that there were, the less each one did. It once happened, 
 in a house where butler, two footmen, and a little boy 
 page were kept, that the mistress suggested that the 
 small page should occasionally go to the village school. 
 " But please, mum," says the butler, " who's to do the 
 work ? " With cook and kitchen-maid it used to be 
 possible to get a good dinner. With housekeeper, cook, 
 kitchen and scullery-maids, the idea would often occur, 
 owing to the way dinner was served, that the scullery- 
 maid performed most of the work, with occasional 
 assistance from the kitchen-maid in the matter of pastry 
 and jellies. We have often pictured to ourselves the 
 housekeeper in the still-room, with foot on fender, reading 
 the daily papers ; and then the upper butler, to attend 
 to the cellar and his master's clothes ; the under butler 
 to look after the silver, with two creatures below him to 
 do the washing up, until, attired in gorgeous livery, they 
 entered upon the irksome duties of the afternoon. That 
 housemaid, too, with her " I should be glad to oblige you, 
 mum ; but please, mum, it's not my place." Whose place 
 is it then, my good lady, if not yours to obey your mis- 
 tress's orders, and in some part earn your wage and 
 expensive keep ? The tyranny of those domestics ! their 
 incessant bickerings and constant fits of indigestion ! 
 We do not advise them to come to the colonies ; but at 
 the same time it might do them good to leave still- 
 room and hall, and take a short trip across the seas. 
 Their digestion would improve, and their tempers be less 
 readily moved. But not theirs all the fault ; they are but 
 the victims and the outcome of a too luxurious society. 1 
 
 1 Three days after penning this sentence we read an article in The 
 World, -which, when considering the conduct of some noble peers, said, 
 " It is the system, quite as much as the individuals, who are singled out 
 by circumstances as the chief sinners, that is to blame."
 
 no New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Nevertheless it would occasionally do good to treat some 
 domestics as bluff King Hal, according to Fuller, treated 
 the worthy Abbot of Reading. 2 The king, after a day's 
 hunting in the forest of Windsor, found himself at the 
 door of the abbey. Soon the abbot had placed before 
 him a sirloin of beef, " on which the king laid on lustily." 
 Whether the king was not recognized under his hunting 
 costume, or their host was altogether ignorant of his 
 person, history sayeth not. But watching with envy an 
 appetite sharpened with exercise, the abbot cried, " I 
 would give a hundred pounds on condition I could feed 
 so lustily on beef as you do. Alas ! my weak and 
 squeezie stomach will hardly digest the wing of a small 
 rabbit or chicken." Some weeks afterwards the abbot 
 was brought up to London and clapt in the tower, kept 
 close prisoner, and fed for a short time on bread and 
 water. Yet it appears that his mind was more filled 
 with fears, than his body empty of food, as to how he 
 had incurred the king's displeasure. " At last a sirloin of 
 beef was set before him, of which the abbot fed as the 
 farmer of his grange, and verified the proverb that two 
 hungry meals make the third a glutton. In springs 
 King Henry, out of a private lobby where he had placed 
 himself, the invisible spectator of the abbot's behaviour. 
 * My Lord,' quoth the king, ' presently deposit your 
 hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the 
 days of your life. I have been your physician, to cure 
 you of your squeezie stomach ; and here, as I deserve, I 
 demand my fee for the same.' The abbot down with 
 his dust, and glad he had escaped to return to Reading." 
 Or perhaps a treatment similar to the following might 
 have a salutary effect. In steps the butler with, " Please, 
 
 * Taken, in the absence of dear old Fuller, from " The Boot of the 
 Thames."
 
 What manner of Men we are. 1 1 1 
 
 sir, will you inform me who is to lay the cloth for supper 
 in the 'all. The coachman says Thomas his not to do 
 it. Has for the 'ousekeeper, she says hit's not the duty 
 of the girls hin the kitchen, and hi'm sure, sir, William 
 'as too much to do, what with 'is silver and hall." 
 " Well," says the squire, " if you can't arrange it 
 amongst yourselves, come to me and I will do it for 
 you." Needless to say, nothing more was heard of the 
 matter. 
 
 Whatever value the higher class of domestics put upon 
 their services at home, they would not have much " show " 
 in the colony. It is not the ornamental, but the useful 
 material which is wanted. Possibly a cook worth 50. 
 at home, would not here get more than 40L and for 
 this she would have to wash up, peel potatoes, and 
 do the whole work of the kitchen. She would most 
 probably have to do her own and the family's washing. 
 A cook, if she would so far condescend, might prove 
 useful ; but imagination fails us when endeavouring to 
 devise what could be found wherewith to utilize the 
 portly butler, or John Thomas, although the latter might 
 stand six foot in his stockings. What is wanted, is a 
 good supply of " maids of all work," low creatures, 
 people at home may think, but here eminently useful. 
 We want women able to roast and boil, able to wash and 
 get up linen ; and willing, above all, to learn their 
 multifarious duties. Their value would range at from 
 40Z. for the old and experienced hand to 20/. for 
 the beginner. Such wages may seem high, but the 
 cost of necessaries is cheap. The difference in the 
 cost of servants at home and in the colony appears 
 to be, that at home most of the money expended upon 
 servants goes to the butcher, the brewer, and other 
 tradespeople, and but comparatively little in wages ; in
 
 ii2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the colony, the sum expended for keep is far less, whilst 
 that which goes to the servant is far more. 
 
 When we come to the advantages offered by the colony 
 to tradespeople, we confess it approaches a serious diffi- 
 culty. We shall be considering a venture, the success 
 of which depends more upon individual capacity, than 
 upon the prosperity of tradesmen as a class. The 
 persons we have already alluded to, depend for their 
 subsistence more immediately upon others. They are 
 but the human machines by whose assistance the capitalist 
 matures his plans. Already in New Zealand we can 
 find the prosperous tradesman and his reverse. The new 
 arrival must necessarily, in process of time, be merged 
 into one or other of the two categories. Can any writer 
 say into which ? From personal knowledge he might 
 incline to decide one way or the other, but it would be 
 impossible to determine positively. But putting aside 
 personal qualifications, it is difficult to say what induce- 
 ment the colony holds out to people intending to open a 
 new business connexion. On the one hand can be seen 
 a gradually increasing population, and some firms 
 undoubtedly prosperous ; on the other, a spirit of co- 
 operation gradually taking root, both amongst producers 
 and consumers, with many a tradesman struggling for 
 existence. Ever since the formation of the colony, the 
 principle has been long-dated bills, with high prices and 
 long credits as a necessary consequence. To-day the 
 tendency is, and will be for the future, towards small 
 profits and quick returns. For the new comer to create 
 a cash business would be a difficult matter ; but unless 
 he possesses sufficient capital to buy on short terms and 
 sell for cash, or at all events on monthly payments, we 
 should feel very doubtful as to the result. The difficulty 
 in the colony, up to the present, has been to get cash.
 
 What manner of Men we are. 1 1 3 
 
 Originally business, except at the very outset, was 
 arranged in a free and easy sorb of way. It is but now 
 that people are beginning to realize that, if they are 
 to succeed at all, their conduct must be ruled by the same 
 principles which prevail elsewhere. But how can we 
 determine for the individual, when such instances as those 
 of Messrs. Day and Martin, Messrs. Gilbey, and others, 
 stare us in the face ? We can but talk generalities. 
 
 New Zealand undoubtedly offers great advantages to 
 the tenant farmer, but it may be doubted whether it will 
 obtain many emigrants from this class. The farmer is a 
 man more or less wedded to his country side, certainly to 
 his traditions and methods of cultivation. The very 
 nature of his profession, depending as it greatly does 
 upon seasons, leads him, when in difficulty, to hope with 
 Mr. Micawber that " something will turn up." He will 
 trust to chance rather than face the patent conclusion to 
 be derived from the present and the past. He fails to 
 see, or at all events for a long period did fail to see, that 
 his present difficulties do not arise solely from bad 
 harvests, but that foreign competition and extravagant 
 rentals form important factors in the result; that 
 freights have gradually become cheaper both by sea and 
 land ; and that a smaller capital expended in other 
 countries can produce a greater percentage than a larger 
 one when employed at home; that the genius of man, 
 by constructing bridges where were formerly impass- 
 able rivers, by building vessels with a maximum of speed 
 and a minimum of outlay, and by turning unproductive 
 wastes into fruitful farms, has by these means, and many 
 more than these, helped to work against him, and still 
 will work. It has been found, both by landlord and 
 tenant, that land, which had for long years been looked 
 upon as a safe investment, was in the end to prove 
 
 i
 
 1 1 4 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 like other property, of uncertain value and subject to 
 change. To our mind it is clear, and has been clear for 
 
 o 
 
 some time past, that, as regards agriculture in England, 
 we are on the eve of a great and permanent change. 
 We remember some years ago speaking to a gentleman 
 a Swede by birth, but long resident in the United 
 States, and himself a large landed proprietor in North 
 Carolina on this subject. While endorsing the views 
 then expressed, he was astonished that they should be 
 held by an Englishman. When similar thoughts were 
 propounded before fellow-countrymen, the reply invari- 
 ably was, " Oh, but land always has been and always 
 will be a good investment." And a good investment it 
 will be once more, but not until a different relation exists 
 between landlord and tenant, nor until the business 
 of cultivation ceases to be paid for as a luxury, and re- 
 assumes its true commercial value as compared with land 
 in other countries. England, so far as regards the landed 
 interest, is undergoing a quiet but great social revolution. 
 Fancy and residential properties may sustain an artificial- 
 value, but purely agricultural land must find its true 
 level. Farmers will probably remain by the ship as long 
 as possible. 
 
 Such is the opinion of one of their own delegates, the 
 Mr. Hering before quoted. This gentleman has written 
 back to us an account of his home experiences. He says, 
 " The magnificent climate, with the more liberal tone of 
 public feeling existing in the colony of New Zealand, are 
 alone great temptations to leave this land of clouds and 
 hereditary prejudices. Yet I believe very few will be 
 found to follow my example, the general complaint 
 amongst farmers being, * It is too late ; our capital is 
 gone now, and farming is not worth following in any part 
 of the world, to induce us to try again at the bottom
 
 What manner of Men we are. 115 
 
 rung of the ladder.' ' But, then, is this the feeling which 
 has made Englishmen what they are the -greatest power 
 in the world ? Is this the feeling which animated our 
 soldiers when they fought and beat the first Napoleon, 
 although that great strategist declared them to be tacti- 
 cally annihilated ? Is this the feeling which has stirred 
 many of us when temporarily down in our luck, to try 
 and try again, until success has crowned our efforts ? 
 We think not. It is but the doctrine of the Mussul- 
 man, who at the first reverse of fortune bows his head, 
 and cries " It is the will of Allah ; Allah be praised." 
 If any hold such views, we would say pointedly and with- 
 out reserve, " New Zealand is not the place for you. 
 Better to remain at home, and meet your appointed 
 destiny." To those brother farmers who still possess 
 means and have the necessary pluck, we would say, 
 " Come, by all means, and try your fortune. Most 
 probably your very pluck will ensure an ultimate 
 
 success." 
 
 But how much capital, it may be asked, is necessary 
 to start a farmer with a fair chance of success ? It is 
 difficult to say. Much depends upon character and habits. 
 It would be risky to recommend any farmer, who has 
 lived as such on a small farm at home, to start with less 
 than 1000L A man may succeed with less, and many 
 have done so, aided by their own frugality and industry. 
 But to come as a farmer with much less than 1000/. 
 would be almost tantamount to working upwards from 
 the very bottom. 
 
 Those possessing from 2000Z. to 3000Z. should do well. 
 Those whose capital exceeds 5000/. may, with patience 
 and common sense, do after a time pretty much as they 
 like. It will be always advisable, and almost necessary, 
 for men with the smallest capital named, to follow their 
 
 i 2
 
 1 1 6 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 plough, and with their families do most of the ordinary 
 work of the farm. 
 
 Do such ideas seem strange to those who think they 
 have but to come abroad, and lo ! a mine of gold lies at 
 their very feet ? We feel that many hold such opinions. 
 We once sailed with a young man to Buenos Ayres who 
 landed at that place with 30/. in his pocket. One week 
 at an expensive hotel almost dissipated his capital. A 
 fortnight after arriving he was to be seen behind a bar, 
 mixing cock-tails for sailors on the beach. To those 
 living at home, and associating with a certain set, it is 
 hard to realize the class of men sometimes thrown 
 broadcast upon the world. That a young man, the son 
 of a clergyman, should travel to Buenos Ayres within the 
 last few years, paying first-class fare by Royal Mail 
 steamer, and expect, as he did, upon his arrival to find the 
 whole world ready to jump into his arms, is a case which 
 seems to border upon the improbable. To hear another 
 young emigrant ask his neighbour in the saloon, "Please, 
 sir, at your place do you kill a whole sheep at a time ? " 
 appears almost irresistible to the risible faculties, were it 
 not all so sad. Sometimes when people travel in Switzer- 
 land, they exclaim, " Where on earth do all these people 
 come from ? " Travellers of the world may well ask, 
 " What on earth made such fellows as these leave their 
 nurses and their homes ? " 
 
 One great objection against farming in the colonies has 
 been urged in our presence by farmers in the old country. 
 It is that the middle men get most of the profits. We 
 can assure any such objectors that now, at all events, 
 this is not the case. Farmers' co-operations exist both 
 in Canterbury and Otago, which secure to members their 
 seeds and stores at the cheapest possible rates, and afford 
 a ready means of disposing of produce with but the
 
 What manner of Men we are. 1 1 7 
 
 chance of the condition of the home market at the time 
 of arrival. Moreover, competition amongst buyers is 
 rapidly increasing. 
 
 To cadets of good families, without means, New 
 Zealand offers but little chance of success. These had 
 much better stay at home. But young men .of this class 
 with about 5000L can generally do well. It is hardly to 
 be expected that they can succeed so well with so small a 
 capital as the experienced farmer. Possibly more mistakes 
 will be made at first, and heavier losses encountered. 
 Very few can expect to make much the first year or two 
 after commencing business in a new country ; but on the 
 other hand, farming, as at present necessary, may easily 
 be picked up; its refinements can be left to future 
 experience. Often a partner is to be found who will help 
 to lighten first responsibilities. Life in New Zealand 
 possesses great charms to young men of the better 
 classes, but the colony is above all things suited to a 
 man in the position of one with whom we were once 
 slightly acquainted. He was passionately fond of the 
 country, and country pursuits. His income amounted 
 to about 1000L or 1200?. a year. He was married, and 
 during the preceding ten years his wife had presented 
 him with a healthy and blooming boy, as every Christmas 
 came. She had done this up to the termination of our 
 casual acquaintance, so that it is difficult to form an 
 estimate of what the present total may be. Possessing 
 just sufficient income for the present, his position would 
 become worse when the education of his sons commenced, 
 or when they had to be started in life. In New Zealand 
 he would find education both good and cheap, and the 
 fortune which he could command would place him in a 
 most comfortable position. 
 
 Perhaps colonial life is more suited to men who have
 
 1 1 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 seen something of the world than to the entirely young. 
 TV.e?e Colonies are far away, pleasant in themselves, but 
 far removed from all that has made life dear before. 
 The young are apt to regret the merry days of boyhood 
 and early manhood the only experience of life which 
 they possess. They are apt to pine for amusements and 
 excitements of which they have but barely tasted, 
 and know only by hearsay. The older man, who has 
 already learned that " all is not gold that glitters," is 
 more likely to settle down in a new home and find con- 
 tentment. We do not say that this must be always the 
 case, but it is a possible consequence of emigration. 
 
 The prodigals to be found in good supply in many 
 another country, are in New Zealand, if not conspicuous 
 by their absence,, at least few and far between. A healthy 
 life with hard work, and plenty of it, will usually be the 
 settler's lot.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY. 
 
 WHEN considering the financial condition of New Zealand 
 it may be better to state that elaborate tables of statistics 
 form no part of the plan about to be adopted in the 
 present chapter. It will, we think, be better to handle 
 the subject in a more general and liberal sense. It is a 
 matter of almost universal experience that statistics 
 can be interpreted to support the preconceived theories 
 of any writer. This has been the case not only when 
 considering governmental statistics, but those of any 
 department of trade. It has been found that conclusions 
 drawn from figures alone, very often prove delusive, 
 because few have the necessary aptitude for reading the 
 lessons which they should teach. Too many read by 
 the imperfect light of the figures, and few consider them 
 when illuminated by the touch of concurrent circum- 
 stances. To explain our meaning more clearly ; a 
 person wishes to compare one set of figures with another: 
 these he may select from two or more epochs in the 
 history of a trade, or from the contemporaneous returns 
 of two or more countries. From them he probably 
 evolves a theory based upon deductions narrow in the 
 extreme ; and narrow for this reason his argument is 
 founded solely on results extracted from the figures 
 which have been collected, no consideration being taken
 
 1 20 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of the causes which have produced the very figures. He 
 may not, perhaps, have taken the trouble to ascertain 
 whether the two or more sets of figures are capable of 
 comparison when viewed by the aid of their several 
 productive causes. How common for the merchant or 
 speculator to be ruined by deductions drawn from much 
 studied statistics deductions which, from collateral 
 causes, may be delusive, and, at the same time, render 
 him oblivious to the small black cloud just showing 
 above the horizon ! How frequently have the predictions 
 of the politician, so far as they were based upon statistics, 
 been falsified by subsequent events ! We believe then 
 that the gift of reading figures and estimating their true 
 value when combined with outside potentials, is a talent 
 bestowed on only a few. Each year produces its senior 
 wrangler, but each senior wrangler is not necessarily an 
 Adam Smith or a John Stuart Mill. The wrangler may 
 have the gift, and truly it is a great gift, of evolving, by 
 a technical process, incontrovertible results from a given 
 problem. But that done, he may not have the power of 
 putting the results obtained into a practical form for the 
 benefit of his own and future generations. To do so 
 requires the co-existence of a different order of intellect. 
 To become senior wrangler requires the inductive facul- 
 ties to be developed to their fullest extent ; to become 
 an Adam Smith or John Stuart Mill, demands the 
 union of deductive and inductive powers in a most 
 perfect consonance. To put the matter in plain words, 
 few possess true genius united with strong common 
 sense. 
 
 Feeling, then, that mere statistics are often misleading 
 and somewhat wearisome to the general reader, we prefer 
 to approach the present subject by broad touches rather 
 than by statistical deduction. By following this plan a
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 121 
 
 matter of great importance, but necessarily dry in itself, 
 will be invested with greater interest. 
 
 Among those who grasp the true stability of New 
 Zealand nothing tends more to excite annoyance than the 
 depreciatory articles which have, from time to time, 
 appeared in some of the home papers on the subject of 
 its financial condition. It is not that the colony would 
 avoid criticism ; it is not that it believes that some of 
 the proceedings of past Governments are not open to 
 censure ; neither does it deny that, in the manage- 
 ment of its finances, it has sometimes carried too much 
 sail. It is, on the contrary, grateful for sound advice 
 that helps it to realize that it may be going too fast, 
 and that it is time to take in the studding-sails. But 
 what is vexatious, and sometimes excites a passing in- 
 dignation, is to find some ignorant or designing stock- 
 jobber hint at repudiation, or compare this land to Chili 
 and Peru, to Bolivia, or to Paraguay. We know that New 
 Zealand has had difficulties in the past, and must in- 
 evitably have other difficulties in the future. We realize 
 the fact that there is a shady as well as a sunny side to 
 the fence ; that men must work, and sometimes fail, not 
 only here, but all the world over. But we would that 
 our critics should consider us as people of like fashion 
 with themselves, as a country possessing happy and 
 contented English homes, nor ever be led to such an 
 exhibition of crass ignorance again. Generally speaking, 
 a leader in the Times, or other first-class daily, is well 
 considered, founded on fact, and worthy of deep thought, 
 because the talent devoted to its production is of a high 
 order, and carefully selected. But it is those " city 
 articles " which provoke so much distrust not when they 
 chronicle the past, but when they give instruction for the 
 future. When we find a paragraph commencing, " We
 
 122 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 have it on the best authority that a rise may shortly be 
 expected in London, and Brighton Ordinaries, which for 
 some time past have been neglected, and, in our opinion, 
 more than they should have been when comparing their 
 present value with the prices ruling for similar securities," 
 the idea occurs that " the best authority " must be first 
 cousin to some holder who wants to be in for a good 
 thing. Or when the statement is made, that " North 
 Easterns have now risen to a point which indicates a 
 probable decline in value," we wonder who it is that is 
 " short." The informant in these cases is surely not the 
 able operator who forces the rise, or would sell before 
 the fall. To betray his opinion, would be to spoil the 
 market. And here, parenthetically, we cannot refrain 
 from mentioning our great admiration for the late Lord 
 Beaconsfield, in so far as regards his purchase of the 
 Suez Canal shares. Owing to the secret conduct of the 
 transaction, he has been called both a trickster and a 
 charlatan. It has been stated that, had he been honest, 
 he would have consulted his party, or taken the opinion 
 of the House, before so deeply implicating the nation. 
 But who, with any particle of common sense, would have 
 thought of such a course ? If it was for the welfare of 
 the empire to possess a positive interest in the most 
 important highway of the world, was the fact to be 
 shouted from the housetops and canvassed in Parliament ? 
 Had it been so, every bourse in Europe would have 
 rejoiced at the opportunity, and the cost of the purchase 
 to the nation, without any great stretch of imagination, 
 would have been quadrupled. 
 
 In quoting these supposititious cases, the object which 
 we have had in view is to show that " city articles " are 
 not always to be relied upon, and that, in spite of them, 
 New Zealand securities, although subject to the ordinary
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 123 
 
 fluctuations of the market, may be as good stock as any 
 investor can hold. This it will be attempted to prove 
 more clearly as we proceed. 
 
 It has often been argued that New Zealand has a 
 heavier debt, in proportion to its population and area, 
 than any of the other Australian Colonies. This may be 
 true ; but it may, at the same time, represent only half 
 the truth. It is clear that a debt amounting to 601. per 
 head of the population might, under certain conditions, 
 be a safer security than one which amounted to only 10Z. 
 per head. It might be that in the one case the money 
 had been put to productive uses, with the principal 
 remaining intact ; in the other, that a large proportion of 
 it, if not the whole amount, had been squandered in 
 unproductive works. It might be that in the former 
 case the country was, from its fertility, able to stand the 
 drain upon its resources, while in the latter it was too 
 sterile to do so. And possibly it might be, that the debt 
 of 60/. per head was backed by relatively far larger 
 private resources and means than the one of 10Z. It has 
 often been stated that if some of the defaulting States of 
 North America, as Arkansas, were to be sold up, the 
 entire proceeds would prove unequal to repay the public 
 indebtedness. But what, if such a course were adopted, 
 would be the case with New Zealand ? 
 
 On the 31st March, 1881, the net public debt of the 
 colony amounted, according to the Treasurer's financial 
 statement, to 27,108,269/. 1 The question arises, what 
 assets has the country to show to warrant such an in- 
 debtedness ? The answer we believe to be sufficiently 
 clear. Of this debt, 10,540,590?. had been sunk in the 
 formation and equipment of 1287 miles of railway, now 
 
 1 See Appendix, Table L.
 
 1 24 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 yielding 3f per cent, on the cost of construction. The 
 " Property Assessment Act of 1879" showed the total 
 private capital of the colony available for assessment, to 
 be 73,958, 182Z., exclusive of lands yet in the possession 
 of the natives. But when we further consider that acres 
 upon acres of freehold virgin soil still remain unculti- 
 vated, when we add to this the value of the leasehold 
 runs and the large existing masses of forest timber, it 
 will be found that the public creditors of New Zealand are 
 secured by real property, over and over again. It will 
 be seen that in the above calculation no credit has been 
 taken for the untold mineral wealth which lies in large 
 quantities below the surface. Our remarks are for the 
 moment confined to the public debt only ; private in- 
 debtedness does not bear upon the subject, and is entirely 
 beside the question. It matters nothing to the holders 
 of New Zealand bonds whether the mortgagee or mort- 
 gagor is the person to whom he must look for payment ; 
 both are ultimately liable. The existence of the two, in 
 fact, gives a double security for the performance of the 
 contract. It may surprise some to learn that, when the 
 country was last year first rated for the property tax, 
 the largest individual estate was found to be of the rate- 
 able value of 1,500,OOOZ., and that many others, although 
 not equally large, were rated at enormous sums. 
 
 But it may be said, this is all very well; you may 
 repudiate, or the drain upon your resources may be so 
 great as to preclude you for a time from paying interest 
 on your loans. Both these arguments are untenable. In 
 the first place, repudiation would be impossible. The 
 people of the colony would not stand it. They would at 
 once overturn a government which even hinted at such a 
 course. They are not South American Spaniards, or 
 effete Mussulmen, both of whom look upon their creditors
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 125 
 
 as natural enemies, or as soft fools whom it is a duty to 
 ease of so much money as can be got. They are fellow- 
 countrymen with yourselves ; with friends, brothers, 
 fathers, yet living in your midst. They dare no more to 
 stain the honour of the British Empire, of which they 
 form a fractional part, than dare England itself. Again, 
 it would be impossible that such an extreme case could 
 occur as the drain being too great to permit the colony 
 to fulfil its engagements. Such a condition could only 
 arrive under the pressure of some great national calamity, 
 the like of which it is impossible to conceive. Under 
 normal circumstances the great wealth invested in the 
 country renders such a contingency to be purely 
 imaginary. 
 
 An additional security is to be found in the rapid 
 expansion of a new country. For people living in the 
 Old World it is difficult to realize what this means. 
 Perhaps the near example of the United States has 
 given some idea of the powerful expansiveness charac- 
 teristic of all new lands. New Zealand is so far re- 
 mote, and so seldom brought prominently before the 
 English public, that a probability exists of the expansion, 
 in her case, being little heeded, except by those already 
 interested in the colony. Yet it is very great. For 
 example, the number of acres under crop and sown 
 with English grasses, in the two islands, was, in 1881, 
 4,768,192 ; in 1882, 5,189,106 ; showing, in one year, 
 an increase of nearly nine per cent. 2 It is astonishing, 
 even to the colonists, when they now and again think 
 about the matter, to find the change that two or three 
 years have made in their several districts. Taking, as 
 an example, our own country side, we find, within a 
 year or two, several new homesteads to have been 
 * See Appendix, Table I.
 
 126 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 erected, and many thousands of pounds of fresh capital 
 to have been imported ; the latter necessitating the em- 
 ployment of more labour, and increasing by a consider- 
 able amount the volume of local trade. 
 
 The indebtedness of the colony has often been 
 contrasted with the smallness of its population. This 
 is a point which requires some explanation. The 
 smallness of the population is partly neutralized by the 
 great producing power of the individual, partly by the 
 employment of labour-saving machinery ; partly by the 
 character of the soil ; and partly by the small number 
 of hands required for pastoral purposes. In a letter 
 written from home, towards the end of the harvest of 
 1881, the remark was made that it was sad to see but 
 two old men reaping a large wheat-field, and that, as a 
 consequence, bad weather had set in before the crop 
 was secured. Two old men could hardly do more 
 between them than one and a half acres per diem. 
 Nothing of the kind is to be found in New Zealand. 
 One man with a reaper and binder will cut and tie 
 ten acres a day, whilst a second can follow the machine 
 and stook all that has been cut. Supposing fine weather 
 to prevail for a week, it would cost, for actual labour, 
 but little over Is. 6d. per acre to cut, tie, and stook. 
 True, there would be other expenses, such as twine, 
 horse-feed, and wear and tear, but we are considering 
 now simply the producing power of the individual. 
 We have before alluded to the amount of land which 
 can be gone over with a double-furrow plough, three 
 horses, and a single hand, in the course of a day's work, 
 and have put it at from two to two and a half or 
 three acres a day, according to circumstances. On the 
 station a flock of 40,000 sheep will require about four 
 shepherds with two or three station hands during the
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 127 
 
 greater part of the year. Labour, when mustering, 
 shearing, and on certain other occasions, is economized 
 by two or three stations employing the same " crowd " 
 of casual hands in a pre-arranged rotation. Roads are 
 formed by a heavy single-furrow plough, after which 
 the loose stuff thrown up is carted away by the horse 
 scoop. Cuttings are opened out, tier after tier, by the 
 same kind of plough. In short, wherever practicable, 
 purely unaided manual labour is only employed when 
 and where it is absolutely necessary. Fences are erected, 
 hedges cut, and all other odd jobs done by contract, the 
 contractor passing from one farm to another as his 
 contract with the farmer is completed. All this tends 
 to economize the cost of production, and increase the 
 producing power of the individual, in a manner un- 
 known on farms at home, at least in former years, and 
 barely equalled even in the case of large contractors. 
 Probably it is necessity which has made the practice 
 of contract work very prevalent in the colony. When 
 it is remembered that an acre of wheat will readily pro- 
 duce thirty bushels, and that 40,000 sheep will easily 
 give 240,000 Ibs. of wool, besides an annual increase 
 of stock, it becomes sufficiently evident that but few 
 hands are required to raise a large amount of produce. 
 
 In the financial history of the colony one fact is very 
 remarkable. We allude to the large sums of money 
 arriving from the old country for the purpose of in- 
 vestment, whether in mortgages, or the purchase of 
 real estate. Many properties are held by residents at 
 home, and are either let on a lease, or worked through 
 a partner or agent residing in the country. It may 
 be that the rate of interest obtainable has been an 
 inducement to those who have money to lend, but this 
 will not explain the fact of so many absentees becoming
 
 128 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 landed proprietors. Looking at the mattter from what- 
 ever point we will, it seems clear that many people have 
 an idea that investments in landed estate in New Zealand 
 are safe, and calculate on such an increase in their value 
 as to cause the investors, in process of time, to become 
 wealthy proprietors. The possibility of this in the near 
 future is not so improbable as might at first sight 
 appear. The world is more thickly peopled, and ad- 
 vances by far more rapid steps than it did one hundred 
 years ago, and the time is arrived when crowded centres 
 must get rid of their surplus population. For a few 
 years the development of railways, telegraphs, and 
 other internal improvements, has delayed, but cannot 
 eventually prevent, an exodus. The colonies must, by 
 degrees, become the home of a powerful people. For 
 the moment it is true that there are in New Zealand 
 comparatively large tracts of good land in second hands 
 open for purchase. But each year the quantity is 
 becoming less, and while this condition lasts land cannot 
 rise beyond a certain value. But to-day, and on the 
 basis of the prices mentioned in a former chapter, land 
 can and does hold its own. Owners feel that if they 
 cannot, in all cases, sell immediately ; they will, with a 
 little patience, secure the price on which they have 
 based their calculations. In the meantime the land is 
 for the most part productive, and as the quantity for 
 sale diminishes prices must inevitably rise. 
 
 New Zealand cannot be compared to great and vaster 
 continents. It is but a small country, and its area 
 only that of the British Isles. The good land offering 
 is small in quantity, when compared with the larger 
 tracts of North America or Australia. When there- 
 fore it is said that much land is for sale, we must 
 be understood only to speak comparatively. A few
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 129 
 
 more years will probably greatly change the aspect of 
 affairs. 
 
 The colony has at length reached that stage in its 
 development when further growth will become ten 
 times more rapid than in the past. A few white men 
 were previously scattered here and there over the 
 islands, but it was only in the year 1 839 that Colonel 
 Wakefield, as representing the old New Zealand Com- 
 pany, made the first purchase of land from the natives. 
 It was in 1850 that the pioneer ships left the 
 London Docks for the Canterbury Plains. When we 
 contemplate the prospects then and now; when we 
 compare the severe struggles of the past with the 
 absolute security and assurance of the present; when 
 we look back at the man working hard to secure a 
 patch of potatoes for his very sustenance, and content 
 to live in a rude mud whare ; when we remember that 
 then a system of barter constituted the practical cur- 
 rency, and that cent, per cent, was charged for ordinary 
 necessaries, we shall, having considered all this, be in 
 a better position to estimate the changes of the past 
 few years. Instead of barter, we find numerous banks, 
 carrying on an extensive business in large and handsome 
 edifices, and supplying a currency based upon a well 
 established credit. Instead of a struggle to secure the 
 valuable potato patch, we find potatoes at a discount, 
 and at times almost unsalable. Instead of the first 
 settler's rude whare, we find, from north to south, good 
 houses costing from their hundreds to their thousands. 
 and all this has been, for the most part, the work of 
 the last twenty years. During the first period of its 
 existence it taxed the utmost efforts of the colony to 
 struggle on at all. Such being the case, it seems pro- 
 bable that during the next ten years so great an advance 
 
 K
 
 1 30 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 will be made in the general prosperity as almost to 
 be beyond the conception of the colonists themselves, 
 and most certainly of those who judge new countries 
 by old. 
 
 A good deal has been written about the heavy taxation 
 to which the colonist in New Zealand is subjected. We 
 do not believe he is taxed so heavily as the farmer at home. 
 When tithes, poor rates, improvement rates, county rates, 
 education rates, and, in many instances, sanitary rates, 
 are added up, the whole will amount to a considerable 
 percentage on the net income of an Old Country farmer ; 
 but, as a set off, he pays no indirect taxes, except on 
 such beer, spirits, and tobacco, as he may consume. In New 
 Zealand, on the contrary, most of the taxes are indirect, 
 and collected on groceries, clothing, and other articles 
 of consumption, most of which may be considered neces- 
 saries. Direct taxation is limited to an occasional 
 country rate, and a property tax, amounting to about 
 1 Jd. in the pound, on the actual property which a man 
 possesses. We say actual property, because all debts, in- 
 cluding mortgages, are exempt from the tax, so far as 
 he is concerned. Nor does he pay on actual property 
 until such property exceeds a value of 500Z. In other 
 words, property owners of 500Z. and under are exempt 
 from the tax. This clause of the Act has been framed 
 somewhat after that of the income tax at home, which 
 exempts persons possessing less than a certain income, 
 and by so doing gives encouragement to the small 
 capitalist. But although the property tax in New 
 Zealand exempts the mortgagor, the mortgagee is 
 liable. This seems to be but fair. When persons lend 
 money to the government of a colony or foreign state 
 on the condition that they are to receive a fixed interest 
 on what they lend, any deduction in the form of taxa-
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 1 3 1 
 
 lion afterwards made by such colony or state is 
 manifestly a breach of contract. But when absentees 
 of their free will invest moneys privately on the security 
 of land or other property in a colony or foreign country, 
 and receive from such investments an annual income 
 earned for them by workers in such colony or country, 
 they are clearly liable for their share of the taxation 
 which may be imposed upon the resident property 
 owners. In the case of New Zealand, absentee 
 capitalists have had, no doubt, to pay a considerable 
 share of the property tax, and to some extent have 
 lightened the burden which, under different circum- 
 stances, would have been thrown upon the working 
 colonist. The amount outstanding secured by mort- 
 gages stood on the 31st March, 1881 at 15,837,8232. ; 
 and on the 30 th June, in the same year, the advances 
 granted by the New Zealand banks amounted to 
 12,254,616L What proportion of these mortgages, or 
 of the capital and deposits belonging to the banks, form 
 the property of colonists, it is difficult to determine. 
 But there are many wealthy persons in New Zealand, 
 and the amount must be far from inconsiderable. It 
 is a good omen for the future development of the colony 
 that the mortgages and advances together only amount 
 to 28,000,0007. on a capital value of 74,000,000/. In 
 addition, it is a well-known fact that for the purposes 
 of assessment property is not taken at its real value, 
 but at a considerable discount below what could be 
 obtained for it in the market. That a considerable 
 amount of the capital invested in mortgages, and in 
 the hands of the banks, belongs to the colonists, may 
 be inferred from the fact that the balance in the 
 Post Office Savings Banks standing to the credit of 
 small depositors, was, on the 31st March, 1852, 
 1,316,8197. 3*. 9d. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The property tax is not more unpopular in the colony 
 than is the income tax at home, or in fact than any 
 tax must be. It is true that there has been a great 
 political battle over the merits of a property as corn- 
 pared with a land tax. Sir George Grey, with a small 
 following, would prefer to see a land tax, his object 
 being to throw the whole weight of taxation upon the 
 runholder and landed proprietor. This is evidently a 
 most suicidal policy. Under the property tax, merchants, 
 capitalists, the professions, and manufacturing industries, 
 contribute towards the general expenditure. Under the 
 land tax, they would be comparatively, and in some 
 cases totally, exempt. It is to be hoped that no such 
 harmful expedient may be resorted to, for the sake of 
 the future of New Zealand. Even supposing that a land 
 tax could be imposed instead of a property tax, for the 
 purposes of depreciating the value of large properties, 
 and replacing the present proprietors by smaller men, such 
 a tax would weigh far more heavily on the latter than on 
 the former. Supposing the natural order of things to 
 be violently disturbed, and replaced by Sir George Grey's 
 projected measure, the small proprietor would, in 
 such an event, have ultimately to be relieved by the 
 abandonment of the land tax, and the reimposition of 
 the property tax. Far better to let matters remain as 
 they are and take their course. Far better to let a 
 natural disintegration, which may in many instances be 
 observed, pursue its way, and the object sought will be 
 attained almost imperceptibly. To force disintegration 
 by a land tax would be unjust, and probably inopera- 
 tive. To wait for the subdivision of properties through 
 family and other necessities would be just and cer- 
 tain, although too slow a process to the mind of the 
 late premier. History has always shown that extreme 
 democrats work with minds so focussed on a given
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 1^3 
 
 hobby that all else must perish, provided only it sur- 
 vives. Extreme democrats become, through endeavour- 
 ing to make all men adopt their theories, unconscious 
 tyrants. Eepublics, such as those of Venice, and 
 France in 1789, have produced as many and great 
 tyrants as could be found under recognized despotisms. 
 We have much to be thankful for that in New Zealand 
 we live under a constitutional form of government, and 
 that, whilst the sovereign power is vested in a governor 
 appointed by the Queen, the ultimate control rests with 
 the people itself. 
 
 It has frequently been stated that the condition of the 
 colony is unsound, because for a series of years the 
 imports have exceeded the exports. The same has been 
 said of England. In her case the matter was taken up 
 and argued upon, as a sign of decadence, by men who 
 should have known better, but who sought to find 
 reasons for a temporary depression in false premisses. 
 She was importing too much, it was urged too much, 
 even when considering her vast wealth. Some trades 
 were certainly depressed ; many individuals were cer- 
 tainly ruined ; but, in spite of all, Savings Bank deposits 
 are increasing, towns are rapidly extending, banks pay 
 good dividends, the merchant navy commands the ocean- 
 going traffic of the world, and people continue to live 
 luxuriously. 
 
 We remember once calling upon a German senator in 
 Hamburg a worthy man he was, but withal a little 
 pompous ; and we could see that on this occasion he 
 was a little more pompous than usual. An article in 
 the Times had appeared that morning, which we had 
 fortunately read. In it the writer bewailed the deca- 
 dence of English and the increasing prosperity of Ger- 
 man merchants. Presently the senator asked whether 
 we had seen the article. "Yes," was the reply. " What
 
 1 34 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 do you think of it? " lie asked. " Well," we answered, 
 " it may be partly true ; but we believe the English 
 merchants to have become bankers, and to be now 
 lending your people money to do the work which they 
 did formerly.*' Our friend did not say much, but he 
 looked things unutterable. We still think the surmise 
 to have been correct; for what is England now, and 
 what Germany ? 
 
 But as to New Zealand. Taking the trade of the 
 entire colony, we shall find that the imports exceed the 
 exports, but to a much smaller extent than in the earlier 
 days of settlement. 3 The difference would be still less 
 were it not for the greatly increased consumption of 
 products within the country itself. The question arises 
 how is this debit balance met, as years roll on, without 
 bringing the colonists into the bankruptcy court ? In 
 England the excess of imports is more than compensated 
 for by the interest on property invested without the 
 kingdom, and the profits of the carrying trader. In 
 New Zealand it is more than counterbalanced by new 
 capital impoi ted into the country. Part of this is repre- 
 sented by money introduced by new settlers, part by 
 fresh funds seeking investment in mortgages or other- 
 wise, and part by profits on produce exported. Were 
 this not the case our people would become each year 
 more deeply involved, and ultimately find ruin staring 
 them in the face. The resources of a new country can 
 only be developed by importations of men and capital. 
 The capability of New Zealand to support its present 
 indebtedness is well known to men living in the country. 
 The present fear is lest money should become too 
 abundant, and, by being so, pave the way for future 
 complications and a further large extension of the public 
 works system. But the colony in any case will be 
 8 See Appendix, Table C.
 
 The Financial Condition of the Colony. 1 3 5 
 
 eventually benefited by all sums spent in public works 
 and agricultural improvements. 
 
 We would conclude this chapter by quoting the words 
 of the President 4 of the Canterbury Chamber of Com- 
 merce, taken from an address delivered at the annual 
 general meeting, held in Christchurch on 25th August, 
 1881, words which must speak to the understanding and 
 command the approval of all thinking men. He says, 
 
 " The steady, continuous advancement of this colony, 
 possessed of such a climate and such a soil, if left unre- 
 tarded by the devices of self-seeking and spendthrift 
 politicians, each eager to obtain for his own petty locality 
 a portion of the wealth out of the Treasury, regardless 
 of the welfare of the State, cannot be doubted. 
 
 " Finance is the key to the position, and should any 
 Government obtain power that neglects this in the 
 slightest degree, the results to the credit of the colony 
 must be serious. 
 
 " Increased population is one of our chiefest wants, 
 and our aim and object must be to obtain a fair pro- 
 portion of that mighty stream of voluntary emigrants, 
 possessed of some resources, that is daily setting to the 
 shores of North America. Why should they not come ? 
 Our climate is less severe, our lands equally waiting for 
 the plough, and facilities abound for carriage and ship- 
 ment of products, added to which no alien flag demands 
 allegiance. The Australasian colonies, possessing an 
 area of 3,103,903 square miles, with a population 
 already amounting to over 2,700,000, and a total trade 
 of imports and exports aggregating one hundred 
 millions sterling, must in the early future be destined 
 to play an important part in the history of the British 
 Empire and of the world." 
 
 4 A. Cracroft Wilson, Esq.
 
 136 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE CHEISTCHURCH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OP 1882. 
 
 WE shall presently have to consider the mineral resources 
 and local industries now existing in the colony; but 
 before doing so, it may be as well to make some mention 
 of the International Exhibition held in Christchurch in 
 the year A.D. 1882. Those of us who can remember the 
 " Great Exhibition " of 1851, as contained within its 
 crystal walls, cannot but feel that, itself the first of all 
 international competitions, it has been the parent of 
 many children the pioneer of much good to many 
 people ; and that it embodied a vast idea, the influence 
 of which has been felt even to the threshold of the 
 future. There have been many exhibitions since that of 
 1851. Paris twice, Vienna once, and London yet again, 
 have each tried to emulate it. The United States have had 
 their Philadelphia. At the Antipodes, Sydney and Mel- 
 bourne have followed suit, although maybe at a distance. 
 But the Great Exhibition of 1851 stands pre-eminent 
 above all succeeding efforts a first conception clothed 
 in royal robes. Subsequent exhibitions may have done 
 as much for their several generations, but they have been 
 of the earth earthy. They have been as distinctive in 
 character from their great predecessor as is the modern 
 copy to the work of the mediaeval master. As in the 
 copy original feeling is lost, so in all later exhibitions
 
 TJie Christchurch International Exhibition of 18^2. 137 
 
 the pure poetry and genius of the World's Great Fair of 
 1851, are made manifest by their absence. 
 
 To prove that this is so, picture we ourselves once 
 more in Hyde Park, approaching for the first time that 
 palace of glass, the creation of a most happy thought : 
 the bustle and animation without ; the sense almost of 
 bewilderment and expectancy as we passed the doors ; 
 the scene which met our gaze on entering the noble 
 transept the lofty trees incased in their daylight 
 prison, the great fountain throwing aloft its sparkling 
 jet but to descend in almost impalpable spray ; and as 
 we moved slowly onwards and stood beneath the very 
 centre of the dome to right to left, behind, before, 
 whichever way we turned, was seen a vista containing 
 throughout its very length the greatest treasures that 
 men or earth could then produce, the first fruits of 
 every land a willing tribute to that universal peace and 
 goodwill amongst men which was expected to be the 
 result of the building in which we stood. In this idea 
 rested the real poetry of the Exhibition of 1851 an 
 idea to be dispelled, alas, how soon ! Within but a few 
 short months, hundreds and thousands of our country, 
 men were to fall in a protracted war, the victims of a 
 still untamed and degenerate barbarism. Cut down by 
 the sharp pruning-knife of experience, such illusions 
 could never again be felt. On future occasions it was 
 not expected to find a fairyland or New Utopia. All that 
 was ventured was to emulate the past, in so far as that 
 could be done. Henceforth the real good to be accom- 
 plished was confined to a use of opportunity, and the 
 promotion, by practical comparison, of a solid advance- 
 ment in different countries or in individual trades. 
 
 Wars and rumours of wars might come and go ; over 
 these it was conceded that international exhibitions could
 
 138 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 exercise no immediate or sensible control. We had 
 descended from the age of gold to that of iron from 
 the more poetic and beautiful to the more practical and 
 utilitarian. We never have seen, most probably we 
 never shall see, a second Crystal Palace ; and yet we may 
 have visited exhibitions fully as instructive, and showing, 
 by the articles they contained, a great advance in the 
 walks both of science and mechanics. It would almost 
 seem as if the very architects acknowledged this, and 
 designed all future buildings to meet the more prosaic 
 wants of after-generations. 
 
 Who that visited Hyde Park in 1851, but has ex- 
 claimed on entering any subsequent building, " This may 
 be very grand, very wonderful, very beautiful, but it is 
 not the fairyland of our younger days." The poetry 
 then may have vanished, but the utility remains. And this 
 word utility means great things; it means the better 
 education of the masses, the advancement of art, science, 
 and mechanics ; it means a step forward in the march of 
 progress. It is not the shell of the fruit which possesses 
 the real value, but the kernel which the shell contains 
 It does not follow that because one building may not be 
 so pleasing to the eye, or so captivating to the senses, 
 as another, the former does not afford as much food 
 for instruction as the latter. Possibly it may afford 
 more. 
 
 Again, it does not follow that because a country 
 possesses not a London, Paris, or Vienna, it should 
 not endeavour to educate its people according to its 
 ability. If it cannot exhibit the masterpieces of a 
 Raphael, a Correggio, or a Murillo ; if it cannot show 
 the rich textures of Lyons, or produce the far-famed 
 china of Sevres or Dresden, it may, by doing what it can, 
 help to improve the past, give encouragement for the
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 139 
 
 future, and excite in the breasts of its people an other- 
 wise latent endeavour to excel. 
 
 Such is the light in which the Exhibition in Christ- 
 church should be regarded. It is an exhibition that 
 affords an opportunity of spending hours in a study of 
 the interesting matter which it contains, and enables the 
 student to come away a wiser, and therefore a better 
 man. To those who have visited the building for this 
 purpose, how harshly must it grate upon the nerves to 
 find people, with heads as empty as the handles of their 
 own umbrellas, affirm the whole to be a failure, and 
 assert that it contains nothing worth seeing. But human 
 nature always runs in the same grooves, and the thought- 
 ful mind is everywhere liable to encounter a similar 
 opposition to its deeper and self-formulated convictions. 
 We may, perhaps, have been studying one or two grand 
 pictures in the Academy, on the consideration of which 
 the better part of a morning was well bestowed. A few 
 hours later some prattling miss, fresh from " Laburnum 
 House," informs us that there are no good pictures in 
 the Academy this year; that, as a whole, it cannot be 
 compared to the Exhibition of the previous season, and, 
 in short, that art in Great Britain is in a state of rapid 
 ^decline. Or maybe we are in Rome, in some artist's 
 studio, and have just laid down our pipe in deference to 
 the all-powerful " forestieri." These visits always amused, 
 as seated in a shady corner we sat and watched. The 
 helpless condition of the intruders as to what to con- 
 demn and what to admire, when called upon to express 
 an opinion in a real artistic den, was often ludicrous. 
 We believe that if Mr. Val Prinsep's picture of the 
 swine tumbling over the cliff, one after the other, into 
 the Sea of Galilee, had been placed before them, they 
 would at such a moment have compared it to the " Trans-
 
 1 40 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 figuration," or the "Death of Peter Martyr." Perhaps 
 some lady with more presence of mind than the rest 
 would exclaim, " How beautifully you paint grass, Mr. 
 Dash. I never can make it look like that." To whom 
 the artisf-, " Perhaps, madam, you have not studied grass 
 so much as I have." What a relief, post hoc, to visit dear 
 old Gibson, as, seated on the ever-ready chair before his 
 cherished Venus, he murmurs to himself, " Sometimes I 
 think thou art an angel sent from heaven to visit me." 
 Of a surety there must be a foundation for the legend of 
 Pygmalion and Galatea ; the key to which has been 
 caught by Mrs. Kendal, and gave a cue for that agoniz- 
 ing cry, uttered when, as Galatea, she was about to 
 separate from her creator a cry twice heard long years 
 ago, but the echo of which is ringing in our brain to- 
 day. 
 
 The entire success of the Christchurch Exhibition is 
 due to the private enterprise of two gentlemen, Messrs. 
 Joubert and Twopenny. Most colonial exhibitions, when 
 undertaken by the authorities have left an alarming 
 deficit. Even in the Old World success has not always 
 accompanied the best efforts of government, while at 
 the Antipodes the Sydney and Melbourne Exhibitions left 
 a deficit of upwards of a quarter of a million sterling. 
 But Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny have proved them- 
 selves to be wise men in their generation. They have so 
 managed that any loss shall fall upon the exhibitors, and 
 not upon the promoters. They have made themselves 
 safe in a way which no government could have done, 
 namely, by making the success or failure of the enter- 
 prise a matter between the exhibitor and the public. They 
 said to the producer, " We will give you facilities for plac- 
 ing your goods before the people of New Zealand ; for 
 this you must pay us so much ; whether you can afford
 
 The ChristchurcJi International Exhibition of 1882. 141 
 
 to do so or not rests with yourselves, and the result will 
 depend entirely upon what you can make out of the 
 public. You may exhibit what you please, but first you 
 must pay down 201. for your stand, with a weekly 
 rent of 506-., payable in advance." Beyond the 
 monies received from the exhibitors, the goodwill of 
 the refreshment stalls, cloak-room, catalogue, and other 
 methods of turning an honest penny, have been sold at 
 public auction. Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny receive 
 the gate-money, out of which they have to pay all current 
 expenses. We had almost forgotten to mention that the 
 gas collector calls every week at the several stalls, to 
 receive from each its quota of the cost of lighting the 
 building. The promoters' private bill on this account 
 must consequently be reduced to a minimum. 
 
 It is difficult not to admire the thoroughly good busi- 
 ness qualifications of Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny, and 
 from personal experience we can state that they are both 
 most gentlemanly persons. Without their assistance it 
 is certain that we should not have held an " International 
 Exhibition " in New Zealand in the year 1882. What 
 share of the costs should be borne by the promoters, and 
 what by the exhibitors, is entirely a matter for mutual 
 arrangement ; nor is it probable that the latter will be in- 
 duced to contribute more than they think consistent with 
 their individual interests. Practically the matter comes 
 to this, that the promoters have inaugurated a new sys- 
 tem for competitive exhibitions, and we believe that the 
 grounds on which they have proceeded, will prove to be 
 based on sound and co-operative principles. In New 
 Zealand, at any rate, they have provided for the country, 
 at a considerable monetary risk, and certainly at some 
 anxiety to themselves, as good an exhibition as could have 
 been organized by government itself, and that without
 
 142 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 any fear of a deficit to the colony. We cannot believe 
 that their energies will be confined to what they have 
 already accomplished, but that when their present work 
 is done, they will be heard of elsewhere. Messrs. 
 Joubert and Twopenny could not have done what they 
 have without a large practical experience, and it would 
 be folly for those not initiated in the secrets of great ex- 
 hibitions to attempt to follow in their footsteps. 
 
 Mr. Joubert, the son of an officer in the French Navy, 
 was born in Charente, France, in 1824. After graduat- 
 ing in the College Royal Bourbon, at Paris, he com- 
 menced life on board the French frigate Heroine. Having 
 experienced many adventures and turns of fortune, he 
 arrived in Sydney in 1841, and three years afterwards 
 was appointed Chancellor to the French Consulate. Upon 
 the fall of the Orleans Dynasty, in 1848, Mr. Joubert 
 once more commenced a life of adventure, until in. 1867 
 he was appointed secretary of the Agricultural Society 
 of New South Wales. Whilst in this capacity he became 
 the initiator of Industrial Exhibitions in Australia. His 
 success in this line led him to suggest a permanent Inter- 
 colonial Exhibition Building in Sydney, which was after- 
 wards erected at a cost of about 27,000/. He was 
 employed as secretary of the Royal Commission at the 
 last Paris Exhibition, and the experience which he gained 
 in Europe enabled him to be of great assistance to, and 
 tended to the success of, the Sydney and Melbourne Ex- 
 hibitions. He afterwards, in conjunction with Mr. Two- 
 penny, organized, as a private enterprise, the Adelaide 
 and Perth Exhibitions. Lastly, we find him in Christ- 
 church, decorated with the red ribbon of the Legion of 
 Honour, and looking in his neat frock-coat as if fresh 
 from the Paris Boulevards. 
 
 Mr. Twopenny is an Englishman, and son of the rector
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 143 
 
 of Little Casterton, in Rutlandshire, where he was born 
 in August, 1857. He was educated in France, at Marl- 
 borough, and at Heidelberg, and can consequently speak 
 with the greatest fluency both English, French, and 
 German. Going to Australia in 1876, he was in 1877 
 appointed secretary to the South Australian Commission 
 at the Paris Exhibition. In 1879 he was secretary to the 
 same Government at the Sydney and Melbourne Exhibi- 
 tions, and in 1881 joined Mr. Joubert in his scheme of 
 instituting an Exhibition in Adelaide. With this gentle- 
 man he has been connected until the present time. 
 
 Placed in such hands, it was not likely that the Christ- 
 church Exhibition would prove a failure. Nor has it been 
 so, although Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny met with a 
 certain amount of opposition before they could carry out 
 their intended enterprise. There exists in Christchurch 
 a society called the " Industrial Association," formed for 
 the purpose of protecting and watching over the interests 
 of native industries. A certain number of its members 
 were averse to any Exhibition being held which should 
 include the manufacturing products of other countries. 
 They appear to have feared lest such an encouragement 
 to foreign producers should clash with their individual 
 interests, and divert some of the coin which by rights 
 ought to flow into the tills of members of the association, 
 towards the pockets of foreign rivals. Fortunately all 
 were not thus minded, and the co-operation of the society 
 was ultimately secured. That such ideas should, for one 
 moment, have been entertained, proves the great advan- 
 tage which the public was likely to derive from the efforts 
 of the promoters, and the narrow escape which it had 
 from a species of trades unionism in high quarters. The 
 sooner such false impressions are dissipated, the better 
 for the country in which they exist. Competition in
 
 144 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 trade tends to stimulate the inventive energies of the 
 producer, to show him new paths in which to tread, and 
 create a wider demand for the productions of his skill. 
 Producer and consumer alike must clearly be benefited by 
 a well-regulated competition. 
 
 After various sites had been considered, the building 
 was finally erected in Hagley Park, the best situation, 
 under any circumstances, in which it could have been 
 placed. It takes the form of a large parallelogram, being 
 663 feet in length, by 288 feet in breadth. The main build- 
 ing is carried round the four sides, and extends from tho 
 outside wall to a depth of 45 feet inwards. Bach of the 
 corners is finished by an octagon of handsome dimensions, 
 rising considerably higher than the rest of the structure. 
 A transept 96 feet wide, and of considerable pretensions, 
 divides the building into two parts. At one end of this 
 is the main entrance, whilst the other is finished by a 
 most delightful fernery, with limpid water trickling over 
 a well-formed rockery. The exhibits in the interior of 
 the building are confined within bays fifteen feet deep, 
 but of various breadths, according to the requirements of 
 the exhibitors. These are placed on either side of the 
 main avenues, leaving a passage way in the centre fully 
 fifteen feet broad. In the centre of the octagons are 
 placed handsome trophies, their walls being covered with 
 various exhibits. The transept contains the art-gallery 
 and concert-room, the one separated from the other by a 
 party-wall, through which doors are pierced for better 
 communication on special occasions. In the concert- 
 room an Austrian band plays twice during the day, and 
 numerous chairs afford a pleasant lounge to visitors 
 wearied with the fatigue of continuous sight-seeing. That 
 part of the building which has the greatest architectural 
 effect is the Italian facade, ornamented with several
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 145 
 
 statues, which fronts the visitor when first entering the 
 building, and which serves as a screen to separate the art 
 gallery from the rest of the Exhibition. Between the 
 entrance and the facade a pleasant fountain breaks the 
 line of sight. The unroofed and central portion of the 
 enclosure consists of two large quadrangles surrounded 
 by sheds containing the machinery exhibits. The entire 
 structure is composed of a framework of wood, covered 
 over all with corrugated iron. Considering the material 
 which the architect had at his disposal, the effect of the 
 exterior, and especially of the main front, is as pleasing as 
 could be expected, whilst throughout the interior most 
 of the exhibitors have so draped or fitted up their bays as 
 to leave but little of the bare walls exposed to view. The 
 total cost of the structure was about 11,000/., the pro- 
 moters supplying all the material. Perhaps the most 
 remarkable fact connected with its construction, was that 
 the main transept, 323 feet long, 96 feet wide, and 26 feet 
 to the wall-plates, was erected in a substantial and satis- 
 factory manner in the wonderfully short space of forty- 
 eight working 'hours. Such expedition reflects credit on 
 the promoters, architect, contractor, and the many work- 
 men who were employed. 
 
 To add to the ordinary attractions, prizes have been 
 given for band contests, chamber music, and choral per- 
 formances held in the large concert-room. So far these 
 entertainments have drawn exceedingly well, and seem 
 to be received with favour by the public. 
 
 The building was formally opened on the 10th April, 
 by his Excellency Sir Arthur Gordon, and although at 
 that date it presented a somewhat unfinished appearance, 
 owing to the dilatormess of some of the exhibitors, ^very- 
 thing has since been placed in position, and the interior 
 now looks at its best. If it cannot for one moment stand
 
 1 46 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 comparison with the larger and more comprehensive 
 efforts of older countries, it is in its own sphere equally 
 wonderful. Wonderful for this reason, that, on the spot 
 where thirty-two years ago could be seen nothing but 
 plains of tussuck, is now standing a building, situated in 
 a fair-sized city, and containing within its walls a collec- 
 tion of articles to produce which the genius and labour of 
 many lands and many generations have been exercised. 
 And if in these and the following remarks we appear to 
 dwell a small space too long, we do so because a know- 
 ledge of what is produced in the colony, and of what is 
 offered to it by the outside world, will give the best 
 insight into the present condition of the country. If 
 such .a knowledge can be conveyed, it will materially 
 assist the object for which the present work has been 
 undertaken. 
 
 Perhaps it will be found more convenient to separate 
 the contents of the Exhibition into two classes the 
 first comprising those articles which are of foreign 
 manufacture; the second confined exclusively to the 
 products and manufactures of tho colony. 
 
 Taking these two classes in the order which we have 
 indicated, the fine-art gallery, occupying the central por- 
 tion of the transept, may be dismissed in a few words. 
 The room in which the pictures are hung is large and well 
 lighted. It is tastefully decorated, and reflects great 
 credit upon the architect. But the works exhibited, are 
 decidedly second-rate. A few fair pictures are scattered 
 here and there amongst the numbers which line the walls, 
 but the bulk are of hasty execution, and suggest an idea 
 that they have been painted for sale, rather than from a 
 love of art or to foster the painter's reputation. The 
 collector has evidently endeavoured to meet the tastes of 
 all parties. As the bookshelves of the noiivcau riche may
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 147 
 
 be furnished in calf-bound octavoes at so much per yard, 
 so can our walls in New Zealand be covered from this 
 Exhibition at so much per square foot. Tastes may vary, 
 but so does the choice presented to them. We can see 
 " Ephraim's wife," in the shape of a beautiful female 
 stretched at length upon the ground, and in the most 
 pathetic of attitudes, her head upon a cold grey stone, 
 one of her extremities by some means entangled in the 
 meshes of a black lace mantilla, and her entire figure 
 guiltless of all clothing save that by which she was so 
 lavishly endowed by nature. This painting represents 
 the French school. We can once more visit the coast of 
 Holland, and look upon the sea-tossed brown-sailed 
 fishing-boats seeking, in the most impossible of waves, 
 the ever-welcome port. We can tread the pier at Boulogne, 
 and meet the newly married pair; she clad in the most 
 unwrinkled of bridal costumes, heightened by the tender 
 nuance of lemon-coloured kids ; he, as if fresh from one 
 of the lay figures exhibited in the spacious windows of 
 Messrs. Moses. We may cool our feet with the cattle in 
 the gently rippling stream and stagnant pond ; or, if it 
 so please us, refresh our memory in matters of mediaeval 
 armour and continental architecture. We have storm ; 
 we have sunshine ; we have interiors and exteriors ; we 
 have the lady emerging from her bath, and the cavalier 
 arrayed in the full war-paint of buff jerkin and shining 
 breastplate. But having all this, we feel that something is 
 wanting. Is it that one touch of nature which makes the 
 whole world kin ? Or is it the absence of the Italian 
 " pifferari," or the scarlet-bodiced peasant girl of Albano 
 and Grotto Ferrato? Who can tell? We have our 
 canvases encircled by their richly gilt frames, yet in spite 
 of all we feel inclined to say, " Gro to, Mr. Collector, 
 look lest we inquire the school in which you have attained
 
 1 48 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 your knowledge. We doubt thou hast never visited the 
 Cafe Greco, or been acquainted with that much regretted 
 ' censore,' and late uncle of ours, il Signore Buco." 
 
 One of the great features of the Exhibition is the 
 good display of china and glass. The stalls of the 
 Worcester Royal Porcelain Company, of Messrs. Wedg- 
 wood, and Thomas Webb and Sons, of Stourbridge, 
 together with those of several exhibitors from Bohemia, 
 offer an opportunity to the most fastidious of acquiring 
 a few of those elegancies which so greatly add to the 
 refinements of a home. 
 
 Still keeping to the ornamental, the Japanese court is 
 one of great merit. It is seldom that a superior collection 
 of articles from that country is anywhere exhibited. 
 Commencing with some large and handsome bronzes, it 
 passes through the usual array of ebony cabinets, papier- 
 mache trays, fans, Kioto vases, and such like knick- 
 knacks, to a few splendid specimens of real Satsuma 
 ware. France, Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey, although 
 present in name, are practically unrepresented. Certain 
 courts are alloted to them to assure to the Exhibition its 
 suppositive international character. But these courts 
 are, for the most part, occupied by stalls apparently the 
 property of Jew peddlers on a large scale, whose wares 
 do not rise above those to be seen in the bazaar of many 
 a seaside watering-place at home. Money across the 
 counter, rather than bond-fide competition, is here the 
 order of the day. Pity it should be so, but New Zealand 
 is evidently as yet a terra incognita to the gay Parisian, 
 or the respectable Italian trader. The vendors at these 
 stalls are somewhat importunate, and were better rele- 
 gated to that portion of the building reserved for what is 
 called somewhat grandiloquently, the " World's Fair." 
 It is well known that tradespeople can only be induced to
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 149 
 
 exhibit their wares by a hope of increasing their business 
 connexions. But there is a legitimate and illegitimate 
 method of promoting this object. The one by being 
 civilly attentive, and explaining to those interested the 
 merits of their respective exhibits, the other by annoying 
 the passing visitor, with their pressing assiduities. When 
 the stranger enters the so-called " World's Fair," he does 
 so at his own risk, knowing what may be expected; but 
 it is a trifle too bad to be pestered by Cheap Jacks in the 
 foreign courts of the Exhibition proper. Fortunately 
 this malpractice is limited to a few stalls, and perhaps 
 we ought to be grateful that the nuisance is no worse. 
 
 The Cheap Jacks are ofttimes very amusing fellows. 
 If you can get them on the quiet, they can tell of many 
 an amusing experience. It has frequently been said, 
 that the ignorant disbelieve in the efficacy of any medicine 
 which is not pungently nauseous, and we have heard it 
 whispered that many a nouveau riche despises that which 
 does not cost him dear; but to refuse to purchase at three 
 and sixpence, and elect instead to become the happy 
 owner of the self-same article at fifteen and six, is a wrong- 
 headedness which it is still more difficult to comprehend; 
 yet it has been done. A respectable-looking female 
 lingered one afternoon at the stall of a somewhat acute 
 vendor of American notions. "Madam," he says, 
 " what can I do for you ? Would you like to take home 
 to your little girl one of these handsome silver bracelets, 
 which, as you can see, will fit a wrist of any dimensions ? 
 Look, madam, with what ease I can place it round my 
 own so, or, if you will allow me, you will find it equally 
 comfortable on your own. But, perhaps, I may offer you 
 one of these gold necklaces, with the handsome locket 
 attached, and the price, madam, is really ridiculously 
 cheap, only fifteen and sixpence ; quite a bargain
 
 1 50 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 madam, I assure you." But madam does not respond ; 
 she is evidently not certain of her position. Fearing to 
 be had, she slowly moves to the next stall. Over this a 
 Turkish woman presides, jealous of the patter and greater 
 success of her Yankee neighbour. " How much for that 
 locket and chain ? " comes the question. Now is the 
 opportunity to outdo her foe and secure a customer. 
 " Three and sixpence," she replies. But, alas, she has 
 bid too low. At three and six, argues our good lady, it 
 can only be imitation. I had better buy the genuine 
 article at fifteen and six ; and she does so. Moral only 
 rate yourself high enough, and you will generally be 
 taken at your own valuation. 
 
 Practically the real interest of the Exhibition centres 
 around the British, American, and New Zealand courts. 
 In these we can find what Great Britain and America 
 can do for New Zealand, and what she can do for her- 
 self. All other exhibits are beside the question, and 
 may be looked upon as accidentals and of a secondary 
 importance. In the main building we see calicoes, guns, 
 screws, castings, gas fittings, sewing machines, pianos, 
 harmoniums, American organs, candle and sugar trophies, 
 circular saws, iron-piping, beer and wines, Crossley's and 
 other carpets, and many exhibits of a similar nature, 
 all interesting in themselves, but too well-known, as to 
 their general characteristics, to need any separate or de- 
 tailed mention. We allude to them for the sole purpose 
 of giving a general idea of what is offered to the colony. 
 But there are some articles so interesting in themselves, 
 and such salient features of the Exhibition, as to demand 
 more particular notice, and it must be gratifying to 
 the exhibitors to know that most of the articles in the 
 British court are so well appreciated as to have been 
 already sold, either to the trade or private persons.
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882 1 5.1 
 
 Amongst the exhibits which commend themselves as 
 being most suitable for colonial requirements, the first 
 which arrests our attention, from its proximity to the 
 main entrance, is a model of Messrs. Priestman Brothers' 
 patent dredger. This is a simple crane dredger, revolv- 
 ing on a pivot, carrying its own motive power, and 
 capable of being worked from railway metals, barge, or 
 pontoon. One of these machines, costing 500/., is 
 capable of lifting, under favourable circumstances, in a 
 working day of ten hours, 500 tons of mud or 300 tons 
 of clay, the lift being twenty feet from the ground level. 
 In new countries, where numerous works requiring a 
 dredger of some sort are being carried out, the advan- 
 tages of this cheap and effective machine must be appa- 
 rent. It is to be found working in England, India, 
 China, New Zealand, Tasmania, and in short throughout 
 the world. 
 
 Opposite may be seen two of the most interesting 
 objects of the Exhibition a loom from the Kaiapoi 
 Woollen Company's factory and a fine band-sawing 
 machine. The mechanic attached to the latter cuts, 
 from small square blocks of wood, the most ingenious 
 little chairs, tables, and foot-stools, which can be refitted 
 into the original cubes, and when placed in small card- 
 board boxes may be purchased at the cost of one shilling 
 a slight memento of the ingenuity of man. This 
 machine must be especially useful to cabinet-makers 
 and fretwork carvers. Hard by can be seen two speci- 
 mens of the Otto silent gas-engine, working so smoothly 
 as almost to escape notice. Seven thousand of these 
 engines have been already sold, and they have become 
 almost a necessity to those who have need of occasional 
 power, and are fortunate enough to be situated within easy 
 access of gas. There is yet another engine which makes
 
 152 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 its own gas, but it lias hitherto proved refractory, an.l 
 some of us, whilst endeavouring to help its somewhat 
 bewildered exhibitor, were almost blown into space by a 
 sudden ignition of the gas. Since then we became more 
 reserved in our offers of voluntary assistance, and looked 
 upon the still vain efforts of our friend from a somew. at 
 safer distance. One of the most attractive exhibits 
 from the old country is that shown by Messrs. B. Parkes 
 and Sons, of Dudley. Their display of fenders, both 
 good and artistic, is said to be the largest ever shown 
 by one firm at any international exhibition. The collec- 
 tion occupies nearly four bays, and is placed on a low 
 platform covered with scarlet cloth. It includes speci- 
 mens of the humblest styles and of the most elaborate 
 Gothic. We can safely affirm that such a display would 
 do honour to any country, and are glad to learn that 
 the whole collection has been sold to an enterprising 
 tradesman, who will, we trust, make some profit out of 
 the transaction. In any case, New Zealand will retain 
 articles of great merit, and their possession cannot but 
 improve the public taste. But we must hurry on for fear 
 of being induced to spend beyond our means, and 
 seek by concentrating our energies upon the Griswold 
 stocking-knitter to efface the memory of a display all 
 too tempting for our artistic temperament. Of these 
 machines, two are in operation, and the supreme com- 
 mand is vested in a pleasant-featured, quiet little woman 
 fresh from London, and come out under engagement to 
 a Dunedin firm. Her duties will be to instruct young 
 girls in the management of the machine. She informed 
 us that a girl can turn out from ten to twelve pairs of 
 socks a day, and the instrument will produce stockings 
 made from the coarsest wool or the finest silk. The stock- 
 ings made by this machine are often palmed off upon
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition of 1882. 153 
 
 the uninitiated in shops at home as the best hand- 
 knitted. 
 
 Turning into the open quadrangles, we are met by 
 almost every conceivable variety of implements which can 
 be of use in the colony. We have force-pumps, bucket- 
 pumps, and an ingenious hot-air pump, all in practical 
 work. The latter is a simple contrivance, consisting of 
 two cylinders, under one of which is a small furnace to 
 generate the necessary heat. The atmospheric expan- 
 sion thus obtained is assisted by working against a 
 vacuum in the other cylinder. The machine, once 
 started, may be left for hours to work alone. Making 
 3 40 revolutions per minute, it pumps and discharges 300 
 gallons per hour. The consumption of fuel is extremely 
 small, and any chance of explosion impossible, there 
 being no valves or boiler. The same engine will drive a 
 chaff-cutter, or blow the bellows of a church organ. As 
 a motive power, it is simplicity itself. Over 1800 have 
 already been sold. There is, too, a large assortment of 
 lathes, morticing machinery, and steam engines ; whilst 
 American churns, potato-planting machines, labour- 
 saving saws, and other Yankee notions, are well repre- 
 sented. 
 
 But the greatest display is, as might be expected, in 
 agricultural implements. Messrs. Robey, Huston, Proctor, 
 Marshall, and Hornsby all exhibit ; Clayton and Shuttle- 
 worth being, for some reason, conspicuous by their 
 absence. The American firms of McCormick, Wood, 
 Osborne, and the Johnston Harvester Co. send reapers 
 and binders, in addition to those of Messrs. Howard 
 and Aultmann. In drills we have the American Cham- 
 pion, McSherry, Farmer's Friend, and Monarch. Gang 
 ploughs, sulky ploughs, disk harrows, and steel and tripod 
 harrows, present an endless variety from which to select,
 
 154 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 while a couple of traction engines by Messrs. Fowler per- 
 ambulate the yards, thoroughly masters of the situation. 
 We have already said enough to give an idea of the 
 general features of the Exhibition, so far at least as they 
 represent imported articles. The above slight sketch 
 will enable the reader to understand that life in the 
 colonies has already begun to reflect those higher social 
 refinements and that improved science which have of late 
 made such important strides in the old world. To write 
 about and read about such matters may be somewhat 
 dry work, but there is no royal road to wisdom. " All 
 work and no play," it is said, "makes Jack a dull boy." 
 But all play and no work must make Jack a still duller 
 boy. Perhaps for the moment we have done work 
 enough, and may fairly listen for a few short minutes to 
 the sweet strains of the Austrian band. We do not 
 know what the general verdict might be, but of all the 
 military music, we used to like the band of Austria the 
 best. One of the greatest treats which ever threw itself 
 unexpectedly across our path, occurred one day at Prague, 
 when chance conducted us to where a military stringed 
 band was playing before the windows of the ex-Emperor 
 Joseph. The military music of Austria seems to have 
 a sparkling brilliancy unknown to the more ponderous 
 bands of Northern Germany ; a sweetness which leaves 
 behind the famous Guides of France ; a pathos foreign 
 to the more vibrating strains of sunny Italy ; a unison 
 of individual musicians producing inflections entirely 
 impossible to ordinary regimental bands at home. We 
 are speaking now of a certain class of music of those 
 sweet tones, which simply stir the senses but leave the 
 soul untouched. Great pleasure may be found in the 
 ballad, the stimulating march, or the merry valse, but it 
 requires a Handel to stir the soul. Beethoven we enjov,
 
 The Christchurch International Exhibition 0/1882. 155 
 
 with mind absorbed, when listening to the inimitable 
 perfection of his thorough-bass. Mendelssohn we admire 
 for his genius and intellectual power. But it is left to 
 a Handel to exalt our very being beyond earth's turmoil, 
 and translate us into a purifying heaven of his own 
 creation. Who that has listened to the overpowering 
 solos and truly glorious choruses of the " Messiah." but 
 has gone home to feel the effects of a previous tension, 
 and find in a past excitement the prelude to a depression 
 more or less severe ! But these were not our feelings 
 when, taking a temporary respite from heavier work, 
 we sat and listened to the Austrian band. As air fol- 
 lowed air, we seemed to be once more in Venice, beneath 
 the colonnade of the Piazza. The same old strains 
 were falling sweetly on the ear. And then our thoughts 
 seemed centred in an oft-frequented cafe. We remem- 
 bered one evening when, hat in hand, we Englishmen 
 proposed to the Austrian officers the health of the 
 Kaiser and Kaiserinn, and that too in a bumper of red 
 Vorslauer. Their fine old colonel next proposed the 
 Queen and Prince of Wales. We remember the good- 
 fellowship that succeeded, the many bottles which were 
 emptied with the invariable " Aus," the " bull " dance 
 accompanied by the strains of the regimental band, the 
 unanimous call for the world-beloved Radetsky March. 
 All this, and more than this, seemed vivid. Who can 
 wonder that we asked the band to play their well-remem- 
 bered favourite, or, that when they played, they played 
 indeed ! Then afterwards, in far New Zealand, with hats 
 in hand and hearts well warmed, we clinked our glasses 
 and drank once more to Kaiser and to Kaiserinn, to 
 Queen and Prince. 
 
 You, our old friends, present that night in Venice, can, 
 if you see this page, realize our feelings as the old march
 
 156 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 was played ; but you may notice that we are silent on the 
 very point which always was disputed that file of 
 soldiers, said to have seen us safely home. We never 
 did, nor do we yet, believe the fact. In any case, we 
 were young boys together.
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 COLONIAL INDUSTRIES. 
 
 THE Exhibition presents a good opportunity for seeing 
 the industries of the colony brought together in a con- 
 centrated form, and enables the observer to grasp, with 
 but little difficulty, the point which has been reached 
 towards making the country self-supporting. Much, in 
 this respect, remains to be done, but much has already 
 been accomplished. The ice has been broken, and 
 success following on success, gives fresh encouragement 
 for more extended operations. It is doubtful whether 
 the general public was, previously to the present Ex- 
 hibition, alive to the variety and extent of the manu- 
 factures which are being carried on in its midst. 
 
 As we proceed, it will be found that New Zealand not 
 only resembles Great Britain, by being composed of two 
 chief islands, but that, like her prototype, she possesses 
 large deposits of mineral wealth ; that she is rich in the 
 production of wool and grain ; and exhibits all the 
 essentials necessary to form the groundwork of a pros- 
 perous manufacturing community. It is satisfactory, 
 too, to find that some of the manufactures, in which she 
 already more particularly excels, are unprotected by the 
 present tariff, a fact which goes far to prove that those 
 trades which are protected, to the extent of about a 12^ 
 per cent, ad valorem duty, would be in an equally
 
 1 58 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 thriving condition were this protection to be removed. 
 For the most part duties in this country have not been 
 i:nposed for the purpose of protecting local interests, but 
 from a necessity of providing for the revenue. Indeed, 
 there is no reason why manufactures of a class suitable 
 to the raw products of the colony should not be able to 
 compete successfully with importations of similar goods 
 from abroad. Coal is plentiful and of easy access, and 
 wages are not so high as it is supposed. Persons of 
 both sexes are to be found willing to work at trades 
 which permit the enjoyment of a home, when they would 
 be unwilling to submit to the necessary restraints of 
 domestic service. We are fast coming to this, that if 
 young people, born and educated in the country, be 
 unwilling to enter domestic service, and for the most part 
 leave it to Irish girls to furnish the supply, they must 
 find some other source of employment. The shops can- 
 not absorb them all, nor do they possess the necessary 
 means for living a life of idleness. It would appear as if 
 local industries would employ this fast-increasing surplus 
 population, in proof of which the Kaiapoi Woollen 
 Company are now advertising for another hundred hands, 
 which, it is to be presumed, they will have little difficulty 
 in obtaining. 
 
 If we cast a glance at the tariff, it will be found that 
 the following goods, all more or less competing with local 
 industries, are imported free of duty. Some on the lisfc 
 enter into direct competition with the local manufacturer ; 
 others will do so more as workshops multiply; others 
 are but the raw material. We find, then, free anvils, 
 axles, carriage springs, carriage and cart shafts, spokes 
 in the rough, churns, brass, copper, gas-pipes, iron, lead, 
 machinery for agricultural purposes, paints wet or dry 
 (but not mixed ready for use), ploughs, harrows, printing
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 59 
 
 machinery, railway plant, sewing machines, steel, timber, 
 tin, artificers' tools, water-pipes, and many other goods of 
 a similar character too numerous to mention. Many 
 articles of consumption, such as bacon, cheese, butter, 
 grain, maccaroni, olive oil in bulk, split peas, sago, and 
 tapioca, are exempt from duty. Most other articles of 
 importance pay an ad valorem duty of about 12^ per 
 cent., with the exception of wines, spirits, and tobacco, 
 which pay on a scale regulated according to quality and 
 make up. From this it will be seen that the New 
 Zealand tariff, although to some extent protective, is not 
 violently so. Whilst its existence is necessary for the 
 purpose of raising the ordinary revenue of the country, it 
 protects the consumer from famine prices, should any 
 deficiency arise from an over-exportation of articles of 
 consumption, and it at the same time gives the manu- 
 facturer the power of importing, free of duty, the raw or 
 half-made materials necessary for his trade. When the 
 cheapness of colonial produce is taken into consideration, 
 it barely, if at all, increases the cost of living when com- 
 pared with an average of the prices paid for the same 
 necessaries at home. Competition is being gradually 
 developed, and each year witnesses a steady reduction in 
 the cost of articles of consumption, while a similar com- 
 petition is securing a permanent improvement in articles 
 of production. The tendency of the normal value of 
 money is certainly downwards, a most important point 
 when considering the future prosperity of the colony. As 
 a better communication is established with the old world, 
 the value of money at home and in New Zealand will 
 approximate more closely. When this becomes an ac- 
 complished fact, it must greatly assist local industries 
 and tend to the development of the hitherto barely 
 investigated mineral resources of the country. At pre-
 
 1 60 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 sent, although articles of consumption may be com- 
 paratively cheap, the colonists have to pay what would 
 be considered at home a long price for a plough or a set 
 of harrows. But implements such as these last for many 
 years. Thus, if they get mutton at 2d. or 2^cL per lb., 
 mutton, being an article of every-day consumption, goes 
 far to counterbalance the higher price of a plough or har- 
 rows, which have to. be replaced only on rare occasions. 
 New Zealand is essentially a wool-producing country, 
 and it follows that, with coal at hand, one of the first 
 textile industries to be initiated should be that of materials 
 made from this product. Two principal woollen factories 
 have, for some time, been in full working order ; the one 
 belonging to the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Com- 
 pany near Christchurch ; the other to the New Zealand 
 Clothing Factory of Mosgiel, near Dunedin. The success 
 of these establishments has been so great that other 
 companies are at the present moment being formed, but 
 with what results time alone will show. Much will 
 depend upon management, but the extra competition 
 produced by their means will no doubt be of great 
 advantage to the consumer. The articles manufactured 
 are made from pure wool, and for the most part are con- 
 fined to the best quality. Amongst them are to be found 
 superfine black cloth, coatings, tweeds, frieze, over- 
 coatings, serge, blankets, rugs, shawls, stockings, and 
 fingering yarns. To each firm is attached a ready-made 
 clothing department. The company at Mosgiel has re- 
 cently made extensive additions to its factory, and rented 
 another mill in order to meet the demands made upon 
 its resources. The Kaiapoi "Woollen Company has built a 
 large warehouse in Christchurch for the sale of its piece 
 goods, and for the manufacture of ready-made clothing. 
 To describe the working of one of these factories will be
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 6 1 
 
 more or less to describe both, and give sufficient insight 
 into the industry as it at present exists. The industrial 
 prize given by Messrs. Joubert and Twopenny, has been 
 awarded to the Kaiapoi Woollen Company : an award 
 about which the Canterbury Times remarks, " There is not 
 a single exhibitor in the building whose opinion is not 
 in accord with the verdict of the judges in this matter, 
 as the firm's exhibits are acknowledged by all to be 
 thoroughly entitled to the reward they have so deservedly 
 received." The public will fully endorse the opinion of 
 the exhibitors and judges, and we are only too happy in 
 being able to give a short resume of a work which has 
 been accomplished in so short a time. In 1878 the 
 company bought the business from the Hon. J. I. Peacock, 
 and was registered with a capital of 15,000/., in fifteen 
 shares of 1000?. each. In 1880 the company extended 
 the number of its shareholders, and its capital to 
 100,000/., represented by 4000 shares of 25L each. In 
 January, 1882, half the capital had been issued, 1 and, 
 after paying nearly 30,000/. for additions to land, plant, 
 and buildings, the profit and loss account, less depre- 
 ciation, was sufficient to provide a dividend of 10 per 
 cent., a balance of over 1200Z. being carried to the new 
 account. The factory is the most complete of its kind 
 in the southern hemisphere, and it is expected that, in a 
 short time, the machinery will be doubled. The space occu- 
 pied by the mills embraces an area of about eleven acres. 
 The main building, which consists of three stories, is 220 
 feet long by 1 80 feet wide, and contains the teasing and 
 carding machines, and on another floor the spinning mules. 
 Contiguous to it are three weaving sheds. At the west 
 end of the main building are placed the engine-room, mill- 
 
 1 Since the above was written the directors have issued the remain- 
 ing shares for the purpose of still further developing the business. 
 
 M
 
 1 62 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 ing-house, dye-house, drying-house, and finishers' room. 
 There are various other buildings for storing and sorting 
 wool, whilst close at hand is a sulphuring-house. The 
 remaining buildings include private gas-works, manager's 
 house, stables, carpenter's shop, and smithy. The fuel 
 used is New Zealand coal from the Malveru Hills, and 
 the engine is of colonial make. It was manufactured by 
 Messrs. Scott Brothers, of Christchurch, being a hori- 
 zontal compound stationary engine of sixty-horse power, 
 fitted with condensing and double-acting air pumps, and 
 making seventy revolutions per minute. The fly- wheel, 
 which weighs five tons, has a diameter of twelve feet, 
 and was cast in three portions. The high-pressure 
 cylinder of fifteen inches, and the low-pressure of twenty- 
 one inches, both having a thirty-six inch-stroke, are 
 believed to be the largest pair ever cast in the colony. 
 It would be tedious to follow the wool during the process 
 of manufacture, or to describe what can be seen on a 
 much larger scale at home. Our purpose is simply to 
 show what is being done in the country. For this it will 
 be sufficient to state that the machinery in use was 
 manufactured by Petre and Leach of Rochdale, Platt of 
 Oldham, Sykes and Sons, and other makers, affording a 
 sufficient guarantee that it is of the best quality and 
 most approved design. 
 
 A sick and accident benefit society is attached to the 
 institution for the benefit of the work-people, the con- 
 tributions to which range from twopence to sixpence per 
 week, according to the circumstances and sex of the 
 members. The hands employed in the factory number 
 about 240 ; the works are connected with the warehouse 
 in Christchurch by telephone. 
 
 In the town warehouse the staff consists of about 170 
 persons, with over fifty sewing machines, a staff now
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 63 
 
 about to be increased by the addition of 100 hands. 
 When these are engaged the company will employ over 
 500 operatives. 
 
 One of the largest manufactures is that of leather and 
 ready-made boots and shoes. So long ago as 1878 (and 
 four years is long ago in a colony), 100 establishments 
 existed, which were devoted to fellmongery, tanning, 
 currying, and wool-scouring, together with eighteen boot 
 manufactories. Probably the largest representative of 
 the tannery and wholesale boot and shoe trade is the 
 firm of Messrs. Lightband, Allan, and Co., who employ 
 from 200 to 300 hands in the manufacturing department 
 at Christchurch, and about 150 more in the tannery at 
 Aylesbury. The boot and shoe trade is necessarily a 
 very important industry, and the firms employed in it 
 have, by carefully meeting the wants of the public, 
 almost caused a cessation in the importation of foreign 
 goods. But it must be remembered, when they make 
 this boast, that they are protected to the extent of about 
 one shilling per pair on strongest men's boots and of 
 eightpence per pair on women's. Still it is probable 
 that they could do as well without this slight protection 
 as with it ; and if under its aegis they have already 
 got the field almost to themselves, and in consequence 
 Government is making but little revenue out of duty, it 
 would be as well for the public to try what open com- 
 petition would do. The machinery in Messrs. Light- 
 band's workshops is driven by an " Otto Silent " gas 
 engine, and embraces American star-splitting, slicing, 
 and split-lifting machines. The same engine works a 
 Blake sole-sewing machine. The sewing machines used 
 are those of Messrs. Jones and Co., of Guide Bridge, 
 near Manchester; but for heavier work wax-thread 
 machines, of American make, are employed, also driven 
 
 M 2
 
 1 64 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 by the gas engine. The sole leather employed is entirely 
 of New Zealand manufacture, tanned by wattle bark, 
 and the uppers chiefly consist of French calf, although 
 East India and colonial kips are largely employed. The 
 leather shown by this firm seemed of excellent quality, 
 and included a large variety of finish. We noticed the 
 following makes well known to the trade : Sole, horse 
 tweed and tweed calf, waxed splits and waxed calf, 
 brown harness and coach strap, besides other finishes 
 too numerous to mention. 
 
 The wattle 2 or mimosa, which supplies bark to the 
 New Zealand tanneries, is of the acacia tribe, and a 
 native of Australia. The best descriptions of mimosa 
 for tanning purposes are the acacia pycnantha and 
 acacia decurrens ; the former known as the golden or 
 broad leaf, the latter as the black or feather leaf. Be- 
 yond the value of its bark, the tree can be utilized for 
 various commercial purposes. The wood is well suited 
 for cask-staves, axle-spokes, axe and pick-handles, and 
 for many other articles requiring a tough and durable 
 grain. The smaller branches make the most excellent 
 firewood. In addition to these properties, it exudes a 
 gum, valued in London at from 24s. to 30s. the cwt., the 
 collection of which does not affect the bark for tanning. 
 Indeed the less gum which the bark contains the better 
 it is suited for the tannery. The cultivation of this tree 
 in New Zealand has never been attempted on a large 
 scale ; but many instances occur of its growing to a 
 great size on poor soils and in exposed situations. 
 Whether the strength and quality of the bark will, under 
 such circumstances, be equal to that from Australia 
 
 3 The above account of the wattle or mimosa is taken from a 
 pamphlet published by Messrs. Michael?, Hallenstein, and Farquhar, 
 tanners, of Dunedin.
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 65 
 
 remains a question yet to be decided. It can only be 
 hoped that some one more venturesome than his fellows 
 will plant the wattle on an otherwise useless piece of 
 ground and patiently abide the result. 
 
 Another industry consists in the preparation of native 
 flax for commercial purposes. The valuable qualities of 
 New Zealand flax, the phormium tenax of the botanist, 
 have been known for many years. The plant is indi- 
 genous to the country, and grows in wild luxuriance 
 along the banks of every stream, and more especially in 
 the low-lying swamps about the coast. But notwith- 
 standing all its valuable qualities, " the history of the 
 flax industry," says Dr. Hector, "affords a remarkable 
 instance of the difficulty experienced in developing the 
 natural resources of a country if the commodities to be 
 disposed of have not a previously established market 
 value." So long ago as the year 1832, when New Zea- 
 land was only visited by whalers and Sydney traders, a 
 manufactory was established at Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, 
 for the purpose of working the fibre ; but owing to the 
 want of a, regular supply, or from other causes, it died 
 an early death. In 1861 the high price and large 
 demand existing for Manilla stimulated a further en- 
 deavour to bring the fibre into use, and the export from 
 1866 to 1871 averaged a yearly value of 56,OOOZ. It 
 appears, however, that the people who undertook to 
 prepare the fibre for export did not commence opera- 
 tions on a sound basis. It is said that they erected 
 machinery before securing a certain supply of the raw 
 material, and that prices in consequence rose against 
 them to an extent which was not warranted by its 
 marketable value. The firm of Messrs. Silburn and Co., 
 of Amberley, has at length taken the matter in hand, 
 and that with great success. Besides providing the
 
 1 66 New -Zealand as it is. 
 
 local manufacturer with, fibre from which to spin his 
 rope and twine, it is exporting large quantities both in 
 the condition of fibre and as felt. In the latter form it 
 is in a state suitable to the manufacture of the best 
 paper, or papier-mache. The firm took the precaution 
 of purchasing and leasing considerable tracts of flax 
 swamps before erecting its machinery. It is conse- 
 quently at perfect ease, so far as regards a regular 
 supply of the raw material. The plants, which grow 
 somewhat after the form of an exaggerated aloe, are cut 
 once every two years. This gives them a period of rest 
 sufficient for the production of leaves of large and valu- 
 able proportions. The fibre is bleached by acids, and is 
 exported in an excellent state for further manufacture. 
 Where water gives enough humidity below the imme- 
 diate surface of the soil the phormium tenax can be 
 propagated with great success and to any extent. 
 
 In a pastoral country, abounding in supplies of tallow, 
 it is not astonishing to find both soap and candle 
 factories dotted here and there throughout its entire 
 breadth. In one of the octagons, Messrs. McLeod 
 Brothers, of Dunedin, exhibit a handsome glass case, 
 which contains not only specimens of their usual pro- 
 ductions, but several groups of figures made from wax. 
 These, from their good execution and the fineness of the 
 material used, stand as if carved in Parian marble. 
 Amongst the groups is that of the " Three Graces," 
 surrounded by several taking statuettes of girls dressed 
 a la bergere. The candles may be called stearic or 
 stearine, or by what other appellation the makers may 
 happen to adopt as a distinctive trade mark ; but, taken 
 as a whole, they are well made, and find a large con- 
 sumption at prices considerably below those ruling for 
 English and Belgian goods.
 
 Colon lal Industries. 167 
 
 In upholstery the colonial workshops make a very 
 good display with furniture manufactured in the country. 
 Iron and brass bedsteads, carpets, chintzes, and such 
 like luxuries, have still to be imported. But the making 
 up of furniture, including chairs, tables, sofas, and ward- 
 robes, is carried on to a large extent, and has received a 
 great impetus during the last few years. There exists 
 among the trade a decided leaning towards the Queen 
 Anne and even more aesthetic styles a natural reflex 
 of the present well-worn taste at home; but sufficient 
 variety remains to allow the purchaser to select accord- 
 ing to individual taste. Many of the native woods are 
 specially adapted to the use of the cabinet-maker, and 
 afford an almost inexhaustible variety of shade and 
 colour. Rimu, or the dacrydium cupressinum, is a 
 favourite for dining-room suites, the old wood being 
 handsomely marked like rosewood, but of a lighter 
 brown. Amongst other exhibits, we noticed a handsome 
 inlaid table, consisting of 3500 pieces and of seventeen 
 different woods. Above the table hung a frame, con- 
 taining forty-two specimens of New Zealand woods. 
 To make this number a few were duplicated, the object 
 being to show both knot and ordinary grain, but all were 
 suited to the trade. Perhaps the handsomest were the 
 ribbon wood (hoheria populuca), the totara knot (podo- 
 carpus totara), and rewa rewa (Jcnightia ezcelsa), this 
 last most valuable for veneering. 
 
 Coach-builders exist in all the larger towns, some 
 already enjoying a celebrity equal in their separate 
 sphere to that of the fashionable builder at home. 
 From some unexplained reason one or two of the best 
 makers sent no specimens of their skill to Christchurch, 
 although a considerable space had been reserved for 
 their exhibits. Probably the hurried notice given left
 
 1 68 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 but little time to prepare anything special in this class. 
 But there were exhibited some handsome types of the 
 landau and brougham, two styles of carriage for which 
 the accumulating wealth of the larger towns is beginning 
 to create a considerable demand. There might be seen, 
 too, phaetons and wagonettes, a four-wheeled dog-cart 
 or so, and some of those useful single-horse " buggies " 
 in general use throughout the colony. 
 
 It would be impossible to enumerate all the colonial- 
 made exhibits of jams, preserved meats, sauces, cheese, 
 biscuits, and confectioneries ; or to describe the electric 
 batteries, horse-nails, jewellery, rugs, corsets, photo- 
 graphs, and beers and wines which are to be seen on 
 all sides. Sufficient that these and similar industries 
 are everywhere in operation, and give employment to 
 many hundreds of the population. 
 
 We must pass on to a few of those more important 
 trades which employ greater capital, more hands, and 
 tend to a more direct development of the mineral 
 resources of the country. 
 
 One of the most important of these is the coal trade. 
 Scattered throughout the exhibition may be seen 
 specimens from various pits already in operation, or 
 from seams which have not yet been worked. If we 
 examine the mineralogical collection, lent by the authori- 
 ties of the geological museum, examples will be found 
 of brown coal, pitch coal, and of semi-bituminous and 
 bituminous coal. In a new country it necessarily takes 
 some years before sufficient capital can be attracted 
 to utilize the riches hidden beneath the ground, or it 
 may be, in some cases, resting upon the very surface. 
 Coal, above all other minerals, demands a great expen- 
 diture, outside itself, before it can be fully or even 
 approximately utilized. A cumbrous article, it bears no
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 69 
 
 freight beyond one of limited extent. As a motive 
 power a pound of coal can perform a certain work. 
 Transported miles away, it can do no more. Any extra 
 charge for carriage is in fact dead loss. Gold will bear 
 a freight which coal cannot ; but used in its proper 
 place, the latter is as good as gold, because it attracts 
 that precious metal. Coal, then, requires a pre-existing 
 postulant before it can yield its treasures to increase 
 a nation's wealth. To this most enviable stage of 
 mineral development New Zealand has yet approached 
 to only a small extent. 
 
 The output of New Zealand coal increases every year, 
 whilst importations from New South Wales are rapidly 
 falling off. In 1878 the quantity of coal raised in the 
 colony was 162,218 tons; in 1880 it amounted to 
 299,923 tons ; an increase in two years of over eighty- 
 three per cent. In 1878 there were imported from 
 abroad 174,148 tons; in 1880 the import fell to 123,298 
 tons, a decline of more than twenty-eight per cent. 
 Were all the coal to-day consumed in the country raised 
 from its own mines, there would be an approximate 
 saving of 200,000/. per annum. A large proportion of 
 the coal which has been worked, up to the present time, 
 is hydrous, containing from ten to twenty per cent, of 
 permanent water. 3 This description of coal occurs 
 chiefly on the eastern coast of the south island. The 
 hydrous coal consists of the following varieties : lignite, 
 brown coal, and pitch coal. Pitch coal has a power of 
 
 8 For this slight sketch of the mineral resources of New Zealand 
 we are indebted to the " Handbook of New Zealand," compiled by 
 Dr. Hector, M.D., C.M.G., F.K.S., Director of the Geological Survey, 
 and published by direction of the Royal Commissioners of New 
 Zealand to the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879. The work is 
 scarce, and out of print.
 
 1 70 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 converting 4'2 Ibs. of boiling water into steam for each 
 pound of coal consumed. Brown coal, which exists in 
 considerable quantities, has a power of from 4'2 Ibs. to 
 5'6 Ibs. These coals are principally worked at Shag 
 Point, a spot north of Dunedin ; in various other parts 
 of Otago ; in Nelson, in Auckland, on the Waikato 
 River, and in the Kaitangata mine, at Clutha, half way 
 between Dunedin and Invercargill. The lignites occur 
 in the interior of Otago, and at other places in superficial 
 deposits of limited extent, and have been chiefly used 
 by diggers. 
 
 The anhydrous or bituminous coal, containing less 
 than 6 per cent, of water, is found in smaller, but still 
 considerable quantities. Its value is far greater than 
 that of the hydrous, and the experiments made upon 
 it prove it to be equal to any coal that has been im- 
 ported. Its evaporating power is from 6J to 7^ Ibs. 
 of water for the pound consumed. At the Buller mines, 
 Mount Rochfort, in the Province of Nelson, the seams 
 are from 10 to 40 feet thick. Accurate surveys of 
 this coal-field shows it to contain 140,000,000 tons of 
 bituminous coal of the best quality, and at the same 
 time easily accessible. A railway nineteen miles in 
 length is now completed along the level country at the 
 base of the ranges in which the seam occurs. At the 
 Bremner mine, on the Grey River, also in the Province 
 of Nelson, and somewhat to the south of the Buller 
 mines, is a seam 18 feet thick, which has been proved 
 to extend one- third of a mile on the strike without 
 disturbance. As at present known it covers a working 
 area of 30 acres, containing 4,000,000 tons in its own 
 basin. Its evaporating power is 7^ Ibs., and the mine 
 is connected with its shipping port by a railway con- 
 structed by Government. The coal obtained from this
 
 Colonial Industries. i 7 1 
 
 mine is eagerly bought up by gas companies and iron 
 foundries, and is considered better than the finest coal 
 from New South Wales. Coke made from it is valued 
 at 3. per ton. At Inanghua, Murray Creek, an 18-feet 
 seam is worked, whilst at Collingwood, again in Nelson, 
 thin seams of hard, bright, bituminous coal exist, 
 covering an area of thirty square miles. Here, too, 
 is to be found an abundance of iron ore and limestone, 
 facts which, combined with great facilities for shipping, 
 will no doubt cause this district to become one of 
 great manufacturing importance. 
 
 Bituminous coal has been worked, since 1865, in 
 Auckland, at the Kawa Kawa mines, Bay of Islands. 
 The seam is about 13 feet thick, but contains much 
 sulphur. There are also extensive deposits worked by 
 several companies in the Malvern Hills, Canterbury, 4 
 and in certain parts of Otago. 
 
 From a consideration of these facts it will be evident 
 that, whilst the mines already in operation provide 
 labour for a large number of hands, vast resources of coal 
 andiron ore waiting for future development exist. Such 
 a development cannot be forced, it must come naturally, 
 and be the result of a commercial necessity. Hastily 
 constructed companies may readily produce a large, 
 supply of pig iron, or raise any amount of coal, but 
 
 4 A recent analysis, by Dr. Hector, of coal from Hart's Pits, While- 
 cliffs, Canterbury, gives the following results : 
 
 Fixed carbon . .' . . . . 73 '94 
 Hydro-carbon . . . . . . 16 '60 
 
 Water 3'60 
 
 Ash 5-86 
 
 100-00 
 
 This is a non-caking, altered brown coal, with an evaporative power 
 of 9-6 Ibs.
 
 172 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 they cannot create the markets necessary to absorb 
 their products. Any attempt artificially to force 
 industries, which must in a few years have a great 
 future, would most probably end in failure. A com- 
 pany started in London, or elsewhere, to develop the 
 iron trade of New Zealand, might very possibly prove 
 a failure, owing to the managers being imperfectly 
 acquainted with the present conditions of the colony, 
 or attempting to do by bounds and leaps that which 
 can only be achieved by a natural evolution. Like that 
 of the United States the mineral wealth of New Zea- 
 land has been as yet scarcely tapped. To attempt to 
 forestall the inevitable would most probably result in 
 the comparative or total ruin of those interested, 
 although in both countries vast hidden wealth awaits 
 the energy of future generations. 
 
 Almost every variety of iron has been discovered, 
 but at Parapara, in Nelson, immense quantities of 
 brown hematite occur on the surface of the ground. 
 In 1873 an experiment was made in Melbourne, in 
 which year some of this ore was converted into iron, 
 and on analysis gave the following result : 
 
 Iron 97-668 
 
 Manganese . . . . . . '268 
 
 Carbon combined -542 
 
 Carbon free (graphite) .... '208 
 
 Silicon, with titanium traces . . . 1-004 
 
 Phosphorus ..... '041 
 
 Sulphur -269 
 
 100-000 
 
 A very valuable deposit of brown hematite has been 
 discovered at Mount Peel, Canterbury, the seam being 
 60 feet thick. The ore contains 56 per cent, of metallic 
 iron, and has been traced for a distance of three miles,
 
 Colonial Industries. 173 
 
 after which it is said by diggers to swell out to as much 
 as a mile in width. At present it would be impossible 
 to work the deposit owing to its inaccessibility. Hema- 
 tite exists also at Raglan in Auckland. From an analysis 
 which has been made this would seem to be somewhat 
 different to that of Ulverstone, and it may be of interest 
 to compare the analyses which have been made of the two 
 ores, so as to show the relative value of each, and from 
 past experience to suggest to those interested the pro- 
 bable future in store for the iron ore of New Zealand. 
 
 Taking then, first of all, the Raglan hematite, it was 
 found to contain of 
 
 Sesquioxide of iron ... 72 '69 
 
 Oxide of manganese ..... -31 
 
 Alumina 2'02 
 
 Magnesia . . ... . . -69 
 
 Lime '58 
 
 Phosporic acid (not estimated) . 
 
 Sulphide of iron . . . . -11 
 
 Hygroscopic water . . . . . 4'61 
 
 Constitutional water ..... 13 02 
 
 Silicates undecornposed by acids . . 5 - 97 
 
 10000 
 
 The analysis of the Gilbrow ore, 5 Ulverstone, made by 
 Mr. A. Dick, gives the following results : 
 
 Peroxide of iron . . . . . 86 '50 
 
 Proto-oxide of manganese . . . . *21 
 
 Lime 2-77 
 
 Magnesia ....... 1*46 
 
 Carbonic acid . . . . . 2' 96 
 
 Phosphoric acid (trace) .... 
 
 Sulphuric acid . . . . . . -11 
 
 Insoluble residue . . . . 6 '55 
 
 100-56 
 
 5 Taken from lire's " Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and 
 Mines."
 
 1 74 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Besides hematite the following iron ores are found in 
 various parts of the country, namely, the specular, com- 
 pact, magnetic, black iron sand, iron band, reniform, and 
 bog iron ores. How far these are available, and in what 
 quantities, time alone will show. Some exist in a greater 
 proportion than others, but the deposits have to be more 
 fully explored before a final judgment can be pronounced 
 upon the relative quantities of each available for manu- 
 facturing purposes. 
 
 Iron at present is not worked, and it would be absurd 
 to expect it to be so. The iron trade is, so to speak, 
 a " heavy " industry, requiring large capital, and an 
 extensive plant. We can only argue from analogy. 
 We can only assert that, as the output of coal is in- 
 creasing with a comparatively amazing rapidity, so in 
 their turn iron ores will receive attention. But this 
 will not take place before the position of the colony 
 is such as to warrant capital to be expended in their 
 manufacture, and that with a fair prospect of success. 
 
 For the present the best method that the public at 
 home can pursue, for their own interest, is to entrust 
 any surplus cash at their disposal to banks and other 
 financial establishments, managed by persons who 
 thoroughly understand the position of industries as at 
 present existing. By pursuing this course a certain, 
 although possibly a smaller, return will be secured. But 
 investors would have a good assurance that their money 
 is being utilized by those who not only thoroughly 
 understand the business of the country, but are at the 
 same time in position to lend the moneys entrusted to 
 their care, so as to secure a profit where an outsider might 
 fail to do so. 6 In all financial matters direct action is a 
 
 6 To show that the warning given in the text is based upon actual
 
 Colonial Industries* 1 75 
 
 mistake, save for the few. The public should have a 
 buffer, as it were, between it and any losses which may 
 occur. As the buffer mitigates the shock on the iron 
 road, so in finance, if a man is to suffer loss, a buffer 
 will probably lessen its extent. It must be wise, in fact, 
 to have another between ourselves and direct risk in 
 ventures far remote. It may be pleasant to sit over the 
 cosy fire and read post-prandially, the Times or Telegraph ; 
 to build airy castles whose foundations rest upon the 
 promising prospectus of some embryo " company." But 
 wisdom whispers, " Go rather to the friendly banker, or 
 sound old business friend ; invest your monies in corpora- 
 tion stock, in harbour works, or railways ; invest, if you 
 will, in good colonial bonds, and be that rarest of all 
 things, a man both wise and happy. Do this, and 
 countries, peoples, bankers, all will be working for you, 
 and yourselves comparatively secure. It is better for 
 the uninitiated to keep to safe investments, and leave 
 to those less fortunately situated the chance of being 
 superlatively wealthy or most miserably poor. For 
 what is money, but accumulated labour, and the result of 
 past exertion ? Its power, although great, is limited. 
 
 experience, and that investors in foreign companies should be extremely 
 cautious, we take the following paragraph from the Report of the 
 Committee of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, for the year 
 1 88] . " Haven Gold Mining Company, London. It having transpired 
 that a company had been formed in London, under the name of the 
 Haven Gold Mining Company, and a prospectus, with the plans of 
 ground, having been received, your Committee found, on inquiry with 
 the Broker's Association, that the ground as per plan, was in the 
 possession of, and worked by another company, and it was decided 
 that a telegram signed by the chairman of this Chamber, and the 
 chairman of the Brokers' Association, should be forwarded to the 
 Bank of New Zealand, London, intimating that the ground referred 
 to in the prospectus was in the possession of, and worked by another 
 company here."
 
 1 76 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Accumulated though it be, it has to share the fate of all 
 that seething, struggling mass, which constitutes the 
 working classes, and which, in truth, is but its younger 
 brother. The borrower says, " Thank you, I can get 
 what I want somewhat cheaper elsewhere ;" the work- 
 man says, " I am willing to work for you at so much ;" 
 the employer says, " Thanks, my good fellow, I can get 
 quite as good a man as you for less.'* The value, then, of 
 money and its synonym labour is fluctuating. This makes 
 it safer for non-workers, who must utilize tbeir capital, 
 to lend it through some channel which is in immediate 
 contact with the working world, and knows its value 
 better than they can do. If not of those unfortunates who 
 hasten to run before they well can walk, and, living in 
 great state, discount prospective profits, take comfort 
 from that apposite, if ancient saying, " A bird in 
 hand is worth full two in bush." 
 
 Although New Zealand does not at present possess any 
 smelting works, a most valuable paint is produced from 
 the deposits of hematite ore. The trade has already 
 attained considerable proportions, and the paint is in 
 good demand for all outside work, especially for 
 iron. The colours already obtained are mineral blue, 
 red oxide of iron, oak oxide, navy green, and black 
 oxide. 
 
 Numerous dependent industries are, as at home, con- 
 nected with the coal trade. Several companies have been 
 formed for the purpose of making fire-bricks, drain- 
 pipes, floor-tiles, and terra-cotta ware of all descriptions. 
 Some of the specimens of large garden vases, and terra- 
 cotta mouldings, as exhibited in Christ Church, showed 
 great facility in execution, combined with excellent 
 finish. Freight on bulky articles of this description is 
 most expensive, rendering it doubly important to the
 
 Colonial Industries. 177 
 
 colony to possess several manufactories for them, within 
 reasonable distance of the large towns. Common and 
 pressed bricks have been in use for a long time, and 
 abound everywhere ; the corporations compel all persons 
 erecting new premises within the boroughs to build 
 either in brick or stone. 7 
 
 The production of gold cannot be considered other 
 than a native industry, and in the geological exhibits there 
 are numerous specimens of gold-bearing quartz. Gold 
 was first discovered in 1842, but it was only in 1852 that 
 any system of production was attempted. Since that 
 time nearly 42,000,000^. sterling have been exported. 
 The largest export in any year was in 1866, although 
 other years have folio wed close upon the total then reached, 
 which amounted to 2,897, 412/. The export fell to one 
 million and a quarter in 1878, but there are to-day signs 
 of a revival in the trade, nor must it be for one moment 
 supposed that this falling off in the exports is a sign of 
 the supply being exhausted to any appreciable extent. 8 
 Gold-mining is a trade, like every other business. Some- 
 times a demand exists for the precious metal, and 
 sometimes the demand is slack, when the energies of the 
 miners can find a more profitable field elsewhere. When 
 gold is discovered in any country, the first efforts for its 
 production in a marketable form are generally of the 
 
 7 One of the principal firms employed in the production of stone 
 ware and fire-clay goods is that of Austin, Kirk, and Co. (Limited), 
 of Christchurch . In 1875 this firm received a bonus, from the then 
 Provincial Government, for producing the first 20007. worth of goods 
 of this description. To-day it gives a living to between 700 and 800 
 persons, men, women, and children. Its machinery has been locally 
 made at a cost of some 6000/., and it had to purchase an estate near 
 Sheffield, (N.Z.), from whence to procure a cheap supply of coal 
 and clay. 
 
 8 The export of gold was, in 1880, 1,227,2522.; in 1881, 1,080,79<V. 
 
 N
 
 i 7 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 most primitive description. The sands washed down by 
 rivers or washed up by the sea occupy the whole atten- 
 tion of the miner. The real riches of the country 
 contained in the quartz reefs, which have produced these 
 alluvial deposits, defy the efforts of the individual. Dr. 
 Hector assures us that gold-mining in the colony " is 
 still in its infancy, and only awaits the judicious applica- 
 tion of capital for its development to a vast extent." 
 Quartz mines have already been worked in the North 
 Island, both at Coromandel and in the Thames district, 
 but the produce of these mines is infinitesimal when 
 compared to the alluvial gold obtained in the South 
 Island. 
 
 In the Coromandel and Thames gold-fields, reefs 
 have been "proved" to a depth of over 6CO feet 
 below the sea level, but at present the best mines in the 
 latter place have been confined " to decomposed and 
 comparatively superficial rock. The quantity of gold that 
 has been obtained from some of these quartz reefs is 
 very great, and for considerable distances the quartz 
 has yielded very uniformly at the rate of 600 ounces 
 to the ton. Such reefs are, however, very exceptional in 
 New Zealand." Auriferous reefs are worked in Otago, 
 and have been found and worked in Westland, near 
 Greymouth, which latter yielded from a few ounces to 
 ninety-nine ounces of gold per ton. Although the pro- 
 duction of gold has of late fallen off very considerably, 
 the commencement of the prosperity of New Zealand 
 may be traced to the great increase in its export which 
 commenced in 1861, and has, with varying success, 
 obtained to the present day. The mere knowledge that 
 gold was to be found attracted both men and money, 
 and its existence has hitherto contributed, and will in 
 the future continue to contribute, to the wealth of the
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 79 
 
 country. Bi-metallists may meet in solemn conclave ; 
 they may declare ex cathedra that silver can be legalized 
 to bear a fixed value in relation to gold ; they may seek 
 by subtle argument, and to meet a temporary disturb- 
 ance, to foist a double currency on the world ; but all 
 their labour will be in vain. Such attempts will prove 
 but puny efforts directed against the far-reaching pro- 
 visions of a great Creator. There can be but a single 
 standard by which to regulate the calculations of the 
 world. Platinum would do as well as gold, but there is 
 too little of it. Iron would do as well, but there is too 
 much of it. Gold, on the other hand, exists in that nice 
 proportion which renders it, when considered in conjunc- 
 tion with the difficulty and cost attending its procurement, 
 the very thing. It is neither too plentiful nor too scarce. 
 It was created to meet a necessary and long predestined 
 want. How can it have a rival, and that rival silver ? 
 Suppose that one person has a pig, and another a cow. 
 Can you force a buyer to take a pig when he wants a 
 cow ? And if you cannot do so much as this, how can 
 you force the world to take an inferior article as of ster- 
 ling value ? In spite of conferences, we venture to 
 assert that gold will win the day. 
 
 It is strange how sometimes the very sight of gold 
 possesses an attraction for .those who have seldom, or 
 perhaps never seen it. We remember one instance, when 
 a man gave fifty dollars clean away, simply to possess two 
 little bits of gold. No other force, that we know of, could 
 have had the same effect. It was upon a Mississippi 
 boat, and we stood admiringly over a pen of Cotswold 
 rams. Wrapped in a close attention of their symmetry 
 and blood, we failed to see a raw-boned, lantern-jawed 
 six-foot product of the far south-west, who stood beside 
 us. At last we "viewed" him. We use the word 
 
 N 2
 
 i So New Zealand as it is. 
 
 advisedly, for he was worth viewing. It may often have 
 been thought that those portraits of the typical "Yankee " 
 perpetuated in Tenniel's cartoons were but exaggerated 
 caricatures. Certainly all Yankees are not thus. But 
 on this occasion we stood face to face with one who, 
 minus the inevitable stars, striped shirt, and bowie knife, 
 might have sat as that artist's model. The bowie might 
 be absent, the " six-shooter " we felt was there. " These 
 are nice sheep," we remarked as an inoffensive way of 
 commencing conversation. " Gla-ad you think so, 
 stra-anger, they're mine." " Well, you've got two very 
 fine rams, and we hope they'll do you some good." 
 " Wa-all, I'll tell you how I got those sheep, colonel." 
 [Observe the habitual respect for titles always exhibited 
 by a true citizen of the class to which our friend belonged ; 
 if you do not carry a commission in your pocket, you 
 always get brevet rank from such as he.] "I bought 
 them tha-ar down Kentucky way. My friend asked 
 130.00 dollars for this he-ere ram no more and no-o 
 less. I says, * Captain, I can't pay that 'ere price.' So 
 we adjurns. Wa-all, I got two double eagle pieces 
 of the-e United States in the pocket of my vest, and 
 after supper I plays with one in my fingers, just so-o ; 
 and he says to me, * What's you got the-ere, stranger ? ' 
 And I says to him, ' A coin of the-e United States.' 
 'Wa-all, I don't know it,' he says, 'but it's mighty 
 handsome.' ' Ya-as,' says I, ' and very scarce.' 
 With that he says, ' Jest let me look upon it,' he says. 
 ' You're welcome,' says I, and out I comes with t'other. 
 Wa-all, to make a long story short, he says, ' Tell you 
 what I'll do, old boss. I've ta'en a tarnation fancy to 
 those two coins ; and tell you what 'tis, stranger ; you 
 shall have that ram for those two coin and thirty 
 dollars on.' ' Done with you, colonel,' says I ; but I
 
 Colonial Industries. 1 8 1 
 
 didn't tell him that gold was as plentifu-ul down Texas 
 as them darned greenbacks in old Kentuck." 9 
 
 Copper, lead, zinc, antimony, and manganese ores are 
 also to be found, but, for the reasons already stated, have 
 not, with the exception of manganese, been utilized to 
 any great extent. Manganese ore is worked at the 
 Oronga Mine, Bay of Islands, the output being about 
 600 tons a month, and the price about bl. 5s. per ton. It 
 is principally composed of psilomelane, and is said to 
 contain from 73 to 83 per cent of manganese dioxide. 
 The lodes run from three to seven feet in thickness. 
 Gold and silver are found in combination with the lead- 
 ore : the latter to the extent of 26 ounces to the ton ; 
 and an antimony lode exists near Collingwood yielding 
 over 185 ounces Troy of the same metal to the ton. 
 
 Leaving the raw material, and turning to the ex- 
 hibits of articles manfactured therefrom, we observe 
 several interesting objects, the results of New Zealand 
 industry. Messrs. Scott, Brothers, of Christchurch, the 
 makers of the engine at the Kaiapoi Woollen Works, 
 show a high-pressure condensing engine of 14-horse 
 power nominal, and Messrs. Anderson, of the Canter- 
 bury Foundry, several vertical donkey-engines with 
 direct acting pump. The finish of these machines is ex- 
 cellent, and all the parts are made in the colony, with 
 the exception of the taps and brasses, which are imported. 
 Messrs. Anderson also show two boilers ; one an 
 ordinary Cornish boiler with Galloway tubes, the other 
 multi-tubular. The plates of both are brought into the 
 closest possible contact by an hydraulic riveting machine. 
 
 * During and after the late war, California and Texas were the only 
 two states which retained a gold currency, the rest all adopting a 
 paper medium. A local farmer in Kentucky would hardly know of 
 this fact.
 
 182 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Boilers are necessarily very cumbrous and expensive to 
 bring across the sea, which makes it doubly satisfactory 
 to see work of this character produced so successfully in 
 New Zealand. On the opposite sic'e of the yard is the 
 stand of Messrs. Reid and Gray, of Dunedin, agricul- 
 tural implement makers. Their exhibits are of excep- 
 tionally good quality, and the firm possesses a wide- 
 spread reputation throughout Australasia. They show 
 double and treble furrow ploughs, harrows, disk harrows, 
 drills, chaff-cutters, and other implements, all of colonial 
 manufacture. But a branch of the business upon which 
 they justly pride themselves is the excellency of their 
 malleable and rnachine-made castings. These are superior 
 to wrought, and far before common cast-iron. They will 
 bend to an angle of 45 degrees sooner than break. 
 Some specimens exhibited, as taken from the mould, are 
 remarkable for the smoothness of their finish. The 
 matrix for such castings can be prepared by a youth at 
 about 15s. a week, instead of necessitating the employ- 
 ment of the more expensive and skilled hand-moulder. 
 The firm employs a large number of workmen, and 
 now spends twice as much in wages as it did a few years 
 
 ago- 
 Most excellent kitchen-ranges of all sizes, from that 
 suitable to the small cottage, to the larger one necessary 
 for the wants of a big hotel, are made by several firms. 
 The railway department has sent some well -finished 
 specimens of work turned out by their shops at Christ- 
 church and Dunedin. These consist of trucks for timber, 
 cattle, and sheep; also guard's van and a well- upholstered 
 horse-box. At present the locomotives and passenger 
 carriages are imported ; but no doubt it will soon pay to 
 make them in the colony. 
 
 In the above short sketch we have endeavoured to
 
 Colonial Industries. 183 
 
 give some idea, however vague, of what has been done, 
 and what yet remains to be done ; of those points in 
 which New Zealand excels, and in which she is deficient. 
 Mention has been made of but few firms and of few 
 articles, as to enter into more minute details would be 
 bej^ond the scope of this work, and tedious. We cannot, 
 however, omit some mention of the great merit of the 
 agricultural produce exhibited. Sacks of peas and 
 beans are to be seen which resemble rather the produce 
 of highly- cultivated gardens than of large field-crops. 
 Wheats and other cereals are simply magnificent. No 
 doubt they are extra carefully dressed, but the grain 
 must be intrinsically good to produce such samples. 
 We noticed the following weights per imperial bushel : 
 
 White Tuscan wheat 65 Ibs. 
 
 Velvet chaff 65f Ibs. 
 
 Canadian oats ....... 52 Ibs. 
 
 Poland 52|lbs. 
 
 Chevalier barley ...... 57 Ibs. 
 
 These weights do not represent solitary specimens. As 
 nearly as possible a fair average has been selected. For 
 instance, some velvet chaff is shown weighing 67^ Ibs., or 
 2 Ibs. more than the weight selected as a standard. 
 
 Specimens of stone suitable for building and other 
 purposes make a considerable display, and represent 
 the large supplies which exist, except in certain 
 parts of the North Island. Some sorts are suitable 
 for building purposes ; others for road -making and 
 similar uses. Among them we find basalt and durites, 
 trachytes, granites, crystalline schists, limestones, and 
 sandstones. Close-grained statuary marble is found in 
 Casswell Sound. These quarries are now being worked 
 by a company newly formed, but which has already 400 
 tons ready for shipment. Specimens of this marble, as
 
 1 84 TV eiv Zealand as it is. 
 
 at present exhibited, are taken from the surface, the colour 
 being white mottled with grey. Good marble also exists 
 in the Mount Arthur district, Nelson. " Natural cement 
 stones or Septaria occur," says Dr. Hector, "in the 
 lower part of the marine tertiary series, and in some 
 cases are quite equal in quality to those which are burnt 
 for the manufacture of hydraulic cement in Europe. 
 The cement hitherto used so largely in New Zealand has 
 been imported, but with the great resources that the 
 colony possesses in the raw material for the manufac- 
 ture, this will probably not be long continued." . . . 
 " The manufacture of Portland cement might be made 
 an important industry in New Zealand, excellent lime 
 and non-ferruginous clay being obtainable/' 
 
 In order to stimulate colonial industries, the Govern- 
 ment' has been in the habit of offering bonuses to per- 
 sons who shall be the first to produce or manufacture 
 articles of an ascertained commercial value tending to 
 promote the development of the country. At the pre- 
 sent moment the following bonuses are offered. One of 
 300/. for the first fifty tons of starch shipped to an English 
 market, and certified to be of good marketable quality. 
 A bonus of fifty per cent, on the value realized for the 
 first thousand pounds' worth of cocoons of the silkworm, 
 or silkworm's eggs, produced in the colony. A bonus 
 of 500Z. for three years in succession for the refining 
 each year, by machinery established in New Zealand, of 
 not less than 100 tons of cane sugar. A bonus of 1000/. 
 for the production in New Zealand of 300 tons of pig- 
 iron of marketable quality from ore produced in New 
 Zealand. A bonus of 500Z. for the first twenty-five tons 
 of butter, or the first fifty tons of cheese produced by a 
 factory, worked on the American principle, which shall 
 be exported from New Zealand and sold at such prices
 
 Cofonial Industries. 185 
 
 as to show that the articles are of fair quality. The 
 circumstances under which these bonuses are offered, 
 and the reason for their being offered, require little 
 explanation. It need only be stated that the climate of 
 New Zealand is well adapted to the mulberry, and that 
 considerable importations of trees and "seed" have 
 already taken place. Before many years are past it is 
 probable that sericulture, and its attendant industries, 
 will prove to be a new source of wealth to those 
 who have undertaken the introduction of the silk- 
 worm. 
 
 To state all that we colonists think our islands capable 
 of producing in the future would be a mistaken policy, 
 and lead in many cases to great disappointment to those 
 who invest their moneys, trusting to such statements, 
 and yet not apprehending that all growth must be 
 gradual. We consider that it is one thing to state what 
 a country is capable of in the future, and another to say 
 that such a future is to be to-morrow. Our own view is 
 that New Zealand will in future years become a pros- 
 perous manufacturing and producing community. That 
 she will resemble England in so far, that while she 
 produces a certain amount of grain and the necessaries 
 of life, her ultimate destiny is to become an importer of 
 necessaries and an exporter of manufactured articles. 
 Placed at the very antipodes, it is probable that she will 
 have no rival to compete with her in the Southern Archi- 
 pelago, and that she will supply it with manufactured 
 goods, receiving in return the produce of its coffee, 
 sugar, and cotton plantations. Wool and iron and coal 
 she has already. Do these ideas appear chimerical ? 
 Consider for one moment her short career. Consider 
 what these pages have shown she has already done. 
 Consider that if in thirty years she has so progressed,
 
 1 86 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 what limit can be assigned to the progress which may 
 be made during the next fifty or one hundred years. 
 
 These words must, however, be taken only in 
 the spirit in which they are uttered, as a forecast 
 of what may, and most probably will be, but not as 
 representing what is. They are in posse not in esse. 
 To show that they have some chance of realization, and 
 to prove that such ideas are being developed for future 
 good in the minds of our merchants, we conclude the 
 present chapter with a quotation from the address 
 delivered last year by the President of the Dtmedin 
 Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Larnack on that occasion 
 said, " We are warranted in cherishing hopes that a 
 very large trade will grow up between this colony and 
 India in connexion with refrigerated meats, dairy pro- 
 duce, &c. What is wanting mainly to develop such a 
 trade is direct steam communication between that 
 country and this. As with most other events in this 
 age of progress, it is only a question of time when the 
 people of India will look forward with regularity to 
 receive monthly shipments of, and relish at their tables 
 with exceeding gusto, beef, mutton, and dairy produce 
 of New Zealand."
 
 i8 7 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PUBLIC WOfiKS. 
 
 ONLY so recently as the year 1870, what is now 
 known as the Immigration and Public Works Policy was 
 adopted. The local authorities were manifestly un- 
 equal to the task of constructing the arterial roads, 
 railroads, and other public works, which were im- 
 peratively necessary for the present and future good of 
 the colony. If New Zealand was not to stagnate and 
 fall behind the other Australasian colonies, if she was to 
 develop her resources and invest her soil with attrac- 
 tions for future immigrants, it became a duty to take 
 immediate steps for the purpose of carrying out these 
 and other much to be desired improvements. Such a 
 task was beyond the powers of individual settlers; nay 
 it was too much even for the separate Provincial Govern- 
 ments. The scheme proposed was not provincial, but 
 national in its character. There was, consequently, but 
 one body which possessed either the necessary credit or 
 power to carry out the works which were to be under- 
 taken. That body was the Central Government. Sir 
 Julius, at that time Mr. Vogel, was the first to grasp the 
 real necessities of the position, and to startle many of the 
 then colonists almost out of their wits by the boldness 
 and extent of his schemes. Sir Julius, however, was suc- 
 cessful in passing the " Immigration and Public Works
 
 1 88 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Act, 1870," and for a time all went merry as a marriage 
 bell. Large loans were effected ; railways, roads, tele- 
 graphs, and public buildings, were everywhere in course 
 of foundation and erection; while the interest on 
 moneys borrowed for these purposes was met by the 
 proceeds of the enormous sales of land annually effected 
 by the Government of the day. These in 1878 amounted 
 to the large quantity of 642,667 acres, netting the hand- 
 some sum of 1,252,954?. But so great an inflation was 
 not destined to continue. Owing to the depreciated 
 prices ruling for produce, to the bad trade which every- 
 where existed, and to many extraneous causes, sales of 
 land were reduced by more than one half in 1879, to be 
 followed by a still further reduction in 1880 and 1881. 
 As a proof of this the rural land sold in 1 878, within the 
 district of Canterbury, amounted to 554,168 acres; 
 in 1879 to but 269,754 acres ; whilst in 1880 and 1881, the 
 sales were respectively 25,987 and 20 5 8c>2 acres. From 
 these figures it is easy to comprehend what a falling off such 
 a diminution in the sales of land caused to the income of 
 the colony, and what a serious embarrassment it created 
 for the Government an embarrassment which was not 
 at all lessened by the sudden curtailment of all other 
 sources of revenue. It is indeed probable that if the 
 minister of finance had not been fortunate enough to 
 raise a loan for 5,000,OOOZ., through the agency of the 
 Bank of England, the position would for the moment 
 have been very critical. But the danger was tided over, 
 and it may safely be asserted is not likely to occur to a 
 similar, or anything like a similar, extent again. In fact 
 there is little room for such a crisis to be repeated. 
 When the public works policy was first commenced, but 
 few productive works were iu existence, and those few 
 had been promoted by the provinces. The way was per-
 
 Public Works. 189 
 
 fectly open for any amount of speculation and infatuation. 
 Nothing existed on which to build' calculations, save the 
 sanguine and overheated imaginations of the speculators 
 themselves. But in 1882 so much has been accomplished 
 that little room is left save for the gradual extension 
 and enlargement of existing works. The foundation has 
 been already laid, and proves, as will presently be seen, 
 a successful enterprise. The partial failure of any new 
 and secondary undertakings can never again shake the 
 whole fabric to its base. England has passed through 
 the mania of her South Sea Bubble and it burst. She has 
 experienced the effects of the disastrous railway inflation 
 of forty years ago, but it is impossible that she should 
 again suffer in a precisely similar manner, and from the 
 same causes. Her railways have become a necessary part 
 of her very existence. So it is with New Zealand. The 
 country suffered, and suffered deeply, from over excite- 
 ment, and a too lavish expenditure on public works; but 
 after a time of trouble, she is rising stronger than 
 before. 
 
 For a time Sir Julius Vogel was the popular 
 favourite. His was considered the true and only policy 
 by which the country could be developed. But when the 
 troubles of 1879 were at their height, his was the blame, 
 accorded too with an almost universal acclamation. The 
 scape-goat of the hour, he was but a faint reflection 
 of Hudson, the Railway King, dethroned long years 
 before. But the collapse in New Zealand was not the 
 fault of Sir Julius only, but of the men who enlarged 
 upon his views, and, headed by Sir George Grey, after- 
 wards held the reins of power. Sir Julius Vogel's policy 
 was undertaken for a special purpose, and defined the ex- 
 tent of money to be borrowed. His successors piled loan 
 upon loan, and public work on public work, until there
 
 1 90 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 rose a universal cry for railways, roads, bridges, schools, 
 from every large estate and petty township. People 
 indeed had lost their heads, and abandoned common 
 sense was under the influence of a quickly to be 
 expected wealth, and the instant advent of a new 
 millennium. 
 
 The first proposal made by Sir Julius was, that Govern- 
 ment should undertake certain works of a purely colonial 
 character, and that the sum of money to be borrowed for 
 that purpose should be limited to ten millions sterling. 
 This was to be expended in the construction of a main 
 trunk railway, to run through the length of both islands ; 
 on roads in the North Island ; on the purchase of land 
 from the natives ; on telegraph works ; for procuring 
 a better supply of water on the gold-fields ; and lastly, 
 in promoting an extensive system of immigration. 
 
 Prior to 1870, tho gross public indebtedness of the 
 colony amounted to six millions and three-quarters ; 
 but the public works policy once commenced, not only 
 was the proposed ten millions added to the debt, but in 
 the short space of ten years a further sum of twelve 
 millions was obtained. The public debt was thus in- 
 creased during the eleven years 1870 1880, by twenty- 
 two millions sterling, an expenditure altogether too great 
 for a new country of the dimensions of New Zealand, 
 even when taking into consideration its large natural, 
 but still undeveloped, resources. It became necessary for 
 the Government to stay its hand, and that it was com- 
 pelled to do so, was a fortunate circumstance. Time was 
 allowed in which to ascertain the success of what had 
 been done. A successful result was, sooner or later, 
 bound to follow close upon the heels of the large capital 
 which had been sunk in works of practical utility, both 
 by Government and private enterprise, during those few
 
 Public Works. 191 
 
 years. But in the meantime the large falling off in the 
 sale of land compelled the Government to supplement 
 its income by further taxation, and to reduce as far as 
 possible the annual cost of the various branches of the 
 civil service. New sources of revenue were found in the 
 property tax, and in an additional beer tax ; while the 
 overgrown and disproportionate expenditure existing in 
 many branches of the public service, was cut down with 
 an unsparing hand. 
 
 Happily it only required the experience of two or three 
 years to prove that the money expended in public works 
 did not represent so much capital thrown carelessly into 
 the sea. It had to a great extent been sunk in repro- 
 ductive schemes, which are fast beginning to bear fruit. 
 With the public works policy commenced a turning- 
 point in the history of the colony, the ultimate extent 
 and direction of which it is almost impossible to foresee. 
 Those who only knew the country prior to 1870, 
 would hardly recognize it at the present time. Before 
 that year the Provincial Governments had already done 
 something ; road-making had been begun, and here 
 and there, in the South Island, some disconnected lines 
 of rail had been completed. But travelling was yet a 
 matter both of time and difficulty ; and still more difficult 
 was it to get up-country produce to a market or sea- 
 port. In 1882, many thousands of acres, valued before 
 1870 at from 11. to 3Z., are salable at from 91. to 20/. 
 A large producing and thriving population is settled on 
 lands previously unworked ; trunk-lines of railway, with 
 their many branches, connect the towns with each other ; 
 convenient posts exist ; telegraphs run in every direction ; 
 and the population, exclusive of the Ma.ori race, has in- 
 creased since 1871 by nearly 84 per ce:ifo The scheme 
 then of Sir Julius Vogel, bold as it may. at one time have
 
 1 92 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 appeared, overdone as it undoubtedly was by succeeding 
 ministers, has proved of almost untold value to New- 
 Zealand. Debts may have been incurred which seemed 
 for a time almost too great to bear, but the colony is 
 rising from these same struggles far richer, and more 
 prosperous than could otherwise have been the case. But 
 every picture has its reverse, and the very fact of so much 
 being already done, and of so many advantages being 
 ready to the hand, precludes the colony from offering 
 such cheap bargains to the new comer as he could wish, or 
 might probably expect. It cannot be otherwise. What 
 have railways, telegraphs, and the penny post done for 
 land and trade at home ? Compare the position of South 
 Kensington, Wimbledon, and Highgate now, with that of 
 some thirty years ago. They possess advantages which 
 they had not then, and their value has increased fourfold. 
 Just so out here. But the question still remains, is the 
 present additional cost of land worth paying for ? We 
 think it is, or else what good to make improvements, and 
 create facilities for trade and social life, either here or 
 elsewhere r If it is not, the world had better rest in 
 statu quo. 
 
 It is a question of great import to ascertain how those 
 22,000,000^. have been spent, and how far they are and 
 can be made productive. 
 
 Some of the money was spent on immigration. During 
 the years 1871-78, and both inclusive, 1,638, 175/. were 
 spent by the Government, and 74,409. by the Provincial 
 Governments, in the introduction of fresh blood. It is 
 difficult to estimate the actual result of this large ex- 
 penditure. The total number of immigrants during the 
 period was 157,946; but, on the other hand, of 16,263 
 persons who arrived in 1878, only 6618 came out at the 
 public charge. Taking a broad view, it would appear
 
 
 Public Works. 193 
 
 that each Government immigrant must have cost the 
 country at least twenty pounds, and beyond this must 
 be taken into account a certain leakage always observ- 
 able in new countries. This leakage is caused by the 
 discontent of certain of the arrivals with their new 
 home and the prospects which it affords. Making a fair 
 allowance for births over deaths, it would appear that 
 out of 158,000 immigrants, about 20,000 again migrated 
 during this period. Perhaps no country has been more 
 disturbed than Canada by the considerable leakage 
 experienced from amongst the ranks of those newly 
 arrived. From Canada to the United States the only 
 impediment consists in an easily spanned river. Be- 
 tween New Zealand and Australia 1000 miles of sea 
 intervene, and the leakage has been naturally smaller 
 than from the Dominion, or at least than it used to be. 
 We remember once, when lounging on the Kingston 
 pier, and waiting some hours for the cargo boat to Mon- 
 treal, to have been the silent witness of the following : 
 A decently-dressed man and wife came to the ticket 
 office and asked the price of a double fare to some place 
 in Illinois. The clerk gave the required information. 
 The husband said, as he turned somewhat sadly round, 
 " Aye, wife, but it's a great deal of money." And she 
 just put her hand upon his arm, and said, " It may be, 
 John, but you know we can do nothing here ; it may be 
 better to spend the money and go." The tickets were 
 bought, and we could not but honour the little woman 
 for her pluck and sage forethought, standing as she 
 was face to face with that long and dreary winter. A 
 Canadian winter, with its bright sun and exhilarating 
 air, may be productive of great pleasure to the fur-clad 
 skater, but what for good does it present to those who 
 toil for their daily bread ? However Manitoba and the 
 
 o
 
 1 94 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 new Far West may restrain a former leakage, it was for 
 many years extremely great. Looking at the matter in 
 a practical form, we do not consider that a leakage of 
 20,000 in 158,000 will be found excessive in view of all 
 the circumstances migration brings in its train. 
 
 In a new country population must be obtained at all 
 hazards ; but when a fair number are settled on the soil, 
 few will speak in favour of the continuance of a free 
 immigration policy. And this not because such a system 
 abnormally depreciates the value of labour, but because 
 it brings a large percentage of persons unsuited to their 
 new home and its future duties. It is frequently stated 
 in the public prints that " the immigrants just arrived 
 are of a superior class," and so they may be ; but with 
 " the immigrants of a superior class," most of whom, by 
 the bye, have probably paid or partly paid their passage, 
 arrives a considerable quantity of scum. This scum, for 
 the most part, consists of aimless, useless individuals at 
 best, but also of a class of thorough idlers, bad citizens 
 wherever they be, and ever ready to disturb the willing 
 worker. 
 
 People generally would be pleased to see a continuance 
 of the so-called "nominated" immigration. This system 
 consists in a present colonist being allowed to name to 
 Government friends and relatives at home willing to 
 come out. Part of the passage-money is paid by Govern- 
 ment and part by the nominators. By this means a 
 class of persons is introduced having both home and 
 friends to go to on first landing, and whose selection by 
 present colonists affords sufficient guarantee that they 
 are suitable subjects for public assistance. 
 
 Probably, too, the Government ought to assist those 
 who, with a few pounds in hand, need but a little moro 
 to pay their passage. The fact that they have scraped
 
 Public Works. 195 
 
 and saved, and done their best, is almost sufficient 
 evidence that something sterling lies behind. But a 
 recommencement of free emigration would be both un- 
 popular and most unwise. We do not want the ladies 
 of the ballet, the Italian organ-grinder, or even as yet 
 the helpless maker of dolls' eyes, all of whom were, 
 under a system of free emigration, thrown broadcast 
 upon the land with what measure of success their past 
 will tell too truly. 
 
 From 1869 to 1879 the Government expenditure on 
 roads amounted to 975,552/., the length constructed 
 being about 3000 miles. In addition to these public 
 highways, numerous district roads have been con- 
 structed by the road boards, the expenditure through 
 the latter source amounting in the year 1877 to no less 
 than 387,534/. Without studying the accounts of the 
 separate boards and counties, it is difficult to estimate 
 the total amount spent on roads and bridges, nor is 
 such an investigation necessary for the present purpose. 
 Sufficient that the results are most satisfactory, and that 
 the highways and many of the district roads would vie 
 with the best of English turnpikes, whilst others, which 
 have been more recently formed and metalled, are each 
 year getting into better condition. It may be that occa- 
 sionally when going across country, rough tracks have 
 to be travelled over, when good springs and stout harness 
 are very needful. But each year sees a change for the 
 better, and Canterbury, at all events, may well be proud 
 of the facilities which it gives for locomotion. It is 
 difficult to find outside Great Britain better roads than 
 those in New Zealand. For the purpose of comparison 
 we should have to visit the military highways across the 
 passes of the Alps, or the well-known post-road along 
 the Riviera. The money which has been sunk in roads 
 
 o 2
 
 1 96 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 may nominally be lost, but it is repaid with more than 
 compound interest by the increased value of the land 
 around. 
 
 Following hard upon roads come railroads. If any 
 person were to turn, for the sake of comparing what is 
 with what was, to Messrs. Silver's excellent and impar- 
 tial Handbook J to the colonies, which brings down the 
 history of New Zealand to about the year 1871, he 
 could not fail to be struck with such sentences as these 
 " The want of good means of communication is a serious 
 
 drawback to the colony Railways are not 
 
 of much interest in New Zealand at present. .... 
 Railways are of imperative necessity to the expansion of 
 trade." These remarks were, no doubt, true in 1871, 
 but not in 1882. Eleven years have wrought a change 
 of the greatest magnitude and importance. To-day the 
 colony possesses 1319 miles of railway, constructed at a 
 cost of about eleven millions sterling, and which gave 
 last year a profit of 3f per cent. Of the total length 
 constructed, 41-9 miles are in the North Island, and were 
 built at a cost of about 3,600,OOOL The charge for 
 working these northern lines amounts to about 67 per 
 cent, of the gross receipts. In the South Island, 870 
 miles of railway have been formed, at a cost of over 
 7,000,OOOL, the expense of working being slightly over 
 56 per cent. But it is worthy of remark that while 
 the profit earned on all the New Zealand lines comes 
 to the fair sum of 3| per cent., that obtained by those 
 in the South Island was more than 4| per cent. Again, 
 whilst in 1881 the profit earned by the whole railway 
 system secured a dividend of 3/. 8s. 3^. per cent., the 
 Canterbury lines by themselves yielded 7.33 per cent. ; 
 
 1 Handbook for Australia and New Zealand. S. W. Silver and Co., 
 London. 1874.
 
 Public Works. 197 
 
 and nothing exists, although we have not the necessary 
 figures at hand to prove the case, to prevent a similar 
 result from being obtained this year. As at home, the 
 best paying lines have to contribute to those that do 
 not pay so well, in order to raise the dividend over the 
 whole system to 3f per cent. 
 
 In 1882, with 1319 miles opened, the railways yielded 
 a gross return of 676/. per mile as against, in 1881, 
 655/. per mile on the 1277 miles then opened for traffic. 
 In the former year the net profit was 368,927L as 
 against 314,497Z. in 1881, thus showing a considerable 
 improvement 
 
 The success which has followed the railway system 
 appears the more remarkable when we consider that the 
 lines have for the most part been carried through com- 
 paratively uninhabited tracts of country. The position 
 which they have attained helps to prove the great 
 economy derived from railways constructed in a country 
 whose business centres are not too far removed from 
 each other, and where wide-spreading and unproductive 
 wastes do not exist between the several termini. 
 
 It will be found necessary before long, in order 
 further to develop the growing importance of the 
 colony, to construct one or more lines of considerable 
 magnitude. The chief of those under present considera- 
 tion are the Central Otago and the Christchurch and 
 West Coast lines. The promoters of the Central Otago 
 are endeavouring to make their line a part of the present 
 Government system ; the promoters of the Christchurch 
 and West Coast are trying to accomplish their object 
 through a private company. We are here brought face 
 to face with a question of considerable difficulty, and 
 with one which will no doubt find both its supporters and 
 opponents. This question must sooner or later be de-
 
 198 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 finitely settled, namely : How far it is advisable for 
 Government to enter into further railway liabilities ; and 
 whether, having undertaken the main lines, it should not 
 pause, and leave it to private enterprise to do the rest ? 
 It is self-evident that, if these lines will pay for making, 
 they are worth the consideration of private companies. 
 If they will not pay, ought Government to tax the whole 
 country for the benefit of what must for years to come, 
 be solely a local interest? It may be argued that 
 because Government undertook in 1870 to construct 
 certain railways, which have already proved successful, 
 it therefore should continue to construct all rail- 
 ways as may be from time to time required. But this 
 line of argument is open to dispute. In 1870 no rail- 
 ways existed, and it was necessary for the future of the 
 colony that main lines to traverse the length of the two 
 islands should be formed. No private corporation, it 
 has been shown, would have been powerful enough to 
 effect this. Having done what was absolutely necessary, 
 does it follow that Government is to undertake the con- 
 struction of every line which is to be built in the future ? 
 To do so would probably be tantamount to charging the 
 general taxpayer with an unnecessary and vexatious 
 system of local extensions. This would appear to be 
 almost suicidal, and retard rather than advance the pro- 
 sperity of the country. Bather let the Government leave 
 well alone, and if more lines are to be constructed, as 
 constructed they must be, relegate to private enterprise 
 any further consideration of the matter. Private enter- 
 prise will be more likely to secure any profit which is to 
 be made, than the more indirectly responsible employes of 
 this or any other Government. It is a general complaint 
 amongst the colonists, that the railways as at present 
 managed are not worked so conveniently for the country,
 
 Ptiblic Works. 199 
 
 or making so large a return as would be the case if under 
 private control. Great irregularities and unnecessary 
 expenditure were brought to light by the Railway Com- 
 mittee appointed by the Hall Government, some two 
 years ago, to investigate the working of the lines. The 
 labours of the Committee have resulted in a considerable 
 reduction in the working expenses, but without any cor- 
 responding attention being bestowed upon the convenience 
 of the public. In 1871-80 the cost of working the whole 
 system was over 76 per cent, of the returns; in 1881-82 
 this had been reduced to 58*64 per cent. "Were it to be 
 determined that the lines at present contemplated should 
 be undertaken by private companies, the immediate 
 results to the shareholders might be problematical, but 
 the ulterior value of the property would certainly reward 
 their enterprise. New and valuable tracts of country 
 would be opened up for settlement, and traffic would 
 shortly grow in a most surprising degree. During the 
 five years immediately preceding the public works 
 policy, the exports averaged 4,335,000?., 2,500,000?. of 
 which consisted in gold, leaving but about 1,800,000?. 
 for other produce. The exports for the years 1880-81 
 averaged 6,206,779?., of which gold is entered but for 
 1,150,000?., leaving over 5,000,000?. each year for other 
 articles, and this too in face of a large increasing con- 
 sumption within the country itself. 2 
 
 The first telegraph pole erected in New Zealand was 
 raised in Christchurch on the 19th May, 1862. On the 
 19th May, 1882, or twenty years afterwards, 3758 miles 
 of line were in working order, carrying 9587 miles of 
 wire, and of this length 2820 miles were duplexed, 
 
 2 For more detailed particulars of the working of tlie New Zealand 
 railways during the past two years, see Appendix, Tables E, and R, 
 pages 380, 381.
 
 2oo New Zealand as it is. 
 
 making the total amount of single wire 12,407 miles. 
 The erection of the telegraph system cannot have cost 
 the Government much less than half a million, a sum 
 which, although large, pays a very good acknowledgment 
 into the colonial treasury. 
 
 Further considerable amounts have been spent in 
 public buildings, in the purchase of native lands, on 
 water-races, on education, on miscellaneous works, and 
 in grants to various corporate bodies, into the details 
 of which it would be tedious to enter. For the most part 
 this money has been well expended, and has greatly 
 assisted in developing the harbours, promoting the 
 education, and generally furthering the advancement of 
 the colony. 
 
 But besides those of a purely government character, 
 there are many most important works administered by 
 boards, created by and acting under powers granted by 
 Parliament. Chief amongst these must be reckoned the 
 various harbour-boards, elected for the purpose of deve- 
 loping the several ports placed under their control. The 
 principal ports are those of Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, 
 Auckland, and Wellington. Of these, Port Chalmers, or 
 Duncdin, heads the list with a total trade for the year 
 ending the 31st December, 1881, of 3,970,644/.; Lyttel- 
 ton stands second, with 2,887,897?.; Auckland third, with 
 2,303,237/.; and lastly, Wellington, with l,791,63f>/. 
 
 To fit the above ports for carrying on this large trade, 
 considerable sums have had to be sunk; but the interest 
 on all loans is more than met by the shipping and port 
 dues collected at each place. The port of Lyttelton is 
 probably the most perfect of any, containing an area of 
 109 acres within the breakwaters, and with a depth of 
 from 19 to 23 feet at low tide. The harbour-board is 
 now contemplating the purchase of a still more powerful
 
 Public Works. 20 1 
 
 dredger than any which it at present possesses, for the 
 purpose of further deepening the basin and rendering it 
 available for a larger class of vessel. Enclosed by the 
 Port Hills, Lyttelton is well protected from heavy seas, 
 and if, occasionally, a gale of more than unusual 
 severity causes some inconvenience to the shipping, the 
 risk is no greater to vessels than it would be were they 
 lying in one of the many docks situated on the banks of 
 Father Thames. A handsome dry dock has just been 
 completed, 450 feet long on the floor, and with a depth 
 of 23 feet of water on the sill. It is also proposed to 
 build a slip hard by. The export shed is the largest in 
 the southern hemisphere, and is situated on a quay 
 where six months ago there was but a depth of 8 or 9 
 feet of water. To-day a vessel can leave the same spot 
 drawing 23 feet. The import sheds, the Gladstone pier, 
 and the many jetties, are all connected by sidings with 
 the Christchurch and Lyttelton railroad, presenting the 
 greatest possible conveniences for the quick discharge 
 and loading of vessels. A large available space of some 
 four acres still remains, on which further sheds can be 
 built, and from which numerous other jetties can be 
 thrust Out into the basin. The port presents a busy 
 and bustling scene ; nor can it fail to raise in the breasts 
 of all true Englishmen a pardonable pride, when they 
 recognize in this far-off corner of the globe a share of 
 that indomitable energy which has raised the maritime 
 supremacy of the grand old weather-beaten isle at home 
 to its present power. 
 
 During they earl 881 , some 1816vessels,of 342,o03 tons, 
 were entered; and 1811, of 338,637 tons, were cleared, 
 giving an average per month of over 300 vessels inward 
 and outward bound. Nearly three-parts of this trade 
 was coastwise. Frequently there may be seen some two
 
 202 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 dozen or more ocean-going ships helping to crowd the 
 piers and jetties, and exhibiting in their handsome lines 
 examples of some of the best models turned out from 
 Dundee or Aberdeen. Built, perhaps, as clippers 
 for the China trade, they seek in the southern seas a 
 refuge from the fatal competition of the more powerful 
 propeller. From the stately ship of 1800 to 2000 tons, 
 they fall in almost impalpable gradation to the fine lined 
 barque of half that size. Ere many years have passed, 
 it is to be feared that even here a goodly number will 
 find themselves deposed, and instead of their lofty masts 
 and tapering spars, the monster funnel and subsi- 
 diary rig of the relentless screw will occupy their place. 
 The skippers themselves think this, and as the volume of 
 trade expands, the quicker and more certain motive 
 power is sure to conquer all present obstacles. 
 
 Last year the number of vessels belonging to the port 
 consisted of eighty, with a tonnage of 23,172 tons. The 
 New Zealand Shipping Company makes Lyttelton the 
 headquarters of its fleet which runs between the colony 
 and Great Britain. This accounts for the somewhat 
 large tonnage in proportion to the number of vessels 
 hailing from the port. This company is one of the most 
 important commercial enterprises in New Zealand. Sup- 
 ported by a powerful bank, and the business of a large 
 financial institution, it has, since its foundation, mono- 
 polized a large share of the carrying trade. Possessing 
 seventeen ships of its own, it employs, on an average, 
 thirty-four others which it charters from various ship- 
 owners. No doubt it meets with a certain amount of 
 competition, but the colonists are disposed to fancy that 
 in view of the good dividends distributed to its share- 
 holders, a little more competition would be better for the 
 public. They would like to see homeward freights re-
 
 Public Works. 203 
 
 gulated by the supply of vessels on the berth, rather than 
 by resolutions passed at a board of directors. Such 
 resolutions they consider more likely to lean towards the 
 interests of the shareholders than of the public. The 
 company, in fact, seems to stand in relation to producers 
 somewhat as did the Jesuits to the earlier settlements in 
 South America. As the Jesuits fostered education and 
 the sciences at a time when, without their help, such good 
 things would have been conspicuous by their absence, 
 so did the New Zealand Shipping Company support the 
 trade of the colony at a time when its assistance was of 
 the utmost importance. But as, when civilization ad- 
 vanced and population increased, the power of the Jesuits 
 declined, so, in face of a larger trade and greater 
 facilities, it is probable that the Shipping Company will 
 soon have touched the acme of its monopoly. Although 
 sometimes unavoidable, more particularly in the first 
 phases of its existence, it does not tend to the progress of 
 any country to be more or less in the hands of a few 
 monopolists. It does not matter with what department 
 of its economic development such monopolists may be 
 connected. Absolute freedom must be preferable to 
 comparative serfdom. The company itself is evidently 
 of opinion that to maintain its present position and be 
 prepared for any change in the shipping trade, a con- 
 siderable alteration in the conduct of its business will be 
 necessary. At an extraordinary general meeting held in 
 Christchurch on the 23rd of last May, it was determined 
 to increase the capital to one million pounds. This 
 resolution was carried both for the purpose of increasing 
 the number of its vessels, and of adding to the fleet 
 steamers capable of running out and home at the rate of 
 from ten to eleven knots per hour. It must also be con- 
 sidered as a near promise of direct steam communication
 
 204 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 being established with the old country. In fact, it is not 
 at all certain but that other companies will have made a 
 commencement before the Shipping Company is prepared 
 to do so. The establishment of a direct line of steamers 
 will not only increase the accessibility of the colony, but 
 will effect an important saving in the transit of all com- 
 modities. 
 
 The port of Dunedin, like that of Christchurch, is 
 situated some miles from the town itself, and is connected 
 with it by a branch line of about nine miles in length. 
 Dunedin possesses a considerable advantage over Christ- 
 church, in being placed at the head of a bay which 
 already admits of vessels drawing twelve feet of water 
 being brought close to its very warehouses. It has had 
 difficulties to contend with in an outside bar, which occa- 
 sionally silts up to such an extent as to make it dangerous 
 for vessels drawing more than twenty feet of water to 
 make the port. To remedy this a larger dredge has been 
 imported, which, it is presumed, will prove sufficiently 
 powerful to keep the channel open. But the people of 
 Dunedin do not intend to rest content with this. They 
 feel, to use the words of Mr. Larnack, that, " it is only a 
 question of time, the deepening of the Otago Harbour 
 . . . and as surely as the evening and the morning of 
 the sixth day saw the completion of the world, so will 
 the evening and morning of a future time, not far distant, 
 see the Intercolonial boats steaming to the Dunedin 
 wharves, where they will, in the near future, discharge 
 and receive cargoes." This cannot be lightly regarded 
 as an exaggerated statement. To a careful observer it 
 must be evident, that with so much already done, the 
 completion of the work cannot be long deferred. Dunedin 
 is to-day the leading business centre of New Zealand, and 
 it is not to be supposed that her merchants will allow the
 
 Public Works. 205 
 
 grass to grow beneath their feet. Dunedin has had the 
 honour of shipping the first cargo of frozen meat. 
 Another cargo has been placed in London, to consist of 
 from 7000 to 10,000 carcases, and more are still to follow. 
 A steamer is to be sent from home to receive this ship- 
 ment. New Zealand mutton is juicy, well-flavoured, 
 and of excellent quality quite equal to anything 
 which the consumer can get at home. The result of the 
 first shipment netted 25s. a carcase to the exporter, 
 whilst the price at which he could have sold in Dunedin 
 would have been about 16s. The introduction of this 
 new industry will no doubt tend to hasten the advent of 
 through steam communication. 
 
 Port Chalmers already possesses a graving-dock 328 
 feet long, with a depth of twenty-two feet of water on the 
 sill. Not content with this dock, which was the first of 
 the kind constructed in the colony, she is preparing to 
 build another, 500 feet long, and superior in other ways 
 to the Lyttelton dock already described. 
 
 In the year 1881, clearances outward amounted to 925 
 vessels of 230,045 tons, and inward to 938 vessels of 
 242,672 tons. The tonnage registered as belonging to 
 the port consisted of seventy-eight sailing-vessels and 
 thirty-four steamers, with a united tonnage of 17,491. 
 The large number of steamers is owing to Dunedin being 
 the headquarters of the Union Steam Shipping Company 
 a company which, for the present, possesses almost an 
 entire monopoly of the intercolonial and coasting trade. 
 The company have on the way, or on the stocks, ten new 
 steamers. Five of them are for the coasting trade, and 
 five, with a larger carrying capacity, are to run to 
 Australia and replace those at present employed on the 
 Intercolonial line. The largest of the new steamers are 
 all of similar dimensions, namely, 285 feet long, 36 feet
 
 206 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 wide, and 25 feet deep. A steamer built by Messrs. 
 Deenny Brothers, but put together at Port Chalmers, has 
 just been launched ; this is intended for the river trade 
 in Fiji, and will act as a feeder to the company's boats 
 trading between Fiji and the colony. She is built en- 
 tirely of mild steel, having a length of 80 feet, a width of 
 18, and a depth of hold of 8 fee,t. 
 
 Direct steam communication has long exercised the 
 minds of Dunedin merchants. At the last meeting of 
 the Chamber of Commerce, it was stated that in the case 
 of thirty-two sailing-ships, 107J days were expended 
 from the date of leaving the East India Docks before the 
 goods were warehoused in Dunedin. The average of 
 twenty-eight steamers, bringing goods via Melbourne, was 
 sixty-seven and a half days between the dates of the bills 
 of lading and the delivery of the goods. The interest 
 of the money at eight per cent, would more than make up 
 the difference between the freioht by sail and that by 
 steam. With steam it was said the merchant would be 
 able to make his capital go much further. Such would 
 no doubt be the case, and it is pretty certain that, with 
 increased competition between two or three lines of 
 steamers, freight would rule lower than it does at present. 
 To meet this want, it was a short time since suggested to 
 the Union Company to take up the home trade, but the 
 idea did not receive that amount of attention which it 
 deserved. When the New Zealand Shipping Company 
 run steamers direct to London, it is difficult to see how 
 the Union Company can help following suit. The trade 
 from Sydney and Melbourne must chiefly consist of 
 transhipments from vessels of the Orient, and P. and 0. 
 Services, with which a direct line is sure to interfere to 
 a considerable extent. 
 
 Auckland possesses its dry dock, and is the port of
 
 P^lbiic Works. 207 
 
 call for the St. Francisco and Australian mail boats. She 
 carries on a large trade with the many islands of the 
 Pacific, and, although an importer rather than an ex- 
 porter of cereals, finds some compensation in the produce 
 of her mines and forests. Besides her valuable timber, 
 the Vamnara Australia, or Kauri-tree, yields a turpentine 
 known in commerce as the celebrated " Kauri gum." 
 It is found in large lumps, and excavated from the sites 
 of old forests as far south as Taranaki. The production 
 of this gum is confined to Auckland, nor is it known to 
 exist in any other part of the world. The port possesses 
 wharves, alongside which steamers of the largest tonnage 
 can come at any hour of the day, regardless " of the state 
 of the tides ;" and consequently, argues the chairman of 
 its Chamber of Commerce, " any direct steam service to 
 England, to be a financial success, must make Auckland 
 its headquarters, whether our southern friends like it or 
 not." Partly this may be very true, but it must be 
 recollected that in order to assure a financial success, 
 steamship companies require something more than a good 
 harbour and cheap coal. The volume of the import and 
 export trades of the several ports of the country to which 
 they run is likely to command their most careful attention. 
 The probability is that, provided a good harbour and 
 fairly cheap coal exists, headquarters will be selected at 
 that port which, from its greater trans-oceanic trade, 
 holds out the prospect of securing the heaviest and most 
 remunerative freights. 
 
 Napier, Nelson, Greymouth, Hokitika, Timaru, 
 Oamaru, and Invercargill are all ports of a secondary 
 importance. Of these the ports of Greymouth and 
 Hokitika depend entirely upon the mineral wealth of 
 the country immediately behind them. As the production 
 of gold and coal increases, so will their trade improve. 
 Napier and Nelson are the chief ports for the Provinces
 
 208 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of Hawkes Buy and Nelson, and, as such, will always do 
 a fair business, but never in any way rival the four 
 principal ports. Invercargill will, as the south country 
 becomes more thickly peopled, do a considerable busi- 
 ness ; whilst Timaru and Oamaru will be the represen- 
 tative ports of South Canterbury and North Ofcago. 
 But trans-oceanic steam communication once established, 
 none of the harbours mentioned in this paragraph 
 will ever be more than local centres^ doing a good 
 trade, perhaps, but principally acting as feeders to those 
 larger ports which will prove to be the homes of the 
 large steamers. 
 
 Both Timaru and Oamaru are spending large sums in 
 improving their respective roadsteads, and so far as the 
 works have hitherto been completed, the money has 
 been well spent. In both cases the projectors have been 
 bold. In both cases the harbours are being formed by 
 solid breakwaters thrust out bodily into the sea, and 
 creating, with the surrounding cliffs and shores, large 
 expanses of comparatively still and well-protected water. 
 The quality of the soil, and large extent of country 
 which lies behind them, must necessarily cause both 
 harbours to be financially successful. Sufficient pro- 
 tection has already been secured to enable vessels of a 
 certain size to ride at anchor beneath a welcome shelter, 
 while the sea all around is wild and storm-tossed. But 
 works like these cannot be made to order, nor can they 
 while in progress afford that perfect shelter which 
 they Avill supply when completed. The Port of Timaru, at 
 present almost an open roadstead, has this year been the 
 scene of disasters without parallel in the history of the 
 colony. Within five months 3 four well-found ships 
 
 3 Since the above was written, one, the City of Perth, has been got 
 off.
 
 Public Works. 209 
 
 have left their bones upon the shore, the last almost 
 within a stone's throw of the first. 
 
 The roadstead possesses an outer and an inner an- 
 chorage, both with a good holding bottom ; but the seas 
 beat in sometimes with awful force ; often, when they do 
 so, the sun may be shining in a bright blue sky, and any 
 wind there is, be almost imperceptible. The rollers on 
 these occasions are evidently the effect of some far storm 
 at sea, and ships in the roadstead swing almost at their 
 mercy. In the absence of winds no vessel could beat 
 out, and must trust to chains and anchors. In January, 
 1882, the fine ship City of Cashmere was riding at a 
 single anchor. Her captain was on shore, the sea being 
 moderate, and no danger apprehended. Suddenly a 
 shackle-pin in the chain gave way, and ths vessel was 
 adrift. There being no tug or steamer of any size in 
 port, it was impossible to render any practical assistance 
 as on she drove to her final resting-place. Early in May 
 the Duke of Sutherland, a wooden barque with 10,000 
 sacks of wheat on board, is said to have bumped the 
 bottom ; in any case she sprang a leak and soon went 
 down, almost where she lay. People said she was 
 not seaworthy, and that the heavy cargo strained her 
 timbers as she laboured at her anchors. Some of her 
 timbers were clearly rotten, as any one could see, who 
 walked along the beach after they had been thrown on 
 shore. But worse was yet to come. On Sunday, 
 May 14th, a fearful sea came in, and while two ships 
 within the shelter of the breakwater lay safe and quiet, 
 great and well-founded fears arose for two which were 
 riding at the inner anchorage- The sea was running 
 mountains high, and as the angry broken rollers, visible 
 around, and far beyond the two doomed ships, came 
 tumbling in, it seemed impossible a boat could live. 
 
 p
 
 2 1 o New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The crews for more than half their time took refuge in 
 the rigging. The decks were swept by heavy seas which 
 carried off the buckets, gratings, binnacles, and all such 
 fittings from the poops. A terrific sea struck the nearer 
 ship broadside on, and smashed the port lifeboat. At 
 times the waves ran eighteen feet in height, their crests 
 being level with the spanker-boom. Cable after cable 
 parted, and at last the good ship Bienvenue, abandoned 
 to her fate, rushed upon the rocks. About midday the 
 other ship was left, her cables also having parted ; 
 but finding, for a short space longer, a dubious safety in 
 the resistance of a single hawser. It was an anxious 
 time for those on shore as the boats from these two ships 
 put out to sea, so as to bring the waves astern before 
 they fetched the breakwater. Cheer upon cheer arose 
 as on they came and safely reached the shore. All 
 danger to life seemed past and gone. This time at least 
 the waves were cheated of their prey. 
 
 But that day had many hours to run, and events were 
 soon to happen which made the bravest shudder as they 
 watched, and hold their breath in very dread. Surely 
 what followed must have been to serve some mighty 
 purpose, or else it could not be. That purpose may 
 have been to stir up many to emulate the few. It may 
 have been to rouse the kindly tear and heartfelt beat of 
 sympathy. It may have been to touch the souls of some 
 untouched before. Or may it not have been to give to 
 those who died a martyr's crown ? It must be good to 
 think so. Perhaps the day may come for some of us 
 to do or die ; and if it does, to have this thought will 
 make us none less fit to act. 
 
 But to our tale. The City of Perth, the last ship left, 
 had got her fore-sail set, and, as the harbour-master 
 watched, it seemed to fill. Three vessels fast wedged
 
 Public Works. 2 1 1 
 
 on shore, could he but save the fourth ? Perhaps a 
 breeze from land would rise, as well it might, and help 
 the ship if only hands were there to work the ropes. 
 His duty was to leave no stone unturned. Quickly a 
 carefully selected crew had manned a whaleboat and 
 started through that broken boiling water towards the 
 vessel. The vessel's captain, seeing what was being 
 attempted, followed in one of the ship's own lifeboats, 
 and lastly three of his crew, either prompted by the love 
 of danger, or wishing to share his fate, rowed out in a 
 smaller boat. Eighteen men in all were once more 
 floating on that treacherous sea. All reached the ship 
 in safety. But in a few short minutes after their arrival 
 she was seen to be adrift. The hawser had at length 
 yielded beneath that fearful stiain. Soon three boats 
 were seen to leave her side ; the large ones first, the 
 smaller following as best it could. The sea was now at 
 quarter ebb, and from the shoaling of the water doubly 
 dangerous. But still the boats came on. The two first 
 had nearly gained the shelter of the rnole, when, by a 
 tremendous broken sea, the third was swamped. Her 
 stern was driven in, and the boat itself was split from 
 end to end. The other boats had quickly turned and 
 sought to save the drowning men. No thought of self, 
 onward they sped as fast as the upheaving seas permitted. 
 One effort more, and all will be comparatively safe. 
 But no, again the sea upreared its head, and, as it fell, 
 buried beneath itself the two devoted crews. By this 
 time the cliffs, the shore, the mole itself, as far as men 
 durst go, were lined with anxious crowds, which, when 
 the wave had spent itself, could see by the light of a 
 brilliant sun those eighteen men, some battling with the 
 waves, some standing in the boats and tearing off their 
 clothes. There was but one boat available in such a 
 
 p 2
 
 2 1 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 sea, a lifeboat not used for thirteen years. But those on 
 shore are getting mad mad in their eagerness to save. 
 Quicker almost than pen can write, the lifeboat is in the 
 sea, manned by a sturdy crew, intent to save what can be 
 saved. At one time deep in the hollow wave and lost to 
 view, anon suspended high aloft, she struggles on. She 
 reaches, grasps the drowning men, and puts them safely 
 'twixt her sheltering crew. But yet not safely, for once 
 more the big seas come rushing on, and, having done 
 their worst, subside, leaving in view of the surging crowd 
 on shore, now almost beside itself, a capsized boat, and 
 worse than all, a crowd of struggling forms battling upon 
 those cruel waves. Eighteen they were before, but 
 twenty-five this time. She righted soon, and her drip- 
 ping freight have scrambled in once more. Again she 
 is capsized, again the brave fellows struggle up her sides. 
 But even this was not enough ! A third time she over- 
 turns, and with the same result, until at last wearied, but 
 sulkily defiant, the vicious sea allowed the few whose 
 strength remained to bring a battered remnant safe to 
 land. And then arose such cheers as never had been 
 heard in Timaru before, whilst willing hearts and 
 willing hands were found to lift the poor fellows 
 tenderly on shore. Some, naked and half dead, were 
 lying prostrate in the bottom, whilst others, dazed and 
 bleeding, sat like men who somehow failed to comprehend 
 that death had spared them. 
 
 Still there was work for more brave hearts to do. 
 Before the lifeboat came to shore, a surf-boat had been 
 launched and manned. Three more were saved by her, 
 but such a boat in such a sea could do but little, and she 
 with her living freight was anchored in the bay. Again 
 the lifeboat issued forth, manned by another crew, and 
 rescued some. Again she was capsized, but, with the
 
 Public Works. 2 1 3 
 
 loss of one, she once more reached the shore. A third 
 time manned, she rescued all who still remained alive ; 
 this time without mishap. In all eight lives were lost, 
 brave souls who counted not the cost, but gave their 
 lives a ransom for the saved. Calmly and bravely all 
 went forth. Some saw their comrades landed, bruised, 
 and almost gone, yet undeterred they did their work like 
 men. Does not such conduct show, nay, prove beyond 
 a doubt, that English hands and English hearts are 
 everywhere the same ? " England expects every man to 
 do his duty." Such was the rallying cry issued on his 
 day of peril by one of her greatest and her bravest sons. 
 And echo answering echo, from English to Colonial 
 shores, from far Afghanistan to Southern Africa, sustains, 
 and will sustain, the note whilst time shall be. 
 
 ****** 
 
 A great part of the county of Ashburton, in the pro- 
 vince of Canterbury, rests upon a shingly bottom. The 
 plains which stretch from the Rakaia river on the north 
 to the Rangitata river on the south, and from the moun- 
 tains to the sea, are, for the most part, void of bubbling 
 streams, and afford but little water for either man or 
 beast. Till but a short time since, the settler had to 
 trust to rain alone, and when the tanks ran dry, water 
 was carted at considerable expense from distant rivers. 
 Now all this is greatly changed. The county council has 
 adopted a system of irrigation which, starting from a 
 dam beneath the mountains, issues in a running stream, 
 distributing its gifts through many arteries. The 
 channels were excavated by plough and contract labour. 
 The cost of the work, so far, has been about 24,OOOL a 
 trifling sum compared to the great benefits obtained. 
 The value of the land about must rise, and if a sufficient 
 head of water can be obtained, it is difficult to estimate the
 
 214 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 results of a more extended system. At present the 
 supply is only sufficient for watering cattle and domestic 
 purposes ; but the land itself is of a character most 
 suitable for irrigation the top spit resting as it does 
 upon a porous subsoil. The Ashburton scheme deserves 
 some notice as showing what may in time be done with 
 some of those more shingly plains which have hitherto 
 proved so uninviting to the farmer. Immense supplies 
 of water daily rush, unchecked, towards the sea, through 
 river-beds, whose banks and all the land beyond lie dry 
 and arid. 
 
 The larger towns of New Zealand are for the most 
 part well provided with gas and water ; whilst in many 
 cases, an efficient drainage is being proceeded with. 
 Numerous hospitals exist, some twenty-eight in number, 
 and containing more than 1000 beds. In 1878, 4300 
 persons were admitted as in-patients, whilst 17,000 more 
 received out-door relief. Eight lunatic asylums minister 
 to the wants and comforts of over 1000 patients each year ; 
 the proportion of these unfortunates to the white popula- 
 tion being about '23 per cent. To give full details of 
 these and many kindred institutions would be to fill 
 another volume. They are thus lightly touched upon, to 
 show that sickness and misfortune are not forgotten 
 even in a newly peopled land.
 
 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 TEE NORTH ISLAND. 
 
 THE North and South Islands of New Zealand present 
 many characteristic differences, both physical, climatic, 
 and ethnologic. The North Island is not by any means 
 so mountainous as its southern sister, one of its highest 
 peaks being the volcanic crater of Mount Egmont, which 
 attains a height of some 8000 feet. For the most part 
 the hills, which occupy about one-tenth of its actual 
 surface, do not exceed an altitude of 1500 feet. The 
 average rainfall during the year is far greater than in 
 the south, if we except that of Westland on the west 
 coast, where, at Hokitika, the mean reaches the large 
 total of 112 inches. But Auckland with its 45 inches, 
 Taranaki with 58, Napier with 37, and Wellington with 
 50 inches, far exceed the average of Christchurch with 
 25, or of Dunedin with 32 inches. This greater rainfall 
 renders the climate more suitable for pastoral than for 
 agricultural purposes, and nature herself directs the 
 energy of the colonists towards a right conclusion. 
 
 The North Island is the true home of the native race. 
 In the South Island the natives consist of but some 2000 
 souls a quiet and inoffensive people, scattered here and 
 there in small settlements over the country, and pursuing 
 their peaceful avocations in the reserves which have been 
 secured for their use by the colonial government. The
 
 2 1 6 JVt w Zealand as it is. 
 
 natives in the North Island number some 40,000, and 
 have, from time to time, proved themselves to be as 
 turbulent as those in the South Island have been peace- 
 ful. The Maoris are generally well formed, 1 the men 
 attaining an average height of five feet six inches, with 
 trunk and arms longer than those of the ordinary 
 Englishman, but with shorter legs and well-developed 
 calves. In bodily powers and stern endurance the 
 Englishman excels; but, on the other hand, the Maori, 
 owing to his natural build, can carry heavier weights. 
 Like the people of other coloured races, the Maori carries 
 himself with ease, and, when his angrier passions are 
 kept within control, possesses a dignified and graceful 
 presence. His colour is olive brown ; his hair most 
 usually black. Like most savages, he is highly super- 
 stitious, with a mind easily to be wrought upon, and 
 carried captive by fluent or poetic oratory. He loves 
 discussion, and hangs with rapt attention as the tradi- 
 tionary legends of his race are poured in his willing ear 
 by some great speaker of his tribe. He is brave, yet 
 prone to panic. " By turns open-handed and most 
 liberal, and shamelessly mean and stingy. They have no 
 word or phrase equivalent to gratitude, yet they possess 
 the quality. Grief is with them reduced to a ceremony, 
 and tears are produced at will. They are indolent or 
 energetic by turns. When they do commence a piece 
 of work, they go through it with a will, and in road- 
 making, they exhibit a fair amount of engineering 
 skill." 2 
 
 Little is known about their early history, from whence 
 
 1 "The Story of New Zealand," by Arthur S. Thomson, M.D., 
 Surgeon-Major, 58th Eegiment. 
 
 2 " Official Handbook of New Zealand," edited by Sir Julius Vogel. 
 London, 1875.
 
 The North Island. 2 i 7 
 
 they came or when. Their own traditions state that 
 long, long years ago they came from an island in the 
 Pacific Ocean, which, in their native tongue, they call 
 Hawaiiki. Driven from his home by the superior forces 
 of another chief , their leader launched his bold canoe and 
 sought for quieter shores. The much-desired rest was 
 found in the North Island. Returning once more, the 
 glowing accounts he gave of the new-found land, induced 
 a larger emigration, and a fleet of many big canoes set 
 forth. Tradition says that from each canoe a tribe was 
 formed. The names of most of these canoes are 
 treasured yet, and, named from chiefs, became the 
 parents of the several tribes. 
 
 The native priests believed that this event took place 
 some twenty generations back. When Captain Cook first 
 visited New Zealand, in 1769, he employed as interpreter 
 a native of Tahiti, who, as luck would have it, was able, 
 from the similarity of tongues, to converse quite freely 
 with the people. Probably the Maoris sprang from some 
 Malays, who started in search of certain islands known 
 by them to exist somewhere to the east of Sumatra, 
 and who, as years rolled on and various circumstances 
 rose, advanced from isle to isle, and step by step, until 
 they reached New Zealand. However this may be, the 
 Maoris exhibit a far superior type to that of the 
 Australian savage. Savages though they were, they 
 possessed the rudiments of a faintly reflected civilization 
 similar to that of the natives of Tahiti and Hawaii. 
 They knew, it is said, the eight points of the compass, 
 and had a calendar. Their traditions and songs ex- 
 hibited a superior development of thought, but what is 
 more remarkable, they had an organized system of 
 mythology, as elaborate as that of Rome and Greece. 
 Many of their customs, such as circumcision, washings.
 
 2 1 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 sacrifices, and views about food were observed to be like 
 those of the ancient Jews. These, like their mytholo- 
 gical ideas, must have been derived ages ago from a 
 highly advanced people, as were those of the Mexicans 
 and Peruvians, whom they resemble. While they re- 
 spected inferior spirits, they believed in and worshipped 
 one God. Though heathens, they were not idolators. 3 
 
 There may be some truth in this, but at the same time 
 it must be remembered that what we have called a "faint 
 reflection of civilization," was very faint indeed, and 
 of little practical utility in the Maori's daily life. 
 Such a description may be said to present the poetic 
 and Homeric side of his character. As a matter of fact, 
 before the advent, in 1814, of the first missionary, a 
 Mr. Marsden from New South Wales, the natives were 
 cannibals, polygamous, slave-owners, addicted to human 
 sacrifices and sorcery, and accustomed to make war upon 
 each other for the sole purpose of filling an empty larder. 
 Even after 1814, the Ngapuki, who first acquired the 
 possession of fire-arms, and are now the most civilized 
 of all the tribes, overran the greater portion of the 
 North Island, slaughtering and eating those who could 
 offer no resistance to their new weapons. This tribe of 
 the Ngapuki is one of the most important, and inhabits 
 that part of the island which is situated to the west and 
 north of Auckland. It early fell under the influence of 
 Christian teaching, and it was so long ago as the year 
 1840 that its chiefs signed the treaty of Waitangi, by 
 which they acknowledged themselves to be the subjects 
 of the Queen. Although some few years afterwards a 
 portion of the tribe showed signs of opposition, the 
 treaty has, up to the present year been, to all intents and 
 
 * " Handbook to Australia and New Zealand." S. W. Silver and Co. 
 London, 1874.
 
 The North Island. 2 1 9 
 
 purposes, faithfully observed. During a temporary 
 disaffection in 1845, the British forces lost heavily before 
 a native " pa " held by a hostile section. The dead were 
 buried where they fell. Some time afterwards this 
 people, of their own free will, and to prove their 
 friendship to the " Pakeha," raised a small memorial 
 church, and reinterred in the graveyard all that 
 remained of their former foe a touching kindness for 
 olive-coloured men to do for white ; a symbol that the 
 red war-hatchet was buried deeply and for good. 
 
 Of late years the most warlike of all the tribes has 
 been that of the Waikatos, known also by the name of 
 Kingites, who occupy a more central portion of the 
 island. With this tribe the troubles began in 1862 and 
 1864, but the history of that war need not to be repeated. 
 It is an oft-told tale, and it is green in the memory 
 of most. They still possess a king, Tawhaio, of whose 
 present doings and position we shall have to speak a 
 little further on. 
 
 The year 1881 once more brought the colony face to 
 face with a " native difficulty " a difficulty which cul- 
 minated during its later months. Rightly to under- 
 stand the nature of the question at issue between 
 the Government and a section of the Maori people, it 
 will be necessary to refer to some of those influences which 
 had for some time past been operating upon the native 
 mind. During the war in 1863 many of the tribes had 
 revolted from the teaching of the missionaries, and for- 
 saken Christianity, which they had, to a greater or 
 less extent, adopted. They invented a religious system 
 of their own, which consisted in "a revival of their old 
 superstitions and beliefs, mixed with a creed perverted 
 from the Old Testament." 4 Hau-hau was the name 
 * Vogel's " Handbook to New Zealand."
 
 220 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 given to the new religion, a name suggested by one of 
 the most frequent ejaculations in their prayers. Some 
 of the tribes have since given up Hau-hauisin, but others 
 retain it to this day. Te Whiti, the chief instigator and 
 leader of the late movement, combined in his own person 
 the influence of a somewhat powerful chief, and of a 
 self-elected, firmly believed in, Hau-hau Prophet. Again, 
 when the colonial forces, after the withdrawal of the 
 regular troops, had brought the late war to a satisfactory 
 termination, certain of the native lands were confiscated 
 by Government, both as part payment of the expenses 
 which had been incurred, and also to teach the natives 
 a salutary lesson. But although these lands were con- 
 fiscated, ample reserves were apportioned to the natives, 
 and to-day their tribes possess not only sufficient land for 
 their own purposes, but hold thousands upon thousands 
 of acres which they could utilize, either by sale or lease. 
 
 Under those circumstances the chief Te Whiti collected 
 round his whares at Parihaka, a native village towards 
 the west coast, an indiscriminate crowd, consisting not 
 only of his own people, but of hundreds of others 
 gathered from all parts. He asserted to his deluded 
 followers, that in his person dwelt the Trinity, Father, 
 Son, and Hoty Ghost. He claimed the power of rais- 
 ing the dead. He prophesied the downfall of 
 the Pakeha, or white man, and declared that the day 
 was not far distant when the Maori power, vested in 
 himself, would reign supreme over the whole country. 
 In order to animate the spirits of his followers, and 
 sustain a belief in his authority, he ordered them to 
 stop the settlers from ploughing on the confiscated 
 lands ; to destroy the fences which had been erected ; 
 to plant crops on the land from which they had driven 
 the white men; and by erecting fences across their
 
 The North Island. 221 
 
 width to close the roads which were being made under 
 the protection of the constabulary. If order was to be 
 preserved, if the authority of the Government was to be 
 respected, it became necessary for the ministers to make 
 a firm stand. An official messenger was despatched to 
 Te Whiti to point out that such proceedings could not 
 be permitted to continue ; that he had no right to molest 
 settlers on confiscated lands ; but that he would not be 
 interfered with so long as he confined his people to the 
 reserves which had been allotted to them, and which 
 had long since been pegged out by the Government 
 surveyors. The message failed ; Te Whiti was ob- 
 durate. An ultimatum was next sent declaring that 
 Government would be prepared to enforce its demands 
 by a certain date, in case those demands had not 
 been previously complied with. Te Whiti quietly put 
 this despatch on one side in the presence of the 
 messenger, and without even glancing at its contents. 
 He seemed determined to adopt a policy of passive 
 resistance, and he probably assured his followers to 
 the very end that the Trinity would make some open 
 manifestation in his favour. At length the Government 
 found it necessary to act. Volunteers were called for, 
 both from the South and North Islands, and in a few 
 days 2000 men were on their way to Parihaka. Te 
 Whiti's camp was surrounded, and both he and an almost 
 equally powerful chief, Tohu, were arrested by the con- 
 stabulary, while seated amongst his people. A murderer, 
 named Hiroki, who has since expiated his crime upon 
 -the scaffold, had found an asylum with Te Whiti, who 
 had refused to give him up ; and it was one of the 
 objects of the expedition to secure his person. Unfor- 
 tunately none of those present were acquainted with the 
 man's appearance, and the difficulty was to identify 
 him. The officer charged with the arrest took a bold,
 
 222 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 and, as it turned out, a successful course. Standing 
 before the assembled natives, he shouted, " Hiroki ! " no 
 movement in the throng responded to the call. Again 
 he called, " Hiroki ! " and still no answer came. A third 
 and last time, looking steadily at the crowd, he said, 
 more ' determinedly than before, " Hiroki ! " This in- 
 sistance proved too much for Hiroki. Possibly he 
 thought that he was really recognized ; possibly that the 
 Pakeha, who had just arrested the prophet of his people, 
 could certainly lay hands on one of the rank and file 
 like himself. In any case, he stepped forth, and the 
 handcuffs were in an instant round his wrists. During 
 the next few days all the stranger natives were escorted 
 back to their several villages by the mounted con- 
 stabulary, and Parihaka resumed its wonted appearance. 
 Te Whiti and Tohu are now in the South Island, travel- 
 ling about the country at the Government expense. 
 Their destiny will probably be that of State prisoners, 
 with a considerable amount of latitude. 
 
 A question was lately asked by a member from his 
 seat in the House of Commons, about certain Maori 
 crops, which, it was alleged, had been destroyed during 
 the expedition. The only crop destroyed consisted of 
 about forty-eight acres of potatoes which had been 
 planted by the natives on the confiscated land. This 
 was done to show them that they had no power over 
 the land. The crops on their own reserves were left 
 undisturbed, and provtd to be so plentiful that they 
 requested permission to obtain assistance from some 
 neighbouring tribes for the purpose of gathering them in. 
 
 It seems impossible to imagine how Government could 
 have acted in this matter otherwise than it did. No 
 bloodshed resulted, and the true interests of the natives, 
 so far as these were compatible with the law, were re- 
 ligiously attended to. Whatever the ultimate destiny
 
 The North Island. 223 
 
 of the " brown " man may be, it would appear that, in 
 this instance, at all events, nothing was done which 
 could offend the sensitiveness of the most pronounced 
 philanthropist. We are all the more anxious to place 
 before the public at home a true and unbiassed state- 
 ment of the causes which led up to, and the events which 
 happened on, this occasion, from the line which has 
 been adopted by one of the New Zealand journals. The 
 Lyttelton Times is a paper which readers in England gene- 
 rally suppose to represent the feelings of the Colony, quite 
 as much as the New York Herald reflects the opinions 
 prevailing in New York ; and in both cases, perhaps, with 
 about the same degree of truth: it has, however, with 
 its weekly reprint the Canterbury Times, from the very 
 first, been opposed to the action of the Government, and 
 probably to the opinion of about seven-eighths of the white 
 population of the Colony. The Lyttelton Times is a journal 
 which, whilst affording the best commercial and general 
 intelligence of any paper in New Zealand, has a strong 
 political bias, and on the occasion of the late native diffi- 
 culty it certainly did not represent public opinion here, 
 and it would be deeply to be regretted that an erroneous 
 impression of the dealings of Government with the 
 native tribes should be allowed to obtain a hold on 
 public opinion in England. 
 
 Turning from the fortunes of Te Whiti and the Pari- 
 haka natives, it will be necessary to say a few words 
 about the present position of the more central tribes and 
 their King Tawhaio. No doubt the energetic action of 
 the Government, with regard to Te Whiti, made a great 
 impression, even upon those natives who had held them- 
 selves aloof from the influences of the white man. 
 Instead of continuing a policy of isolation, and a steady 
 refusal to admit surveyors into their country, it is pro-
 
 224 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 bable that before long they will apply to Government 
 for assistance in selling, or leasing, considerable portions 
 of their country. Year by year the natives find that the 
 colonists press more closely on their flanks. Year by 
 year they see the white man grow in power, whilst they 
 become more helpless and divided ; they see the English 
 clovers overpower the native grass, the native fern and 
 bash fall before the cultivating fire ; and what more 
 clear to their poetic but untutored minds than that, in 
 turn, the native race will sink beneath the same relentless 
 doom ? The subject of the greatest interest to them, 
 at the present moment, is the land question, and in 
 order that some united action on this point might be 
 determined on, Tawhaio, in May, 1682, summoned the 
 tribes to meet at Whatiwhatihoe (" the breaking of the 
 paddle "), a native settlement, situated some hundred 
 miles to the south of the city of Auckland. 
 
 The railway carries the traveller as near to this place 
 as Te Awamutu, passing, in its course, through the 
 eventful battle-fields of '62 and '64. A further drive of 
 six miles brings him to Alexandra, a small town situated 
 on the right bank of the Waipa river. On the opposite, 
 or left bank of the .stream, may be seen the new settle- 
 ment of Whatiwhatihoe. A bridge is now being built 
 to span the river, and here at length we find an English 
 and a Maori -town, separated but by a silver streak. 
 The Waipa was bridged over at Alexandra, some 
 seventeen years ago, for the better security of the 
 settlers in the Pirongia district, which stretches from 
 the foot of a mountain of the same name down to the 
 river bank. This bridge, however, is situated a mile 
 below Alexandra, and " Tawhaio thinks that if the 
 Pakeha want, to come to him they should come straight. 
 Hence the new bridge. He has also expressed a wish
 
 The North Island. 225 
 
 that the railway should be brought to Alexandra ; and 
 it is believed that the completion of the bridge will be 
 followed by permission to survey the line." 5 Alexandra 
 and Whatiwhatihoe may be regarded as neutral town- 
 ships in a debateable land. Last May both town and 
 Maori settlement were thronged with natives ; they slept 
 in huts, in tents, hotels, and empty stores; whilst 
 some, rolled in their rugs, were fain to be content 
 with such shelter as could be obtained from open 
 verandahs. Some days elapsed before the council 
 opened ; these King Tawhaio spent in pigeon-shooting, 
 the Native Minister having made him a present of sporting 
 powder. Some amused themselves with athletic sports, 
 and others set to work to improve the condition of 
 the new town. " From their secret recesses," says 
 an eye-witness, " the visitors produced many-coloured 
 articles of European attire, with which to deck them- 
 selves ; and their costumes, moving between the tents, 
 whares, and numerous camp-fires, produced a scene not 
 easily forgotten." " The southern tribes advanced from 
 their encampment in holiday attire, headed by a flag 
 made in Wanganui, with figures of Tawhaio on it. 
 They were received by the chiefs ; and the usual tangi, 
 and songs of welcome followed." The object of the 
 council was, in the first place, to make the native lands 
 inalienable. The native land-law appears to be somewhat 
 doubtful and involved. Beyond the title of the imme- 
 diate owners, the several tribes, as corporate bodies, for 
 themselves or on behalf of others claim a deferred 
 interest in the soil. 6 The immediate, or sometimes a 
 
 8 Correspondent of the Canterbury Times at Whatiwhatihoe, from 
 whose account this and the following extract have been taken. 
 
 6 For further particulars regarding this principle of Maori law, 
 and the means proposed by the present Government to arrest native 
 
 Q
 
 226 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 portion of the immediate owners, have, in many cases, 
 been registered as sole owners in the Xative Land Court 
 a court instituted by Government for the protection of 
 the natives, and to give titles to land in the Xorth 
 Island. Under the titles so obtained some of these 
 properties have been sold, without, as the chiefs assert, 
 the mutual concurrence of all the owners recognized by 
 tribal usage. To add to the difficulties of the situation, 
 the natives have no confidence in each other. The 
 council passes, say, a resolution by a large majority 
 to the effect that all land sales, surveys, and registra- 
 tions shall be suspended until Parliament shall have 
 decided upon some course of procedure which shall meet 
 the views of the tribes. But the people return home, 
 and continue to traffic with their land as before. In 
 fact some of the loudest supporters of the resolution in 
 council were at the very time negotiating with land 
 speculators ; and those tribes who have sold most do not 
 hesitate to declare that the contrast of their own con- 
 dition with that of the Kingites, who have not sold, 
 leaves no temptation to exchange their own policy for 
 that of Tawhaio. 
 
 The habits of the Maori must not be confounded with 
 those of the North American Indian. In his savage state 
 the Maori possessed no happy hunting-grounds perhaps 
 because there was no game to slay. The Indian was 
 essentially a hunter, roaming at his pleasure over the 
 boundless prairie or through the pathless forest. To 
 confine him within a restricted area to make him put 
 his hunter's hand to the spade or plough, would be to 
 invite a certain and a pining death ; in fact no course 
 could be adopted so fitted to exterminate his race. The 
 
 dissatisfaction with regard to the existing state of affairs, see Appen- 
 dix, pp. 363, 364.
 
 The North Island. 227 
 
 Maori, on the other hand, when he works at all, works 
 in his potato-field or patch of maize; he takes kindly 
 to sheep ; he is, so to speak, a naturally born tiller of 
 the soil; he knows something of the value of money, 
 and what that money can be made to buy. Nor does he 
 pine when living on his farm and cultivating the neces- 
 saries of life. There is abundant room in the North 
 Island both to support the tribes in luxury and comfort, 
 and add to their present wealth by means of sales or 
 leases of the surplus blocks which they can never enjoy 
 or utilize. One essential point must be and is provided 
 for, namely, that sufficient land be left for native wants. 
 If this be done, the Maori will be far more comfortably 
 situated than he was before the advent of the white man. 
 Instead of tribal wars, instead of cannibalism and human 
 sacrifice, those natives who survive will dwell in happy 
 villages, with smiling homes and peaceful farms. 
 
 It has often been a doubtful point with some how far 
 the white is justified in taking the " brown " man's land. 
 Experience tends to show the doing so to be inevitable 
 It appears to be a necessary phase of what may be 
 called, for the purpose of our argument, " the Darwinian 
 process of development." It is asserted by those who 
 hold the Darwinian theory, that all existing types have 
 descended from one, or, at all events, from very few forms 
 of life ; that species living at any time must be the 
 result of a gradual modification of pre-existing species; 
 and that the essence of this doctrine is " the survival of 
 the fittest." If nature teaches this, why then let people 
 learn from nature, and, without pressing with too hard 
 measure upon those weaker than themselves, help for- 
 ward the development of that superior life which nature 
 tells us is inevitable. But, putting on one side the much- 
 vexed theory of " natural selection " (which after all is 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 but a philosophic train of thought, seeking to explain 
 " what is," but unable to go behind " what was," and 
 therefore starting but from the middle rung of the 
 ladder), 7 all history proves that man, supported by 
 
 7 [And therefore starting but from the middle rung of the ladder. ] 
 It seems scarcely fitting to make such a direct assertion, without 
 indicating, in as few words as possible, the train of thought which led 
 to its adoption. The proposition that the three angles of an equi- 
 lateral triangle are together equal to two right angles, is capable of 
 positive proof. We begin with the theorem, we follow with our 
 demonstration, and finally close with the triumphant Q.E.D. We 
 have carried our proposition from its commencement to its very end, 
 and defy the world to find a flaw in our consequents. But the theory 
 of " natural selection " cannot begin with the beginning, neither 
 can it end with the ending. Let us start at the very lowest order of 
 species, or even from the very elements of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, 
 and carbon : it can but begin to mould itself upon a pre-existence an 
 existence too, or state of being, controlled by certain laws. An 
 existence so controlled cannot be a thing of chance ; it indicates 
 direct creation. Let the process of selection be continued (for we 
 cannot arbitrarily arrest the system short of this) until it has evolved 
 the human frame, that most perfect mechanical formation of all things 
 living. Even then, at the pole most opposite it stops, arrested by the 
 soul. Allow for one moment that " selection " may produce the 
 perfect from the imperfect, still it must fail to make an altogether 
 fresh creation. Admit that from mere instinct it can develop reason, 
 that from the braying of an ass it can construct the human voice, 
 from what arcanum can it form the soul? At the end, as at the 
 beginning, it has to yield itself the captive of creation. Inorganic 
 matter is controlled by chemical affinities ; organic laws forbid the 
 mule to propagate its kind ; and to admit a " natural selection" to 
 be the origin of species, is but to depose one miracle to enthrone 
 another in its place. If creation then originated matter, far simpler 
 for itself to perfect what it has begun, than that unnecessary and 
 complex means should interpose. Could light and heat have sprung 
 into existence by " selection " from the glacial period ? Or rather 
 were they not a separate creation ? Why make two systems where 
 but one will do the first not to be explained away, the next 
 incapable of proof? Far better to believe one grand idea, the which 
 with patient steps was consummated, and where the separate organisms 
 were each in turn created, the one more perfect than the last, yet part
 
 The North Island. 229 
 
 superior art and knowledge, will tread upon the necks of 
 those less gifted than himself. As the ancient Celts 
 were driven to the western confines of the Old World ; as 
 the Incas yielded to the warriors brought from Spain ; as 
 the red men were displaced by almost countless throngs 
 of white so must the Maori yield in turn. And who 
 can say these things should not be ? What could the 
 disunited efforts of these deposed ones have accomplished, 
 when compared with what has been effected ? If some 
 few have suffered, more nay, countless millions more 
 have gained immeasurably. The question is not con- 
 fined to individual loss, but embraces the good of 
 myriads of mankind. 
 
 The Maori then must yield in turn; and, though he has 
 been extolled by many writers for his noble qualities, 
 they do not seem powerful enough to save him from the 
 universal effects of civilization when brought into contact 
 with the savage. The Maori has relinquished cannibalism, 
 polygamy, slavery, and many of his former superstitions, 
 but in doing so he seems to have lost much of his former 
 spirit and native energy. He has lost what made his 
 life, without replacing it with higher aims. He is left 
 more helpless than he was before. Strange fatality ! 
 that Christianity and civilization, which tend to 
 develop the forces of more favoured peoples, should, 
 when their first principles are faintly comprehended by 
 the savage, produce a contrary effect to what they were 
 intended to beget. It seems as though when faith in 
 ancient creeds and patriarchal customs is once destroyed, 
 all else becomes unstable. It is in fact far easier to 
 destroy than to rebuild. Men to advance in science, 
 art, or literary skill, require to study, and mould their 
 
 of one great whole, and placed upon the stage as the great scheme 
 was fitted to receive them.
 
 230 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 work upon the accumulated toil of former generations. 
 Take this away, and all is blank. And so it is with 
 savage men. They learn that all they knew before is 
 wrong. They see a better way, but how that better way 
 has been built up, they cannot grasp. Their minds in 
 this respect a blank old prejudices gone, they yield 
 themselves as willing serfs to every passion of the hour. 
 It is not that missionary labour and modern civilization 
 do not bear some fruits. Far from it; a nation may 
 suffer as a whole, while individuals of it may doubtless 
 gain. A man of higher calibre than the crowd may be 
 improved, and possibly his family ; but it is beyond the 
 power of any culture to make black white, or turn a 
 nation's destiny at one fell swoop from barbarous habits 
 to robes of spotless light. It is generally believed that 
 the Maoris are decreasing in numbers. At times adopt- 
 ing the European mode of dress and habits, and again 
 reverting to the native blanket and exposure, their 
 bodies become more susceptible to climatic influences. 
 Drink has laid its curse on many, and it is feared that 
 phthisis and increased mortality will be the end. But 
 this is not universally the case. Many there are, hard 
 working and industrious folks, whose children, and 
 children's children will, it may be hoped, live to inherit 
 those lands which are now their parents' property. 
 
 The mineral wealth of the North Island is confined to 
 the Province of Auckland, where gold, coal, iron, and 
 copper are to be found, together with small quantities of 
 silver and lead. The two former are, as already men- 
 tioned, worked by several companies. Part of Auckland 
 and the greater portion of the three other provinces 
 consist of volcanic formations and alluvial deposits. 
 Large districts in the centre of the island are composed 
 of nothing but extensive beds of loose friable pumice-
 
 The North Island. 231 
 
 stone, lava, and ashes. The whole of this part of the 
 country must frequently have been in a most active 
 state of volcanic excitement, the more recent deposits 
 resting as they do upon older layers of the same material. 
 Boiling springs and smoking solfataras yet exist, while 
 Mount Tongariro and Ruapahu, although intermittent in 
 their action, may still be considered as active craters. 
 Further to the north, and about thirty miles south of 
 Tauranga, are lakes Rotorua and Rotomahana, theatres 
 of vast volcanic throes. For miles on miles around 
 complete sterility exists, whilst near the lakes, warm and 
 often boiling springs flow over grand siliceous terraces, 
 the chief of which is 300 feet in length at its base, with 
 an altitude of 150 feet. Below are numerous hollows, 
 filled with warm water, and forming natural baths. The 
 surface of the terraces presents those varying hues well 
 known to the frequenters of Vesuvius and other 
 mountains in eruption, but here, owing to moisture from 
 the spray, the white, the pink, the blue, are brighter. 
 Some of the light volcanic soils of Auckland are easily 
 worked, and much preferred by colonists to the cold clay 
 marls, which crop out here and there throughout the 
 entire district. Probably these latter will, as years go 
 on, and when more time and labour are bestowed upon 
 them, prove highly reproductive. The soil on the west 
 coast and well inland, from the Mokau river in the north 
 to Wanganui in the south, is formed of decomposed 
 calcareous marls, mixed with remains of lava streams, 
 and debris of tufaceous rocks. It is of the most valuable 
 character, perhaps indeed some of the best land to be 
 found in the southern hemisphere, and near to Wanganui 
 sells as high as any in the colony. In the province of 
 Hawke's Bay, situate on the east coast, the soil below the 
 slate range which forms the backbone of the country
 
 232 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 is also a calcareous marl, intersected with shingle beds, 
 and, in places, with considerable blocks of rich alluvial 
 deposit. These last are valuable for agricultural purposes ; 
 the remainder of the province affords some of the best 
 possible pasturing land. Stretching for miles round 
 Wellington, the country is considerably broken, and 
 mostly covered with the native bush. The principal 
 trees are the totara, matai, rimu, kahikatea, and rata. The 
 country lying between the Tararua range and the east 
 coast, alone contains nearly 600 square miles of forest, 
 composed of good timber for the saw-mills. Bush exists 
 to a greater or less extent in all the provinces. In 1873 
 it was estimated that nearly forty-five per cent, of the 
 province of Wellington, was covered with bush, nearly 
 sixty-six per cent, of Taranki, eight per cent, of Hawke's 
 Bay, and seven per cent, of Auckland ; or in round 
 n umbers $ that more than 6,000,000 acres of forest 
 existed in the North Island. 8 The timber trade is 
 therefore likely to be of considerable importance for 
 many years to come. 
 
 We have already referred to the Kauri 9 (Damnara 
 Australia}, the finest forest-tree in New Zealand, as 
 existing only in the province of Auckland. It attains a 
 height of from 120 to 160 feet, with a clear stem some- 
 times of 80 or 100 feet, before branching out. Its 
 diameter at the base, is from ten to twenty feet. The 
 timber is greatly esteemed for masts, spars, and deck 
 planking. It is of great durability, and the variety 
 known as mottled kauri is especially valuable as a 
 
 The quantity of forest in the South Island is almost identical, but it 
 is chiefly confined to the provinces of Nelson and Westland, and the 
 central ranges. 
 
 ' This account of New Zealand trees is taken from " A Descriptive 
 List of the principal Forest Trees of New Zealand," by Dr. Hector.
 
 The North Island. 233 
 
 furniture wood. It is the principal timber exported 
 from New Zealand. The Totara (Podocarpus totara) 
 is a lofty spreading tree, from 60 to 120 feet in height, 
 and from four to ten feet in diameter. The timber is 
 durable and clean grained, somewhat like cedar wood, 
 works easily, and is suitable for carpenters' work, railway 
 sleepers, piles, and other uses of a similar nature. Post 
 and rail fences made from it are expected to last from 
 forty to fifty years. The Maoris used it to make their 
 largest canoes, and for the palisades of their pas. The 
 Matai (Podocarpus spicata), or black pine, grows eighty 
 feet high, and from two to four feet in diameter. The 
 wood is close grained and durable. It is used for 
 piles, bed-plates for machinery, flooring, sleepers, and 
 fencing. It ceases to grow in any situation over 1500 
 feet above the level of the sea. The Rimu (Dacrydium 
 cupressinum), or red pine, is pyramidal, with weeping 
 branches. It grows from 80 to 130 feet high, with 
 a diameter of from two to six feet. Its habit renders it 
 ornamental as well as useful. The wood is clear grained, 
 heavy, and solid. It is much used for joisting, planking, 
 and general building purposes, but it is liable to decay 
 when exposed to wet. It is highly esteemed by the 
 upholsterer. It was from the juice of this pine that 
 Captain Cook manufactured his spruce beer. The 
 Hakikatea (Podocarpus dacrydoides), or white pine, is a 
 fine tree, from 100 to 150 feet high, and about four feet 
 in diameter. The timber is white and tough, but soft, 
 and will not bear exposure. A variety of this tree known 
 as yellow pine is largely sawn in Nelson, and considered 
 to be a durable building wood. The Rata (Metrnsideros 
 lucida), or ironwood, is a very ornamental tree, standing 
 from thirty to sixty feet high, and with a diameter of 
 from two to ten feet. It forms a valuable cabinet wood
 
 234 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 of a dark red colour, and has been much used for knees 
 and timbers in ship-building. It grows rarely in the 
 north, but abundantly on the west coast of the South 
 Island ; but another species of Rata (Metrosideros robusta) 
 grows freely in the north, and is equally dense and 
 durable. From its bolder growth it is to be obtained of 
 much larger dimensions than the former. There is yet 
 another valuable tree, which is confined to Auckland and 
 is extensively used in ship-building the Pohutukawa 
 (Metrosideros tomrntosa). It has numerous massive arms, 
 and grows from thirty to sixty feet in height, with a 
 trunk of from two to four feet in diameter. The wood 
 is in great demand for the knees and framework of 
 vessels, having a natural bend ; it bears a large red 
 flower which blossoms about Christmas. There are many 
 other varieties of timber, but the above-named are the 
 most valuable and important of the forest-trees. 
 
 With a surface so thickly covered with forest scrub 
 and fern as is that of the North Island, it is not difficult 
 to realize the obstacles which must be encountered by 
 the cultivator. A great portion of the country will 
 undoubtedly, for many years to come, continue to give 
 employment to the bushmen. It is estimated, however, 
 that there are about 12,000,000 acres suitable for agri- 
 culture, a quantity even greater than that in the South 
 Island ; but of this a considerable portion is still in the 
 hands of the Maoris, and of the rest a large percentage 
 requires both time and expenditure before it can be made 
 available for the production of grain crops. The native 
 fern, which grows to the height of a man's shoulder, 
 covers the surface of the country, and forms at present a 
 great drawback to any but the pastoral interest. The 
 system of cultivation pursued is to burn the fern during 
 the later summer months, and sow broadcast upon the
 
 The North Island. 235 
 
 ashes, clovers and English grasses. With favourable 
 autumn and early winter rains these grow apace, and 
 when the old fern-roots shoot their fresh and tender 
 fronds, cattle are turned upon the land to eat them off. 
 This must be repeated until the fern seems actually 
 subdued. The young grasses are soon stocked with 
 sheep, and, where the land is exceptionally good, support 
 from five to six per acre the twelve months through. 
 But it is an open question whether so much stock can 
 practically be carried with profit. Too many sheep being 
 constantly on the ground, the land gets poisoned, and 
 though the grass may spring with great rapidity, the 
 sheep want change, and do not thrive upon it. So much 
 fern root is apt to make the land sour when ploughed for 
 cereals, and without the aid of lime it may take several 
 ploughings to make it really sweet. The fern is difficult 
 to kill, and farms which are left deserted, present in a 
 few short months all the appearance of virgin land. If 
 it is desired to make a pasture in the bush, the trees, 
 where not previously cleared for timber, are felled to 
 about three feet from the ground, and left, for a time, 
 until the sap has lost its rawness. Advantage is then 
 taken of fine summer weather, and the mass, including the 
 undergrowth, is set on fire. After the first fierceness of 
 the flames has spent itself, the trunks and heavier limbs 
 go smouldering on, perhaps for months. When all signs 
 of fire have disappeared, and the ash-bed is sufficiently 
 cool, grasses are sown upon it broadcast. It is evident 
 that these clearings can only be used as pasture-lands, 
 and that it would be a work of too much labour and 
 expense either to plough to any great extent between the 
 stumps, or harvest any white crops which might possibly 
 be sown. It must take years and many generations to 
 render this class of land fit for the plough. To this day
 
 236 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 blackened and weather-beaten stumps may be seen on 
 many a clearing in the older-peopled Eastern States of 
 North America ; and the farmer who has migrated from 
 New Jersey to Illinois or Minnesota, retains, while culti- 
 vating the deep rich loam of the Western prairies a 
 lively recollection of the time when the stumps and roots 
 of his native State hampered his plough and increased 
 the cost of labour. Owing to the greater breadth of 
 land which he can till, he finds it to be more profitable 
 to sell his "corn " at $30 the bushel out West, than at 
 $80 in the old home. Many plans have been attempted 
 for clearing roots and stumps from off the land, and much 
 unnecessary labour has been thrown away. The Ameri- 
 cans now pierce the stumps with augur-holes and fill 
 them with coarse petroleum ; then, when the wood is 
 thoroughly saturated, they burn it, roots and all. But 
 even this process takes both time and labour. The 
 above difficulties which beset the farmer in the North 
 Island, will in some measure account for the greater 
 development of agriculture which has taken place in 
 Canterbury and Otago. By the Government returns, 
 taken from a census made in February, 1882, and just 
 now published, it will be found in that year there were 
 but 93,130 acres under grain and root crop in the North, 
 against 908,865 acres in the South Island; whilst the 
 quantity of sown grasses in the North amounted to 
 2,235,427 acres against 1,697,271 acres in the South. 
 When considering the relative amount of land occupied 
 by English grasses in the two islands it must be recol- 
 lected, that of the land sown down in the North Island, 
 only 521,822 acres had been under the plough, against 
 1,246,593 in the South, proving in the latter case that 
 by far the greater part of the land laid down to English 
 grass had been under crop, and is but resting. The
 
 The North Island. 237 
 
 greater portion of it, then, must be included among the 
 agricultural rather than the purely pastoral lands. Again, 
 looking only at the several quantities of land occupied by 
 English grasses in the two islands, it would seem as if 
 the North was in a position to carry a larger amount of 
 cattle and sheep. But it would be erroneous to run 
 away with this idea. The greater preponderance of 
 English grasses in the North is owing to the land in its 
 natural state being unable to support stock. The South 
 Island possesses 10,000,000 acres of land covered with 
 native grasses, and capable of supporting a good quality 
 of Merino sheep. Against this class of land the central 
 volcanic regions of the North Island can offer but little 
 competition. The result is as might be expected. In 
 1882 the South Island carried 8,867,921 sheep, against 
 returns of 4,024,973 from the North; and 310,788 head 
 of cattle against 287,191. Other industries are in a 
 somewhat similar position. The aggregate import and 
 export trade of the South Island, for the two years 1880 
 and 1881, exceeded that of the North by over sixty -nine per 
 cent., 1 whilst the gold exported during the same period 
 was but 318,117/. from the North, as against 1,989,9252. 
 from the South. No doubt the mere fact of a large body 
 of natives occupying the very centre and some of the best 
 land in the country, has had an important influence in 
 retarding what would otherwise have been a more rapid 
 development. But, in order that full justice may be done 
 to the country, two main trunk lines of railway are 
 necessary, where at present only fragmentary portions are 
 in existence ; the one to draw the fertile country situated 
 on the west coast, the other to traverse the eastern and 
 northern portions of the island, passing on its way through 
 Napier, the termini of both to meet in the north at 
 1 See Import and Export Tables, Appendix, Table D.
 
 238 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Auckland, and in the south at Wellington. The great 
 obstacle which exists to the completion of these lines is, 
 that they must run through th3 Maori country, and 
 until to-day the natives have been unwilling to permit the 
 Government surveyors to take the necessary levels in 
 those districts over which they possess supreme control. 
 Civilization exists, then, but as a shallow fringe surround- 
 ing a central Maori population. Through traffic, under 
 such circumstances, is impossible, and the principal 
 means of communication between the different settle- 
 ments must inevitably be by sea. It is to be hoped that 
 this state of things will soon be rectified, and better 
 intercommunication by land opened up. Still the fact 
 must remain that the North Island, with the exception 
 of the district round Auckland, is devoid of mineral 
 wealth ; that the country in many parts is more or less 
 un suited for agriculture, and that for years to come the 
 main portion of the island will have to depend upon a 
 pastoral interest and the resources of its forests. Neither 
 of these industries can support so large a population as 
 the manufacturing, shipping, and agricultural interests ; 
 and although it may be safely assumed that the North 
 will make great strides in the future, there is nothing to 
 warrant the belief that for years to come, if ever, she can 
 hope to outstrip the Southern Island in the race for 
 wealth. 
 
 But this being understood, there is nothing to deter 
 the intending settler from taking up land in any of her 
 four provinces with every prospect of success. As a 
 rule land is far cheaper in the north 2 than in the south, 
 possibly because the means of communication are some- 
 what restricted, and the markets generally do not offer 
 equally good facilities for the sale of produce. But these 
 2 See Appendix.
 
 The North Island. 239 
 
 drawbacks are likely, before long, to be greatly mitigated, 
 and to those with whom capital is an object, or who, 
 possessed of capital, do not mind roughing it for a few 
 years, the North Island will probably offer better chances 
 than the South. Possibly it was the influence of these 
 or somewhat similar ideas which caused Messrs. Grant 
 and Foster, the delegates lately sent out by a body of 
 Lincolnshire farmers, to take up a considerable block of 
 land in the North Island for the purpose of settling it 
 with old-country agriculturists, A respected corre- 
 spondent of the Scotsman, writing to that paper from 
 Canada, and speaking about Manitoba, says, " It is gc od 
 policy for a man with four or five stalwart sons, who wish 
 to become farmers, to sell 100 acres in Ontario, and with 
 the proceeds to buy 1000 or 1200 acres of as good land 
 in one block in the North- West Territory. But why 
 should not old-country emigrants go to these newer 
 provinces, too ? Some of them, I believe, should, if they 
 have but little to invest in real estate. That little will 
 
 go further than here It is not wise, however, 
 
 for emigrants from the old country, who are possessed 
 of means, to go. In Ontario they will have churches, 
 schools, associates, and travelling facilities equal to those 
 which they have enjoyed at home." 
 
 This is sound advice ; the case is clearly stated, and is 
 applicable to all new countries. There will always be a 
 certain number who, from necessity or choice, prefer the 
 rougher life. There will be others possessed of means, 
 and perhaps family men, who, although from some cause 
 or another they consider it advisable to emigrate, would 
 rather not adopt the necessarily hard life of the pioneer 
 settler. Fortunately the world lies open, and offers to 
 each class a deliberate choice. It must not be supposed 
 that in the North Island a settler would have to encounter
 
 240 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 the same hardships from climatic or other causes which 
 he would have to face in Manitoba, the North- West 
 Territory, or in Ontario itself. On the other hand, if he 
 prefers to buy cheap land in a thinly-peopled district, he 
 must not expect the same advantages and conveniences 
 as would have fallen to his lot under more favourable 
 circumstances. It is needless to say that these remarks 
 do not apply to Auckland, Wellington, or the districts 
 immediately adjacent to them. These offer as great 
 advantages as any in the colony. The warning must be 
 understood as relating only to those more remote spots, 
 where the settler would be likely to pick up cheap blocks. 
 In some parts of the island there is considerable diffi- 
 culty, owing to the absence of stone, to find material 
 with which to metal the roads. Pumice-stone, lava, and 
 disintegrated rock have been called into requisition, and 
 partly answer the purpose ; yet the roads are anything 
 but delightful in wet and dusty weather. But the charm- 
 ing climate and attractive scenery, which almost every- 
 where arrests the eye, must always act as a great in- 
 ducement to the intending settler, and fully make up for 
 many deficiencies. The mild air of Auckland is peculiarly 
 adapted to those troubled with asthma, and is recom- 
 mended by physicians in cases of lung disease. The 
 warm springs of Rotorua are celebrated for the beneficial 
 influence which they have upon rheumatism and other 
 affections of a similar nature. But whatever fascination 
 natural vapour-baths may have for others, to the sound 
 in wind and limb, or to the lover of nature, the beautiful 
 scenery of the country will offer the greatest attraction. 
 It possesses an irresistible power over the senses, hardly 
 to be equalled in the South Island, unless, perhaps, in the 
 province of Nelson, or amongst the lakes of the southern 
 Alps. Waterfalls and boiling springs, woods and hills,
 
 The North Island. 241 
 
 dales and valleys, shining rivers and rapid torrents, the 
 graceful fern and many flowering shrubs, a warming 
 sun and bright blue sky, combine to form a whole, from 
 which the artist may select studies well worthy of his 
 canvas, or where the dreamer yet may dream. Nature is 
 ever grand in all its forms, but never perhaps so won- 
 drously displays its dreaded majesty as in the storm at 
 sea its purity and faint reflex of paradise, as high among 
 the Alpine snows the still clear ether bids the soul look 
 heavenwards its great creative power, as in the virgin 
 forest, where the tall trees throw but a gentler light upon 
 the wondrous life below. So in New Zealand, what 
 sight more lovely than the lofty pines stretching their 
 deep green foliage high in air, their massive trunks 
 clothed with bright mosses and parasitic ferns, the trailing 
 Smilax pendent from their arms ; beneath, an under- 
 growth of pure white clematis, twining itself round the 
 matted fuchsia; while from the tangled mass the tall 
 tree-fern, raising its feathery head some forty feet from 
 earth, stands forth and adds depth to the ever-grateful 
 shade. Unbroken stillness reigns, save where the rip- 
 pling stream murmurs along its rocky bed, or drops in 
 seething foam o'er some sharp ledge. The whole sug- 
 gests a forest in Brazil save for the want of busy life. 
 We miss the humming-bird and bright-winged butterfly, 
 and all the feathery tribe, blithe with their gay and 
 matchless plumage ; the sound of the hammer-headed frog, 
 and all the endless whiz and buzz which, as the night 
 draws near, starts from a midday rest. But of lovely New 
 Zealand we may say : " whatsoe'er thy birth, thou wert 
 a beautiful thought, and softly bodied forth."
 
 242 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 " HOW WE ARE GOVERNED." 
 
 THIS is the title of a small but comprehensive volume, 
 compiled some years ago by Albany Fonblanque the 
 younger, which gives a digest of the British Constitution 
 in a compendious form. Commencing with the Sove- 
 reign, as head of the State, it descends through both 
 Houses of Parliament and the courts of law, to the 
 ultima Thule of local government. Concise in form, 
 though necessarily abbreviated in detail, it gave to those 
 who did not care to dive more deeply into the subject, a 
 fair insight into the method of government and legal 
 procedure prevailing in a country which was their home 
 either through the accident of birth or by voluntary 
 adoption. Obsolete, no doubt, as part of its contents 
 may have become, after the lapse of more than twenty 
 years, the title still indicates the answer to a question 
 which must ever remain a matter of interest to dwellers 
 in every land, and to all who would study the different 
 aspects that government has assumed in the many 
 states which constitute the civilized portion of the globe. 
 On this account it would appear to furnish a suitable 
 heading for a chapter which proposes to deal with the 
 constitutional and legislative machinery of New Zealand. 
 The theory of a representative government is neces- 
 sarily of a dual character. It is the antithesis of a
 
 " Hoiv we are governed?' 243 
 
 despotism, under which the whole function of adminis- 
 tration emanates from the volition of an individual, or 
 possibly of a small body of individuals appointed by and 
 acting under his authority responsible not to the people, 
 but to their autocratic chief. On the other hand, a repre- 
 sentative government proceeds directly from the people, 
 who delegate to a certain number of its members an 
 authority which is in reality still their own. It follows 
 that those in power are answerable for their doings to 
 the body which has raised them above the common 
 crowd. When they cease to satisfy the requirements of 
 that body, they must give place to men who are more 
 likely to prove in accord with the popular sympathies. 
 Representative government, then, is the most elastic of all 
 systems of government, for it acts and re-acts within 
 itself. It is directly antagonistic to all schemes of 
 imperial or communistic despotism, which would en- 
 deavour to make all things subservient to their own 
 purposes. Capable of recognizing a sovereign, it cannot, 
 from its very essence, recognize the divine right of kings. 
 It is hardly necessary to state that the government of 
 New Zealand is both representative and constitutional, 
 and is closely modelled upon lines which it has inherited 
 from the experience of the old country. It enjoys a 
 vice-king in the governor appointed by her Majesty. It 
 possesses a House of Lords in its Legislative Council, 
 and it has its House of Representatives, elected by 
 popular suffrage, and corresponding to the House of 
 Commons of Great Britain and Ireland. In one respect 
 the colonies have been fortunate. The liberties of the 
 Commons in the old world have been built up, step by 
 step, through many centuries of hard-won and oftentimes 
 dubious successes. Australasia, on the contrary, was 
 peopled at a time when the right of a nation to defend 
 
 R 2
 
 244 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 its liberties had become a recognized principle. Con- 
 sequently government in the colonies started from a 
 point at which in the old world it had arrived only after 
 a long and persistent struggle. In these new colonies 
 the great fear was lest, the power of the masses having 
 become acknowledged, the tendency might be too demo- 
 cratic lest, freed from the restraints and usages of an 
 older society, the new political instinct should incline to 
 the very verge of a tyrannous communism, and place too 
 great a preponderance of power in the hands of the 
 uneducated classes, to the exclusion of the better in- 
 formed, and the undoubted rights of property. Whether 
 this tendency has been partially developed in some of the 
 colonies or not, may be an open question ; but so far as 
 New Zealand is concerned the fear has proved to be 
 almost entirely groundless. Large freehold properties 
 and the comparatively high value of land have tended to 
 people the country with men who possess a due apprecia- 
 tion of the responsibilities attached to their position. 
 Herein the colony closely resembles England, the mother 
 country more closely, perhaps, than some of the other 
 offshoots which have from time to time boldly detached 
 themselves from her parent shores. And perhaps it is 
 fortunate that it is so. No person who has travelled in 
 the United States can fail to be struck with the small 
 responsibility assumed by the better classes with regard 
 to both the national and local systems of government 
 The reason for this much to be regretted phenomenon 
 must be sought in a variety of causes. First among 
 them may be reckoned an almost universal belief enter- 
 tained by the more conservative of the people, that it is 
 useless to oppose their better principles to the clamour 
 of the multitude, supported as this is by the over- 
 whelming weight of manhood suffrage. Often have the
 
 "How we are governed" 245 
 
 voices of thinking Americans, influenced by sad experi- 
 ence, been raised to warn the old country, which is still 
 regarded by them with an affectionate interest, never to 
 sink so low as to adopt manhood suffrage pure and 
 unadulterated. " Whatever you do," they say, " how- 
 ever low you fix your legal qualification, let every voter 
 be a stake-holder of some sort. Do not follow our 
 example and give to every one of your citizens, be he 
 worthy or be he not worthy, the power to vote, until it 
 be proved that he has some direct interest in property, 
 however small that interest may be. Let your voter 
 have something to conserve, but do not admit a man to 
 the management of public affairs, solely on the ground 
 that he possesses an existence an existence which he 
 did nothing to create, and who, siuce it was bestowed, 
 has done nothing to make himself fitted to meddle with 
 the concerns of others more provident than himself." A 
 second reason may be found in the fact that educated 
 Americans are essentially dwellers in big cities. They 
 take no interest in country pursuits ; and except in the 
 suburbs of some large town, or during the warmer 
 months on the shores of some favourite lake or river, the 
 country knows them not. Consequently they fail in the 
 individuality and sense of personal responsibility that 
 appear to be almost spontaneous in those persons 
 who live on large estates. Always occupied at the desk 
 or counting-house, their chief interest is confined to 
 business and the more immediate family circle. The 
 numerous tenants and dependents of a large landed pro- 
 prietor are to them unknown quantities, and their 
 absence precludes that association of class with class 
 which is a marked feature in the old country, and helps 
 to form a connecting link between the highest person in 
 the realm and the poorest peasant in the cottage.
 
 246 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Charity no doubt exists, and that to a very large extent ; 
 but it generally takes the expression of a duty devolving 
 on one large body to alleviate the distresses of another 
 large body. A self-sacrificing anxiety, at the expense 
 of personal inclination, for the wants of individuals, 
 although doubtlessly existing in many a sympathetic 
 breast, and however operative in a few cases, has not 
 hitherto been reduced to a national system. Men occupied 
 with business and private intimacies, have a general 
 tendency to leave extraneous duties to the care of those 
 whose work it is to attend to them. A sentiment pre- 
 vails that such matters will right themselves without 
 any necessity for personal inconvenience. And lastly, 
 although Americans are imbued with a deeply-rooted 
 sense of the present and future greatness of the Union, 
 and will, under pressure, proceed to any lengths for its 
 maintenance, their daily life is one rather of disunion than 
 union. For internal purposes the country is composed 
 of a mass of independent States hanging loosely together. 
 A fraudulent bankrupt in New York has but to cross by 
 ferry-boat to New Jersey to be safe from the arm of the 
 New York State authorities ; nor can he be arrested 
 until all the paraphernalia of New Jersey law has been 
 invoked to assist the officers. By the time this is done 
 the fellow may be in Kentucky, Virginia, or anywhere 
 else. A man may have a lawful wife in one State, and 
 yet be divorced from her in another. Boston considers 
 New York society too fast, and New York looks upon 
 that of Boston as composed of pedants. Baltimore 
 esteems both of inferior blood, and holds them wanting in 
 the highest refinement. The West looks on the East 
 as upon a power which taxes the farmer for the purpose 
 of enriching the manufacturer. The South well, the 
 South would side with that party which promised the
 
 "How we are governed" 247 
 
 best terms. These, and many other minor causes, tend 
 to deflect the natural energy of the American character 
 back upon itself, and deter it from entering the general 
 arena of political contest. " There is," says Canon 
 Liddon, in one of his sermons delivered before the 
 University of Oxford, " no single feature of the circum- 
 stances of the United States of America upon which the 
 most intelligent and devoted friends of the Great 
 Republic look with more unconcealed alarm than the 
 withdrawal from public life of almost the whole of the 
 educated class, and the consequent abandonment of some 
 of the highest and most responsible places in the State 
 to earnest but uncultivated fanatics, or to mere adven- 
 turers. It will be an evil day for England if the natural 
 leaders of the people forego their duties because the 
 course of modern politics is unwelcome to them. Mis- 
 takes of this magnitude are made by an instructed and 
 governing class only once. There are vestigia nulla 
 retrorsum ; the ground once lost is irrecoverable." It 
 would be an evil day for England, it would be an evil 
 day for New Zealand, were this to be. Fortunately the 
 die has not yet been cast, and the educated class, in 
 both countries, continues to take an active interest in 
 the welfare of the people and the State. 
 
 The real power of a representative government pro- 
 ceeding as it does from the people, ib will be desirable 
 in the first place to ascertain of what elements that 
 people consists. New Zealand will be found to be essen- 
 tially English in its composition. Of the 489,933 per- 
 sons living in the country (exclusive of Maoris) in April, 
 1881, 467,998, or 95^ per cent., were either colonial- 
 born, natives of Great Britain, or from the British 
 Possessions. The remaining 4^ per cent, were drawn 
 from Europe, America, China, and a few from other
 
 248 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 countries. Of the total number, 80^ per cent, were 
 Protestants of various denominations, 14 per cent, were 
 Roman Catholic?, and 5^ per cent. Jews, Pagans, un- 
 specified, or objecting to state. These statistics would 
 indicate, so far as can be gathered from analytical data, 
 the respectability of the great mass of the colonists 
 an inference which is fully borne out by actual expe- 
 rience. The Irish element is limited to about 10 per 
 cent, of the total population, and of this a fair proportion 
 comes from the province of Ulster, still further reducing 
 the power of this excitable people as a means of disturb- 
 ance. Perhaps it is as well for the colony that the great 
 stream of emigration from the Emerald Isle has set in 
 towards America. It is not because the people of Ire- 
 land may not have been suffering for years injustice at 
 the hands of a few, or perhaps many, landed proprietors, 
 and have been misunderstood, maybe, by successive 
 Cabinets in London ; it is not because a necessity for 
 reform may exist in that country, that the peasant from 
 the south of Ireland is mistrusted wherever he goes. 
 But the mistrust is fostered and created by the cold- 
 blooded means which he has adopted to remedy his posi- 
 tion. It is fostered by that character of agrarian 
 and political assassin, which he has many times as- 
 sumed before the eyes of the civilized world. He is 
 mistrusted because, as Mr. Justin McCarthy says, 
 " When the Irish peasant throws off altogether the 
 guidance of religion, he is apt to rush to worse extrava- 
 gances and excesses than most other men." The yeo- 
 men of England who had held their lands through a long 
 line of ancestry, and who were after the late French war, 
 in many parts of the country, ruined by their previous 
 extravagance and the great fall which took place in 
 agricultural produce, had as much right to assassinate
 
 " How we are governed" 249 
 
 the landlords who succeeded to their paternal acres as 
 the Irish peasant of to-day. But did they do so ? The 
 provocation was similar in all respects, but the results 
 were different, owing to the divergence of the two cha- 
 racters. Agrarian outrages in Ireland are, it is to be 
 feared, the result of the national character and want of 
 education, rather than of mere status. Two years ago 
 a small body of Irish endeavoured to get up faction 
 fights in Christchurch and Timaru, and one day they did 
 considerable damage by their rioting in the former place. 
 Special constables were at once called out, and these 
 senseless displays of party feeling immediately put a 
 stop to. The ringleaders on that occasion were punished 
 with a firm, but necessary, severity. The people in New 
 Zealand are determined not to. permit a renewal of those 
 faction fights and murders which are a disgrace to the 
 present century in Ireland. It is devoutly to be hoped 
 that the disaffected from the south of Ireland will con- 
 tinue to turn their attention to America as a proper field 
 in which to display their exuberant spirits, and that only 
 the hard-working and industrious portion of the people 
 will direct their steps hitherwards. 
 
 The tendency of political feeling in New Zealand will 
 be found very similar to that which exists at home. The 
 country districts have a decided leaning towards Con- 
 servatism, whilst perhaps the various boroughs hold 
 opinions more nearly approaching to those of the Liberal 
 party. Of coarse in both cases it is only a question of 
 the balance of public opinion, for in both cases there 
 must needs be a substantial minority. Political parties 
 are not openly classified as being either Liberal or Con- 
 servative. The moment, for example, that a public 
 print suggests the Ministry to represent the Conserva- 
 tive interest, the opposition journals fly at the urifortu-
 
 2 50 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 nate delinquent, and declare that whatever may be the 
 case at home no such thing as Conservatism or Liberalism 
 exists out here. They may not in name, but they do in 
 reality, and that is the important point. It may suit the 
 purposes of some persons to put such distinctions on one 
 side, and assert that the two parties are nothing more 
 than Ministerialists and Opposition ; that parties simply 
 consist of those " in " and those " out;" but the question 
 still remains, is the assertion sound, or does it go deeply 
 enough into the matter? It may suit a candidate stand- 
 ing before the electors to declare that he represents no 
 party, and that his chief object will be to further the 
 interests of the district should it do him the honour to 
 return him as its representative ; but for all that, candi- 
 dates in most cases are returned by the party of modera- 
 tion, or the party of greater progression that is, either 
 by the more Conservative or more Liberal elements of the 
 population. It must be so. Conservatism and Liberal- 
 ism are, so to speak, implanted in a man's nature at the 
 time of his birth. The influence which has been at work 
 to produce this result may be traced as permeating the 
 same family for many successive and preceding gene- 
 rations. Mere physical temperament is often sufficient 
 to send a person into one or other of the two camps ; 
 but no educated man with any respect for himself would 
 be content to rest his political belief upon the opinion of 
 a single and removable minister. True, the masses must 
 ever be influenced by the opinions circulating around 
 them, rather than by an inherited creed, or originality 
 of judgment; but even so, they must always remain the 
 supporters of one of the two principles as advocated by 
 their local leaders. In proof of the permanency of here- 
 ditary prejudices, it may safely be affirmed that the sim- 
 plicity of life, the freedom of thought, and earnestness of
 
 " How we are governed" 2 5 1 
 
 purpose at present characteristic of the people in the 
 Eastern States of the Union can be traced to the asce- 
 ticism, the distorted sectarianism, and stern determina- 
 tion which constituted the watchwords of a Puritan 
 ancestry : that the uniform rows of red-brick houses in 
 Philadelphia, with their white door " stoops " and white 
 painted window-frames, owe their existence to the prim 
 formality of the Quaker founders of the city : and that 
 all the attributes of the cavaliers, modified by distance 
 and surrounding impressions, can be recognized in the 
 blue blood and genial manners of the families of Virginia 
 and Maryland. If such be the case in America, after 
 the lapse of more than a couple of centuries, and under 
 many disturbing influences, is it not evident that families 
 when migrating must carry with them to a new 
 country the same distinctions which were previously ex- 
 hibited in the old home. Conservative or Liberal at 
 home are necessarily more or less Conservative or Liberal 
 in the colony. The theatre of their life may be 
 changed ; the spirit which animates the scene is still 
 operative. Much of the landed interest in the colony is 
 sprung from the class which represents the same interest 
 at home cadets, maybe, of old county families, or off- 
 shoots from the farming and pastoral population of 
 England and Scotland. Instead of investing their hun- 
 dreds or their thousands in the old country, they con- 
 sidered New Zealand a better field in which to employ 
 their comparatively small capital. Their personal or 
 inherited predilections remain unchanged. The natural 
 drift of New Zealand country society is no doubt 
 towards Conservatism, and probably year by year as 
 the country becomes more thickly covered with landed 
 proprietors the tendency will be intensified. It has 
 been the fashion amongst a certain class of writers
 
 252 New Zealand as it z'y. 
 
 and politicians to assign the wish to stand well in the 
 books of their Conservative landlords as the sole reason 
 for the Conservatism of the tenant farmers. County 
 constituencies, as a rule, have returned Conservative 
 members. Where they have not done so, it has fre- 
 quently been owing to the numerous voters on the 
 outskirts of some town being able to turn the scale 
 against the more rural districts of that division of the 
 county. A reason must in the general nature of things 
 be found for the conservatism of counties, and this is 
 supposed to exist in the servility of the tenant 
 farmer. But is it not equally allowable to imagine, nay, 
 more probable, that country life and country pursuits are 
 ever at variance with the more active energies and more 
 democratic leanings of large bodies of men collected in 
 great centres ? That where, in the former case, a con- 
 gruous occupation and well-to-do mediocrity are content 
 with what is, the busier life and more actively developed 
 thought of the towns have inclined towards the Liberal 
 party a party which is almost universally expected to 
 originate the greatest social improvements. This would 
 seem quite as likely as that a large section of the English 
 people was so subservient as to bury its political convic- 
 tions beneath the sheltering aegis of some duke or mar- 
 quis. Possibly under the pressure of continued agricul- 
 tural disaster old prejudices may be forgotten, and relief 
 sought in a temporary abandonment of long-cherished 
 opinions, but this does not affect the present argument. 
 It is well known that the disappointed and sour fre- 
 quently become iconoclasts and revolutionary democrats. 
 But, on the other hand, how often is it observed that 
 many, who in middle life have become landed proprietors, 
 lose the intenseness of their former liberalism. The 
 same inclination is no doubt operating in New Zealand.
 
 ''How we are governed'' 253 
 
 When persons become possessed of broad acres and 
 extensive freeholds upon which they have sunk much 
 capital, and expended much consideration ; when they 
 derive their very subsistence from the soil, and find 
 themselves in consequence of their estates, or farms, 
 treated with greater consideration by their neighbours, 
 can they, whatever their previous convictions, conscien- 
 tiously continue to support the extreme Radical party, 
 which is for ever crying, " Land, land, more land ; give 
 us land, for the land belongs to the people ! " 
 
 No doubt a considerable majority of the better classes 
 in the towns belong to the Conservative, or, at all events, 
 more moderate section of the electors. But here as at 
 home the boroughs, and especially the small ones, are 
 apt to return men of more or less advanced opinions 
 as representatives. Happily, the lowest title to a vote 
 in New Zealand is a residential qualification of six 
 months, and although this may seem to extend the 
 franchise quite low enough, it forms in reality a con- 
 siderable safeguard. A large percentage of the working- 
 people are migratory, and instead of being six months in 
 a given place, more probably seldom stay longer than a 
 month or six weeks. Their names are consequently not 
 upon the register. Fortunately, many of the largest 
 landed proprietors, and other persons of good position 
 are not averse to entering the House, and encountering 
 the worry of a protracted election. If not at all times 
 numerically superior to those who approach somewhat 
 more nearly the character of political adventurers, they 
 undoubtedly possess considerable weight ; and on grave 
 occasions prove themselves most useful members of the 
 legislature. It follows that people generally interest 
 themselves in elections, and the committees of the 
 different candidates embrace the names of many of the
 
 254 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 most respected residents in the several counties and 
 boroughs. The following are the qualifications which 
 enable a man who has attained the age of twenty-one, 
 and who is a born or naturalized British subject, to 
 exercise a vote for the election of members for the 
 House of Representatives, subject to placing his name 
 on the register: 
 
 The having held for six months, and of his own right, 
 and not as a trustee, a freehold to the value of 25/., or 
 having resided for one year in the colony and in the 
 electoral district for which he claims to vote during the 
 six months immediately preceding the registration of his 
 vote. Every male Maori of the age of twenty-one, who 
 is upon the ratepayers' roll of the district in which he 
 claims to vote, or who is seized in severalty of a freehold to 
 the value of 25/.,is entitled to be registered as an elector. 
 
 Any person thus qualified to vote can be elected a 
 member of the House, unless disqualified by crime, bank- 
 ruptcy, or paid office (other than political) under govern- 
 ment. Four native members are elected to the Lower 
 House by the tribes as representatives of the Maori 
 people. The Houses meet once a year, and the Acts 
 passed by them are subject to the veto, and in a few 
 cases require the direct sanction of the Queen. Pre- 
 viously to 1876 the two islands were divided into nine 
 provinces, each with their separate Provincial Council, 
 but in that year the Provincial form of government was 
 abandoned, and the supreme executive power vested in 
 the Governor and the Upper and Lower Chambers. 
 
 The Legislative Council consists of over fifty members, 
 who are appointed by the Governor for life, and enjoy the 
 prefix of " Honourable." Their duties are in all respects 
 similar to those of the House of Lords, and necessitate 
 but little further description. Although, like all similar
 
 " How we are governed." 255 
 
 bodies, containing an admixture of every shade of 
 political opinion, the Council, taken as a whole, is a most 
 respectable chamber, and occasionally exercises a useful 
 control by preventing the sometimes hurriedly considered 
 and ill-digested proposals of the Lower House from 
 becoming law without further consideration. 
 
 But it is the House of Representatives which possesses 
 the real power, and holds in its hands the purse-strings 
 of the country. It is constructed of ninety-five members, 
 each member representing as nearly as possible an equal 
 number of electors. The Cabinet at present consists of 
 six ministers, who between them hold the following 
 offices, namely, those of Attorney-General, Colonial 
 Treasurer, and Colonial Secretary, Ministries of Lands 
 and Immigration, Mines, Native Affairs, Justice, Educa- 
 tion, and Public Works; Commissionerships of Customs, 
 Stamp Duties, and Telegraphs, and the Postmaster- 
 Generalship. The House usually sits for about three 
 months out of the twelve. The honorarium paid to 
 members is uncertain, and depends upon an annual vote 
 of the House. It is very desirable that the pay, whatever 
 it is, should be kept at a sum just sufficient to meet 
 travelling and other necessary expenses ; and it is to be 
 sincerely hoped that the House will never be prevailed 
 upon to create a fixed salary, to be paid annually to each 
 member. Such a course would soon conduce to the 
 formation of a body of political adventurers, similar to 
 that which exists at Washington ; persons wbo would 
 make a trade of their profession, and consider the 
 interests of the country to be a matter of secondary 
 importance. 
 
 One great drawback to the present system of govern- 
 ment is that, as a rule, the colony gets too much law. 
 Each session it is forcibly reminded of that wonderful
 
 256 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 flood of legislation winch deluged and confounded the 
 old country after the general election of 1868. Act after 
 Act is passed, by the Houses at Wellington, with a 
 rapidity which speaks volumes for the energy of its 
 representatives, but will fail to recommend them to pos- 
 terity as mirrors of good statesmanship. For instance, 
 an Act was passed last session entitled, " The Gaming 
 and Lotteries Act, 1881." The measure was so framed 
 that it became illegal for a party of friends to enjoy the 
 innocent amusement of a five-shilling sweep at any of the 
 numerous race meetings which are held throughout the 
 country. As the natural result of such provoking legis- 
 lation a member brought in a bill at the earliest oppor- 
 tunity which had for its sole object, " That the Gaming 
 and Lotteries Act, 1881, is hereby repealed." The same 
 session inflicted upon the people a totally new Licensing 
 Act under which the licensing powers were taken out of 
 the hands of the licensing justices and placed in those 
 of committees to be elected by the several districts as 
 specified in the Act. Under this Act the publicans in 
 many instances can make hole-and-corner committees 
 more or less amenable to their own purposes. Power is 
 also given to the magistrates to make it a finable offence 
 for the publicans to supply a glass of liquor to those 
 whom the Bench considers to indulge too freely. No 
 matter whether the person happens to be drunk or sober, 
 the publican, whether he be cognizant of his identity or 
 not, is bound to refuse him a glass of beer. But drunk- 
 enness cannot be put down after this fashion. One of 
 the proclaimed, who was more than half seas over at the 
 time, was asked how he managed to get his supplies. 
 The answer was as might be expected, " Oh ! I get what 
 I want from Dunedin." The Act will be evaded as 
 easily as the 37th and 38th Viet., c. 49, section 10,
 
 " How we are governed" 257 
 
 which excepts the 'bond-fide traveller from the prohibited 
 hours clauses. Under this Act any person who wishes 
 to drink all Sunday has but to take a third-class ticket 
 on any of the numerous railways which intersect the old 
 country, and travel a distance of anything over three 
 miles. After this exhausting performance, he may enjoy 
 his "half-and-half," or his "hot-with," or "cold- without" 
 to his heart's content, and in perfect safety. 
 
 The House holds two sittings on four days out of the 
 seven, and the activity often displayed in that short 
 space, coupled with the enormous amount of work dis- 
 posed of, either presupposes a perfect mastery of the 
 matter in hand, or the most lamentable ignorance re- 
 garding subjects which include some of the most pro- 
 minent questions of the day. To suppose ninety-five 
 men, in eight sittings, to be capable of carrying the 
 second readings of seven bills of real importance, and 
 after considerable debate, and of adjourning the debate 
 on an eighth, and ordering a ninth to be read that day 
 six months, besides sitting four times in committee on 
 two other bills, is to suppose an aptitude for parlia- 
 mentary business which can hardly be claimed by the 
 House of Commons. During the same week time was 
 also found for introducing and reading a first time thir- 
 teen other bills, and for numerous questions asked and 
 replied to. When it is understood that these bills con- 
 tained amongst others such important ones as an 
 "Eight Hours' Bill," "An Education Act Amendment 
 Bill," "A Corrupt Practices Amendment Act," "A West 
 Coast Peace Preservation Act,' ' " An Industrial Schools 
 Bill," "A Native Reserves Bill," "An Act to amend 
 the Resident Magistrates Act, 1867," " A Debtor and 
 Creditors Act," " An Act to amend the Gaming and 
 Lotteries Act," " The Corrupt Practices Prevention 
 
 s
 
 258 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Act," and " The Licensing Act," the most brilliant ima- 
 gination becomes too feeble adequately to picture the 
 chaos to which those ninety-five brains must have been 
 reduced by the end of the eighth sitting. The above 
 bills evidently deal with some of the most important 
 interests of the colony, but they are hurried through 
 the House frequently " on the voices," as if members 
 were in perpetual fear of missing the next day's Derby, 
 or were subject to heavy penalties should a certain 
 amount of business not be completed during the eight 
 sittings of these four days. No wonder that the lawyers 
 shake their heads, and groan over the results of a ses- 
 sion which has produced sixty or more new Acts for 
 their immediate consideration. No wonder that the half- 
 million of persons who comprise the white population of 
 the country throw up hands, and exclaim, " Enough ! let 
 us have peace at any price." Supposing sixty-two Acts 
 to be passed each session, the allowance would be one 
 Act to every member and a half, exclusive of the Speaker. 
 It is evident that some members must work hard, but 
 the majority are unable to grasp the intention and con- 
 sequences of the greater part of the measures intro- 
 duced, so rapidly do they follow one upon the other, and 
 with insufficient notice from the several introducers. 
 Were the House to meet every year for the purposes 
 of receiving the ministerial statements, and voting the 
 necessary supplies, and be permitted to carry legislative 
 enactments every third year, the country would most 
 probably be better, and certainly more systematically 
 governed. 
 
 But if there be one influence more than another 
 that tends to demoralize that independent spirit which 
 ought to be the pride of all popularly-elected assem- 
 blies, it is to be^ found in the Public Works policy.
 
 ' ' How we are governed" 259 
 
 The moment the rumour of a new loan arises from 
 afar, the chief business of the members consists in 
 doing what they can to obtain the largest possible 
 amount of the spoil for the districts by which they have 
 been returned. To do this the more effectually, they 
 divide themselves, says one of the daily papers, " into 
 local groups for the purpose of playing a grand game of 
 beggar my neighbour for the next loan. There is an 
 Otago Committee, and a Canterbury and Westland Com- 
 mittee, and a Gold Fields Committee, and we suppose 
 all the other divisions of the colony have made or will 
 make similar arrangements for grabbing their share 
 
 when the time comes This is the first step. 
 
 The next, of course, is the log-rolling, which is a feature 
 of American legislation. One of the committee will 
 agree with another, or with several others, to help each 
 other to get the money demanded by each, and thus the 
 Legislature, instead of consisting of an assembly of 
 public representatives, met to do what is best for the 
 public welfare, will degenerate into a band of con- 
 spirators, whose sole object will be to promote the 
 interests of localities at the expense of the public wel- 
 fare." To some, such a picture may appear overdrawn 
 and too highly coloured ; but in truth it only describes, 
 in somewhat forcible language, a system which is well 
 known to exist. There is only one method for Govern- 
 ment to pursue with any hope of success, if they would 
 rectify the vicious system which prevails with regard to 
 all new loans. Under present circumstances a loan is 
 apt to be squandered by giving a sop here and a sop 
 there in order to secure the block votes of these self- 
 constituted but important committees. The demands 
 of these being satisfied, no money perhaps remains for 
 what may be considered public works of the first im- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 .New Zealand as it is. 
 
 portance. A deep-rooted evil such as this requires 
 drastic remedies. The only course to pursue both for 
 the credit, and in the real interests of the country, would 
 be for Government to declare that it requires powers 
 from Parliament to enable it to borrow money for the 
 completion of certain works of colonial importance (such 
 as the trunk railways in the North and South Islands), 
 but that beyond this it is not prepared to undertake any 
 further liabilities. Having assumed this position, in 
 which it would be supported by an influential following, 
 let it be prepared to stand or fall by the policy which 
 it has adopted. To borrow further large sums at the 
 present time for other than the purposes mentioned 
 would be an error of the very greatest magnitude. But 
 the finances of the colony are, it is argued by some, in 
 a prosperous condition, and show a satisfactory surplus, 
 and therefore the time is arrived when a new loan may 
 with safety be floated. Do those who advocate such a 
 policy reflect upon the reasons which have caused the 
 finances to be so far satisfactory ? Have the monetary 
 disturbances of the last few years left so small an 
 impression upon their minds as to have permitted 
 them already to forget that these desirable results 
 have been brought about almost solely by increased 
 taxation ? Can they not realize that the conduct for all 
 true economists to pursue is to reduce the extra taxes 
 which have been imposed as speedily as can be done 
 with safety, and relieve the people from those burdens 
 which the recently-increased customs and other duties 
 have caused to press somewhat heavily on a portion of 
 the community ? It is an axiom of political economy 
 that, in order to secure the greatest prosperity for any 
 State, the cost of living within its boundaries should be 
 reduced to the lowest figure consistent with the re-
 
 " How we are governed^ 261 
 
 quirements of the revenue. Let the Government at 
 Wellington only comprehend and act upon this most 
 valuable truth, and New Zealand will advance on its 
 road towards prosperity with untrammelled steps. But 
 let it continue to pile up loan on the top of loan, and it 
 will bring the country into difficulties as great as those 
 of '78 and '79, if not greater than they were. 
 
 The present ministry, of which the Honourable Frede- 
 rick Whitaker is Premier, is, with one or two unim- 
 portant exceptions, the same ministry which, under the 
 Premiership of Sir John Hall, K.C.M.G., has for the 
 last three years steered the country so deftly forth from 
 the shoals and quicksands by which it was most closely 
 beset about the middle of the year 1879. The policy 
 which the Government had to pursue when first taking 
 office was necessarily one of a most thankless character. 
 With an empty treasury, with liabilities incurred to the 
 extent of three millions on a loan which still had to be 
 floated, and with an extravagant administration in most 
 departments of the State, it was a difficult task to con- 
 vert such discordant elements into something like order. 
 To arrest public works suddenly when in an unfinished 
 state, thus discharging a large number of labourers ; to 
 cease for a period from attempting to raise any further 
 loans ; to dismiss some officials and reduce the salaries 
 of others ; and to impose an additional burden of taxa- 
 tion upon the people at a time when they could ill afford 
 it these were the duties which lay in the path of the 
 ministers, and formed part of the heritage bequeathed 
 to them by their predecessors. Before any one of those 
 difficulties many a Government has before now fallen 
 prone. Safely to have weathered them all proves the 
 gravity of the occasion, the patience of the people, and 
 the well-understood efforts of the ministry. The supre-
 
 262 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 macy of political parties is ever precarious. To-day an 
 unappreciated trifle, a little cloud scarce noticed in the 
 sky to-morrow, public opinion stirred to its very 
 depths, a dense black thunder-cloud breaking overhead. 
 As yet the trifle remains a trifle ; the little cloud retains 
 its form, and the ministry which has done so much for 
 good still holds the people's confidence. If we seem to 
 sing the praises of the Hall Administration somewhat 
 loudly, it is because whatever faults it may have had, 
 it stood a bulwark to the country during many days of 
 grave anxiety. Neither is it a ministry of mushroom 
 growth, but one that has already stood the brunt of 
 three sessions, and after a general election enters upon 
 a fourth with a more powerful majority at its back than 
 on any previous occasion. 
 
 The present Government appears to consider a loan as 
 hardly necessary ; and perhaps if it relied entirely upon 
 its own judgment, would leave matters as they are. But 
 at this point parliamentary tactics step in, and in- 
 fluenced no doubt by the state of parties in "Wellington, 
 it has been considered that a loan of three millions 
 spread over the next three years, and to be expended 
 at the rate of one million a year, will neither injure the 
 credit of the colony, nor cause any inconvenience in the 
 way of interest to the local treasury. At the same time 
 it may serve to close the mouths of the more impor- 
 tunate beggars throughout the country. But to bring 
 forward a loan of even such moderate proportions is 
 not the true policy of the hour, and would appear to be 
 based rather on grounds of present expediency than on 
 those of a more perfectly digested statesmanship. It 
 would look as if the ministry, doubtful of the principle 
 of contracting further liabilities, was at the same time 
 unwilling to break through established traditions.
 
 " How we are governed'' 263 
 
 " The country has always been in the habit of borrowing 
 for public works," it seems to argue, " and therefore it 
 will expect to do so again now that the finances are in a 
 sound position. Therefore, although we feel pretty sure 
 that the best course to adopt would be to reduce taxa- 
 tion and leave a fresh loan in abeyance, it may be a 
 better policy for us to take a middle course and en- 
 deavour to make matters smooth for all parties." But 
 it remains to be seen whether so small a loan as one of 
 three millions will satisfy the more greedy among the 
 applicants, or yet prevent dissatisfaction among those 
 who are in favour of a decrease in taxation. Such, in a 
 few words, would appear to be the history of the pro- 
 posed loan, which if it does not do much good can do 
 but little harm, except to principles. It almost looks as 
 if the feeling of the country were in a state of transition, 
 and as if it were gradually becoming recognized that 
 further large borrowings by the State on account of 
 public works were both undesirable and unnecessary; 
 but as if at the same time there was a hesitancy before 
 adopting a thorough change of policy, at all events, 
 before the real temper of the people had been tested by 
 a further small loan. Perhaps it is right it should be 
 so. Changes of too sudden a character are rarely good 
 and often of no permanency, and a ministry may be 
 pardoned for supporting a doubtful policy at a time 
 when the people themselves are divided upon the best 
 course to be pursued. It may be said to be doing much 
 towards directing the masses to a right conclusion when 
 in place of lavish extravagance it but recommends com- 
 parative moderation. Although the conduct of the 
 ministry with regard to the new loan may be open to 
 criticism, the financial success which it has achieved 
 must always entitle it to the thanks of the community.
 
 264 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The total ordinary expenditure of the colony for the 
 year 1881-82 was 3,278,8202., or 49,759/. less than the 
 estimates. The total ordinary revenue for the same year 
 was 3,488,170/., or 190,520/. in excess of the estimates. 
 The surplus with which the Government had to deal was 
 consequently 209,350L It must be explained that it is 
 only very recently the proceeds of the land sales for 
 the year have been kept distinct from ordinary revenue. 
 The above income and expenditure therefore show most 
 clearly the solvent position of the colony, as they do not 
 take into consideration any sales of land which have been 
 made during the past twelve months. The new form of 
 accounts is a step in the right direction, and places the 
 ordinary and yearly finances upon a more solid founda- 
 tion than was previously the case. Out of the above 
 expenditure 1,499,318Z. was a charge for interest and 
 sinking fund. In view of the utterly erroneous assertion 
 which has lately appeared in the columns of the London 
 press, to the effect that the sinking funds of the colonial 
 loans are merely " book entries," and that no money is 
 really set aside on their account, it may be as well, once 
 and for all, to give to such a misleading statement, so far 
 as it refers to New Zealand, a distinct and flat denial. 
 When, we may well ask, will the writers of such articles 
 endeavour to master their subjects ? 
 
 Perhaps to-day we may read an article, in the worst of 
 styles from its initial sentence to its final syllable, assert- 
 ing amongst other things " that Austra- American slang 
 and impudence go by plainer names in Belgravia than 
 in Ballarat." To-morrow another leading daily in sub- 
 stance informs its readers that " Colonial loans are all 
 moonshine ; that the interest may be paid for a few 
 years longer, but that then the smash will come and the 
 holders of the stock will never see a farthing of their
 
 " How we are governed." 265 
 
 money. Keally, good people at home, how much longer 
 will you believe such impudent .fabrications, if indeed 
 you even now believe them ? If some prefer to swallow 
 British spirit, and natter themselves that it is old and 
 unadulterated cognac, let them do so. Let them be- 
 lieve these and anything else that pleases them, but in 
 that case let them not claim ignorance, and deny that they 
 have been taught the emptiness of their fond convictions. 
 It may be affirmed on the evidence of the Colonial Trea- 
 surer that 2,057,242?. had on March 31st, 1381, already 
 accrued as a sinking fund towards the extinction of the 
 public debt of this colony, 1 and the Government could 
 no more misappropriate these moneys without exposure 
 than could the Chancellor of the Exchequer misapply a 
 million of the public revenue of the United Kingdom to 
 his private uses. The estimated expenditure for the year 
 1882-83 is 3,478,639?. ; the estimated revenue 3,597,183?. 
 The former is increased by certain items of a temporary 
 and accidental nature being charged to the expenditure 
 of the year. The latter is swelled by the surplus of last 
 year, leaving a balance in favour of revenue for 1882-83 
 of 118,644?. We have already given it as our opinion that 
 the Colonial Treasurer is making a mistake with regard 
 to the disposal of the surplus at his command. What 
 he is actually doing is to continue taxation at its present 
 level in order to provide a visible sum to meet the 
 interest on the proposed loan. In the meantime the sur- 
 plus already accrued is to be devoted to accidentals. 
 What he ought to have done was to reduce taxation by 
 200,000?., or by six per cent, per annum. 
 
 The amount standing at the credit of 61,054 depositors 
 in the savings banks of the colony was on the 31st day 
 of December, 1881, 1,549,515?., being at the rate of 
 1 See Appendix, Table L.
 
 266 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Z. 7s. 7d. to the credit of each account. Thinking that 
 some of the depositors might be glad of a more per- 
 manent form of investment, if one could be provided, 
 which would be at the same time secure and easily con- 
 vertible, the Government propose to bring in a bill 
 authorizing the issue at par of a loan for 250,OOOL, the 
 principal and interest of which would be payable in New 
 Zealand only. It is proposed to issue the loan in the 
 form of inscribed stock, so that investors may at any time 
 obtain bonds, payable to bearer, of a value of 10Z. and 
 upwards. The stock is to bear rate at an interest not 
 exceeding 5 per cent. A government life insurance de- 
 partment has been in existence since 1870, and, during 
 the eleven years ending June, 1881, 16,900 policies have 
 been issued, insuring upwards of 5,800,OOOL, or an 
 annual average of 1500 policies, insuring fully half a 
 million each year. An industrial branch was opened in 
 March, 1882, for the purpose of enabling persons to insure 
 their lives for 3/. and upwards by means of weekly pay- 
 ments, and, during the thirteen weeks which have since 
 elapsed, over 2100 of these industrial policies have 
 been issued. The average amount insured for all ages is 
 about 25/., and for adult lives about 55Z. per policy. To 
 facilitate the payment of small quarterly premiums, cards 
 are about to be provided on which postage stamps can 
 be affixed, until the amount of the quarterly premium is 
 reached. They can then be deposited in the nearest post- 
 office, and credit will be given for the sum which they 
 represent. Arrangements are also being made by which 
 post-office savings bank depositors may make payments 
 for premiums out of their deposits by instructing 
 postmasters to that effect. It will appear from the 
 above particulars that the Administration is following 
 very closely upon the steps of recent legislation at home
 
 ' ' How we are governed. " 267 
 
 in alt that regards creating facilities for the people to 
 save money. It must be conceded that this is the 
 best of all policies for a Government to attempt. The 
 greater the inducements, the more the people will be 
 prevailed upon to put by. The more they put by, the 
 more prosperous the average condition of the inhabitants 
 of any country will become. In our opinion, the Govern- 
 ment which aims at inducing its people to be careful in 
 small things is performing a better work than it could do 
 by entering upon a more extended course of brilliant and 
 comprehensive legislation. " All savings," says Smiles 
 in his work on " Thrift," " are made up of little things. 
 ' Many a little makes a mickle.' * Many a penny makes a 
 pound.' ' A penny saved is the seed of pounds saved.' 
 And pounds saved mean comfort, plenty, wealth, and 
 independence." 
 
 Passing from parliamentary to local government we 
 shall find the country to be divided into sixty-three 
 counties ; thirty-two of these are situated in the North 
 and thirty-one in the South Island. The particular 
 interests of these counties are attended to by Coun- 
 cils, whose members are elected by voters on the 
 county roll of ratepayers. There are also road-boards 
 elected for the purpose of attending to the formation of 
 new and the conservation of old roads, and also of 
 repairing and constructing bridges in their several dis- 
 tricts. In both these cases the members are elected by 
 a system of cumulative voting a system which gives a 
 greater number of votes in proportion to the amount 
 of rates paid. A person being rated up to 50Z. possesses 
 one vote, up to 100?. two votes ; bat in no instance can 
 an individual claim more than five, votes for any one dis- 
 trict. The power of these bodies is confined to the 
 duties above-named, to striking rates for local purposes,
 
 268 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 administering the funds of the several districts, and other- 
 wise ordering and superintending all such operations as 
 come within their jurisdiction. Considering that the 
 duties of the councils and boards are confined to local 
 matters, and the administration of local funds, it would 
 seem but fair that the person who owns 5000 acres, and 
 who consequently pays higher rates, should possess more 
 influence than one who occupies but 500 acres. The 
 cumulative vote does not altogether meet the views of the 
 small proprietor with radical sympathies. Such a one 
 would naturally prefer a closer approximation to man- 
 hood suffrage. Attempts have been made to replace the 
 cumulative by the single vote, but hitherto unsuccess- 
 fully ; nor does there appear any immediate probability 
 of the present system being changed. It seldom happens 
 that any but persons in a respectable position are elected 
 to fulfil these duties. Except under occasional and 
 peculiar circumstances moderate men appear to possess 
 the confidence of the constituencies. 
 
 All boroughs possess a mayor and council, who act 
 under certain powers given by Parliament, and are in all 
 essentials similar to such bodies at home. The police 
 force is under the immediate control ot Government, and, 
 taken as a whole, forms a fine body of men, well set-up 
 and smart in their personal appearance. Unless their 
 looks belie them, many of the mounted force have seen 
 what people are accustomed to call better days. Evidently 
 there are many old soldiers in the ranks. 
 
 The civil and criminal law is based upon that of the 
 old country, and where no colonial Act exists to the 
 contrary, English law and the decisions of the judges 
 and courts at home are recognized in New Zealand. It 
 is almost needless to say that justice is impartially ad- 
 ministered, and offers no opportunity to the rich to
 
 "How we are governed" 269 
 
 oppress his weaker neighbour. The courts present an 
 open field to all comers, and cases are decided, as far as 
 possible, on their merits. In all the larger towns and 
 more important districts, the bench is presided over by 
 resident, or, as they are called at home, stipendiary, 
 magistrates, who either dispose of cases summarily or 
 remit them to the district and supreme courts. Resi- 
 dent magistrates are assisted in their duties by justices 
 of the peace, who are appointed by the governor, and 
 answer to the county magistrates at home, except that 
 they are qualified to serve all over the country, and are 
 not restricted in their duties to a single county or riding. 
 The Supreme Court, which sits in each of the more 
 important centres every six months, may be compared 
 to the assizes in England, and is presided over by a 
 judge who has the assistance of grand, common, and 
 special juries. A power of appeal lies from the Supreme 
 Court to the Bench of Judges in Wellington. This latter 
 is the highest court existing in New Zealand, and is 
 composed of all the judges, three of whom constitute a 
 quorum. In all cases where the value in dispute exceeds 
 the sum of 500L, a final appeal may be made from the 
 decision of the judges to the Privy Council at home. 
 There is also a district court presided over by district 
 judges, who rank lower than the judges of the Supreme 
 Court. District courts appear to possess somewhat the 
 same powers a=* would the county courts and quarter 
 sessions if their separate jurisdictions were combined. 
 These courts can adjudicate in all cases where the amount 
 at issue does not exceed 200/., and can try all criminal 
 cases in which the extreme penalty does not entail more 
 than seven years' penal servitude. Sittings are held 
 every three months, provided that no sitting clashes 
 with one of the supreme courts, in which case no
 
 2 jo New Zealand as it is. 
 
 district court is held. An appeal from the decision of 
 the district judges may be taken before the judges in 
 Wellington. The district court is of value in facilitating 
 a partial gaol delivery every three months, and it also 
 enables a speedier adjustment of many civil disputes 
 than would be the case were the sittings of the Supreme 
 Court to be the only means of obtaining judicial redress. 
 The judges are all appointed by Government, and are 
 addressed as " Your Honour." They do not proceed on 
 circuit, but each judge presides over the same courts 
 every year. 
 
 Probably this is a mistake, and both judges and Bar 
 would be benefited by a system of rotation. In New 
 Zealand the professions of solicitor and barrister are 
 united, and it seems difficult to understand what obstacle 
 can exist to the same principle being everywhere adopted. 
 To the client it would mean the payment of but one set 
 of fees and the avoidance of unnecessary and expensive 
 consultations. It would possess another advantage, 
 namely, that the same lawyer, who had already 
 thoroughly mastered the details of a case, would be the 
 one to conduct it in court. Tc be able to practise as a 
 solicitor, the student has first to pass what is called a 
 General Knowledge Examination, which, in almost all 
 respects, is similar to that required by the New Zealand 
 University for a B.A. degree. This having been success- 
 fully encountered, an examination in law follows, upon 
 passing which the student is entitled to practise as a 
 solicitor in the Supreme Court. On the payment of 
 certain fees, but without further examination, any 
 solicitor has the right to practise as a barrister. A 
 sitting of the Supreme Court, with the judge and counsel 
 in regulation wigs and black gowns, the jury in their box, 
 the well-dressed policemen scattered here and there
 
 " How we are governed'' 271 
 
 about the building, the usher in white gloves, and with 
 wand of office, crying, as he sees occasion, " Si-lence, 
 si-lence in the Court ! " and an attentive public occupying 
 the body of the hall, presents a scene well calculated 
 to uphold the majesty of the law. Up to the present 
 the number of criminal cases in proportion to the popula- 
 tion is not excessive. Crime among, a well-fed, well-to- 
 do people, like that of New Zealand, ought indeed to be 
 reduced to a very low point. Where it exists it should 
 be severely punished, for there is but little cause for its 
 commission. The lawyers find a better practice in the 
 many civil cases, and in the business attaching to mort- 
 gages, bills of sale, and conveyances, which abound in 
 all parts of the colony. In a country where so much 
 borrowing and lending prevails, where auctioneers often 
 find money to carry on the butcher and a financial 
 company funds to carry on the farmer, where land is 
 frequently changing hands and large properties are 
 being continually cut up for sale the services of the 
 legal profession are perpetually called into requisition. 
 The business of old-established and well-trusted firms 
 is both lucrative and of a high character. To be 
 solicitors to a good bank, a large financial company, 
 a few large landed proprietors, a county council, and 
 numerous other clients of lesser calibre, presents an 
 opportunity for making money which may well offer 
 attractions to the aspirant for both chamber practice and 
 forensic honours. 
 
 In order to form the requisite juries, the names of 
 persons on the ratepayers' roll are placed in a ballot- 
 box, and continue to be drawn until the requisite number 
 has been placed upon the list. Although, after a person 
 has served as a special or common juryman, he is exempt 
 for a certain period from again serving in the same
 
 272 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 capacity, it not unfrequently happens that he is called 
 upon, both as a special and common juryman, at the 
 same sitting of the court. This seems to be somewhat 
 unfair, but under the present system it is unavoidable. 
 Grand juries are chosen from a separate list, which is 
 supposed to be restricted to magistrates and the better 
 class of colonists. But even so, and where it might be 
 expected that we should find a better conception of the 
 duties of grand jurymen, the latter often show a pro- 
 pensity to try the cases brought before them, instead of 
 confining their inquiries to the finding of a true bill, 
 or otherwise, on primd facie evidence. Common juries, 
 as elsewhere, occasionally rise superior to the law, and 
 their verdicts on such occasions appear to be controlled 
 by what they think the law should be, rather than by 
 what it is. Generally they give a prisoner the benefit 
 of a doubt. The private sentiment of each member of 
 the jury would, perhaps, be found to run more or less 
 as follows : " Poor devil, he may be guilty, but let us 
 give him one more chance." Moreover, it may frequently 
 be observed that, by some process of ratiocination best 
 known to itself, a common jury deals more severely with 
 an offence committed against an individual, than with 
 one directed against the Government or a public institu- 
 tion. A hazy feeling seems to possess the public mind 
 that corporate bodies constitute a legitimate prey ; whilst 
 for a man to injure an individual, either in his person 
 or pocket, entails a grave offence. But such reasoning 
 is not confined to the colonies. We well remember a 
 brother magistrate at home once asking why we had 
 committed a certain prisoner to the Quarter Sessions, 
 and although explaining that the evidence justified the 
 committal, our friend, whilst admitting the fact, persisted 
 that the county had been put to a needless expense,
 
 " How we are governed" 273 
 
 on the ground that a jury would not convict. " They 
 never do in such cases," ho affirmed ; and he was right ; 
 the prisoner was acquitted, in face of the strongest 
 evidence. The same sort of open-handed, irrational 
 justice must have animated that worthy fellow, who was 
 heard to say, when advocating the rights of the unfor- 
 tunate but noble "claimant," "I don't care whether 
 he's Orton or whether he's Tichborne ; but it's a shame 
 to keep a man out of his money."
 
 2 74 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 No department of thought opens up a more interest- 
 ing and important field for the investigation of the 
 student, than does the theory or practice of a better 
 system of education. It must ever be interesting to 
 watch the youthful intellect, struggling under difficulties, 
 gradually to expand itself beneath the influence of a 
 teacher's care. It must ever be a matter of the greatest 
 importance that care should be confided to proper 
 guardians, because upon it the prosperity and happiness 
 of the nearest succeeding generation mainly depend. 
 Ever since the foundation of the colony New Zealand 
 has recognized the important influence which education 
 exerts over the well-being of a people, and numerous 
 have been the acts and ordinances passed both by the 
 Provincial Councils in earlier days, and at Wellington 
 in more recent times, for the better carrying out of the 
 intentions of the Legislature in this respect. As a result 
 of all that has been done, education is now almost 
 entirely under Government control. It is primarily 
 supported out of the ordinary revenue of the colony, and 
 supplemented by rents annually accruing from land which 
 had, from time to time, been allocated for that purpose. It 
 has, to all intents, become a state institution, and con- 
 fines itself exclusively to the teaching of secular subjects.
 
 Education. 275- 
 
 The various denominations possess their Sunday-schools, 
 but the Bible is excluded from all public schools ; and to 
 such an extent are the religious prejudices of the sects 
 which constitute our population considered, that no 
 child whose parents and guardians object is com- 
 pelled to be present at the teaching of history. 
 The prevailing system may be said to have done away 
 with what might most appositely be called free trade 
 in education, and to have utterly ignored the sound old 
 maxim that " Nobody is so well taught as by himself." 
 For this has been substituted a curriculum, cut and dried 
 under the authority of a Minister of Public Instruction. 
 Like the church in Roman Catholic countries, it confines 
 the attention of its students to books that bear the seal 
 of its own autocracy. It has created standards of its own 
 which, from the absence of any healthy competition, tend 
 to direct the energies both of teacher and scholars to a 
 level mediocrity, rather than to stimulate them towards 
 those higher paths of learning which recognize no hypo- 
 thetic goal either in the present or the future. England 
 possesses her Board Schools, and her Elementary Educa- 
 tion Act, but these, when fairly estimated, are only sub- 
 sidiary to and form but a small part of the entire scheme 
 of education prevailing throughout the country. In 
 New Zealand this is not so. A few private schools and 
 one or two independent public schools there may be, but 
 these bear no comparison either in numbers or influence 
 to the schools under Government control. Persons 
 living in the old country are apt to look upon a govern- 
 mental and compulsory system as a means of educating 
 the children of the poor, or of parents unwilling to under- 
 take the responsibility which has devolved upon them. 
 Government at home does not interfere with the families 
 of the middle or upper classes, or bring its authority to 
 
 T 2
 
 276 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 bear directly upon the liberties of those who adopt their 
 own system. For such, there are private schools, middle- 
 class schools, and public schools. It is almost impossible 
 for people in such a position to realize what is entailed 
 by the absorption of all private enterprise in one great 
 scheme, and by the destruction of all competition amongst 
 independent schools for the sake of a national uniformity. 
 This centralization having been obtained, education in 
 New Zealand approaches more nearly to that of Germany 
 than to that of England. If in practice it is not quite so 
 despotic, the cause for a greater elasticity must be 
 sought, not in the system, but in the impossibility of 
 compelling an English-speaking people to submit to the 
 arbitrary discipline of State Imperialism. Education, as 
 it exists, may be said to be tolerated rather than loved 
 by a considerable section of the colonists, and even by 
 many of its most ardent supporters the absence of 
 Biblical instruction is considered a blot upon the other- 
 wise bright shield of their favourite system. 
 
 A governmental and free education possesses under 
 certain circumstances some advantages, but at the same 
 time it has many drawbacks. The chief advantage which 
 it offers is, that it places the education of their children 
 within reach of the poorest of the citizens. But even so, 
 it can but bring the horse to water and may be unable 
 to make him drink. It may say to parents avail your- 
 selves of the free system which the country has provided 
 for your families ; but it cannot make them appreciate 
 their good fortune, if they will not do so. It may assert 
 that Government has taken the whole weight of educa- 
 tion upon its shoulders, that it stands in loco parentis, 
 and yet be powerless to make a parent feel that the State 
 can educate his children better than he could do if left 
 to his own resources. We must candidly admit that, on
 
 Education. 277 
 
 this point, our sympathies are with the parent. It has 
 never yet been satisfactorily proved that parental govern- 
 ment by a State is the most advantageous form of 
 government either in educational or other matters. We 
 believe that a parental government is apt to dwarf the 
 growth of a nation rather than to improve and expand 
 its capacities; and that its interference with the most 
 cherished liberties of the subject tends to destroy in- 
 dividuality, and to produce a people consisting of rank 
 and file rather than of men qualified to lead. The best 
 Government is probably the one which, whilst upholding 
 law, and morality, in so far as these relate to outer life 
 and public convenience, leaves to the people the inviolate 
 control of private matters and family relations. Under 
 a free constitution it is difficult to admit the right of any 
 interference in those more private and domestic arrange- 
 ments which in the greater number of cases are likely to 
 be better administered by human instincts and parental 
 affection. 
 
 The advocates and opponents of free and compulsory 
 education have both had their say, and the compulsory 
 system has become law in several countries. Perhaps it 
 is as yet too early in the day to admit of a final and 
 altogether satisfactory decision with regard to its merits 
 being arrived at ; but some idea may be formed, by 
 what has been already done, as to whither it may ulti- 
 mately tend. When, however, it is attempted critically to 
 examine the effects which any system of education pro- 
 duces upon the habits of a people, difficulties beset the 
 inquirer at the first stage of his appointed task. It is 
 decidedly a matter of some perplexity to separate the 
 actual results of any system from other results which 
 may have originated in extraneous and inconsequential 
 causes. When considering the condition of society at a
 
 278 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 given period, it will be necessary to determine how far 
 that condition has been promoted by any system of 
 education, and how far it has been fostered by climatic, 
 ethnologic, and other influences. As a general rule the 
 advocates of a free and secular education assert for it all 
 the restraining influences of religion and morality. Edu- 
 cate the people, they argue, and you eliminate crime ; or, if 
 you do not altogether do so, you greatly reduce its power 
 for evil. This line of argument would seem altogether 
 a misapprehension of cause and effect. History proves 
 beyond a doubt that the highest culture affords no 
 security against the overwhelming influences of the 
 master-passions, and that some of the vilest crimes which 
 dye the pages of the past were committed by those who 
 should be guiltless had this theory been correct. On the 
 other hand it must be acknowledged, by those that have 
 mixed with working-men, that thoy are often the most 
 trustworthy and exemplary who can neither read nor write. 
 When it is pretended that secular education is in itself 
 powerful to minimize crime and control the common 
 disorders incident to this or any age, it is as well calmly 
 to consider what the system has done in the past, and 
 what it is likely to do in the future. Germany affords 
 an example of the purely compulsory and secular system, 
 entirely supported and controlled by the paternal 
 authority of its Government. England again has pro- 
 vided a compulsory system for those only who either 
 cannot or will not look after the interests of their children 
 in this respect. Although some people will no doubt be 
 found to dissent from such a conclusion, the system in 
 Germany would seem to have that levelling tendency 
 which has been previously alluded to. The youth of the 
 country is educated at the Government elementary and 
 high schools. Parents are not in the habit of consider-
 
 Education. 279 
 
 ing which school offers the greatest intellectual advantages 
 to their children, but send them to the one which from 
 its situation secures the greatest convenience. All 
 schools are more or less alike, and the training in each is 
 more or less identical, being under Government control 
 and supported by the rates. Private volition is the ex- 
 ception, and the system produces a large body of fairly 
 trained men suitable enough for subordinate positions, 
 but in few cases with the ambition or individual courage 
 requisite to ensure success in the higher walks of life. 
 The people emigrate each year in large numbers, but 
 form no new settlements of their own, becoming instead 
 gradually merged in the populations of other countries. 
 They would not appear to possess the self-reliance and 
 enterprise necessary to make an Australia, a Canada, or 
 another United States. They prefer at a smaller risk to 
 become respectable units in a country already enjoying 
 its towns and railroads, its established laws and mercan- 
 tile pursuits ; in a country, that is, where everything is 
 ready to the hand, and in which by steady industry they 
 may hope to acquire a respectable competence. As when 
 young they were dependent upon a paternal government 
 for the measure of education which they received, so in 
 after-life the same feeling of dependence predisposes 
 them to follow in the footsteps of those who have already 
 overcome the natural difficulties of original settlement. 
 They would rather do this than become themselves 
 explorers and pioneers. Followed into the tracks of 
 commerce the German will still be found an imitator 
 rather than an originator. Imitation sherry, imitation 
 beer, imitation Hollands, imitation Havannas, and imita- 
 tion trade-marks form, or have formed, a considerable 
 portion of the commerce of the country; whilst those 
 merchants who rise above the ordinary level are more
 
 280 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 intent upon saving some small invoice charge tlian on 
 initiating a new commercial policy. Any who have 
 studied the exhaustive works which have issued from a 
 German University press, must have felt a certain sinking 
 at heart when brought in contact with the six divisions, 
 the twelve subdivisions, and twenty-four sections into 
 which each separate heresy or problem is resolved. 
 German men are very companionable, and German 
 women very good-natured, but a Government education 
 in their case has failed to develop that self-reliance and 
 restless activity which are the characteristics of our 
 fellow-countrymen. It may be said that this is not 
 the result of education, but the natural outcome of a 
 somewhat national stolidity, that it is only the effect of 
 Great Frederick's discipline, which reduced whole bat- 
 talions to subjection by the application of a big stick, or 
 of the Kaiser Wilhelm's rigid power, which has manu- 
 factured an entire people into one great army. And yet 
 all this is but Government education in one form or 
 another ; if not altogether confined to a literary curri- 
 culum, yet paternal in all its aspects. Nor has a 
 compulsory course of training in the public schools been 
 as yet sufficiently powerful to raise the people from a 
 state of dependence to the more exhilarating atmosphere 
 of a self-assured constitutionalism. 
 
 Sweden and Norway have also pronounced for com- 
 pulsory education, and, although from the more indepen- 
 dent character of the people, the results of the system 
 may not be so transparent as in some other countries, 
 it leaves but too sure traces in its path. Many will 
 probably recollect a story told in the life of Thomas 
 Brassey, with regard to the experiences of his firm in 
 dealing with these countries. On one occasion an agent 
 of his required a certain number of railway sleepers,
 
 Education. 281 
 
 and applied to some of the principal merchants of the 
 town, in which his headquarters were situated, for the 
 purpose of supplying his wants. All the answers 
 received were more or less to the same purport : " We 
 will let you know shortly," they said, " what we can 
 do," and no more definite reply could be obtained. At 
 last he came across one who intimated that if he would 
 call again in the afternoon, a final arrangement might be 
 made. The agent called and a bargain was struck. As 
 they sat chatting together he put this question to the 
 merchant, " How is it, that of all the men I have applied 
 to, you are the only one able to give me a positive 
 answer ? " The reply was remarkable, and somewhat 
 after this fashion, " You must understand that it is 
 the custom in this country for a junior clerk, when 
 meeting with a difficulty, to apply to the head of his 
 department for an explanation of the matter which 
 perplexes him. People thus get accustomed to rely one 
 upon the other. My father sent me to Liverpool, and 
 the first time I went to my senior in the office, for the 
 solution of a difficulty, he said, ' You stupid young fool, 
 find it out for yourself.' ' Such must ever be the result 
 of too much paternal government. 
 
 But perhaps the greatest drawback to a scheme of 
 public and free education, is the almost absolute necessity 
 which exists, under present conditions, for the avoidance 
 of all religious teaching. It is not that governments and 
 the large majority of the supporters of the system are 
 necessarily adverse to religious training, but the difficulty 
 lies in the impossibility of so adapting the teaching as to 
 meet the views of all the ratepayers, and in New Zealand 
 especially of the small Roman Catholic minority. The 
 majority of parents are undoubtedly favourable to the 
 Bible being read in schools. To ascertain this a census
 
 282 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 has recently been taken among them in Southland, Otago, 
 South Canterbury, and Hawkes Bay, when the large 
 majorities everywhere obtained established the fact 
 beyond any fear of contradiction. Religious instruction 
 in New Zealand is relegated to home influences, and the 
 casual teaching of the Sunday-school. It seems a pity 
 that this should be so. The great majority of mankind 
 must always feel the consciousness of a dual existence, 
 the one material, the other immaterial. So deeply is this 
 consciousness of two co-existing lives implanted in the 
 human breast, that the great emotions of the world in 
 every age have been intimately connected with its presence. 
 Long ere learned Athens used to spend her time in either 
 telling or hearing some new thing; long ere ancient 
 Rome, whilst destroying kingdoms, dared not to suppress 
 religious systems, but, instead, united them to an already 
 vast Pantbeology, this consciousness in varying forms 
 had shaped the laws and destinies of nations. The 
 tribes of Africa, the Incas of Peru, the wild Pacific 
 islanders possessed a vague presentiment of this double 
 being. It gave a life and purpose to crusaders long 
 years ago. For it the Netherlands poured out their 
 blood in long and cruel strife against the arms of Spain. 
 It nerved the hosts of Cromwell ; against it Robespierre, 
 Danton, and Marat fought to the very death. It still 
 divides our people into many sects, and whilst the world 
 lasts, it will still so divide them. It forms the very 
 essence of all sound teaching, for without it teaching is 
 but a shallow imposition. It is as necessary to tell the 
 young they must not steal, as that twice two make four ; 
 as important for them to know they must not covet, as 
 that air is oxygen and nitrogen combined in certain fixed 
 proportions. These arguments are couched in no sectarian 
 spirit. If Sunday-schools and home restraints prove
 
 Education. 283 
 
 powerful to keep alive religion and morality amongst the 
 rising generation, secular education in its purest form 
 will no doubt survive. But should they not, should 
 larrikins infest the streets, licentiousness and violence 
 take too deep a root, and atheists become a curse, the 
 people will in self-defence demand religious teaching in the 
 public schools. Secular education is only on its trial; no 
 mere sect or generation can establish it as a permanency, 
 if it is not found to do its work. Ebbs and flows of 
 popular opinion are ever active ; the Whigs to-day in 
 power, next month the Tories ; a generation of licentious- 
 ness, the next one of sanctimonious purity. Of these 
 extremes history affords convincing proofs. So, as 
 mankind has never done and cannot do without religion 
 or morality, their teaching will be forced upon the world 
 once more, should present means be found inoperative. 
 Men of the most advanced opinions are apt to think the 
 passing of a few rough laws, the pulling down of old 
 formalities cherished by some, disliked (they know not 
 why) by others, will make the whole world trim, and 
 cause a fresh departure, pure and unassailable. So 
 thought " Tribulation Wholesome " and " Zeal-of-the- 
 land Busy," as they defaced the harmless effigies of 
 knights, destroyed the painted windows in the churches, 
 and desecrated the aisles of venerable cathedrals. And 
 yet the monuments,, in many instances, have been 
 repaired ; the same bright sun still casts its tinted rays 
 through many a gorgeous tracery ; and the very aisles 
 form, to this day, the loved resort of worshippers devout 
 and numerous. We all are apt to think the age in which 
 we live the most important that the world has seen, 
 and claim for our puny reasonings a lasting worth which 
 time may very likely dissipate. But truth alone, and 
 not each fleeting thought, is what will live ; and if we
 
 284 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 have not learned to look beyond our day, and be more 
 tolerant than those who predeceased us, our education 
 and our faith have lost for us a real value. But it 
 would be idle to deny that many of the colonists 
 believe themselves to have thrown off for ever many of 
 the disabilities under which they previously laboured. 
 They mention with pride that the colonies introduced the 
 ballot before it was adopted in the old country; that 
 after a hard-fought battle, they separated church and 
 state ; that they have already legalized marriage with 
 a deceased wife's sister ; that they are superior in agri- 
 cultural appliances, and that they have organized a 
 thorough system of compulsory education. But notwith- 
 standing this, the fact must still remain that the colonies 
 are new countries, and in an early and comparatively 
 undeveloped state. The various classes have hardly 
 settled into their future grooves ; capital, although 
 beginning to display a universal influence, does not 
 possess the social power it will in years to come, and 
 many of the laws as yet are only tentative. Important 
 principles are frequently regarded more by the light of 
 personal and present interest, than from the standpoint 
 of a national significance ; but as the different com- 
 munities become enlarged, so will the interests of 
 individuals and the moment be merged in the interests 
 of the many and the future. .There can be little 
 doubt that at present the question of education is con- 
 sidered more as it effects present necessities, than as 
 influencing the character of the people. But few, we 
 like to think, who have had the opportunity of studying 
 the two systems, would care to replace, by a Govern- 
 ment control and syllabus, the present honest rivalry 
 between our English universities, the open competition 
 between our public schools, the emulation ruling amongst
 
 Education. 285 
 
 a highly cultivated staff of teachers, the self-reliance 
 which the system fosters amongst the taught, and the 
 pride of parents for their own old schools, once more 
 renascent in their sons. There can be but few who 
 would like to see Oxford and Cambridge amongst the 
 universities, and Eton, Harrow, Winchester, and 
 Rugby amongst the public schools, reduced to one dead- 
 level, a pass in one a pass in all, their .time-honoured 
 chapels dismantled, and kept but as relics of the past. 
 
 Considered purely as a secular system, the scheme of 
 Government education, as now existing in New Zealand, 
 offers but few objections to those who are disposed to be 
 critical. Commencing with the elementary or public 
 schools, these provide scholarships which enable success- 
 ful candidates to prosecute their studies in the schools 
 for higher education. The New Zealand university 
 presents for competition its junior scholarships of an 
 annual value of 45/., tenable for three years, and open to 
 those between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, who 
 have been at some Government school for at least five 
 years. These scholarships enable students, who have 
 shown proficiency in the high schools, to matriculate and 
 afterwards compete for all degrees and honours which can 
 be obtained under the statutes and regulations of the 
 said university. The chain which connects the lowest 
 class in the lowest school, with the chancellor of the 
 university, is unbroken throughout its entire length. 
 A blacksmith's or carpenter's son may leave his village 
 a raw and uneducated lad, and return to his paternal 
 residence a full-fledged B.A., LL.B., B.Mus., or M.B., 
 according as his fancy and aptitude may dictate. He 
 does not often do it, but under the system it can be 
 done. 
 
 What is now commonlv known as the Education Act
 
 286 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 was passed so short a time ago as the 29th November, 
 1877, and became law on the first day of the following 
 January. It was entitled " An Act to make further 
 provision for the Education of the People of New 
 Zealand." It provides that all moneys required for its 
 administration shall be defrayed out of moneys to be 
 from time to time appropriated for the purpose by the 
 General Assembly. These are to be expended in the 
 necessary salaries and expenses connected with the 
 Central Department of Education ; in a capitation grant 
 of 3/. 15s. for every child in average daily attendance at 
 a public school ; for the establishment and maintenance 
 of training schools, and for the establishment and main- 
 tenance of public school-houses. 
 
 Under the Act the country is divided into educational 
 districts, the management of each district being placed 
 under an elective Board. Each Board consists of nine 
 members, one third of whom retire by rotation every 
 year. The duty of these Boards is to maintain teachers 
 and other officers ; establish scholarships and school 
 libraries, raise the required moneys, and administer all 
 such funds as may be granted by the educational 
 department. 
 
 A committee is elected for each school by the annual 
 vote of the ratepayers of the district in which the school 
 is situated. It is supposed to be subject to the general 
 supervision and control of the Educational Board under 
 which it acts, but it is entrusted with the management 
 of all educational matters pertaining to its own school, 
 and with the maintenance and improvement of the 
 buildings. The teachers, it will be observed, are ap- 
 pointed by the Board, whilst the committees have the 
 management of educational matters in their own schools. 
 The position in which this places the teachers is not
 
 Education. 287 
 
 altogether satisfactory. They stand as it were between 
 two stools, and are more or less at the mercy of two sets of 
 masters. When it is remembered that school committees 
 are often composed of comparatively ignorant men ; that 
 notwithstanding the secular nature of the teaching, 
 the various religious sects exhibit great jealousy should 
 the teacher be of a persuasion different from their own ; 
 and that the committees not only possess an inspecting 
 power, but are often to be found in open collision 
 amongst themselves, or with the Board of their district, 
 it can well be understood that the question of removing 
 them altogether, and placing the schools under the direct 
 control of the Boards has more than once been con- 
 sidered. If education is to prosper, as it ought to do, 
 this should undoubtedly be done. The existence of the 
 committees is not at all necessary, and in many cases is 
 simply obstructive. They seem to have had their origin 
 in an attempt to give a popular and democratic appear- 
 ance to an Act compulsory and despotic in its character 
 Any real power which they possess, so far as the altera- 
 tion or amendment of existing principles is concerned, 
 is simply nil ; but they can often exercise a most 
 disturbing influence. They come into perpetual conflict 
 with the teachers. These have the power, for instance, 
 of expelling or forbidding the attendance of any child for 
 want of cleanliness. Let them do so, and they cause the 
 wrath of the parents and friends of such children to 
 descend upon their devoted heads. Let them not do so, 
 and others complain of the contagious influences to which 
 their children have been exposed. Tn either case the 
 master has to suffer. These school committees appear to 
 be a great drawback to the present system, and, secular 
 as education pretends to be, and no doubt is, the 
 jealousies of Churchmen, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, and
 
 288 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 other sects make the position of the schoolmaster any- 
 thing but a bed of roses. 
 
 The intention of the Act is that all teachers shall be 
 certificated, but it has been found impossible always 
 to carry out its provisions in this respect, owing to a 
 scarcity of certified masters, and it permits persons not 
 so qualified to be temporarily appointed. Government 
 teachers in New Zealand are, according to the Regulations 
 of his Excellency the Governor in Council (acting under 
 the advice of his ministers), divided into five classes, 
 distinguished by the letters A, B, 0, D, and E. Those in 
 Class A. must have graduated at the University of New 
 
 Zealand in first or second class honours. 
 Class B. must have taken the B.A. degree in the same 
 
 University. 
 
 Class C. must have passed the compulsory or optional 
 subjects for the degree of B.A., and the 
 compulsory subjects for Class D. 
 
 Class D. the examination for a certificate in this class 
 approximates very closely to that for matricu- 
 lation at the University. 
 
 Class E. must have passed satisfactorily in the follow- 
 ing subjects : Reading, writing, spelling ; 
 English grammar and composition, arithmetic, 
 geography, and English history : the latter 
 principally from 1603. 
 
 Classes A. and B. are evidently intended for masters 
 in the schools for higher education. Class C. is a sort of 
 hybrid, and forcibly reminds us of the friar in Orcagna's 
 fresco on the walls of Sta. Croce, who, according to 
 Vasari, seeks to mingle with the good, but, being disco- 
 vered by an angel, is driven towards the ranks of the 
 condemned. Classes D. and E. contain the majority of 
 masters in the public schools. It seems difficult to
 
 Education. 289 
 
 conceive how a person who has not obtained a certificate 
 in Class E. can be fitted to undertake single-handed the 
 charge of any school. The salaries of the teachers are 
 fixed by the Boards of the several educational districts, 
 and are based upon the number of pupils in each school. 
 They range from 120/., for schools of thirty children and 
 under, to about 320Z. for schools of 780 and over. 
 Perhaps for twenty schools where the pay is under 140Z., 
 there are five with a salary of 200/. and more. The 
 money for this purpose is provided by the capitation 
 grant of 3/. 15s. per scholar. In addition to these 
 salaries suitable residences in close proximity to the 
 schools are provided. Pupil teachers, of thirteen years 
 old and upwards, are employed to assist the ordinary 
 staff, subject to certain conditions and regulations. 
 
 Under the Act " school age " is confined to children 
 of from five to fifteen years, and the compulsory clauses 
 may be brought into force against the parents and 
 guardians of all children between the ages of seven and 
 thirteen, provided they live within a distance of two 
 miles from the school, as measured by the nearest road, 
 and even then the compulsory attendance is limited to 
 one half the period in each year during which the school 
 is usually open. The compulsory clauses can only be 
 enforced in any school by a vote of the majority of the 
 committee of that school. 
 
 From the census returns of 1881 the Registrar- 
 General has published the following interesting informa- 
 tion. At the time this census was taken, the population 
 within the colony between the ages of five and fifteen 
 amounted to 125,527 persons. Of these, there attended 
 Government or aided schools 87,811; there were at 
 private and unaided schools 13,538; and under private 
 tuition at home, 7348. The numbers attending Sunday- 
 
 u
 
 290 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 schools were 78,891. If these census returns are to be 
 relied on, the Education Act has not so far interfered with 
 the numbers attending public religious instruction. In 
 1878, the first year in which the Education Act came into 
 operation, only a fraction over 59 per cent, of the children 
 between these ages attended the various Sunday-schools. 
 In 1881 the number had increased to nearly 63 per cent., 
 leaving but 37 per cent, who were either receiving no 
 religious instruction, or receiving such teaching at home. 
 This increase may be more than accounted for by the 
 decrease in the number of children attending private and 
 unaided schools. 
 
 According to the report of the Minister of Education the 
 average attendance at the public schools for the year 1881 
 was 82,401: whilst the masters, assistants, and pupil 
 teachers employed amounted to 2087, or about one teacher 
 for every forty children. The yearly expenditure on each 
 scholar, including buildings, came as nearly as possible to 
 51. per head, and teachers salaries to 213,OOOZ. The 
 school-buildings erected throughout the country at the 
 Government expense, and designed by Government archi- 
 tects, are substantial, and all that could be desired, and 
 to most if not all a master's house is attached. 
 
 The recognized standards in the public schools are 
 limited to six, but each in its degree demands far more 
 from the pupils than do those authorized under the 
 English Elementary Education Act of 1876. In New 
 Zealand about one child out of every ten children remains 
 at the public schools after the thirteenth year ; of 
 these very few advance beyond the fourth standard. It 
 is doubtful whether more than one in eight ever 
 reaches so far. This is not surprising when it is under- 
 stood that, to attain a fourth standard certificate, it is 
 necessary to pass an examination in reading, spelling,
 
 Education. 291 
 
 dictation, writing, arithmetic, grammar, composition, 
 geography, and English history, and also to have studied 
 (although not necessary for a pass) elementary science 
 (embracing elementary physics, chemistry, mechanics, 
 and physiology), recitation, singing, drill, drawing, and 
 in the case of girls, instead of elementary science, an 
 advanced proficiency in needlework. Standard number 
 six is of course more difficult, but instead of cumbering 
 the present chapter with further detail, it will be better 
 to refer those who wish for fuller information to the 
 Appendix, in which will be found particulars of the sub- 
 jects in which proficiency is required before the children 
 can pass the different standards. 1 It would appear 
 that the standards, as fixed by the Minister of Education, 
 are quite too pretentious for the ages and capacities of 
 the children at present attending the elementary schools, 
 and, it may be said, far beyond the grasp of many of 
 the teachers whom the Boards are at present able to 
 secure. The requirements of the standards are so severe 
 that masters are frequently obliged to neglect a careful 
 grounding of the younger classes, and leave this im- 
 portant matter to the care of inferior assistants or pupil 
 teachers. Even so in the higher classes masters are 
 often obliged to replace thorough tuition by a species of 
 "cram," in order to pass their pupils into a more 
 advanced standard a step which all scholars in fair 
 attendance are expected to take once in twelve months. 
 If the scholars at any school fail in doing this to any 
 appreciable extent the cause is naturally attributed to 
 the master's inefficiency. Hence the necessity for the 
 system of " cram " which is everywhere prevalent in a 
 greater or less degree. The Inspector-General for the 
 colony alluding, in his Annual Report for 1881, to the 
 1 Appendix, p. 365. 
 17 2
 
 292 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 examinations held in the South Canterbury educational 
 district, makes the following remarks confirmatory of 
 the opinion which we have already expressed. He says, 
 " After making every allowance for the exceptional diffi- 
 culties (alluding to prevalence of sickness) teachers 
 have had this year to contend with, it must be admitted 
 that there are vital defects in the course of instruction, 
 when .... 38' 7 per cent, failed to reach Standard 
 I. ; in other words, that this large proportion could 
 not read and spell easy words of one syllable, write on 
 a slate the letters of the alphabet, and do very 
 elementary addition. The reason, however, is not far to 
 seek. The syllabus is so exacting that the head-master's 
 ability and energy are fully taxed to cover the work of 
 the upper standards, and the younger classes are left, 
 with very little supervision, to the management of pupil 
 teachers and incompetent assistants." Or again, let us 
 take the report of another examiner. " The candidates 
 all answer the most advanced questions best. Their 
 stock of ideas and their natural intelligence is out of all 
 proportion to their acquaintance with rules and analysis. 
 This disposition betrays the absence of sound preparation, 
 and ought to be corrected so far as the means of the 
 teachers will allow.'* Or once more, " Many instances 
 occur of the force or bearing of a question being wholly 
 or partially ignored, and pages of matter are given which 
 as answers are quite valueless." These extracts are 
 sufficient to prove that rote knowledge and short cuts 
 are very apt to take the place of slower and more metho- 
 dical teaching. The evils of such a system may not be 
 at once apparent, but the after-results are none the less 
 sure. 
 
 It would be erroneous to lay the blame, which in 
 reality, attaches to a system, at the door of either
 
 Education. 293 
 
 teachers or scholars. The educational department asks 
 both to do more than can reasonably be expected. On 
 the other hand it is asserted by many that when the 
 system gets thoroughly established, and when better 
 qualified teachers are employed, everything will work 
 more smoothly. But the truth is that the standards are 
 pitched too high. No more than a certain quantity of 
 knowledge can be knocked into children of from seven 
 to thirteen, be they resident in New Zealand or else- 
 where ; and it is almost certain that parents will never 
 be able to keep their sons and daughters in these public 
 schools longer than they do now. It may well be 
 doubted whether the average boy of thirteen, about to 
 enter one of the public schools at home, and with all the 
 advantages of his previous training, could do more than 
 pass the New Zealand standard number six. It is there- 
 fore a grave question, and one worthy of the deepest 
 consideration at the hands of those to whom the 
 elementary education of this country is entrusted, 
 whether better results would not follow from consider- 
 ably lowering the present existing standards ; whether 
 it would not be better to leave mathematical and physical 
 geography, conditions of matter, vibrations, the charac- 
 teristics of saccheroids, and the constituents of blood, 
 muscle, and bone to the schools for higher education, 
 and be content, at least in the public schools, to teach 
 the pupils thoroughly those equally important, if less 
 ambitious subjects upon which their future success in 
 life will mainly depend. 
 
 For the purpose of educating young persons of both 
 sexes as certificated teachers, there are four so-called 
 " Normal " schools situated in Auckland, Wellington, 
 Christcliurch, and Dunedin. In these, during the year 
 1881, 284 students were being educated at a cost of
 
 294 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 nearly 7000Z. per annum. As years go on these schools 
 ought to produce a very superior class of both masters 
 and mistresses. 
 
 Up to this point the system of governmental education, 
 except in so far as it aims at too high a standard, may 
 be. commended as being undoubtedly advantageous to 
 the country, and as meeting all the requirements which 
 could fairly be demanded by the people. But, when we 
 consider the principles on which the scheme of higher 
 education is based, it becomes a matter for consideration 
 whether the Government is not attempting to do more 
 than it ought. Admitting that it is the duty of a State 
 to provide a sound education for the masses, it may be 
 questioned whether it is either advisable or necessary to 
 tax the people for the education of those whose parents 
 are well able to undertake the responsibility themselves. 
 It is also open to doubt whether this higher education 
 would not produce more satisfactory results if left to 
 private enterprise. As the upper and middle classes of 
 the colony grow in wealth and importance, it is probable 
 that they will become dissatisfied with the social training 
 and admixture of classes invariably to be found in the 
 high schools. Such has been the case in the United 
 States, and such in all human probability will be the case 
 in New Zealand. For those who cannot afford to pay 
 for more, the education to be found at the public schools 
 would certainly appear sufficiently comprehensive. To 
 those who can do so, the high schools even now are not 
 altogether satisfactory. The remark may often be heard, 
 " If I could afford it, I would send my children else- 
 where." But under present circumstances parents are 
 unable to follow their own bent, because Government by 
 the establishment of these schools has more or less 
 destroyed all private competition. Had it not been for
 
 Education. 295 
 
 this, good private schools would certainly have been in 
 existence to-day in all the principal towns of the colony. 
 Masters would have undertaken the work who had 
 obtained a degree at some university. In later times 
 they might have passed out of the New Zealand Uni- 
 versity with high honours. Such men from their previous 
 training would have been fitted to teach, and in their 
 work would ever be sustained by a spirit of emulation 
 amongst themselves. At present the head masters of the 
 high schools receive about 500/. a year; a sum quite 
 sufficient to keep them in easy circumstances. They are 
 elected by the boards of higher education, and, although 
 in many instances scholars with the highest testimonials, 
 their position as salaried teachers causes the school- work 
 to be regarded more as a necessary drudgery than as a 
 means of securing an increased reputation consequent 
 upon sustained exertion. No doubt many of us can 
 remember the difference between the teaching of the 
 salaried usher and the proprietor himself in the preli- 
 minary schools at which we were educated. We cannot 
 have forgotten the monotonous routine of the former, as 
 compared with the earnest inculcation of the force of the 
 aorist or particle exhibited by the latter. When it is a 
 question of the highest phases of education we must 
 confess to be no believer in a Government system, or in 
 short, in any system which does not place both teacher 
 and pupil on their mettle through an appreciation of 
 serious outside competition. At present many send their 
 children to these high schools, but how many are induced 
 to do so by necessity, and how many by compulsion, it is 
 impossible to say, for practically there exists no local 
 opposition to the Government system. The Education 
 Act sets forth in section 56, that " all the branches of a 
 liberal education, comprising Latin and Greek classics,
 
 296 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 French and other modern languages, mathematics, and 
 such other branches of science as the advancement of the 
 colony and the increase of the population may from time 
 to time require, may be taught in such schools. For 
 such higher education, fees shall be paid by the pupils at 
 such rates as shall be fixed by regulation." These fees 
 are in most cases at the rate of about 10s. a quarter 
 for the first subject taught, and of 5s. for every subject 
 in excess of one. These schools are specially endowed 
 with grants of land which will in time become valuable, 
 and in many instances probably cause the schools to be 
 hereafter self-supporting. But unless the system be 
 greatly changed, it is difficult to believe that they will 
 ever meet the requirements of a first-class education. 
 They are more likely to become locally endowed schools 
 for the sons of tradespeople. 
 
 It is with pleasure that we turn to the consideration 
 of the Government School of Agriculture, situated at 
 Lincoln, near Christchurch, and placed under the control 
 of the Canterbury College Board of Governors. This is 
 the first school of the kind instituted in New Zealand, 
 and whatever opinion may be generally held as to the 
 relative merits of the theory as against the practice of 
 agriculture, few will be found to deny to a school of this 
 description the great importance which it must neces- 
 sarily possess. In a new country in which for the most 
 part the energies of the farmer have been directed to 
 obtaining from the land the greatest possible quantity of 
 produce without enriching it by any adequate return, and 
 in which a large proportion of the tillers of the soil have 
 had no anterior training, the published experiences and 
 reports of a practical school must possess almost as great 
 a value to those already engaged in agriculture as to the 
 students themselves. The school too is a voluntary one,
 
 Education. 297 
 
 in the sense that it is obligatory on none to pass through 
 a course of study within its walls. Under Government 
 control, and supported by Government funds, it compels 
 no one to accept its teaching. The school was opened 
 about two years ago, and consists of a handsome group 
 of buildings in the Gothic style. It contains a theatre, 
 library, museum, chemical laboratory, diniug-hall, sepa- 
 rate bedrooms for the pupils, lavatories, bath-room, and 
 quarters for the director. The farm contains 500 acres 
 of land of various qualities, from rich swamp to com- 
 paratively thin light soils overlying deep beds of shingle. 
 Stables, granary, cowhouses, dairy, piggeries, and imple- 
 ment sheds are attached, and the machinery and farm 
 implements have been carefully selected. The dairy 
 utensils include the latest improvements introduced in 
 the system of butter and cheese-making. A portion of 
 the farm is devoted to experimentalizing on different 
 methods of cultivation, on the effects of manures, on the 
 qualities of native and foreign grasses, and on the com- 
 parative value of new varieties of cereals, roots, fodder, 
 and other plants. The students are required to take 
 part in the daily work of the farm and to learn practical 
 ploughing, the use of implements and machinery, the 
 management of stock, milking, and the making of cheese 
 and butter. Land-surveying and levelling is also taught. 
 The course of instruction in the class-room includes 
 amongst other subjects agricultural chemistry, biology, 
 geology, veterinary medicine and surgery, mathematics, 
 and book-keeping. The school seems to have met with 
 such general favour that all the accommodation for 
 boarders is fully taken up. In an able paper published 
 in the New Zealand Country Journal, for September, 
 1880, Mr. W. E. Ivey, the first director of the institu- 
 tion, combats the idea that the object of the school is to
 
 298 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 teach farmers. He argues that a medical school does not 
 make doctors, but only gives the sons of doctors and others 
 such an education as will fit them to become doctors. 
 So an agricultural school aims at training those sons of 
 colonists who are intending to follow the calling of the 
 farmer. As a rule when his son leaves school the ques- 
 tion for the father is, what he is to do with him. The 
 answer will generally be, " Send him to a good farm." 
 But in Mr. Ivey's opinion " it is a mistake to send so 
 young and generally so ignorant a lad into an ordinary 
 farm, if it can be avoided. The transition from school to 
 farm work, from all head work to all manual labour, is 
 too sudden. ... If a youngster has at an early age to 
 follow the plough all day, and day after day, he is, I 
 think, apt to become dull as the beasts he drives, besides 
 acquiring that shambling, slouching gait, which surely it 
 is not necessary the farmers should appropriate. ... If 
 he is to become a farm labourer well and good, but the 
 rearing of farm labourers should not be our object. We 
 should aim at cultivating the lad's brains as well as 
 developing his muscle, and what better time could be 
 selected for this purpose than when, naturally, he is 
 incapable of performing the full day's work of a man?" 
 Should the college at Lincoln prove the success which it 
 is expected to do, Otago and other districts will probably 
 be provided with similar schools. In the meantime it is 
 a gratifying fact that a young country like New Zealand 
 should, amongst its many other public institutions, 
 possess an agricultural college. 
 
 " The New Zealand University " is the highest body 
 connected with education recognized in the colony. It 
 is allowed by Royal Charter granted under the Queen's 
 sign manual on ** the twenty-ninth day of July, in the 
 fortieth year of our reign." Under this charter it is
 
 Education. 299 
 
 willed, granted, and declared, " that the degrees of 
 bachelor and master of arts, and bachelor and doctor 
 in law, medicine, and music, hereafter to be granted or 
 confirmed by the said University of New Zealand, shall 
 be recognized as academic distinctions and rewards of 
 merit, and be entitled to rank, precedence, and considera- 
 tion in our United Kingdom, in our colonies and 
 possessions throughout the world, as fully as if the said 
 degrees had been granted by any university of our said 
 United Kingdom." The present Colonial University 
 Act was passed in 1874, repealing a former Act of 1870. 
 The University was not established with the object of 
 teaching, but for the purpose of conferring on worthy 
 recipients academical degrees and certificates of profi- 
 ciency. The body corporate consists of a chancellor, a 
 vice-chancellor, twenty-four fellows and graduates. It 
 possesses two courts the senate and the convocation, 
 both of which have certain administrative powers as 
 specified under the Act. Instead of the number of 
 colleges collected in one town or city, and which exercise 
 such an important influence upon university life at home, 
 educational institutions situated here and there through- 
 out vhe colony are affiliated to the New Zealand Univer- 
 sity. It is at all times lawful for the senate to make, 
 alter, and amend, any statutes for the affiliation to or 
 connexion with the University of any college or educa- 
 tional establishment to which the governing body of such 
 college or establishment may consent, provided always 
 that no such statutes shall affect the religious observances 
 or regulations enforced in such colleges and educational 
 establishments. In other words, the power of the Uni- 
 versity is purely secular. This must naturally be the 
 case where it is itself dependent upon Government for the 
 moneys necessary to discharge current expenses. Each
 
 300 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 April it must report the proceedings of the previous 
 twelve months to Government. Every such account 
 must contain a full report of the income and expendi- 
 ture of the University, audited in such a manner as the 
 Governor of the colony for the time being may direct. 
 A copy of such report and of all the statutes and regula- 
 tions of the University must be laid each year before the 
 general assembly at Wellington. 
 
 The New Zealand University is, in short, a corporate 
 body, empowered under Royal Charter to grant degrees 
 which shall be recognized throughout her Majesty's 
 empire. This it can do so long as the standards of 
 knowledge requisite to obtain such degrees shall, in the 
 opinion of the Governor, preserve a necessary equilibrium. 
 On the other hand the University is constituted and 
 endowed by Act of the colonial Parliament. It is at 
 any moment liable to have its constitution and endow- 
 ments curtailed or enlarged by the same power which 
 created it. Practically it is but a Government institution 
 existing, in its present form, like all other public branches 
 of education by the will of the people. Its object is to 
 foster the pursuit of a liberal education. Its under- 
 graduates are examined in almost every conceivable 
 subject. The ologies are all included, save one, and that 
 not the least important, namely, theology. In consequence 
 of this the time-honoured degree of a doctor of divinity 
 remains unrecognized. It is also unlawful for the 
 senate to impose on any person any compulsory religious 
 examination or test. So jealously are all matters which 
 even bear a reference to religion excluded, that the Uni- 
 versity calendar makes no distinction in its pages between 
 Sunday and the other six days of the week. It takes 
 cognizance of but three holy days in the year, and of 
 these not because they are holy days, but because certain
 
 Education. 301 
 
 secular observances depend upon them. It mentions 
 Easter Sunday, Good Friday, and Christmas Day. The 
 first of these because it is a movable feast, and a vacation 
 depends upon the period of the year on which it falls. 
 The two last because they happen to be legal and civil 
 holidays. But since these three days are inserted but 
 for legal and civil purposes, why desecrate the calendar 
 with such names at all ? Why not insert in their place 
 the sixth and eight germinal and the first nivose ? 
 Surely such a plan would be more consistent. The 
 University curriculum thus carefully avoids the slightest 
 approach to religious teaching. It does rot even permit 
 voluntary examinations in Biblical knowledge and eccle- 
 siastical history. Thus to avoid the subject altogether, 
 even from an educational point of view, would seem in 
 the highest degree unjustifiable and reprehensible. The 
 syllabus of no institution can be considered perfect which 
 does not include in its studies all the branches of any 
 subject which it pretends to teach. As well to attempt 
 to teach mechanics and veto hydrostatics, as to teach 
 history, and disallow one portion of it because that 
 portion happens to be contained in a book called the 
 Bible. What consistency or perfection can be claimed 
 for a system which asks the candidate for honours to 
 " estimate the influence of the worship of Apollo on 
 Greek civilization," and yet decline to examine him 
 as to the influence which the occurrences in Judaaa 
 during the years A.D. 30 33 exercised upon mediaeval 
 and more modern times ? How can the student de- 
 liberately weigh " the influence of Germany, France, 
 Italy, and Spain, on English literature and thought in 
 the sixteenth century," or " compare Donne, Hall, 
 Taylor, and Fuller as preachers and moralists," without 
 studying those religious movements which stimulated
 
 3O2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 thought, animated preachers, and gave a departure for 
 the morality of the age under review. This studious 
 avoidance of all religious subjects borders upon fanati- 
 cism. In any case it is the policy of an extreme and 
 narrow sectarianism. To some it may appear a sign 
 of the greater enlightenment and development of the 
 latter part of the nineteenth century ; to others but a 
 proof of a greater decadence, and of the spread of 
 rationalism. England has often, before now, in spite of 
 occasional periods of narrow-mindedness and oppression, 
 been conspicuous as the home of liberty, morality, and 
 religious toleration. Possibly her universities, which, 
 while affording protection to all denominations, remain 
 open for the further consideration and free investigation 
 of religious principles, may yet afford an example of 
 moderation in this respect which less experienced and 
 more radical institutions would do well to follow. 
 
 The present " statutes and regulations " of the Uni- 
 versity came into force on the first day of May, 1882. 
 The meetings of the senate are held in the different 
 towns of the colony as may from time to time be 
 appointed. The colleges of Canterbury, Auckland, and 
 other scholastic institutions affiliated to it are obliged 
 to provide lecture-rooms with suitable apparatus and 
 appliances for the purpose of teaching. Lectures must 
 be regularly given for a period of not less than six 
 months in each year, and such institutions must show, 
 to the satisfaction of the senate, that they are competent 
 to supply, through their professors, lecturers, and 
 teachers, a three years' course in Latin, mathematics, 
 and not less than three of the. other subjects prescribed 
 for the B.A. degree. At some period during the last 
 quarter of every year examinations must be held by each 
 affiliated institution in all the subjects taught under the 
 condition of affiliation in which students may desire to
 
 Education. 303 
 
 be examined. Students who have attended the lectures, 
 and passed the annual examinations, shall be deemed 
 to have kept the University terms of the year. The 
 examination for matriculation consists in six, or more, 
 of the following subjects : Latin, English, and Arith- 
 metic (all compulsory), Greek, French, German, Italian, 
 Algebra, Euclid, History, Geography, and Elementary 
 Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Candidates must have 
 attained the age of sixteen years. The examination fee 
 is one guinea. 
 
 The subjects of examination for the degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts are (1) Latin Language and Literature; (2) 
 Greek Language and Literature ; (3) English Language 
 and Literature ; (4) Modern Languages and Literature ; 
 (5) General History and Political Economy ; (6) Juris- 
 prudence and Constitutional History ; (7) Mathematics ; 
 (8) Physical Science; (9) Chemistry; (10) Natural 
 Science, and (11) Mental Science. 2 No candidate will 
 be admitted unless he shall have passed in at least five 
 of the above subjects, of which two must be Latin and 
 Mathematics. The examination may be taken in two 
 sections. Every student must have kept his terms for 
 three years at some affiliated institution. Examinations 
 for honours are held, but are only open to candidates 
 at the examination of the year following that in which 
 they have passed for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
 " Ad eundem " degrees are also given. Bachelors of 
 Arts who have taken honours shall be deemed to have 
 passed the examination for the degree of Master of Arts. 
 Other candidates must be examined in one of the various 
 groups of subjects selected for the purpose. 
 
 Out of the funds voted by Parliament the University 
 offers three classes of scholarships, to be called the 
 
 1 For further particulars, and divisions of the subjects, see Appen- 
 dix.
 
 304 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 senior, junior, and medical scholarships. The senior 
 scholarships, to which allusion has already been made, 
 are of the annual value of 45Z., tenable for three years, 
 and open to persons between the ages of sixteen and 
 twenty-one, who have not already entered upon the 
 University course. The senior scholarships are awarded, 
 upon the recommendation of the examiners, to students 
 who shall pass either the first or second section of the 
 examination for a B.A. degree, and attain great credit 
 in at least one subject. The papers given for these 
 scholarship examinations contain questions of a higher 
 character than those for the ordinary degree. The 
 scholarships are tenable for one year in the case of 
 candidates preparing for an ordinary pass, and for two 
 years in the case of those studying for honours. Their 
 annual value is b'OL One medical scholarship is offered 
 each year of the value of 100L, and tenable for three 
 years. It is decided by excellence in the papers on 
 anatomy, physiology, zoology, botany, and chemistry. 
 The other degrees to be obtained at the University 
 are those of LL.B., LL.D., Mus.B., Mus.D., M.B., 
 and M.D. The fees for an ordinary B.A. degree amount 
 to three guineas, for other Bachelors to seven guineas, 
 and for Doctors to fifteen guineas. The University 
 possesses its legal and academical costumes, in which 
 members must appear at all its public ceremonies. When 
 collected together, the whole body, from the Chancellor, 
 with his black velvet gown, scarlet velvet collar, and 
 facings embroidered with gold, to the ordinary graduate, 
 in his Cambridge gown and hood, lined with pink silk, 
 and bordered with white fur, must present an im- 
 posing appearance, and greatly assist in lending due 
 weight to the augustness of this " body politic and 
 corporate."
 
 Education. 305 
 
 But a few words more. There still exists, in a suffi- 
 ciently prosperous condition, the Christchurch College, 
 an institution approaching, as nearly as possible, to one 
 of the English public schools, and untrammelled by 
 Government control. It is administered by a warden 
 and fellows, and supported by lands set apart for the 
 purpose by the founders of the Canterbury settlement, 
 with the additional assistance of fees paid by the scholars. 
 Its buildings occupy a central position, bordering upon 
 the Christchurch public park, but, picturesque as they may 
 be in themselves, they afford to the old-country public 
 school boy and university man a greater satisfaction 
 in the knowledge that here, at all events, his sons may 
 be brought up after the manner of their forefathers. 
 The college possesses its private chapel, where every 
 day, at early prayers, the venerable Primate may be 
 seen, exhibiting, by his consistent presence, a lesson 
 to the young, of the importance to a country of a 
 publicly recognized worship. In this one spot, at all 
 events, the scoffer may temporarily be forgotten, the 
 freethinker and atheist meet with a well-merited oblivion, 
 and the spirit of charity offer its kindred hand to those 
 good men of all denominations, who, whatever their 
 differences and prejudices, are doing their utmost to 
 improve the spiritual and moral condition of the flocks 
 intrusted to their care. To this institution proceed the 
 sons of many of the best families of the country, some 
 of whom, when their college career in New Zealand 
 is closed, leave for either Oxford or Cambridge, to 
 complete their studies in one of the two Universities. 
 Far be it from us to regret that the authority of the 
 Canterbury Church of England settlement is ' a thing 
 of the past, or to maintain that the province could ever 
 have attained its present pre-eminence under sectarian 
 
 x
 
 306 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 rule. But we are thankful to believe that much good 
 survives from the genuine intentions of its early founders, 
 and that sufficient funds have been preserved for the 
 maintenance of the Christchurch College. Owing to 
 its existence a few private and preliminary schools are 
 kept up, where boys can receive the rudiments of a 
 future education, accompanied by religious teaching, and 
 where parents can feel assured that their children will, 
 for a time at least, be safe from " the callousness and 
 numbness of soul " too likely to be engendered among 
 teachers and pupils by a purely secular system. 
 
 St. John's School, in Auckland, founded and erected 
 by the late Bishop Selwyn, at the cost of many thousand 
 pounds, and placed in a delightful position, has unfor- 
 tunately, from a variety of causes, been allowed to fall 
 into comparative decay. For many years it has not 
 exercised that important influence over the education 
 of the district in which it is situated, which its founder 
 would have desired. 
 
 It is certain that many of the ideas suggested in 
 the present chapter will be impugned by some, derided 
 by others, and displeasing to many. Education is an 
 important matter which can never be regarded in the 
 same light by all parties. It must always exert a 
 sensible influence upon the lives of every living person, 
 even in its lower and material developments. Considered 
 in combination with its religious aspects, it has un- 
 doubtedly stirred, and ever will stir, the heart of man 
 with a power unknown to any single science or com- 
 bination of sciences ; and with impressions more lasting 
 than those of any matter of State policy. A solution 
 of the difficulties with which the question of education 
 is surrounded has ever required the attentive application 
 of years, and frequently cf generations. A step half
 
 Education. 307 
 
 gained to-day, half lost to-morrow; an irresistible 
 pressure hither during one generation, an almost equally 
 forcible tendency thither during the next ; a combination 
 of all these influences constituting its normal life, and ever 
 leading it a little further on its onward course this 
 is education. The value of what is being done to-day 
 can only be estimated by turning to the past, and realizing 
 the improvement which has been established since the 
 days of our forefathers' fathers. Final results cannot 
 be judged by present impressions. However prejudiced 
 our remarks may be considered by certain schools of 
 thought, we have endeavoured, in their expression, to 
 separate ourselves, as much as possible, from immediate 
 influences ; to consider religion in its catholicity, and 
 not in its sectarianism ; to learn from the past whether 
 education ever has been, or ever can be, for long 
 together disconnected from religious training, and 
 whether that State which assumes the sole responsibility 
 of training the young, to the extinction of all private and 
 denominational enterprise, is not bound to attend to 
 the teaching of Christianity and morality. Children, 
 it is certain, often suffer for the sins of their parents. 
 A nation has often suffered from the errors and incapa- 
 city of its rulers. And after the most careful reflection 
 we can arrive at no other conclusion than that a 
 Government, which, for the sake of temporary ex- 
 pediency, banishes the Bible from its syllabus, forbids 
 the teaching of the simplest moral truths by its officers, 
 and puts away from it the public recognition of all 
 Divine laws in its schools, cannot be doing its duty, 
 either in the present, or with regard to the future ; and 
 may be inflicting serious injury on those whom it is 
 bound to protect. 
 
 x 2
 
 jo8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 IT is by no means our intention to enter into a descrip- 
 tion of the various tenets and modes of worship that prevail 
 amongst the sects which form the religious population 
 of the colony. These are in all important particulars 
 identical with what may be seen on a much larger scale 
 at home. Our remarks will be confined to the salient 
 differences necessarily presented by a new country, and 
 to the steps which have been taken to build up a religious 
 system where a few years ago existed but virgin forests 
 and uncultivated plains the abodes of a savage race, 
 and the habitat of but few species of terrestrial or 
 animal life. Collected from all classes, and migrating 
 from all parts of the United Kingdom, the people of 
 New Zealand have, as might be expected, imported into 
 their new home most of the divergencies of belief to be 
 found at their antipodes. The religious denominations 
 include Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Bible 
 Christians, Baptists, Congregational Independents, 
 Lutherans, Unitarians, Quakers, Catholic Apostolics, 
 Roman Catholics, Latter-day Saints, Jews, Mohammedans, 
 and pagans. Besides these a few thousand persons hold 
 opinions which can be classified under those of no recog- 
 nized sect, and who would probably find it difficult to 
 assign a reason for the principles involved in their crude
 
 Religion. 309 
 
 and heterodox speculations. According to the last census 
 but two hundred and seventy-two individuals were bold 
 enough to assert that they entertained no religious 
 opinion whatsoever in other words that they were 
 atheists. The religion of over thirteen hundred is 
 unspecified ; whilst nearly fourteen thousand " object to 
 state " the belief which ought to influence their lives. 
 Possibly the latter class largely consists of men who, 
 whilst openly professing no religion, have a more or less 
 defined consciousness of the existence of a Deity. Their 
 wild and roving lives, their habits formed in camps, the 
 distance which for many years has intervened between 
 themselves and the nearest place of worship, have each 
 and all conspired to cast their lot amongst those who 
 look upon the seventh day only as a day of rest from 
 work. They no doubt yearn from time to time for better 
 things, but old established habits, old camp companions, 
 and love of ease, prove stronger than their vague 
 aspirings. On the one hand, influenced perhaps by 
 memories of home and churches once revered, they dare 
 not profess to be of no religion atheists. On the other, 
 they think it mockery, looking at the lives they lead, to 
 claim connexion with a church, and most of all with that 
 they used to serve. 
 
 After inspecting the long and varied list of sects just 
 mentioned, it must be clear that, whatever other prejudices 
 or civil disabilities the colonists have left behind, religious 
 differences have not been lessened by any larger-minded 
 uniformity induced by change of life and scene. Possibly, 
 starting as they did on an altogether fresh basis, the 
 several sects exercise more toleration towards each other 
 than they used to do at home. The principle is fully 
 recognized that every individual possesses a right to 
 enjoy the perfect freedom of his religious convictions.
 
 3 io New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Irritated by no Establishment, system of tithes, or 
 memory of former disabilities, an equality is secured for 
 all persuasions, with a result which can hardly be appre- 
 ciated in the United Kingdom. The Quaker has never 
 been driven from agricultural pursuits in consequence 
 of scruples with regard to tithes. No Test Act has 
 incapacitated those who hold certain religious views from 
 occupying the highest offices of State. No bigotry on 
 the part of Calvinists or Episcopalians has thrown men 
 into jail on account of conscientiously formed convictions ; 
 nor has the Jew ever been refused a seat in the Houses 
 of the Legislature. Fortunately these things exist no 
 longer in the United Kingdom, but it is only in com- 
 paratively recent times that they ceased to do so. Many 
 persons now living can distinctly remember their effects 
 in the mutual distrust and jealousy which prevailed 
 amongst opposing creeds. It is within the last few years 
 only that men can be said to have worked together 
 regardless of religious schools of thought. Even to-day 
 it is but the more enlightened who attempt even so much. 
 It is but the more moderate who even yet accept the 
 meaning of the word " charity " in its fullest and its 
 highest sense. The Romish hierarch, the uncompromising 
 ritualist, the dogmatic low churchman, the narrow-minded 
 sectarist, each typify opposing schools of thought, and 
 each are more or less impracticable. It may safely be 
 asserted that if one or any of these sects possessed 
 exclusive power, it would so tyrannize as to destroy all 
 liberty of thought. Fortunately the bulk of any people 
 is composed of moderate men, who have sufficient 
 influence to free their world from the restraints of 
 opiniated littleness. It would be absurd to suggest that 
 religious parties in New Zealand are entirely free from 
 jealousies. To hold such an opinion would be to deny
 
 Religion. 3 1 1 
 
 the plainest evidence. But this much may be said, 
 that the natural independence of the colonists, their 
 separation from the restraints of hereditary customs, 
 their school-boy regard for individual merit rather than 
 for a well-filled purse, and the freedom which is enjoyed 
 by all sects alike, have tended to make them more liberal 
 towards diverging opinions than would otherwise have 
 been the case. In country districts where no churches 
 or chapels are to be found, all denominations alike enjoy 
 the use of the public school-rooms for religious services. 
 Certainly in one place, and probably in others, the church 
 is used alternately by Churchmen and Presbyterians. 
 In outlying parts of the country, where but one service 
 can be supported, it is frequented by the people, Roman 
 Catholics excepted, regardless of religious distinctions. 
 Bazaars and public entertainments, which may be 
 organized for church purposes by any sect, are invariably 
 more or less supported by those belonging to other 
 denominations. It may very fairly be urged that some 
 of these conditions are dependent upon the country 
 being as at present both sparsely inhabited and compara- 
 tively undeveloped. This is to some extent true. But 
 the fact remains that an intermingling of denominations 
 prevails in a greater or less degree ; that persons are 
 willing to assist a good cause, although it may not be 
 their own ; and that they do not possess the same ex- 
 clusiveness which is often to be seen in older communities. 
 If the colony does not enjoy the advantages of so much 
 dogma as countries swayed by old establishments, it 
 enjoys what to many will be found equally satisfactory, 
 an equal share of " personal religion." In place of 
 being governed ex cathedra, its religion may be said to 
 spring spontaneously from the masses and from the 
 hearts of the people. It is pleasant to visit the Sunday-
 
 312 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 schools and see the young adding to their store of 
 Biblical knowledge, and at the same time feel that their 
 attendance is not merely the result of established usage ; 
 that it is owing to the efforts of the ministers and 
 teachers, supplemented by a general craving amongst the 
 parents for the religious instruction of their children. 
 It is pleasant to feel that the presence of "the children in 
 so great numbers springs from a personal appreciation 
 by the people of the necessity which exists for religious 
 training ; that the motive ascends from below, and is 
 not the result of superstition or benumbing servitude. 
 It is far healthier, whether in the old world or the new, 
 that such should be the case; that Sunday-schools should 
 be self-sought, and not recruited by pressure from above; 
 that clothing clubs and coal tickets, the keys of purga- 
 tory and such like inducements, should be quite separate 
 from pure and honest Sunday teaching. But although 
 asserting, as we do, that religion, to be strong and durable, 
 must have deep root among the people, it must not 
 less on that account be kept restrained. The ranks of 
 an army must be officered, its discipline enforced, and 
 laws enacted not only for its own good, but to protect 
 the innocent and weak. The bravest men undisciplined 
 succumb before a far inferior foe. So, too, religious 
 motions, when they animate large crowds, must faint or 
 go astray, unless directed by a sensible control. The 
 crowd, however earnest, must have teachers ; but then 
 the teaching should be true, not arbitrary, confined to 
 Christian doctrine, and carefully remote from politics or 
 necessities of State. Too little leadership produces 
 anarchy, too much hypocrisy. The power assumed by 
 Rome has brought the masses of that Church in Spain 
 and Mexico, in Uruguay and Sicily, to apathy and 
 ignorance. Wesley, by refusing to conform to law
 
 Religion. 
 
 
 and order, raised an anarchy he could not stay. His 
 schism caused a second ; the second paved the way for 
 others. It has been said if that good man could but 
 have lived to see the fruits of what he but begun, he 
 never would have left the Church ; and could he now be 
 brought to life, he would find it difficult to reconcile the 
 Wesleyan, Primitive, Free United, and the New Connexion 
 Methodists, all of whom have taken a varied impress 
 from his thoughts. 
 
 The dangers which religion has to fear in the old 
 world are atrophy and schism ; in the new too great 
 a latitudinarianism. Descended from an ancestry of 
 serfs and paid retainers, raised through centuries of toil 
 by forces not their own, but growing with themselves, 
 old-world people are wont to take religion, laws, morality, 
 and customs as they find them to their hand. They 
 are wont to accept what is as right and true from 
 habitude. They do not care to seek for reasons. The 
 squire enjoys his broad estates, in course of time to be 
 succeeded by his son ; the farmer occupies his farm just 
 as his father did before ; the ploughman held his plough 
 some fifty years ago, his son and grandson do the same 
 to-day ; the merchant dies, a son takes up his work ; the 
 rector passes quietly from view another fills his place 
 almost insensibly. As a rule the expansions of science, 
 legislation, or religious thought which occur in any 
 generation affect the national rather than the individual 
 character of the people. The generation, as a whole, 
 may be making rapid progress, and at the same time the 
 individuals who form its component parts maybe wedded 
 as firmly as ever to habits and practices which have been 
 the growth of centuries. In an old country people are 
 for ever in search of precedents. All argument is based 
 on precedent. It is but the leaders of their generation
 
 314 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 who urge the masses on towards the regions of experi- 
 ment. The inclination of the people for what is has a 
 natural tendency to induce a state of lethargy. It must 
 be so. Undisputed possession produces indifference, and 
 familiarity breeds contempt. Men become careless of 
 that which can be obtained with a minimum of trouble 
 at any time. Under such circumstances atrophy is sure 
 to succeed. But this stage once attained, energetic and 
 earnest, though possibly ill-judging, spirits are always to 
 be found desirous of remedying what they consider to be 
 the abuses of the generation in which they live. Eager 
 to secure the objects which they propose, such persons 
 are frequently led to take a " short cut " through a 
 hitherto unexplored country. In place of attempting 
 remedial measures, nothing can satisfy their enthusiastic 
 souls but a total severance from the unclean thing. 
 Hence comes schism. 
 
 On the other hand the colonist is for the most part a 
 man enjoying a large share of individuality. The mere 
 fact of his choosing to leave old tracks to work out fresh 
 paths for himself is primd facie evidence that he stands 
 possessed, in a greater or less degree, of self-reliance. 
 To be successful he must in some sense realize what the 
 great Caesar felt when he penned those immortal words, 
 " Veni, vidi, vici." He has, at all events, crossed the 
 ocean, and encountered its storms and calms. He has 
 converted waste lands into fields of waving corn, and 
 made of the pathless swamp a luxuriant feeding-ground 
 for cattle. He has built towns in erstwhile desert places, 
 and listens to the hum of busily revolving machinery, 
 where used to be but the solitude of nature. Thrown 
 on his own resources, self-confidence becomes a second 
 nature. As years speed on and comforts accumulate 
 about his home, he feels them to be his own creation.
 
 Religion. 315 
 
 Successful or unsuccessful, he has made or marred his 
 own position. His individuality stands forth in clearer 
 relief by the greater necessity which existed for its 
 development. Accustomed to act for himself, he 
 becomes, perhaps, too restive under discipline. Whether 
 aware of the fact or not, he naturally, from the situation 
 in which he is placed, becomes a thinker possibly a 
 freethinker. Having thrown off many of the recognized 
 and wholesome restraints of modern life, he is prone to 
 allow a somewhat dangerous idealism to permeate his 
 thoughts. His conceptions of religion are likely to be 
 influenced by the general tenor of his life. His religious 
 views will probably not be irretrievably wedded to the 
 narrow groove of a particular school, and although the 
 member of a church, he is almost certain to be an 
 advocate for religious equality. It can readily be seen 
 how the latter idea, if carried to excess, may pave the 
 way for a dangerous latitudinarianism. 
 
 Many persons will be inclined to ask, are the colonists, 
 as a rule, a religious body of people ? Various replies 
 would be given to such a question. Some would assert 
 that they are, and some the very contrary. A true 
 answer will most likely be found to lie midway between 
 the two extremes, and should rather be sought from 
 general characteristics than in individual examples. 
 England has the reputation of being a religious and 
 God-fearing country, and when we come to make a 
 careful comparison between her people and those of 
 other lands, she indisputably deserves the character 
 with which she has been accredited. But were a 
 stranger solely to judge from the holiday crowds which 
 every Sunday frequent her favourite seaside towns, were 
 he to visit during the hours of service the vast suburbs 
 of her chief cities, peep into the homes of many of her
 
 3 1 6 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 farmers, or lift the veil which shelters the privacy of 
 the rich, he might be disposed to arrive at a directly 
 opposite conclusion. Were he to transfer the sphere of 
 his observations to New Zealand, he would be apt to 
 form a similar opinion. He would see labouring men 
 who never attended a place of worship ; farmers who 
 did so never or but rarely ; and a portion of the people 
 who spent the Sabbath in holiday-making and sensual 
 indulgence. But when we come to reflect upon the 
 many churches and chapels which everywhere abound, 
 and regard each Sunday the large and well-dressed con- 
 gregations which issue from their doors ; when we think 
 of the thousands of children regularly attending the 
 Sunday-schools, and consider the decorous behaviour of 
 the larger portion of the population, we hope and are 
 glad to think that the colony may be reckoned amongst 
 the religious and God-fearing countries of the world. 
 We trust that if for a short moment she has driven 
 religious instruction from her public schools, better 
 counsels will ere long prevail and attract to her people 
 that blessing which must always attend the national 
 acknowledgment of religious duties. 
 
 Episcopalians, principally members of the Church of 
 England, comprise exactly forty-one and a half per cent, 
 of the population of the colony. Presbyterians, with 
 their divisions and subdivisions, rank next, with a trifle 
 over twenty-three per cent. Wesleyans can claim nine 
 and a half, and Roman Catholics fourteen per cent. 
 Baptists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Unitarians, and 
 Quakers when united number about six in every hun- 
 dred, whilst pagans constitute an odd one per cent. 
 The latter are almost exclusively Chinese, many of 
 whom earn a fair livelihood either as hawkers or by 
 market-gardening. In relation to the State, all churches
 
 Religion. 3 1 7 
 
 stand on a perfect equality ; but it is evident from the 
 above figures that Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and 
 Wesleyans embrace nearly three parts of the population. 
 The importance and numbers of what may be called the 
 more decidedly dissenting sects are but insignificant, 
 while even the Roman Catholics hold a comparatively 
 subordinate position. The Church of England, which 
 comprises more than two-fifths of the people, possesses 
 an influence even greater than would be expected from 
 the census returns, and decidedly enjoys a pre-eminent 
 distinction. Freed from the restraints of a State esta- 
 blishment, she still attracts a high class of men to the 
 ministry, and includes within her ranks, perhaps, the 
 most influential portion of the laity. She has her 
 bishops and archdeacons, her deans and canons, her lay 
 readers and numerous congregations. Her members, 
 whilst admitting that all things are lawful for them, re- 
 tain a solid conviction that all things are not expedient, 
 and willingly submit in their corporate capacity to the 
 authority of the diocesans and their duly appointed 
 officers. Keeping the individual conscience free, they 
 perceive that in things religious as in things temporal, 
 it is better to live under a limited monarchy than admit 
 a self-constituted republicanism. 
 
 The church in New Zealand is divided into six 
 bishoprics, namely, those of Christchurch, Nelson, 
 Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, and Napier, the Bishop 
 of Christchurch being Primate. Each diocese holds an 
 annual session of its synod, the members of which con- 
 sist of the bishop and clergy, with representatives of the 
 laity elected by the communicants of the several parishes. 
 Every third year a general synod assembles, which is 
 attended by all the bishops, assisted by three clergymen 
 and three laymen from each diocese. These synods
 
 3 1 8 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 frame statutes and adopt resolutions concerning matters 
 of internal organization. They regulate the trusts and 
 manage the expenditure of church property. They also 
 take under their consideration questions of doctrine and 
 discipline. The stipends of the clergy are provided for 
 by the subscriptions of the parishioners, supplemented 
 by grants from funds in the hands of the church pro- 
 perty trustees. Probably, as the colony grows older, 
 many livings will become more or less endowed. In 
 every country and in every age persons are to be found 
 desirous of improving the position of their Church either 
 during life or after death. Already the parish in which 
 we are writing has an endowment which, at the present 
 rate of interest, amounts to two hundred pounds a year. 
 The contiguous parish is similarly situated, and other 
 endowments here and there exist. It has been stated 
 that a person recently deceased has willed to a church in 
 the diocese of Nelson funds which will ultimateiy give 
 the incumbent an annual income of about eighteen hun- 
 dred a year. But of this we possess no further evidence 
 than newspaper report. Up to the present the bulk 
 of the donations which have been given to the church 
 consist in free grants of land as sites for churches and 
 parsonages, and for the purpose of providing glebes. 
 The value of the livings descend from those of five 
 hundred a year, with parsonage, to others of smaller 
 amount. Probably the average value of livings in the 
 diocese of Christen urch is close upon three hundred a, 
 year, exclusive of dwelling-house. The clergy are nomi- 
 nated by the parishioners, subject, however, to the con- 
 firmation of the bishop. In the case of a few 
 endowments the bishop has the sole presentation. The 
 parsonages are fully equal in style and accommoda- 
 tion to those to be found in rural districts at home.
 
 Religion. 319 
 
 Taken as a body, the clergy hold what may be con- 
 sidered moderate views ; nor, as a rule, would the 
 colonists be willing to submit to any extremes of 
 thought. In a few instances the tendency is towards 
 the high school of ritual, and it is said that the most 
 correct example of church millinery is to be found in 
 Dunedin, the very stronghold of Presbyterianism. But 
 New Zealand is not the only country where opposition 
 engenders opposition, or where extremes are to be 
 found in close contact. Calvinism is but the natural 
 result of the abuses of Romanism, and the doctrine of 
 election but a consequential effect of plenary indulgence. 
 Flourishing as the Church of England is in the other 
 provinces, the system as seen at home is more closely 
 followed in the diocese of Christchurch than elsewhere. 
 Founded originally as a church settlement, the province 
 has always offered attractions to members of the Esta- 
 blished Church. 
 
 The Christchurch Cathedral is undoubtedly the finest 
 ecclesiastical edifice in the colony, and is under the 
 control of a dean and chapter. It possesses its pre- 
 centor and boarding-school, in which the choir boys are 
 musically and otherwise instructed. The building itself 
 was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and is of the early 
 English period a style which that architect made con- 
 spicuously his own. At present the choir is but tem- 
 porary, the permanent part of the work stopping short 
 at the dividing arch, which will eventually separate the 
 nave and aisles from the rest of the structure. The 
 tower, surmounted by a lofty spire, contains a peal of 
 eight bells, the tow~er and bells being the munificent 
 contribution of a single family. The organ is by Hill, 
 and was built at a cost of about seventeen hundred 
 pounds, the amount being raised by public subscription.
 
 32 o New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Already a west window of richly-stained glass has been 
 inserted, the gift of one of the present residents in 
 Christchurch. The cost of the work, so far as com- 
 pleted, has been about sixty thousand pounds, and when 
 finished, the colony will possess a church of which it 
 may well be proud, irrespective of sectarian prejudices. 
 Already, in its present state, it offers an altogether different 
 appearance from those neglected foundations which pro- 
 voked the adverse criticism of Anthony Trollope. 
 
 All the early churches were built of wood, but stone 
 is gradually coming more generally into use. The 
 wooden buildings nevertheless, taken in combination 
 with their well-kept grounds and overhanging trees, are 
 in many instances extremely picturesque. They form a 
 pleasing contrast to their more pretentious and younger 
 sisters, and at the same time impart an air of antiquity 
 where all else is new and sadly wanting in that soft 
 maturity which time alone can give. 
 
 Before the Christchurch Cathedral was built, the 
 "first church" in Dunedin was the finest specimen of 
 ecclesiastical architecture in the colony. It was erected 
 by the Presbyterians as a memorial to Dr. Burns, the 
 pastoral head of their community. It occupies a central 
 position facing the sea, and with its elaborate elevation, 
 its many buttresses and tapering spire, must always be 
 a commanding object in the landscape. Most of the 
 religious denominations in New Zealand possess sub- 
 stantially-built places of worship, and have evidently 
 made considerable efforts to erect buildings worthy of 
 the purpose to which they have been dedicated. But 
 probably no sect in proportion to its means has been 
 so successful in this direction as the Roman Catholic 
 Church. Relying greatly as it does upon external im- 
 pressions, it has ever been one of its foremost endeavours
 
 Religion. 321 
 
 to secure buildings which should give to the ordinary 
 observer a practical idea of its importance, be lasting 
 memorials of its power, and help to sustain the energy 
 of its votaries. Its attention is not confined exclusively 
 to the erection of churches, but money is forthcoming 
 for the completion of handsome convents and other 
 buildings. The Romish Church certainly possesses 
 some of the best ecclesiastical edifices in the colony, 
 and it has been a source of wonder to many how a 
 church which here, as in many countries, is practically 
 confined to the working portion of the people can accom- 
 plish so much. But the reason is not far to seek. 
 Whatever may be the abstract dogmas which it pro- 
 fesses, the leaders of Roman Catholicism have never in 
 any way separated the religious hold which they possess 
 over the consciences of their people from a co-existing 
 authority over the products of their labour. Give to 
 us, they say, of your worldly goods, and you shall have a 
 proportionate measure of indulgence hereafter. Refuse 
 what you ought to give, and it is a chance if you ever 
 escape from the pains of purgatory, or the consequences 
 of your lukewarmness. By asserting this, we do not 
 pretend to asperse the individual Christianity of the 
 members of this church. There are, no doubt, as many 
 good people within the pale of the Romish Church as 
 in any other. We are speaking but of general polity, 
 and the consequences of that polity are patent to all 
 who possess the smallest power of drawing conclusions 
 from well-recognized facts. 
 
 Perhaps one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices erected 
 during the present century is the Roman Catholic 
 cathedral in New York. Many years have elapsed since 
 the foundation-stone was laid, and before the building 
 assumed its present form. At times when funds ran 
 
 Y
 
 322 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 short but few workmen were engaged upon it. Yet 
 step by step, column by column, and arch by arch, the 
 work proceeded until at last the whole pile rose a white 
 resplendent structure of rich artistic beauty. Whence 
 came the means ? They used to say the New York ser- 
 vant-girls were chiefly instrumental ; that cent by cent, 
 and dollar by dollar, the money was provided, until at 
 last conception became reality. In Ireland, on Sabbath 
 mornings in the days of Sydney Smith, a thousand 
 Roman Catholics were " often huddled together in a 
 miserable hovel, and pelted by the storms of heaven." 
 We have lately been told ! that " in days nearer to our 
 own the miserable hovel had for the most part given place 
 to a large and handsome church ; in many places to a vast 
 and stately cathedral. Nothing could be more remark- 
 able than the manner in which the voluntary offerings 
 of the Irish Catholics covered the face of the country 
 with churches dedicated to the uses of their faith. 
 Often the contributions came in liberal measure from 
 Irishmen settled in far-off countries, who were not likely 
 ever again to see their native fields. Irish Catholic 
 priests crossed the Atlantic, crossed even the Pacific, 
 to ask for help to maintain their churches ; and there 
 came from Quebec and Ontario, from New York, New 
 Orleans, and Chicago, from Melbourne and Sydney, from 
 Tasmania and New Zealand, the money which put up 
 churches and spires on the Irish mountain sides." 
 Whether the offerings were altogether so voluntary, in 
 the ordinary sense of the word, as this passage would 
 imply, may fairly be doubted. All creeds alike admit 
 the moral necessity of giving for church and charitable 
 purposes out of the abundance that a man hath ; whilst 
 there is but one church which uses, as a further induce- 
 1 " History of our own Times," by Justin McCarthy.
 
 Religion. 323 
 
 ment for so giving, the promise of a few years shorter 
 penal servitude in a future state. We have been 
 informed that the Romish Church in New Zealand has 
 sometimes made a sort of valuation of the property of its 
 members, and on it assessed them pro ratd for building 
 and other purposes. Extensive lotteries have also been 
 resorted to, in which persons of all shades of opinion 
 have taken tickets. The moneys thus obtained, added 
 to the usual demands upon the congregations, have 
 greatly facilitated the erection of the handsome buildings 
 already alluded to as belonging to this body. The 
 priests, most of whom are foreigners, have a bishop at 
 their head. The nuns occupying the convents have for 
 the most part been imported, and are employed in the 
 education of young girls. The houses are fitted up with 
 every convenience, and are open to receive as boarders 
 or pupils all comers irrespective of creed. We have 
 heard of some parents who prefer to send their daughters 
 to be taught in the convents, rather than in tho public high 
 schools, but unless they wish them to become converts, 
 to adopt such a course must surely be a grave error. The 
 greater proportion of Roman Catholics in New Zealand 
 come from Ireland, or are Australians of Irish extraction. 
 The Presbyterians have their Presbytery, and the 
 Wesleyans hold their Conference. Both possess well- 
 trained ministers. They have built substantial churches 
 and chapels, in many cases with comfortable manses or 
 residences attached. They hold their Sunday-schools; 
 they support their establishments by voluntary contribu- 
 tions, and in all respects order the religious education of 
 their young and the conduct of their churches as belongs 
 to good citizens in a Christian country. It is not from 
 churches such as these that any opposition is to be 
 expected to religious teaching in the public schools.
 
 324 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The great opponents to the principle are to be found 
 amongst the Roman Catholics. The latter are not, of 
 course, averse to religious instruction, but they are 
 unwilling that members of their church should even 
 read the Bible in any but their own schools. According 
 to them there is but one true Church ; any other teaching 
 than that to be found within its pale is heretical and 
 dangerous. Their desire is to secure from Government 
 grants of money which would enable them to support 
 their own denominational schools ; failing this they 
 would prefer to see the Bible, or at all events the English 
 version of it, excluded from the educational system. 
 Were the people of New Zealand strenuously to take up 
 the matter, as no doubt some day they will, it is difficult 
 to see how the Romanists could prevent any measure to 
 this effect from becoming law, for they represent but a 
 small minority of the population. It is also difficult to 
 see how their position would be rendered worse than it 
 is at the present time by an hour being devoted three 
 times a week to Biblical instruction, to be given only to 
 such children as are permitted by their parents to attend. 
 When writing about the religious condition of any 
 country it is next to impossible to avoid drawing com- 
 parisons between the sects which it contains. All that 
 can be done is to abstain so far as possible from remarks 
 likely to promote ill-feeling, or still further widen the 
 breach which unhappily exists between those who should 
 be united by the cords of one great love. Christianity 
 is a blessing which was intended for the greater comfort 
 and assistance of all men, whether living in the past, the 
 present, or the future. It is a principle the true beauty 
 of which consists in its non-exclusiveness. Any in- 
 dividual or body of individuals who claims it as his or 
 their exclusive property is in reality at variance with
 
 Religion. 325 
 
 its spirit. It is within the province of none to sit judi- 
 cially upon the consciences of others ; but it is the duty 
 of all and each to maintain first principles in their sim- 
 plicity and entirety. It must ever be painful to those 
 who possess maybe but a faint conception of the unity 
 that shall be, to regard the divisions which render even 
 an approximate unity impossible in the present. But he 
 who by the propagation of extreme views and vague 
 theories still further enlarges existing differences, incurs 
 a grave responsibility, which often, it is to be feared, is 
 rather the result of self-will than of Christian experience. 
 True Christianity is very wide, it admits within its 
 portals the Catholic, the Protestant, and men of all 
 shades of Christian belief. It cannot even be safely 
 asserted that it excludes from its final triumph the 
 African savage or the dreaded cannibal. The Church 
 which may attempt to limit this all-pervading power 
 to be blamed but not anathematized : to be blamed 
 because it seeks to destroy a freedom not its own to 
 destroy ; not to be anathematized, because it possesses 
 all the privileges, and far more than all the privileges of 
 the Afric or the cannibal. The more dogmatic and 
 sectarian a church becomes, the more it shows a spirit 
 of exclusiveness by canons, laws, and customs, the 
 further it is removed from true and Christian liberty. 
 But even so that Church may be doing an appointed 
 work ; " for we have many members in one body, and all 
 members have not the same office : so we being many 
 are one body . . . and every one members one of 
 another." Looking at the matter from a standpoint 
 such as this, it is to be hoped that any argument which 
 we have used will be taken as supporting a universally 
 inherited liberty, rather than as narrow-mindedly con- 
 demning any separate system.
 
 326 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FEAGMENTS. 
 
 IT has been stated in the old countiy, and it has formed 
 the ground of a common complaint in the colony, that 
 runholders and farmers did not enjoy a fair proportion 
 of the profits derived from their labours. It has been 
 said that they were too much in the hands of merchants 
 and middlemen to allow the occupations which they were 
 following to be financially successful. Many instances 
 could be found in refutation of this theory, but at the 
 same time many have attributed their want of success to 
 such a cause. It is sufficiently evident when looking 
 back upon the past that there has been some foundation 
 for the assertion. Producers on the one hand have been 
 too eager to make rapid fortunes, and in their desire to 
 become rich, have frequently entered upon undertakings 
 requiring a considerable amount of borrowed capital to 
 bring them to a successful issue. So long as all went 
 well, nothing occurred to check the prevalence of the 
 system ; but when the market value of wool and grain 
 fell to a low point, and land, owing to a total cessation 
 of headstrong speculation, declined in price and became 
 for a time absolutely unsalable, it required a clear head 
 and strong nerve to pull through bad times under the 
 accumulated burden of low prices and a heavy indebted-
 
 Fragments. 327 
 
 ness. On the other hand, merchants and middlemen, 
 many of whom acted as bankers for their clients, un- 
 doubtedly did secure such profits as could only be 
 expected in a country comparatively devoid of the usual 
 trade facilities. In the early days of colonization money 
 as ordinary tender was comparatively unknown, and 
 people drew the stores which they required from the 
 general merchant. These were ultimately paid for with 
 the wool, grain, or other marketable commodities which 
 were produced. People did not study over closely, in 
 some cases perhaps not at all, the prices with which they 
 were debited for their stores ; nor did they pay sufficient 
 attention to any loss suffered through the heavy charges 
 made on the transport of their produce to a home 
 market. A widespread business laxity was the order of 
 the day, and was considered to be one of the inevitable 
 results attending the position of a colonist. Many 
 became so deeply involved as to be thankful when 
 allowed to carry on at any price. Competition amongst 
 merchants and bankers themselves produced the first 
 signs of any relief to the unsatisfactory position in which 
 the colonists were placed. It was found impossible to 
 exact any longer a profit of 100 per cent, on a pound of 
 tea, or to charge exorbitant rates for the privilege of 
 supplying a customer with a ton of wire. But even so 
 buyers were not always sufficiently numerous to prevent 
 a corner being formed to the detriment of the producer ; 
 or merchants so plentiful, and importations so regular, as 
 to prevent large profits being made in the event of a 
 temporary scarcity of some much-needed article. In 
 the first stage of its development the colony found itself 
 overburdened by a huge credit system. In the second 
 there was a considerable reduction in the profits de- 
 manded, but in many cases the same principle of barter
 
 328 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 and the frequent renewal of bills falling due. During 
 this second period towns and villages had been growing, 
 and multitudes of shops were everywhere established. 
 Bankers, lawyers, artisans, warehousemen, labourers, and 
 all the separate elements of a town population had been 
 called into existence, giving to the shopkeeper a fair 
 assurance of an extensive and extending trade. But the 
 credit system hung like a dense fog over the country. 
 The small farmers bartered their butter and bacon for 
 sugar and tea, and the very shopkeepers, owing to the 
 long credits given to their customers and the heavy 
 interest paid on renewed bills, which they were unable to 
 take up, were incapacitated from supplying goods so 
 cheaply as could have been wished. A gold currency is 
 a luxury which only the richest countries of the old world 
 are able to maintain, and even a cash system requires a 
 balance at the bankers, or the circumstance of a credit 
 resting on comparatively sure and realizable foundations. 
 Money is well known to be but accumulated labour, and 
 consequently a new country is likely to be more or less 
 deficient in the quantity which it possesses of this much 
 to be desired commodity. It has had no time to accu- 
 mulate ; its entire energies have been directed towards 
 the improvement and development of its natural re- 
 sources. In the case of New Zealand the most trying 
 stage of all is undoubtedly past and gone. People are 
 beginning to accumulate, in some few cases largely, and 
 in a few years they will do so more rapidly and to a 
 greater extent. 
 
 It is now nearly three years ago since the first idea of 
 co-operation was started with any practical results. A 
 farmer, named Cooper, who resided at Fairlee Creek, a 
 village some thirty-five miles from Timaru, suggested 
 through the public press the desirability of establishing
 
 Fragments. 329 
 
 aii association which should place the cultivator of the 
 soil upon a somewhat better footing. Meetings were, 
 called and the subject created considerable interest in the 
 minds of agriculturists. The movement at one time 
 seemed likely to develop into little else than a large 
 company on the limited liability principle, in which the 
 interests of the capitalist would be studied to a greater 
 degree than was desirable in view of the circumstances 
 that made the formation of such an association neces- 
 sary. Fortunately, at the last moment, better counsels 
 prevailed, and " The Canterbury Farmer's Co-operative 
 Association " was established. From the first it met 
 with a success which has not been impaired up to the 
 present time. Many difficulties had to be encountered, 
 and many prejudices dispelled. It was argued that 
 farmers were too deeply involved to work independently ; 
 that they did not possess the necessary business ex- 
 perience ; that the idea was altogether chimerical ; and 
 that a want of capital would soon put a stop to such a 
 foolish undertaking. Hitherto these ideas have proved 
 altogether delusive, and the movement starting in 
 Timaru has already spread to Christchurch and 
 Invercargill. There is every prospect of the system 
 shortly becoming general throughout the entire length 
 of the two islands. At first it was most difficult for the 
 promoters to make farmers comprehend all that was 
 implied by the word " co-operation," or the benefits 
 which were to be gained from it. But the business once 
 commenced, and proving successful, little difficulty in 
 this respect has been since experienced. The object of 
 these associations is to furnish facilities to the farmer 
 for the shipment or storage of his produce; to make 
 advances on bond 'fide securities ; to procure for sale to 
 their shareholders seeds, corn-sacks, wool-packs, and all
 
 33 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 articles of consumption at the lowest possible prices ; to 
 extend the working of the societies in any direction 
 which may appear likely to prove of good service to the 
 members ; and to conduct all operations on a cash basis. 
 The benefits obtained are confined exclusively to mem- 
 bers. It will be seen that the advantages offered by 
 these associations are very considerable. So long as they 
 exist it is impossible for buyers to drive prices of pro- 
 duce below a fair market value. Were they to attempt 
 to do this, the farmer could either ship his produce on 
 the easiest conditions and at his own risk, or by placing 
 it in the warehouses of his association obtain a reason- 
 able advance upon it, at a fair rate of interest, whilst 
 waiting for better times.. By importing fencing- wire, 
 seeds, oils, groceries, stationery, linen, and other articles 
 direct from wholesale houses at home or in the United 
 States, and by paying cash for what they buy from 
 importing houses in the colonies, they obtain concessions 
 which enable them to issue goods to their subscribers at 
 a previously unheard of figure. Instead of a system of 
 long credit, accompanied by the usual carelessness which 
 it engenders, they foster habits of frugality and increase 
 the comforts of the people by asserting the superior 
 economy of cash transactions. The good which they 
 have done is not confined exclusively to their own 
 members, but is shared in a conspicuous degree by the 
 whole community. The competition which they have 
 introduced has caused a great fall in all articles of con- 
 sumption, and a sensible appreciation in value of articles 
 of production. After paying all expenses of manage- 
 ment the net profits are divided as follows. The 
 directors may set apart any sum which they think 
 desirable as a reserve fund, to be applied in the purchase 
 of real estate, in the building of offices and warehouses,
 
 Fragments. 331 
 
 or for other purposes connected with the association. 
 The interest to be paid on the capital furnished by mem- 
 bers, is in no case to exceed 7 per cent. Any balance 
 is to be distributed amongst the shareholders pro raid 
 to the purchases made, or the business done. The 
 liability on every share is limited to 5Z. 
 
 After an existence of less than two years the associa- 
 tion in Tiraaru already consists of nearly 600 members, 
 and the number is gradually increasing. It has secured 
 freehold buildings in the centre of the town, in which the 
 offices and general stores are situated. Contiguous to, 
 and connected with, the trunk line of the Southern 
 Island by a private siding, it possesses other property ; 
 one-half of which is covered by a substantially built brick 
 produce store of two stories, whilst the remainder is 
 temporarily used as a coal-yard. Its profits are such that 
 in the first year it was able to pay 7 per cent, on its 
 subscribed capital; return 2-J per cent, on purchases 
 made from it ; and put by a considerable sum towards 
 liquidating the mortgages which it had to effect in order 
 to secure its valuable estates. It may give people at 
 home some idea of the value of property in a second- 
 class town in New Zealand to be told, that for the half- 
 acre, removed half a mile from the business centre, and 
 on which the produce store has been built, the associa- 
 tion had to pay 2200Z. in cash. It would be impossible 
 to enumerate all the articles to be found in these, at 
 present, infant undertakings. They include, besides 
 those already mentioned, candles, biscuits, soaps, flour, 
 pickles, sugars, tobaccoes, wines, spirits, beer, cutlery, 
 brushware, stationery, iron-roofing, and hematite paints. 
 The produce which passes through their hands consists 
 of grain, wool, skins, potatoes, and other products of the 
 soil. It must be evident to any who have studied the
 
 33 2 New Zealand as it u. 
 
 principles of co-operation, as existing at home, that the 
 system in the colony is only in the initial stage of its 
 development ; whilst at the same time a power has been 
 created which, if properly and carefully directed, may 
 become an integral feature in the future prosperity of 
 the country. 
 
 The Christchurch association, although younger by a 
 few months than that of Timaru, has already a total 
 of 800 members. Situated in a more densely populated 
 district, and the centre of an older colonization, it is 
 probable that this society will, before many years have 
 elapsed, become a most important body. In anticipation 
 of a largely increasing business the directors have pur- 
 chased a convenient block of freehold land, on which 
 they are about to erect extensive offices and warehouses. 
 They have also leased from Government a site adjoining 
 the railway, on which to build grain and wool sheds. 
 They have appointed the same agent in London as 
 the Timaru association, and the two corporations, thus 
 united, will have a considerable purchasing power in 
 the home markets. Up to the present the members 
 of this society have greatly benefited by the ticket 
 system, under which large discounts have been returned 
 by shopkeepers affiliated to the institution, for cash 
 transactions over the counter. When the new ware- 
 houses are opened, there is but little doubt that an 
 extensive business will be done in directly imported 
 goods. 
 
 An association has also been formed at Invercargill, 
 but of its proceedings we are at present unable to give 
 any detailed information. 
 
 The origin and rise of these co-operative societies has 
 been dwelt upon at some length, on account of the 
 important effect which they must exert upon the colony,
 
 Fragments. 333 
 
 and to prove to intending settlers the great strides 
 which, have been made during the last few years to- 
 wards placing producers and consumers on a more 
 favourable footing. The formation of large establish- 
 ments, whose sole object it is to protect the interests 
 of agriculturists, runholders, and consumers, must effect 
 radical changes by economizing capital, and reducing 
 large intermediary profits. In proportion as they do 
 this will be the savings accumulated by the members 
 for necessary improvements or further investments. 
 They will help to promote an increase of wealth amongst 
 the many, instead of tending to confine it amongst the 
 few. But no arguments which can be placed upon 
 paper will carry such weight as the practical and 
 acknowledged benefits accruing to all classes from 
 similar associations which have, for many years past, 
 been established at home. From 1844, when the 
 Equitable Pioneers first founded their society in Roch- 
 dale, to the present year, when the palatial warehouses 
 of far wider reaching institutions may be seen in almost 
 any part of London, co-operation has gradually grown 
 in favour with the middle and lower classes. From that 
 Saturday, when some twenty or thirty poor weavers 
 paid in their first weekly subscription of twopence, 
 the movement has gradually extended, until many 
 thousands of pounds pass over the counter on every 
 working day throughout the twelve months. It has 
 extended until a system has been evolved which, although 
 it may possibly have ruined hundreds, has protected 
 hundreds of thousands. Co-operation is ever valuable, 
 but it is particularly so in a country which is yet but 
 battling with its infancy. 
 
 Acclimatization Societies. In whatever part of the 
 world Englishmen elect to take up their abode, either
 
 334 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 temporarily or for good, they rarely can be induced 
 to part for very long together from the sports and 
 pastimes of their native land. Foxhounds and the con- 
 ventional pink may be found desecrating the tombs 
 of ancient Rome on the Appian way; cricket divides 
 the palrn with English beer on the heated plains of 
 India; and enthusiasts have been known to attempt 
 a " go-as-you-please " sort of contest on scorching decks 
 in the .Red Sea. It is not, therefore, to be supposed that 
 true sons of Great Britain could be found ready to dwell 
 in a country in which there was but little to shoot, 
 and where some half-wild pigs with here and there, 
 in favoured localities, a few ducks gave the only chance 
 of a fair day's sport. Neither could certain people be 
 expected to take their breakfasts comfortably without 
 the accompanying starling on the lawn, or the sparrow 
 to chirp and bristle amongst the branches of their trees. 
 Trout must be turned down in the lakes and streams, 
 nor ought the salmon to be forgotten to give to more 
 ambitious fishermen an exciting run amidst the stones 
 and boulders of the river-beds. Nothing could be more 
 natural than that acclimatization societies should be 
 formed to import all those creatures which were thought 
 desirable, but the presence of some of which experience 
 has proved to be most undesirable. Perhaps nothing- 
 could show more conclusively the genial nature of the 
 climate than the marvellous way in which some of these 
 strangers have increased and multiplied. As many 
 descriptions of trees grow ten months out of the twelve, 
 so do many of the importations, whether of the feathery 
 or furry tribe, appear to propagate their kind. At 
 home the hare produces one, two, and occasionally three 
 at a birth, but any such increase is usually limited 
 to a certain period of the year. In New Zealand the
 
 Fragments. 335 
 
 hare is said to increase with extraordinary rapidity. 
 The soil and climate are evidently just suited to its 
 wants, and three, four, it is even said six at a time, 
 are the results of the superior mildness of the seasons. 
 Be this as it may, hares are beginning to be almost 
 everywhere abundant, and in places where, but three 
 years ago, only a solitary specimen was to be seen, 
 eight or ten may frequently be started almost within 
 a stone's throw. This is more particularly the case 
 amongst the rough shelter of the native tussock, whether 
 in the river-beds, or on the more sheltered downs. 
 The settlers know that if they determinedly set to 
 work to exterminate them no great difficulty would be 
 found, but the injury which they do is not as yet so 
 great as to counterbalance the cost which would be 
 incurred in a country where time is money. Meanwhile, 
 they bark trees in young plantations, and on one occa- 
 sion we saw a turnip paddock so eaten down that it 
 seemed as though a mob of sheep must have been 
 browsing on the tops for several days. It would be 
 to draw a wrong conclusion to suppose that hares are 
 as yet thus general all over the country. It is only 
 in certain districts that they are so plentiful, and a 
 remedy lies with the farmers themselves. An Act has 
 lately been passed which excludes them from the pro- 
 tective clauses of the Game Laws. 
 
 It is when we come to rabbits, sparrows, and linnets 
 that the ire of the runh older and farmer is raised 
 against the acclimatization societies and private im- 
 porters of such pests into the colony. If the climate 
 and circumstances of the country conduce to the in- 
 crease of hares, they do so with a hundredfold greater 
 force in the case of rabbits and small birds. It may 
 be a matter of dispute as to how many rabbits were
 
 336 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 originally imported to form the ancestry of the present 
 generation ; but it can be a matter of no dispute that 
 .many parts of the back country, especially in Otago, 
 Southland, and Wellington, are completely at their 
 mercy. They do not exhaust their energies by burrow- 
 ing, but make themselves nests under the protecting 
 shelter of some luxuriant tussock. "Rabbits," it is 
 stated in " Elaine's Rural Sports," " will breed at six 
 months old, bear seven times annually, and bring five 
 young ones each time ; supposing this to happen re- 
 gularly during the space of four years, and that three 
 of the five young at each kindle are females, the increase 
 will be 478'062." Amongst a dense population, and 
 where hawks and vermin thrive, this increase is re- 
 duced within comparatively moderate limits. Placed 
 in a region uninhabited, save by flocks of sheep, and 
 destitute of foxes, stoats, and weasels, rabbits become 
 a most formidable power. Were it possible to leave 
 rabbits and sheep to their own devices, in some district 
 favourable to both, the former would, in a few years, 
 by their greater increase, and the destructive power 
 which they exert over grasses, be almost certain to 
 exterminate the latter. In some parts of New Zealand 
 rabbits have increased to such an alarming extent, that 
 many men earn high wages by contracting to clear the 
 country from their depredations. In Southland it is 
 quite common for a man, with a few dogs, to bag fifty 
 in a day, and when snow lies on the ground one hundred 
 can often be secured. At the price ruling for skins 
 these contractors can often make 4/. a week, out of 
 which, however, all expenses have to be paid. There 
 is just now an agitation in some quarters for levying 
 a rabbit rate, to be operative throughout the whole 
 of the South Island ; but such an extreme measure is
 
 Fragments. 337 
 
 perfectly unnecessary, and would be strongly resisted 
 by the farming interest. Wherever cultivation and 
 population advance hand in hand, rabbits can readily 
 be kept under control. The plains and downs, possessing 
 as they do a clayey and shingly subsoil, render burrow- 
 ing next to impossible, and render extermination easy. 
 Where rabbits have been turned down upon culti- 
 vated lands their increase has never been rapid. In 
 those situations their presence simply serves, as in 
 the old country, fco afford the farmer a pleasant re- 
 laxation on some bye-day, and helps to give variety 
 to the table. It is generally thought but fair that those 
 persons who invest their money in, and obtain their 
 living from, runs in the infested districts, should them- 
 selves pay a little more attention to abate a nuisance 
 the remedy for which lies in their own hands. If they 
 cannot produce much effect individually they can certainly 
 do so by co-operation. 
 
 Farmers, on the other hand, complain grievously of 
 what is called " the small bird nuisance." Larks 
 destroy the wheat blade as it issues green and tender 
 from the soil. Sparrows shell the corn as it ripens, 
 carrying, in many cases, their depredations far beyond 
 the headlands ; and linnets, besides other delinquencies, 
 make sad havoc among the fruit-trees. Private persons 
 were, it is said, chiefly instrumental in importing rabbits ; 
 but acclimatization societies must be held responsible 
 for the small bird nuisance, and that in order that a 
 few gentlemen unconnected with agricultural pursuits 
 might have the pleasure of watching the little pests 
 as they hop from twig to twig, and stimulate sweet 
 memories of home. It is related of Frederick the Great 
 that he caused all the small birds in the country to 
 be destroyed, in order that he might with greater 
 
 z
 
 338 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 certainty enjoy his favourite fruit; but that in a short 
 time they had to be replaced, at considerable cost, so as 
 to arrest the spread of caterpillars and other insects, 
 which, unchecked by their natural enemies, destroyed 
 the foliage, and threatened the very lives of the trees. 
 In New Zealand there was at one time a plague of 
 caterpillars, which, climbing up the straw of the cereal 
 crops, nipped off the heads, and were productive of 
 enormous damage. It was argued that the introduction 
 of small birds would remedy this evil, but probably the 
 caterpillars were one of those exceptional visitations 
 which from time to time appear in all countries. They 
 come no one knows whence, they disappear no one 
 knows how. If gentlemen living near to towns wish 
 to enjoy the luxury of the songster tribe, or take an 
 occasional holiday amongst the rabbits, they should at 
 the same time import the sparrow-hawk, stoat, and 
 weasel to keep the doubtful blessings which they have 
 bestowed upon the country within due bounds. As it 
 is, many farmers, who would otherwise do so, are deterred 
 from planting woods and spinnies from a fear of the 
 shelter which these would afford to their almost irre- 
 pressible enemies. There was a time when even rabbits 
 were protected in the Australian colonies, and people 
 wonder now how they could have been induced to 
 countenance what has since been proved to be such a 
 deplorable mistake. It is only during the present year 
 that the prohibition has been removed against killing 
 hares, except during a short season of six weeks or two 
 months. And to-day farmers' clubs exist everywhere 
 for the purpose of spreading poisoned grain over the 
 paddocks, to reduce the numbers of small birds which 
 may be seen about every homestead. 
 
 Partridges and pheasants have been turned down in
 
 Fragments. 339 
 
 considerable numbers, but except in certain localities 
 they do not appear to increase. The native weka, a bird 
 which cannot fly, and which possesses a general resem- 
 blance to a very large partridge, is destructive amongst 
 the eggs, and. numerous cats, preferring an unfettered to 
 a domestic life, prowl about the country and make sad 
 havoc with the young. The weka is a bird with a great 
 amount of curiosity. Unless attacked, it possesses no 
 fear, but will walk quietly about among the domestic 
 poultry, on the look-out for something on which to 
 exercise its thievish propensities. Trout appear to 
 thrive in almost any stream, and often grow to a great 
 size. Salmon are as yet a doubtful success. They dis- 
 appear when turned into the rivers, and no take is yet 
 recorded as having rewarded the exertions of the angler. 
 The llama has been imported, and also a few deer, but 
 their presence is due rather to individual enterprise than 
 to the efforts of the societies. 
 
 Taken as a whole, acclimatization societies have done 
 much good, but they have, at the same time, been the 
 means of inflicting a large amount of harm. Were a 
 vote of the colony to be taken, there can be but little 
 doubt that an overwhelming majority would protest 
 against permitting a few persons to import, on their own 
 responsibility, either animals or birds likely to disturb 
 the existing harmony of nature. Possibly not one of the 
 members of these societies was aware of the great incon- 
 venience caused by the introduction of sparrows into 
 New York, or the celerity with which they are apt to 
 increase in a climate thoroughly congenial to their habits. 
 The flocks of gulls which follow close upon the track of 
 the plough have probably had a greater share in elimi- 
 nating such pests as caterpillars and grubs, than the 
 linnet or the sparrow. The farmer welcomes the gull to 
 
 z 2
 
 34O New Zealand as it is. 
 
 his fields, but from cruel experience looks upon the 
 sparrow as a mortal foe. Acclimatization societies 
 should, in our opinion, chiefly confine their efforts to the 
 introduction of new seeds and plants which cannot by 
 any possibility do harm, but, on the contrary, great 
 good. They have undeniably done much in this direction, 
 and it is only to be regretted that their work has not 
 been confined to providing fish for our streams, valuable 
 timber for our woods, and ornamental shrubs for our 
 gardens. 
 
 Otago and Southland, formerly distinct provinces, but 
 since united, have within the last two or three years 
 become favourite districts with the colonists. Two of 
 the leading land companies have lately offered large 
 tracts of country to open competition, and also effected 
 considerable sales by private contract. The ** rush " 
 recently has been down South, where the great attraction 
 is the comparative cheapness of land. That this move- 
 ment has been considerable is indicated by the large 
 amount of money lent on mortgage in these districts, 
 and which has been registered during the past eighteen 
 months. In old countries, mortgages are the sign of a 
 want of vitality, and an almost sure decadence in the 
 fortunes of the mortgager. In new countries, this is far 
 from being the case. Money is very often legitimately 
 borrowed to develop a more or less immediate return 
 from the soil, and such loans have a greater resemblance 
 to the facilities granted to business men in London for 
 fixed periods, and on good security, than to improvident 
 borrowings on ancestral estates which eventually land 
 the debtor in a hopelessly irretrievable position. The 
 difference between borrowing on virgin soil, where the 
 money is to be employed on improvements, and on fully 
 developed property for the purpose of tiding over per-
 
 Fragments. 341 
 
 sonal extravagance, can readily be understood. We 
 believe that good land has recently been sold down South 
 at 10Z. an acre ; but we have before us a list of some 
 twenty farms, the prices of which range from about 31. 
 to 81. an acre, according to situation, and the improve- 
 ments which have been placed upon them. Otago is to 
 Canterbury what Scotland is to England. In both cases 
 the former are oat-growing, the latter wheat-growing 
 countries. All shades and qualities of land are to be 
 found in both provinces. In both alike elevation pro- 
 duces its usual effect, in both alike alluvial flats possess 
 a greater value than the more rolling downs. But when 
 we find land selling in one province at 91. an acre with- 
 out improvements, and in the other at about 4/. 10s. 
 with improvements, both within easy distance of a rail- 
 way and the one apart from the other only one hundred 
 and fifty miles as the crow flies, it is evident that some 
 radical distinction between the two situations must exist. 
 The greater distance from a central market may ha,ve 
 something to do with the difference in price, but the 
 high-flown and attractive advertisements of land agents 
 notwithstanding, probably one chief cause lies in the 
 fact that land down South is somewhat sour. If so, it 
 will require greater expenditure and labour before it can 
 be brought into a proper state of cultivation. Liable to 
 a greater rainfall, and enjoying a less powerful sun, it 
 needs considerable exposure before it can be made equally 
 productive for cereal purposes. It produces a large 
 volume of grass, but experience has proved th.at even a 
 great abundance of herbage grown on a sour soil, is not 
 so capable of fattening stock, as the shorter and harder 
 bite to be obtained in drier and sweeter situations. No 
 doubt with time, and as capital becomes invested in the 
 land, the soil will be found sweeter, and the country be
 
 34 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 developed into a rich pastoral and oat-growing district. 
 The great danger is lest the inexperienced settler, capti- 
 vated by the apparent cheapness of a farm, should be 
 induced to invest in more land than his means will allow. 
 Under such circumstances he might find it difficult to 
 render his farm either paying or productive. We recall 
 an instance in which a Devonshire labourer, after having 
 worked for some years in South Canterbury, under the 
 farmer who induced him to emigrate, took, under his 
 master's advice, a farm in Southland. The land appeared 
 everything which he could desire; a rich black mould 
 twelve inches deep, but it turned out to be deaf. It 
 would not respond immediately to the calls made upon it 
 by a man who thoroughly understood his business. He 
 adopted a wise course. He turned up and aired it little 
 by little, grazing stock meanwhile on the remainder. 
 His spare time was utilized by breaking up or ploughing 
 land for his neighbours. An advertisement is at present 
 daily inserted in the papers endeavouring to show persons 
 the advantage to be gained by taking up land in the 
 extreme south. The advertisement admits that " there 
 is a strong prejudice in the minds of some against South- 
 land, on the grounds of its climate and that it won't 
 grow wheat." " All we can say is," it goes on to state, 
 " that it does grow wheat and well, and nearly all over 
 yields, on an average, far more per acre than in this 
 district. Only it is advisable not to trust to spring 
 sowing, but always put it in in the autumn." What 
 further evidence than this could be required in con- 
 firmation of the remarks just made ? To persons who 
 know of what farming consists, what greater dis- 
 advantage could there be than to be forced to sow all the 
 wheat crop in the autumn months ? Supposing the 
 short season suirable for sowing to be wet, the farmer is
 
 Fragments. 343 
 
 debarred from relying upon the certainty of a wheat 
 crop at all, and must fall back upon oats. Should the 
 season be favourable, he must either go to the expense 
 of hiring a large force for an operation which, in a better 
 climate, could be accomplished with less outlay, or he 
 must be content to put in a smaller quantity with his 
 own teams. Even supposing the land were to yield 
 more wheat per acre in an exceptionally dry season like 
 the last, it may be doubted whether it would do so on an 
 average of years. Otago, like every other province, has 
 its advantages and its counterpoises. It has its lime- 
 stone soils, always salable at a high figure, and equal to 
 anything of the kind at home ; but it also has land which, 
 although of good value, requires both capital and time to 
 develop its capabilities. 
 
 The Chatham Islands are situated some 300 miles to 
 the east of the South Island of New Zealand, and 
 possibly very few persons in the old country remember 
 that they form a part, although, perhaps, an insignificant 
 one, of the somewhat heterogeneous possessions of the 
 British empire. Only one island is inhabited ; it contains 
 a population of about 400 Europeans and 130 natives. 
 The number of sheep as given by the census of 1881 
 amounts to over 62,000, and of other stock there were 
 700 horses and a little over 600 head of cattle. There 
 are two harbours, those of Kaingaroa and Whangaroa. 
 The population, whose facilities for enjoyment must be 
 limited, can vary the monotony of a mutton diet, owing 
 to plentiful supplies of fish, duck, geese, and quail. The 
 bush, although confined to about 40,000 acres is sufficient 
 to give ample supplies of fuel, and to afford timber for 
 many useful purposes. The islanders have not as yet at- 
 tempted to raise wheat for export; but land is being broken 
 up for turnips, or to be sown down with English grasses.
 
 344 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 The chief industry is sheep -farming, which naturally 
 causes the population to be somewhat scattered. The 
 principal place is Waitangi, which, as a recent visitor 
 informs us, consists of a magisterial court-house, a lock- 
 up, a blacksmith's shop, a post-office, a store, two hotels 
 with stores in combination, and a few native whares. A 
 resident magistrate performs, with the assistance of 
 three justices of the peace, the legal offices that are neces- 
 sary among this small community. At present there 
 is neither church nor school, but it is to be hoped both 
 will be erected before very long. Communication with 
 the mainland is supplied by a vessel regularly trading to 
 Lyttelton. 
 
 The export of frozen meat. Since the earlier pages of 
 this volume were penned, the first supplies of New Zea- 
 land meat have arrived in London. The quality of the 
 mutton has proved all that could be desired. So far as 
 can be at present ascertained only one butcher sold the 
 meat as from New Zealand ; the rest palmed it off as 
 English, and at a price of about 9d. The cargo realized 
 to the importers from 6d. to 7^d. per lb., whilst the pigs 
 sold at 6^d. These first ventures proved eminently 
 satisfactory to those who initiated what, it is to be hoped, 
 will develop ' into a rapidly-increasing trade. To land- 
 lords and farmers at home, it will be useful to consider 
 to what extent New Zealand can be relied upon as an 
 important purveyor to the London market. During the 
 last three years there appears to have been a trifling 
 decrease in the number of sheep running in the colony. 
 Possibly the rapid increase of rabbits in certain parts of 
 the back country may have in some measure contributed 
 to this result, while the restricted outlet for fat sheep 
 in the colonial markets has hitherto held out but small 
 inducement to the farmer to produce an article which
 
 Fragments. 345 
 
 would at the best have been of uncertain value. A 
 large and increasing trade once found, stock-raising and 
 fattening off will become an important factor in the 
 farming industry of this country. The 13,000,000 sheep, 
 the 700,000 cattle, and the 200,000 pigs at present ex- 
 isting, form but a small proportion of the total amount 
 of stock which the country is capable of supporting. 
 Were farmers regularly able to sell their mutton at 3d. 
 instead of at 2d. per lb., it would pay them to grow 
 more turnips, and give more attention to artificial green 
 crops of various descriptions. Persons acquainted with 
 the colony can have little hesitation in asserting that 
 the export meat trade once established, the prosperity of 
 these islands will be more than doubled. In the mean- 
 time, and to secure this end, farmers must patiently 
 direct their energies to the improvement of their flocks, 
 and be satisfied with a certainty that the new departure 
 which is about to be made will enrich not only them- 
 selves, but all persons connected with the country. The 
 cost of carrying meat across the ocean will before long, 
 by the aid of science and an increased competition 
 amongst shipowners, become cheaper, and a greater 
 economy will be secured both in slaughtering and dis- 
 tributing. There is no district in the world in which 
 sheep can be raised for market purposes with greater 
 advantage than in New Zealand ; and if for the moment 
 the extent of the export trade proves disappointing to 
 the most sanguine of its supporters, it is none the less 
 sure that in process of time it will develop into large 
 proportions. But when considering the quantity of 
 meat available for export, it must not be forgotten that 
 the requirements of our own people are each year 
 becoming greater. Almost every week the papers an- 
 nounce the starting of some new manufacturing industry
 
 346 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 or the commencement of some public work. These 
 necessarily add to the mouths to be fed, perhaps, in 
 almost as great a ratio as the supplies of food are at 
 present increasing. It does not follow that because the 
 market for fat stock may rule very low for several weeks 
 together, there is therefore a large quantity avail- 
 able for export. All that such a condition implies is, 
 that a certain margin exists, it may be more or it may 
 be less, greater than the present necessities of the 
 market can absorb. It has already been suggested in a 
 previous page that the future prosperity of this country 
 will to a large extent depend upon its manufacturing 
 and commercial enterprise. Should this be the case, 
 should the United States continue to receive the volume 
 of immigration which has lately been poured into its 
 coasts, the English agriculturist who turns his attention 
 to stock has in the long-run but little to fear from 
 foreign competition. Once let the landlord and farmer 
 in the United Kingdom agree upon a mutual basis, on 
 which the latter can work to a profit, and the former 
 receive a fair remuneration for the use of his land, and 
 the agricultural or, at all events, the pastoral interest 
 will be once more prosperous. It is pretty certain that 
 the great depreciation which has taken place at home in 
 landed property and farmers' profits, has been occasioned 
 more by a temporary and unhealthy scramble for land 
 amongst farmers themselves, by an increased expendi- 
 ture and by bad harvests, than by foreign competition. 
 The latter can do no more than supply the rapidly- 
 increasing population of the towns with the extra 
 amount of food which they require. It has not, nor 
 will it ever displace, or cause any permanent decline in 
 the value of home-grown stock, so long as the wants of 
 the people continue to increase at the present ratio.
 
 Fragments. 347 
 
 Farmers have suffered greatly of late years, yet corn 
 has ruled at a good value. Consequently it is bad 
 seasons and a small yield which have produced the 
 losses complained of. Mutton is still at 9d. ; yet when 
 it ruled at 7d. some years ago farmers were prosperous. 
 It is good to get at the very root, if possible, of a 
 generally prevalent evil : having done so, the remedy 
 is in most cases near at hand. Admit that farmers as a 
 class, in addition to bad harvests, have in one way or 
 another been overtrading, and we will believe. Assert 
 that their sufferings entirely result from foreign com- 
 petition, and we deny the assertion. A rise in rents, a 
 greater expenditure in forcing and artificial stimulants 
 (such as cake and superphosphates), and domestic man- 
 agement, prove the one position ; the high prices obtained 
 for produce disprove the other. So far as can be ascer- 
 tained, foreign competition, whether from New Zealand 
 or elsewhere, is not likely to be greater, for many years 
 to come (for so many years, indeed, that the present 
 generation need not care to investigate the matter too 
 closely), than will suffice to meet the increasing wants of 
 an ever-growing people. No doubt the. colonies can 
 beat the home country in the cheapness and quality of 
 the wool which they grow, and can supply an equally 
 good saddle of mutton ; but colonial sheep have for the 
 most part, and for a very long time, been bred for the 
 former purpose, and it will take years before they can 
 supply an overwhelming quantity of the latter. It is 
 quite possible that many thousands of New Zealand 
 sheep will annually be imported into England ; but that 
 will be all. It is impossible that the carcases so im- 
 ported can as yet be computed by millions. The greater 
 part of colonial flocks have been bred solely for wool- 
 producing purposes. Wool has paid well, and it is not
 
 348 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 at all certain that mutton will pay better. Those flock- 
 masters who have given 700 or 800 guineas, or lower but 
 still high figures, for a single ram on account of his 
 known descent and the high qualities of his wool, will 
 hesitate before they forsake wool for mutton-growing, 
 even supposing their pastures to be suitable. Perhaps 
 the time may come when New Zealand alone will supply 
 the home market with millions of well-fed carcases, but 
 these sheep are not as yet even lambed. As this ques- 
 tion of supply is a matter of considerable importance 
 to many persons at home a table is inserted in the 
 Appendix, giving the last census returns of all animals 
 existing in the colony. 1 A very cursory examination of 
 these statistics will prove the little danger which exists 
 of any enormous supply being forwarded to the old 
 country. This will be still more patent when it is ex- 
 plained that large numbers of our sheep are totally 
 unsuited for fattening purposes, and as casts off from 
 the runs are often sold at three or four shillings apiece. 
 
 The Press, commonly called the fourth estate of the 
 realm, is a power which no work pretending to give an 
 account of New Zealand ought to pass by, without men- 
 tioning some of its local and peculiar characteristics. 
 Almost every small town possesses a printed sheet, 
 which is dignified by the name of a "paper," and 
 enjoys a circulation in its own district. It scrapes 
 together what local news it can ; it copies foreign tele- 
 grams from larger rivals, and swells its columns with as 
 many advertisements as it can get paid for or not, as 
 the case may be. Scissors and paste must occupy a 
 considerable portion of the time devoted by its editorial 
 staff to its weekly or bi-weekly issue. But beyond such 
 lesser lights all the larger towns have daily papers, 
 1 See Appendix, Table H.
 
 Fragments. 349 
 
 which command a more extended circulation, and which, 
 besides the local and foreign information contained in 
 their columns, give to their subscribers other matter of 
 generally colonial interest. They have correspondents 
 in the principal towns of the colony and Australia, some 
 even in London and the United States, and from time 
 to time most interesting letters, descriptive of foreign 
 experiences and distant travel, are to be found, together 
 with the results of the latest researches of scientists and 
 literati. The leading articles are generally well written, 
 and if now and again some colonialism be inserted by a 
 slip of the pen, or some favourite mannerism appear 
 from time to time the least bit too often, the cause may 
 be traced to hard work, and the paucity of the staff, 
 rather than to any real inferiority of style or lack of 
 education. One thing may safely be asserted with 
 regard to New Zealand journalism, namely, that it in no 
 way tends to lower the moral tone of the people, but 
 that, on the contrary, it is conducted in the most praise- 
 worthy manner. We know of no paper, like some of 
 the New York Sunday issues, whose demoralizing pages 
 are filled with all that can minister to the greater 
 degradation of their readers. On the contrary, New 
 Zealand journalists do not, as a rule, gloat over what 
 is best left unsaid, or nauseate the respectable portion 
 of their subscribers with odious details of the most 
 fearful crimes. When they treat of such subjects at all, 
 as treat of them in their public capacity occasionally 
 they must, they do so in concise and general terms. It 
 would, of course, be impossible for any one person to 
 agree with all the sentiments expressed by a journal in 
 its leaders or in its editorial notes ; and, in the same 
 way, when two or more journals are run in the same 
 town they must invariably rub one against another,
 
 350 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 and take opposite sides. In Christchurch, for example, 
 the Press is conservative, and the Lyttelton Times more 
 or less radical. In Timaru the Herald has a decided 
 tendency towards conservatism, and the South Canter- 
 bury Times an equally decided leaning towards advanced 
 radicalism. In all towns it is the same. The cause we 
 suspect must be attributed to the necessities of business, 
 and it must be confessed that it is of the greatest ad- 
 vantage to the public to hear both sides of an argument. 
 But New Zealand editors are, after all, only mortal ; and 
 if occasionally some controversy waxes decidedly warm, 
 unparliamentary language is apt to be used. If it be 
 not so forcible and to the point as that employed by the 
 rival editors of the Eatanswill Gazette and Eatanswill 
 Independent, it has sometimes been quite sufficiently so 
 as to have supplied the lamented chronicler of the 
 " Pickwick Club " delegates with many a good theme 
 for his fertile pen. But these amenities are now seldom 
 resorted to, and it is to be hoped will be so still less 
 often in the future. 
 
 The establishment of so large a number of local 
 journals is one of the signs, if such an expression may 
 be allowed, of a semi-civilization. Separate, and for all 
 practical purposes far removed from each other, the 
 different towns, which form the centre of their immediate 
 neighbourhoods, require a medium through which to 
 make known their wants, and to apprise the public of 
 what their tradespeople have to offer. In the United 
 States for the same reason every local centre has its 
 public print. On the continent, travellers habituated to 
 the wide circulation and extended columns of the Lon- 
 don dailies, and forgetful of the numerous local papers 
 which everywhere abound in their own counties, are 
 inclined to look with compassion at the diminutive sheets
 
 Fragments. 351 
 
 of the French, German, and Italian press, and at the 
 comparatively small amount of information which is 
 conveyed by them to their readers. Big too as is the 
 New York Herald, and clever and well edited as is the 
 New York Times, there are as yet no daily papers in any 
 of the many countries of the world which display so much 
 independent spirit and thoughtful journalism, or possess 
 such power for good and evil over the minds of the 
 people, as do the leading papers of Great Britain. It is a 
 sign of the highest civilization when journals can be 
 conducted at a common centre, from that centre supply 
 wants common to all, and retain sufficient influence over 
 the public to make their casual non-acceptance a deeply- 
 felt grievance. It must be evident that a centralized 
 journalism is productive of greater economy, and power- 
 ful to maintain on its staff men of the highest intellectual 
 qualifications. But in these days the first necessity for 
 a man is to receive a daily paper of some sort ; it is only 
 a secondary consideration that that paper should be 
 first-rate and comprehensive in every particular. At 
 present the people of New Zealand must, it seems, 
 remain satisfied with their local journals. There is no 
 paper in the colony which possesses a truly national 
 character, or which attempts to do more than give a 
 mere sketch of colonial matters occurring outside its 
 own province. True all journals report the Parlia- 
 mentary proceedings, and should such an exceptional case 
 arise as a " Maori difficulty," correspondents would 
 be despatched, and full particulars given; but for 
 all that a Canterbury paper is a Canterbury paper, an 
 Otago paper an Otago paper, and an Auckland paper an 
 Auckland paper. A person wishing to know particu- 
 lars of events happening in any other province than 
 his own, the details of public meetings which have been
 
 35 2 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 held, the important law cases which have been decided, 
 or the commercial aspect of the moment in its markets, 
 must take in a paper published in that province. His 
 own will give only telegraphic notices, or bare summa- 
 ries, which serve but to whefc the imagination without 
 appeasing the appetite. New Zealand papers are all too 
 local and too narrow ; as a rule they are for their own 
 immediate district. It is much to be regretted that 
 some truly colonial daily cannot be started, which 
 would both command respect as a national and inde- 
 pendent journal and at the same time secure a large 
 circulation. Probably the answer to this would be, 
 "It would not pay;" possibly not, but it is to be 
 sincerely wished it should. It would be a great assistance 
 to the colony to have public matters treated in a 
 colonial and independent spirit apart from provincial or 
 local jealousy. 
 
 Most of the principal dailies issue each week a kind 
 of rechauffe of what has appeared in their columns 
 during the previous six days. Certain new matter is 
 added, and the whole resembles a typical county paper, 
 the Field, the Queen, the Marie Lane Express, and 
 Lloyd's Weekly News rolled into one. These re-issues 
 meet a generally recognized want, and afford to many an 
 opportunity of culling particulars of important events 
 which have not appeared in the columns of their local 
 journal. To add to their attractions two or three 
 chapters of a novel are usually given, somewhat after 
 the manner of the French feuilleton. 
 
 Besides the ordinary newspaper, various publications are 
 in circulation which more particularly confine themselves to 
 some department, either of thought or science. Among 
 these, perhaps, the most interesting to an intending 
 settler would be the New Zealand Country Journal,
 
 Fragments. 353 
 
 a publication at present issued every two months, 
 and containing valuable papers, written by men well 
 acquainted, through a long experience, with all matters 
 of colonial interest. It is published under the auspices 
 of the Canterbury Pastoral and Agricultural Association, 
 and includes original articles on such subjects as stock, 
 manures, ferns, grasses, trees, cultivation, birds, &c. 
 It also serves as a medium to the farmer, through which 
 he may obtain replies to questions on which he requires 
 some practical or scientific information. The Journal 
 reflects great credit on its editors, and is well worthy the 
 support which it receives. 
 
 Towns and Villages. It is one thing to draw descrip- 
 tions of places, which, although situated in an unknown 
 country, have so much in common with what may be 
 seen elsewhere, as readily to convey to the mind of the 
 reader the personal impressions of the writer ; it is 
 another to describe with any chance of success objects 
 at a distance, which have an individuality all their own, 
 and which would seem to be incapable of comparison. 
 Prague with its Jewish quarter, narrow streets, and 
 quaint gables ; Rome with its ruined temples and 
 broken columns, its medieval palaces and empty 
 churches ; Philadelphia with its rectangular streets and 
 interminable rows of red-brick houses ; Cordova in close 
 proximity to the Andes, with its semi-moresque archi- 
 tecture and deserted squares, all are places which, from 
 their individuality, present almost insuperable difficulties 
 to the writer who should attempt to convey a true 
 conception of their appearance to those who have never 
 left their native shores. It may be doubted whether 
 Dickens, by his description of Marseilles with its " staring 
 white houses, staring white walls, staring white streets, 
 staring tracts of arid road, and staring hills from which 
 
 A a
 
 354 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 verdure was burnt away," has given to any who do not 
 know the place a correct idea of its character. It 
 may be doubted whether Scott in his "Anne of 
 Geierstein," however near the mark, and however 
 admirably he may prove the descriptive power of 
 language, conceals from one well acquainted with the 
 scenery, the lakes, the sunshine, and the storms of 
 Switzerland, the fact that the author had never visited 
 the country which he attempted so graphically to 
 describe. Again, who that has dwelt in Venice, or 
 sailed on the Bay of Naples, but feels that Black, when 
 writing " Sunrise," had visited the spots in which he 
 chose to make his puppets live and move and talk ? No 
 eloquent descriptions there of sun and scenery, of 
 ancient palaces and dreary canaletti, helping to support 
 the artist's pen. The illusion is far more subtle ; the 
 figures move as we have seen them move ; they act as 
 we have seen them act; they speak as we have heard 
 them speak. We seem to meet upon the Chiaia, and 
 tread the streets together. Descending from the greater 
 to the less, from old age to comparative infancy, it may 
 fairly be questioned whether any description of the 
 towns and villages of New Zealand can convey a correct 
 impression to those who have never wandered in their 
 streets, or personally mingled with the gossips at their 
 bars. It is not England, it is not the Continent. It is 
 not America, still less is it Australia. It is New Zealand 
 by virtue of its own merits or demerits, take it as you 
 will. It would be irrational to compare the colonial 
 towns with any of the cities of Great Britain ; they 
 possess neither the buildings, the population, nor the 
 same incessant bustle. It is equally impossible to com- 
 pare them with the county towns, for they have neither 
 the same antiquity, nor do they suggest the same inter-
 
 Fragments. 355 
 
 minable dulness and inactivity. Perhaps of all the 
 towns in England, that of Reading will most nearly 
 approximate to a New Zealand town. Reading pos- 
 sesses a certain appearance of newness and a certain 
 business activity in its streets ; but its suburbs are alto- 
 gether deficient in that luxuriant growth of vegetation, 
 and that grand background of many-tinted hills, which 
 give to New Zealand towns their charm. Besides, 
 it is all too red with brick. It is at best but a poor 
 comparison, not half sufficiently Italian. 
 
 The streets in all New Zealand towns are wide, and 
 for the most part laid off at right angles. Here and 
 there in the oldest parts, diagonal intersections occur. 
 It is no longer allowable to build with wood within the 
 
 O 
 
 limits of the boroughs, and handsome brick, stone, and 
 concrete buildings are fast supplementing the original 
 timber structures. Many of the banks and more important 
 buildings are in the Italian style, with handsome eleva- 
 tions facing the streets. For the most part they consist 
 of two stories, but here and there buildings of three and 
 even four stories are interspersed amongst the rest. In the 
 principal thoroughfares, and where land is of considerable 
 value, the buildings are contiguous. It is only when the 
 visitor turns his steps from the busier centres, that 
 detached or semi-detached houses and shops are to be 
 found. As we walk through the streets, the shops present 
 all the appearances of those in an English town. Hand- 
 some windows permit the display of goods to the best 
 advantage, and within almost every conceivable article is 
 for sale. Stationers', jewellers', music, grocers', drapers', 
 bootmakers', china, ironmongers', and other shops succeed 
 each other in quick rotation, and it is difficult for the 
 new arrival to conceive himself to be walking on a pave- 
 ment where possibly when he was a child nothing but 
 
 A a 2
 
 356 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 tussuck would have met his gaze. Hotels are numerous, 
 comfortably furnished, and well conducted. Sometimes 
 as one sits at lunch or dinner in the coffee-rooms of 
 one of these, the thought occurs, that if the fresh and 
 good things on the table were conveyed to London, and 
 the stale unappetizing dishes, frequently to be found in 
 some of its so-called first-class hotels, brought to New 
 Zealand, Londoners would have less to grumble at, and 
 colonists might console themselves with the idea that 
 after all such culinary laxity was only the consequence 
 of a new and imperfect organization. The charge for a 
 single meal is from two shillings to half-a-crown, certainly 
 not an exorbitant sum to pay for the quality and great 
 variety provided. The hotel bars are usually well 
 patronized, for colonists have large hearts, although, 
 perhaps, the invitation to "come and have a nip" is 
 given a little too frequently. At the same time, but few 
 drunken people are to be seen about the streets. Police 
 regulations are strict, and it is only in out-of-the-way, or 
 up-country houses, that drunkenness is unusually preva- 
 lent. In these places cheques are knocked down with 
 astonishing rapidity. A few drinks " all round," and at 
 sixpence a glass, soon make a hole in a one-pound note. 
 The number of auctioneering firms which are to be 
 found in every town is a peculiar characteristic of the 
 colony. The buildings in which the sales of horses, 
 drays, farm implements, skins, and such like articles take 
 place are both spacious and convenient. On selling days 
 they form a lounge for men arriving from the country, 
 and should any person be wanted, a stroll through two 
 or three of these auctioneering marts will probably reveal 
 the individual. Sales are frequently advertised as follows : 
 " Messrs. So and So are favoured by Mr. So and So, who 
 is about to leave the country," or " Under instructions.
 
 Fragments. 357 
 
 from Mr. D., who is about to break up his celebrated 
 breed of shorthorns." In some instances such reasons 
 may be true, but very often sales take place under pres- 
 sure from persons who hold a bill of sale over the 
 stock or goods. A public auction is a convenient way of 
 realizing assets at a short notice, and these regular and 
 weekly sales give to those who attend them a pretty 
 correct idea of the current value of all things salable. 
 
 The private houses of the better classes are usually 
 situated in what would be called at home the suburbs, 
 or in some cases are grouped round one of the many 
 squares which were reserved for public recreation 
 grounds when the towns were first laid out. Each is 
 surrounded by a garden of greater or less extent, em- 
 bowered in trees which grow luxuriantly, and gay with 
 many flowers, some of which are known at home only 
 in the greenhouse. Clerks, warehousemen, and artisans 
 live for the most part in their own two or four-roomed 
 dwellings, wood built, and generally erected with funds 
 borrowed from some building society. The calls on the 
 loans thus effected are paid off by instalments, until at 
 last the house belongs to the person who built it. 
 Building societies are largely utilized, and wages being 
 high, have proved of great service to working people in 
 view of the heavy rents which they would otherwise 
 have to pay. 
 
 Many of the middle-sized towns have their theatre, 
 the larger ones probably two or three. It is seldom 
 that a season lasts longer than a fortnight, and the 
 performances are given by travelling companies, which 
 include Australia and New Zealand in their circuit, 
 returning sometimes by India or San Francisco. Com- 
 petition in the theatrical world is evidently getting keen, 
 and it would perhaps surprise frequenters of the London
 
 358 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 theatres to see their old favourites starring at the 
 antipodes. Some of the companies are decidedly bad, 
 some indifferent, and a few undeniably good. Theatrical 
 critics are becoming each year more discriminating, and 
 the theatre-going public more fastidious. If matters 
 continue to improve at the present rate, there will 
 shortly be no further employment for second-rate talent 
 in first-class houses. Of all the companies which have 
 lately made the tour of New Zealand, the Williamson 
 Garner troupe has been decidedly the best. It has been 
 travelling with " Patience" and " The Pirates,'* and in 
 finish, costumes, and stage management, the chorus even 
 included, would compare most favourably with rivals 
 who have drawn crowds to the doors of many a popular 
 theatre in London. Actors and actresses are getting 
 cosmopolitan. Swifter and surer means of transit, with 
 the inducements now offered by countries formerly 
 unknown, have produced as great a change in their 
 profession as in any other. According to the Melbourne 
 journals, Mr. Archibald Forbes, now sojourning in 
 Australia, has lately written under his own signature 
 about "The Patience companies I have seen," and the 
 above company in particular. He claims to rank as a 
 connoisseur in " Patience," having been present at its 
 first nights in London, New York, and San Francisco. 
 He considers Miss Alice Rees, a young lady from 
 Ballarat and now playing at Melbourne, to be superior to 
 Miss Carrie Burton, who filled the title role in New York, 
 to sing better than Miss Marie Jensen of the San 
 Francisco company, and to have more sparkle than Miss 
 Leonora Braham of the London company. " All round,'' 
 he says, "in acting, singing, picturesqueness, and accuracy 
 of costume, scenery, and equipment generally, this 
 'Patience* Company of yours is quite equal to the
 
 Fragments. 359 
 
 London ' Patience/ whose production Messrs. Gilbert 
 and Sullivan themselves supervised. In some points it 
 is superior, especially in the * Magnet and Churn ' episode, 
 where the grouping and subdued quasi-pedal accom- 
 paniments are quite novel and most comically effective." 
 This opinion is endorsed by many who have seen 
 '* Patience " companies in both hemispheres. 
 
 Among more manly amusements, cricket, football, and 
 athletics hold a place. Most towns have their well-kept 
 cricket ground, and in some instances there are two or 
 three, as at Chris tchurch. Men in the Colony have not 
 so much spare time to devote to the game as some of 
 those at home, and it is doubtful whether any of the 
 players would be entitled to a position in the first rank, 
 whether when handling the ball, or holding the willow. 
 But cricket, like football, has secured a firm hold, and 
 will probably, during all time, tend to preserve and 
 promote amongst the colonists the same manliness 
 which is one of the commendable characteristics of the 
 people of Great Britain. Almost every district has its 
 annual athletic gatherings ; of these, perhaps, the South 
 Canterbury Sports held at Timaru may be considered 
 the national sports of the country. They have always 
 maintained a wide reputation, and the events are 
 frequently contested by aspirants from all parts of the 
 colony. Athletic meetings are often made the oppor- 
 tunity for giving private and public balls; and in 
 bringing people together as they do, contribute, amongst 
 other causes, to promote a country-side feeling and good 
 fellowship, which, without such assistance, might possibly 
 languish, and finally become extinct. 
 
 Most of the so-called townships or villages are but a 
 collection of houses scattered here and there over the 
 country. With perhaps the exception of the public
 
 360 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 school, they are built entirely of wood. An hotel is the 
 central object, and. round it are grouped the store, 
 butcher's shop, and bakery, the smith and wheelwright, 
 and sundry private dwellings. Some of these townships 
 appear to have progressed thus far, and then to stop. 
 Others begin to multiply their stores and trades by two, 
 and gradually to gather a further population, until they 
 present the aspect of thriving and improving villages. 
 
 Our work is well-nigh done. It has been its object, 
 from the very first, to place before the reader, and 
 any who have a more or less definite intention of 
 leaving the old world to seek their fortune in the new, 
 some idea of the present condition of the colony, and 
 the state of society which a new-comer may expect to 
 find. So far as possible, personalities have been 
 avoided, the privacy of homes respected, and the 
 jealousies which exist between the different provinces, 
 one struggling with the other for a premier position, 
 ignored. The desire throughout has been to give to 
 persons unacquainted with colonial life a better know- 
 ledge, imperfect though even that may be, of the progress 
 being made by a country situated at the very antipodes 
 of a mutual sphere ; to tell to those who wish to hear 
 the experiences of a settler who has invested his capital 
 in an adopted land, and who cannot have any 
 conscious motive either to magnify or distort the 
 advantages held out by a hitherto imperfectly developed 
 country ; and finally to tear the veil from off those 
 glowing fictions, which, if believed in, can only bring dis- 
 appointment in their train. It has been attempted to 
 show that New Zealand is no place except for those with 
 at all events some capital, or for labourers, and 
 persons capable of working at a branch of trade. Indeed 
 we know of no Utopian land where people without
 
 Fragments. 36 1 
 
 means can live on airy nothing. We know that those 
 who throng in shoals to Manitoba, or the Western 
 States of North America, must toil and toil until in 
 years to come they make a home of what was once a 
 desert. From personal experience we know, because we 
 have seen both countries, that, value for value, improved 
 farms cannot be bought for less in North America than 
 
 O 
 
 in New Zealand. Ten pounds per acre will procure a 
 better property in Canterbury than in Illinois. We 
 also think that in this island home of ours, a man with 
 any pride of country, race, and family may live a life far 
 happier than in the far- west prairies. Less will occur 
 to wound his susceptibilities, or make him discontented 
 when contrasting his present lot with what he might have 
 done had the case been different. 
 
 It is possible that some readers, when first opening 
 these pages, will expect to find more detail and to 
 receive more positive advice by which to shape their 
 future than has been given. It is almost certain, nay 
 a very certainty, that our colonists themselves will 
 dissent from much that has been written, and think 
 that much remains unsaid far worthier of a lengthened 
 notice than many of the seeming trifles jotted down. 
 " Nothing has been said," we hear Nelsonians say, " of 
 Nelson, the very garden of New Zealand. You talk 
 about our coal, our gold, our iron, but not one word of 
 praise in favour of our town and bay, our gardens and our 
 scenery." The reproach is justifiable, but the intention 
 of this book has been to impart general ideas rather 
 than local impressions ; to tell of government and com- 
 merce ; to talk of sheep and education ; to show how men 
 are working for a living, and yet may work ; and not to 
 sketch the beauties of some pet paradise of nature. 
 And if our fellow-colonists do not agree with all we
 
 362 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 have written, the excuse must be, Opinions always differ. 
 They do not agree amongst themselves with respect to the 
 relative merits of Auckland and Otago, of Canterbury 
 and Hawkes Bay. Some men assert the present system 
 of education to be perfection; others allege the opposite. 
 To some the country would appear to be advancing with 
 rapid strides towards a fatal Communism ; others main- 
 tain the tendency to be towards a purer Constitutionalism. 
 Where men do congregate, diverse opinions must and 
 always will be held. Admitting this, a writer, to be fair, 
 should strive to be impartial, keep facts and figures 
 by themselves, and draw a line distinct and sharp 
 between what really is, and what is only hypothetic. 
 These rules have been followed so far as possible, but on 
 occasion it has been thought both wise and right to speak 
 out frankly. To those who wish to emigrate it must be 
 plain, on second thoughts, that no amount of detail or pile 
 on pile of facts will build a fortune for them, or replace 
 industry and personal experience. Too many facts are 
 oftentimes misleading. Soils differ, seasons differ, oppor- 
 tunities differ. General impressions are often longest held. 
 Still, even so, the work, beyond its other faults, may seem 
 too general and vague ; but if it give to those at home 
 a better knowledge of men and things out here ; if it 
 wake one thought for those, their countrymen and 
 friends, who work and toil beyond the sea ; or if it add 
 one little spark to all the hope and love this world 
 contains ; then let it be, the offering of a distant son, 
 " United though Untied."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 NATIVE LAND COUKT. 
 
 THE case between the Ngatimaniopoto and Ngatitama tribes, recently 
 decided in this court, may be interesting as showing the mutual relation 
 which exists between the Colonial Government and the Maoris, and as 
 affording an instance of the many difficulties which occur in settling the 
 disputes between tribe and tribe in the matter of tenure of land. It 
 appears that before the British settled in New Zealand, the Ngatimanio- 
 potos drove the Ngatitamas, after two pitched battles, from Potanui, and 
 again fought them at Moturoa and other places. The defeated tribe 
 went south, saying that they were going to procure guns in order to try 
 and regain their lost possessions. But with few exceptions they never 
 returned to dispute the ownership of Potanui since 1840, until the last 
 couple of years. Whatever the feuds may have been between the two 
 tribes before the colony was settled, the opinion of the Judge was that 
 it had nothing whatever to do with the present time. The Ngatimanio- 
 potos had won the land by conquest, and had held the land since undis- 
 puted. In giving his decision Judge Fenton said : " The principle of 
 Maori law on which this Court has acted in cases of this sort, is very 
 simple, very intelligible, and in truth could not be otherwise. A con- 
 quest, attended by the expulsion of the defeated party from their land, 
 conferred no title on the conquerors unless followed by occupation. A 
 conquest, resulting in the complete expulsion of the defeated or the 
 abandonment of their territory under the stress of force, and followed by 
 permanent occupation of land by the conquerors, conferred a perfect title, 
 which endured until they, in their turn, were ejected. When the Court's 
 authority was introduced into New Zealand, of course a new state of 
 things came with it, and private warfare being illegal, no right could be 
 acquired by force. It therefore followed that any conquering tribe found 
 at that epoch in the perfect occupation, by which I mean occupation un-
 
 364 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 disturbed and not diminished in its character by hostile force, of land 
 from which other owners had been previously expelled, or which they had 
 abandoned from fear, would retain its rights over that territory unless it 
 admitted the return of the expelled people by consent, express or tacit ; 
 nor would it be necessary to eject intruders by force, for the exercise of 
 such force having since 1840 been in the contemplation of the law illegal, 
 if discontent is signified, that is sufficient. The squattings of Ngatitamas 
 on this block, which appear to have been attempted before 1858, were 
 trivial and most certainly not made with the consent of the Ngatimanio- 
 potos ; and failing that consent, would not fail to disturb the title as it 
 existed in 1840. At that time it was perfect. How far that title is 
 affected by an agreement made by chiefs of the Ngatimaniopotos and the 
 Ngatitamas in 1868, as the price of their allegiance to Tawhiao as King, 
 remains to be determined." 
 
 NATIVE RESERVES BILL. 
 
 DURING the present session the Native Minister has introduced a Bill 
 for permanently settling the native land difficulty. The Bill is so framed 
 as to include within its scope not only the reserves set apart by Govern- 
 ment for native uses, but all lands at present occupied by or belonging to 
 the Maoris. Its object is to protect the aborigines from the many land 
 sharks who have for too long a time infested the country. Under the 
 Bill it is proposed to invest all the native reserves in a Public Trustee, 
 who is to manage them on behalf of the natives concerned. Besides this, 
 all native landholders can, if they choose, invest their lands in the same 
 Trustee, who will administer them for the present benefit of the owners. 
 The Trustee may lease the lands for twenty-one years, but cannot sell 
 them. The rents are to be paid to the native owners. Provision is made 
 to prevent these leases from being fraudulently converted into sales, the 
 intention being that the lands should be inalienable. The Bill is not 
 compulsory upon the natives, but is designed to protect those who are 
 willing to submit to its provisions from the attacks of unscrupulous adven- 
 turers. In all cases care is to be taken that a certain quantity of land is 
 set apart for the habitation and occupation of those who have vested 
 their property in the Trustee. Should it happen that no owners remain 
 to receive the rents of any trust, the lands are to be held for such pur- 
 poses as the Governor may direct. All proceedings of the Trustee are, 
 from time to time, to be presented to the Chambers in Wellington.
 
 Appendix. 365 
 
 STANDARDS OF EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 
 issued by His Excellency the. Governor in Council under " The 
 Education Act, 1877." 
 
 REGULATION 7. 
 Standard I. 
 
 Reading. Sentences composed of words of one syllable, and common 
 words of two syllables, to be read intelligently. 
 
 Spelling. Easy words of one syllable. 
 
 Writing. The small letters and the ten figures on slate at dictation. 
 
 Arithmetic. -Counting and oral addition by twos, threes, fours, and 
 fives, up to 100 ; numeration and notation to 999 ; addition sums of not 
 more than three columns ; multiplication of numbers not exceeding 999 
 by 2, 3, 4, and 5. [NOTE. The numeration must be applied to the 
 addition and multiplication, and the multiplication known to be a com- 
 pendious method of addition.] 
 
 Object lessons, singing, disciplinary exercises, &c., as prescribed in 
 Regulation 9. 
 
 Standard II. 
 
 Reading and Definition. Sentences containing words of two syllables, 
 and easy words of more than two syllables, to be read intelligently, and 
 the meanings of the words to be known. 
 
 Spelling. Easy words of two syllables. 
 
 Writing. Short words in copy-books, not larger than round-hand. On 
 slate : Capital letters and transcription from reading book of Standard II. 
 
 Arithmetic. Numeration and notation of not more than six figures ; 
 addition of not more than six lines, with six figures in a line ; short mul- 
 tiplication, and multiplication by factors not greater than 12 ; subtrac^ 
 tion ; division by numbers not exceeding 12, by the method of long 
 division, and by the method of short division ; mental problems adapted 
 to this stage of progress ; multiplication tables to 12 times 12. 
 
 Geography. Knowledge of the meaning of a ground plan, and of a 
 map ; of the principal geographical terms ; and of the positions of the con- 
 tinents, oceans, and larger seas. 
 
 Other Subjects. As prescribed in Regulation 9. 
 
 Standard III. 
 
 Reading and Definition Easy reading book to be read fluently and 
 intelligently, with knowledge of the meanings of the words, and with due 
 regard to the distinction of paragraphs, as well as of sentences.
 
 366 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Spelling. From the same book ; knowledge of words having the same 
 or nearly the same sound, but differing in meaning ; dictation of easy 
 sentences from the reading book of a lower standard. 
 
 "Writing. Longer words and sentences, not larger than round-hand ; 
 transcription from the reading book of Standard III., with due regard to 
 punctuation and quotation marks. 
 
 Arithmetic. Numeration and notation generally (one million to be 
 taken as the number of which one billion is the second power, one trillion 
 the third power, and so on) ; long multiplication and long division ; the 
 four money rules (excepting long multiplication of money) ; money tables ; 
 and easy money problems in mental arithmetic. 
 
 Grammar and Composition. The distinguishing of the nouns (and pro- 
 nouns used in the same way as nouns) and verbs in easy sentences ; also 
 of articles and adjectives (and pronouns used in the same way as adjec- 
 tives) ; and very simple exercises in composition, to test the pupil's power 
 of putting his own thoughts on familiar subjects into words. , 
 
 Geography. Knowledge of the chief towns of New Zealand, and of the 
 principal features of the district in which the school is situated ; of 
 Australian Colonies and their chief towns ; of the countries and capitals 
 of Europe ; and of the principal mountains and rivers of the world. 
 
 English History. Knowledge of the chronological order in which the 
 following periods stand : Roman, Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet, Tudor, 
 Stuart, Brunswick ; and of a few of the more interesting facts connected 
 with each period. 
 
 Other Subjects. As prescribed in Regulation 9. 
 
 Standard IV. 
 
 Reading and Definition. An easy book of prose and verse. 
 
 Spelling and Dictation. Suited to this stage, as represented by the 
 reading book in use ; the dictation to exhibit a knowledge of the use of 
 capitals and of punctuation, but (at inspection) to be confined to prose. 
 
 Writing. Good copies in a hand not larger than round-hand, and trans- 
 cription in poetry. 
 
 Arithmetic. Long multiplication of money ; reduction; the compound 
 rules applied to problems in weights and measures ; practice, and the 
 making out of bills of accounts and receipts \ tables of weights and mea- 
 sures ; mental arithmetic to correspond. 
 
 Grammar and Composition. The distinguishing of all parts of speech 
 in easy sentences ; the inflexions of the noun, adjective, and pronoun ; 
 letter writing on prescribed subjects ; addressing of letters and enve- 
 lopes.
 
 Appendix. 367 
 
 Geography. Knowledge of the countries of the world, with their 
 capitals, and of the principal seas, gulfs, mountains, rivers, lakes, capes, 
 straits, islands, and peninsulas on the map of the world ; geography of 
 Australia in outline ; and the drawing of rough maps of New Zealand, 
 with one set of principal features (as capes, or towns, or rivers). [In this 
 and the subsequent standards, scholars will be expected to know the situa- 
 tion of places mentioned in their reading books.] Mathematical geo- 
 graphy : The form of the earth, day and night, the seasons, the zones, 
 meridians, and parallels ; and climate in this connexion. 
 
 English History. The succession of houses and sovereigns from 1066 
 A.D. to 1485 A.D., and the leading events of the period known in connexion 
 with the reigns and centuries to which they belong, and in their own 
 character. [Precise dates will not be required, though a knowledge of 
 them may assist in referring each event to the proper reign.] 
 
 Elementary Science, &c. See Regulation 9. 
 
 Standard V. 
 
 Reading and Definition. A book of general information, not necessarily 
 excluding matter such as that prescribed for Standard IV. 
 
 Spelling and Dictation. Suited to this stage. 
 
 Writing. Small-hand copies in a strict formal style, and text-hand ; 
 transcription of verse in complicated metres, and of prose exhibiting the 
 niceties of punctuation. 
 
 Arithmetic. Proportion ; simple interest ; the easier cases of vulgar 
 fractions, and problems involving them ; mental arithmetic. 
 
 Grammar and Composition. Inflexions of the verb ; parsing (with 
 inflexions) of all the words in any easy sentence ; a short essay or letter 
 on a familiar subject, or the rendering of the sense of a passage of easy 
 verse into good prose ; analysis of a simple sentence. 
 
 Geography. Knowledge of places of political, historical, and com- 
 mercial importance in New Zealand, in Great Britain, and on the Euro- 
 pean Continent ; and the drawing of outline maps of New Zealand, Great 
 Britain, and Europe. Physical Geography : Distribution of land and 
 water ; mountain and river systems ; changes effected by the agency of 
 water ; and climate as influenced by mountain, plain, and sea, 
 
 English History. The period from 1485 A.D. to 1714 A.D., treated as 
 the former period is treated in Standard IV. 
 
 Elementary Science, &c. See Regulation 9. 
 
 Standard VI. 
 Reading. A book containing extracts from general literature.
 
 368 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Spelling and Dictation. Suited to this stage. 
 
 Writing. The copying of tabulated matter, showing bold head-lines, 
 and marking distinctions such as in letter-press require varieties of type 
 (e.g. the copying of these printed standards, or of a catalogue showing 
 division into groups). 
 
 Arithmetic. Vulgar and decimal fractions ; interest and other com- 
 mercial rules ; square root, and simple cases of mensuration of surfaces ; 
 mental arithmetic generally. 
 
 Grammar and Composition. Complete parsing (including syntax) of 
 simple and compound sentences ; prefixes and affixes, and a few of the 
 more important Latin and Greek roots, illustrated by a part of the reading 
 book ; essay, or letter ; analysis of easy complex sentences. 
 
 Geography. Knowledge of places of political, historical, and com- 
 mercial importance in Asia, North America, and the British Possessions. 
 Physical Geography : Atmospheric phenomena, winds, rain, ice ; distribu- 
 tion of the animals and plants of greatest value to man. 
 
 English History. The succession of houses and sovereigns, and the 
 leading events of each reign, from the earliest times to the present (pre- 
 cise dates not required) ; also the elements of social economy. 
 
 Elementary Science, &c. See Eegulation 9. 
 
 EEGULATION 8. 
 
 In the application of any standard to the case of an individual scholar, 
 marked deficiency in all or most of the subjects, or serious failure in any 
 two subjects, shall be reckoned as failure for that standard ; but serious 
 failure in any one subject alone shall not be so reckoned, if it appear to be 
 due to some individual peculiarity, and be not common to a large propor- 
 tion of the class under examination. 
 
 EEGULATION 9. 
 
 Although the scholars will be allowed to pass the standards as defined 
 in Eegulation 7, the Inspector will inquire, and, if necessary, report as to 
 the kind and amount of instruction in other subjects in the case of each 
 class, as follows : 
 
 Class preparing for Standard I. 
 
 Object and Natural History Lessons. A syllabus of the year's work 
 done to be given to the Inspector, who will examine the class upon some 
 subject selected from the syllabus.
 
 Appendix. 369 
 
 Knowledge of the Subject-matter of the Beading Lessons. 
 Repetition of Easy Verses. Syllabus and test as for object-lessons. 
 Singing. A suitable number of easy and suitable songs in correct time 
 and tune, and at a proper pitch. 
 Disciplinary Exercises or Drill. 
 Needlework. See Regulation 10. 
 Drawing. See Regulation 11. 
 
 Class preparing for Standard II. 
 
 Object-lessons, and Lessons in Natural History and on Manufactures. 
 A syllabus as in Standard I. 
 
 Knowledge of Subject-matter in Reading Lessons. 
 
 Repetition of Verses. Syllabus showing progress. 
 
 Singing. Songs as before ; the places of the notes on the stave, or the 
 symbol used for each note in the notation adopted ; to sing the major 
 diatonic scale and the successive notes of the common chord in all 
 keys. 
 
 School Drill. 
 
 Needlework and Drawing. See Regulations 10 and 11. 
 
 Class preparing for Standard III. 
 
 Knowledge of Common Things. A syllabus as for object-lessons in the 
 former standards. 
 
 The Subject-matter of the Reading Lessons. 
 
 Repetition of Verses. Syllabus showing progress. 
 
 Singing. Easy exercises on the common chord, and the interval of a 
 second in common time and in f time, not involving the use of dotted 
 notes ; use of the signs p., f., cres., dim., rail., and their equivalents ; songs 
 as before, or in common with the upper part of the school. 
 
 Drill. 
 
 Needlework and Drawing. See Regulations 10 and 11. 
 ) 
 
 Class preparing for Standard IV. 
 
 Elementary Science. See Regulation 12. 
 
 Recitation. A list of pieces learnt, and one piece (or more) specially 
 prepared for the examination. 
 
 Singing. Easy exercises on the chords of the dominant and sub- 
 dominant, and in the intervals prescribed for Standard III. ; exercises in 
 triple time ; use of dotted notes ; melodies, rounds, and part songs in com- 
 
 B b
 
 370 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 inon with the higher standards. [NOTE. It will suffice if this class take 
 the air of the songs, while the other parts are sung by the more advanced 
 classes, and it may be useful to let older scholars lead the parts in a 
 round.] 
 
 Drill. 
 
 Needlework and Drawing. See Regulations 10 and 1 1 . 
 
 Classes preparing for Standards V. and VI. 
 
 Elementary Science. See Regulation 12. 
 Recitation. Of a higher order than for Standard IV. 
 Singing. More difficult exercises in time and tune ; strict attention to 
 expression-marks. 
 Drill. 
 Needlework and Drawing. See Regulations 10 and 11. 
 
 REGULATION 10. 
 
 All girls in every public school in which there is a female teacher shall 
 learn needlework, and if the Inspector is satisfied that the instruction in 
 this subject is thoroughly systematic and efficient, he may reduce the 
 minimum number of marks for passing the standards by 10 per cent, in 
 favour of the girls as compared with the boys. The classes for needle- 
 work shall be approximately the same as those for the standards, but such 
 changes of children from one class to another in this subject may be 
 made as shall be found necessary to ensure the passing of every child 
 through the different stages in the order here stated. 
 
 First. Threading needles and hemming. ( Illustration of Work : Strips 
 of calico, or a plain pocket-handkerchief. ) 
 
 Second. The foregoing, and felling, and fixing a hem. (Illustration : 
 A child's pinafore.) 
 
 Third. The foregoing, and stitching, sewing on strings, and fixing all 
 work up to this stage. (A pillow-case, or woman's plain shift, without 
 bands or gathers.) 
 
 Fourth. The foregoing, and button-holing, sewing on buttons, strok- 
 ing, setting in gathers, plain darning, and fixing. (A plain day or night 
 shirt. ) 
 
 Fifth. The foregoing, and whipping, a tuck run, sewing on frill, and 
 gathering. (A night-dress with frills. ) 
 
 Sixth. Cutting out any plain garment, and fixing it for a junior class ; 
 darning stockings (tine and coarse) in worsted or cotton ; grafting ; darn- 
 ing fine linen or calico ; patching the same ; darning and patching fine 
 diaper.
 
 Appendix. 371 
 
 If knitting'is learnt, it shall be in the following order : A strip of plain 
 knitting ; knitted muffatees, ribbed ; a plain-knitted child's sock ; a long 
 ribbed stocking. 
 
 REGULATION 11. 
 
 The order of instruction in drawing shall be as follows : 
 
 Standard I. Freehand outline drawing from black-board exercises 
 (on slate). 
 
 Standard II. The same, but more advanced, and with some use of 
 drawing book. 
 
 Standard III. Freehand outline drawing in drawing book (from 
 copies). 
 
 Standard IV. Outline drawing from models and other solid objects. 
 
 Standard V. Practical geometrical drawing. 
 
 Standard VL Practical perspective drawing. 
 
 REGULATION 12. 
 
 The teaching of elementary science for Standards IV., V., and VI. 
 shall embrace elementary physics, a small part of elementary chemistry, 
 elementary mechanics, and elementary physiology ; and shall be sufficient 
 for and applied to the purposes of illustrating the laws of health, the 
 structure and operation of the simpler machines and philosophical instru- 
 ments, the simpler processes of agriculture, and the classification of 
 animals and plants. The head-teacher of each school shall prepare a 
 syllabus showing the distribution of these subjects over a three-years' 
 course, having regard to the amount and order of the information con- 
 tained in the reading-books used in the school. The Inspector will see 
 that the syllabus is sufficient, and examine each class in that part of the 
 work with which the class has been engaged during the year. The 
 syllabus shall present a suitable arrangement of the matter contained in 
 the following programme (the portions enclosed within square brackets 
 being, however, optional) : 
 
 Conditions of matter solid, liquid, gaseous ; force gravitation, heat, 
 chemical affinity, electricity, magnetism ; properties of solids compact- 
 ness, porousness, comparative hardness, brittleness, toughness, &c. ; forms 
 of bodies; inertia of rest and motion ; comparative density and specific 
 gravity ; acceleration ; the mechanical powers ; pressure of liquids and 
 gases ; pumps, barometers, hydraulic press, &c. 
 
 Vibrations ; velocity of sound and light ; reflection refraction, &c. ; the 
 magnifying-glass and the prism ; heat expansion, convection, conduction, ra- 
 diation; thermometer; ventilation ; steam ; mechanical mixture and chemical 
 
 B b 2
 
 372 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 combination ; [oxygen ; hydrogen ; nitrogen ; chlorine ; carbon ; sulphur ; 
 phosphorus ; lime ; iron ;] composition of water and of air ; combustion ; 
 [acid and alkali]. 
 
 [Characteristics of saccharoids ; of oils and fats ; of fermentation pro- 
 ducts ; of albuminoids ; frictional and voltaic electricity ; the electric 
 machine ; the battery ; currents ;] the build of the human body, and 
 names and positions of internal parts ; constituents of blood, muscle, bone, 
 and connective tissue ; alimentation ; circulation ; respiration ; [the 
 kidneys and their secretion ; animal heat ; organs of sense ; principal 
 divisions of the animal kingdom, and of the vegetable kingdom]. 
 
 Standard IV., as defined in these Regulations, shall be the standard of 
 education prescribed under "The Education Act, 1877," Section 90, 
 Sub-section 4. 
 
 UNDER THE STATUTES OF THE SENATE OF THE UNIVER- 
 SITY OF NEW ZEALAND approved, in pursuance of Section 10 
 of "The New Zealand University Act, 1874," by the Governor in 
 Council at Wellington, the 18th day of May, 1882, it is enacted 
 that 
 
 I. The subjects of examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts shall 
 be, 1. Latin Language and Literature ; 2. Greek Language and Litera- 
 ture ; 3. English Language and Literature ; 4. Modern Languages and 
 Literature ; 5. General History and Political Economy ; 6. Jurisprudence 
 and Constitutional History ; 7. Mathematics ; 8. Physical Science, to 
 include () Heat and Radiant Heat, and (b) Sound and Light, or, at the 
 option of the candidate, Electricity and Magnetism; 9. Chemistry; 10. 
 Natural Science, any one of the following branches : (a) Geology and 
 Mineralogy, (fe) Zoology, (c) Anatomy and Physiology, (d) Botany; 11. 
 Mental Science. The subjects will be divided as follows : 
 
 (1.) Latin Language and Literature. (Two papers.) (a.) Selected 
 portions of the works of one prose and one verse author ; translation of 
 simple unseen passages from Latin into English, (b.) An easy passage 
 or passages for translation from English into Latin prose ; questions on 
 grammar. 
 
 (2.) Greek Language and Literature. (Two papers.) (a.) Selected 
 portions of the works of one prose and one verse author ; translation of 
 simple unseen passages from Greek into English, (b.) An easy passage 
 or passages for translation from English into Greek prose ; questions on 
 grammar. 
 
 (3.) English Language and Literature. (Two papers.) (a.) The
 
 Appendix. 373 
 
 Origin, history, and. structure of the English language, and selected por- 
 tions of one or more authors, (b.) An account of one period of litera- 
 ture, and a short essay on some subject arising out of the works selected 
 under (). 
 
 (4.) Modern Languages and. Literature. (Two papers.) French, or 
 German, or Italian, at the option of the candidate, (a.) Questions on 
 grammar and composition. Passages for translation from and into Eng- 
 lish and the language chosen. (b.) Questions on a period of the litera- 
 ture of the language, and selected authors of the period. 
 
 (5.) General History and Political Economy. (Two papers.) (a.) 
 General History : Period to be selected year by year, (b.) Political 
 Economy : The production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of 
 wealth ; the law of population ; emigration, immigration ; strikes ; trades 
 unions ; socialist theories ; land tenures ; free trade and protection ; and the 
 colonial policy of England. 
 
 (6.) Jurisprudence and Constitutional History. (Two papers.) (a.) 
 Jurisprudence : Nature of positive law ; sources of law ; scientific classifi- 
 cation of law, together with knowledge of the system adopted in Roman 
 law. (6.) Constitutional History : The constitutional history of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 (7.) Mathematics. (Three papers.) 
 
 (a.) Elementary Geometry. Euclid, Books L, II., IIL, IV., and VI., 
 together with the definitions of Book V. Trigonometry. The elemen- 
 tary parts of plane trigonometry so far as to include the principal properties 
 of logarithms, the use of logarithmic tables, and the solution and pro- 
 perty of triangles, with easy transformations and examples. 
 
 (b.) Algebra. Definitions and explanations of algebraical signs and 
 terms ; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of algebraical 
 quantities, including fractions and surds ; the elementary rules of ratio 
 and proportion ; the square and cube roots ; easy equations of a degree 
 not higher than the second, and questions producing such equations 
 arithmetical, geometrical, and harmonical progressions ; permutations and 
 combinations ; and the binomial theorem ; with proofs of the rules, and 
 simple examples. 
 
 (c.) Elementary Mechanics and Hydrostatics. Treated so as not 
 necessarily to require a knowledge of pure mathematics greater than the 
 standard prescribed for the degree of a Bachelor of Arts, namely, the com- 
 position and resolution of forces acting on a point and on a rigid body 
 on one plane ; the mechanical powers ; the centre of gravity ; the funda- 
 mental laws of motion ; the laws of uniform and uniformly accelerated 
 motion, and of falling bodies ; the pressure of liquids and gases ; the 
 equilibrium of floating bodies ; specific gravities ; and the principal instru :
 
 3 74 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 ments and machines the action of which depends on the properties of 
 fluids ; with simple problems and examples. 
 
 (8.) Physical Science. (Two papers.) 
 
 (a.) Heat, including Eadiant Heat. Temperature ; expansion ; con- 
 duction and consection ; latent heat ; specific heat ; calorimetry ; hygro- 
 metry ; sources of heat ; the steam-engine ; conservation and dissipation 
 of energy ; and radiation , absorption, transmission, reflection, and refrac- 
 tion of heat. 
 
 (b.) Sound and Light. The production and propagation of sound ; 
 vibrations of sounding bodies ; interference ; and the physical theory of 
 music. Nature, production, and propagation of light ; absorption ; re- 
 flection ; refraction ; prismatic dispersion ; spectra ; fluorescence ; inter- 
 ference ; plane polarization ; and the principal optical instruments and 
 vision. Or, Electricity and Magnetism. Production and properties of 
 statical and voltaic electricity ; induction, including secondary currents ; 
 thermo- and magneto-electricity ; electro-dynamics ; magnetism and dia- 
 magnetism ; the electric telegraph ; and electric measurements. 
 
 (9.) Chemistry. (Two papers.) The chemical relations of cohesion, 
 heat, light, and electricity ; the general principles of chemical combina- 
 tion, notation, and nomenclature; the description and classification of the 
 more important elements and compounds, and of organic bodies ; qualita- 
 tive analysis and calculations of chemical problems ; and the description 
 of the leading chemical theories. 
 
 (10.) Natural Science. Either of the following branches : 
 
 A. Geology and Mineralogy. (Two papers.) Systems of crystalliza- 
 tion ; physical properties and chemical composition of the more important 
 minerals ; origin and classification of rocks ; formation of rock-beds and 
 structure of rock-masses ; denudation and movements of the surface of 
 the earth ; chronological classification of rocks ; the origin of the surface 
 features of the earth ; and the laws and generalizations of palaeontology. 
 
 B. Biology. (Two papers.) (a.) General principles i of biology, in- 
 cluding those of physiology, of distribution, and of classification, (i.) 
 One of the following : (1.) Zoology. Animal morphology, the principal 
 characters of the chief groups of animals, and the main facts of their 
 distribution in time and space. (2.) Botany. Vegetable morphology, 
 including histology, the principal characters of the chief groups of plants, 
 and the main facts of their distribution in time and space. (3.) Anatomy 
 and Physiology. Human anatomy and physiology. 
 
 A candidate in natural science will be required, on presenting himself 
 for examination, to furnish to the Supervisor a certificate from a teacher 
 of the subject or branch subject that he has passed a practical examina- 
 tion in such subject, as follows : For Geology. Determination
 
 Appendix. 375 
 
 by physical characters of minerals and rocks ; determination of fossils ; 
 construction of geological sections. For Zoology. Dissection and micro- 
 scopical examination of types of four different groups of invertebrate 
 animals, and of the different groups of vertebrate animals. For Anatomy 
 and Physiology. Dissection of the human body. For Botany. Dissec- 
 tion and microscopical examination of types of four different groups of 
 cryptogamic plants, and of eight different orders of phanerogamic 
 plants. 
 
 (11.) Mental Science. (Two papers.) (a.) Psychology. Outlines of 
 the physiology of the nervous system ; instinct ; the senses and the 
 intellect ; abstraction ; perception. Ethics. The psychology of the will ; 
 the ethical standard ; the moral faculty ; the hedonist, intuitionalist, and 
 utilitarian methods, (ft.) Logic. Deductive and inductive logic. 
 
 II. No candidate shall be admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 
 unless he shall have passed in at least five of the above subjects of 
 examination, of which two must be Latin and Mathematics. 
 
 III. The examination may be passed in two sections. Either two or 
 three subjects of examination, one of which must be either Latin or Mathe- 
 matics, shall constitute the first section, which may be taken at the end 
 of the second or any subsequent year, and the remaining subjects shall 
 constitute the second section, which may be taken at the end of the third 
 or any subsequent year ; or, at the option of the candidate, all the sub- 
 jects may be taken together at the end of the third or any subsequent 
 year. 
 
 TV. No student shall be admitted to the final examination for the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts who has not kept three years' terms at some 
 institution affiliated to the University of New Zealand, unless he shall 
 have been admitted as an undergraduate under the Statute of Admissions 
 ad eundem, or unless he shall be a teacher permitted to proceed to the 
 
 degree under the provisions hereinafter contained. 
 
 ****** 
 
 VII. Teachers in Affiliated Institutions, and certificated teachers of 
 good repute in any school established or conducted under the provisions 
 of an Act of the General Assembly or of a Provincial Council of this 
 colony, having been in the practice of their profession for at least five 
 years, maybe admitted on the recommendation of the Chancellor or of 
 the Vice-Chancellor to the examination for the degree of Bachelor of 
 Arts, to be passed either in one or two sections, on payment of the ordi- 
 nary fees, without matriculation and the keeping of University terms ; 
 and on passing that examination shall be entitled to all the other privi- 
 leges of graduates of the University of the same standing, anything in 
 other regulations of the University notAvithstanding : provided that
 
 376 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 under this clause no teacher shall be admitted to the first section of his 
 examination beyond the B.A. examination for the year 1883 : provided 
 also that every teacher admitted to examination under this clause shall 
 give three months' notice to the Chancellor of the subjects on which he 
 shall elect to be examined.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 377 
 
 TABLE A. 
 
 RETURN of the Value of Imports and Exports at the several Ports of the 
 North Island of New Zealand, during the years ending 31st Decem- 
 ber, 1880, and 1881. Compiled from the New Zealand Gazette. 
 
 
 1880. 
 
 1881. 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Auckland . 
 
 1,242,871 
 
 758,271 
 
 2,001,142 
 
 1,490,124 
 
 813,113 
 
 2,303,237 
 
 Thames 
 
 9,101 
 
 1,600 
 
 10,701 
 
 10,948 
 
 
 10,948 
 
 Russell 
 
 3,969 
 
 5,319 
 
 9,288 
 
 5,459 
 
 "4,366 
 
 9,825 
 
 Whangaroa 
 
 
 7,346 
 
 7,346 
 
 
 9,132 
 
 9,132 
 
 Hokianga . 
 
 
 2,330 
 
 2,330 
 
 
 2,452 
 
 2,452 
 
 Mongonui . 
 
 
 499 
 
 499 
 
 - 370 
 
 37 
 
 407 
 
 Kaipara 
 
 8^366 
 
 31,175 
 
 39,541 
 
 4,776 
 
 35,540 
 
 40,316 
 
 Poverty Bay 
 
 8,209 
 
 1,302 
 
 9,511 
 
 15,649 
 
 20,284 
 
 35,933 
 
 New PlyO 
 mouth . J 
 
 31,157 
 
 
 31,157 
 
 47,665 
 
 400 
 
 48,065 
 
 Wanganui . 
 
 35,386 
 
 94 
 
 35,480 
 
 39,986 
 
 588 
 
 40,574 
 
 Wellington 
 
 958,706 
 
 919,944 
 
 1,878,650 
 
 1,028,148 
 
 763,487 
 
 1,791,635 
 
 Napier 
 
 128,328 
 
 555,474 
 
 683,802 
 
 182,195 
 
 460,846 
 
 643,041 
 
 Tauranga . 
 
 1,812 
 
 ... 
 
 1,812 
 
 1,101 
 
 
 1,101 
 
 Foxton 
 
 2,714 
 
 ... 
 
 2,714 
 
 2,225 
 
 
 2,225 
 
 Total. 
 
 2,430,619 
 
 2,283,354 
 
 4,713,973 
 
 2,828,646 
 
 2,110,246 
 
 4,938,891 
 
 TABLE B. 
 
 RETURN of the Value of Imports and Exports at the several Ports of the 
 South Island of New Zealand, during the years ending 31st Decem- 
 ber, 1880, and 1881. Compiled from the Neiv Zealand Gazette. 
 
 
 
 1880. 
 
 
 
 1881. 
 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nelson 
 
 198,457 
 
 4,700 
 
 203,157 
 
 204,352 
 
 8,455 
 
 212,807 
 
 Westport . 
 
 27,624 
 
 717 
 
 28,341 
 
 27,226 
 
 260 
 
 27,486 
 
 Greymouth 
 
 109,176 
 
 250,147 
 
 359,323 
 
 112,286 
 
 269,870 
 
 382,156 
 
 Hokitika . 
 
 65,606 
 
 243,410 
 
 309,016 
 
 68,624 
 
 141,398 
 
 210,022 
 
 Lyttelton . 
 
 1,245,051 
 
 1,525,416 
 
 2,770,467 
 
 1,390,270 
 
 1,447,127 
 
 2,837,397 
 
 Akaroa 
 
 1,333 
 
 
 1,333 
 
 
 ... 
 
 * 
 
 Timaru 
 
 82,770 
 
 54^822 
 
 137,592 
 
 116,767 
 
 149,946 
 
 266,713 
 
 Oamaru 
 
 46,935 
 
 35,133 
 
 82,068 
 
 68,601 
 
 119,254 
 
 187,855 
 
 Dunedin . 
 
 1,797,516 
 
 1,644,951 
 
 3,442,467 
 
 2,440,880 
 
 1,529,764 
 
 3,970,644 
 
 Invercargill 
 
 137,706 
 
 309,817 
 
 447,523 
 
 176,579 
 
 284,547 
 
 461,126 
 
 Riverton . 
 
 5,944 
 
 
 5,944 
 
 3,216 
 
 .. 
 
 3,216 
 
 Picton 
 
 1,656 
 
 ,. . 
 
 1,656 
 
 3,065 
 
 .. 
 
 3,065 
 
 Wairau 
 
 11,125 
 
 ,. 
 
 11,125 
 
 16,526 
 
 B>< 
 
 16,526 
 
 Havelock . 
 
 47 
 
 
 47 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 Kaikoura . 
 
 446 
 
 
 446 
 
 ... 
 
 - 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 3,731,392 
 
 4,069,113 
 
 7,800,505 
 
 4,628,392 
 
 3,950,621 
 
 8,579,013 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 378 
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 TABLE C. 
 
 RETURN of the Value of Imports and Exports at the Ports of New 
 Zealand, during the years ending 31st December, 1880, and 1881. 
 Also showing the relative trade of the North and South Islands. 
 
 
 1880. 
 
 1881. 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 North Island 
 
 2,430,619 
 
 2,283,354 
 
 4,713,973 
 
 2,828,646 
 
 2,110,245 
 
 4,938,891 
 
 South Island 
 
 3,731,392 
 
 4,069,113 
 
 7,800,505 
 
 4,628,392 
 
 3,950,621 
 
 8,579,013 
 
 Grand Total . 
 
 6,162,011 
 
 6,352,467 
 
 12,514,478 
 
 7,457,038 
 
 6,060,866 
 
 ] 3,517,904 
 
 EETURN of the Value of Gold exported from the various Ports of New 
 Zealand, during the years 1880 and 1881, as published in the New 
 Zealand Gazette. 
 
 
 1880. 
 
 1881. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Auckland 
 
 ... 176,416 
 
 141,326 
 
 Wellington . . . 
 
 354 
 
 21 
 
 Picton 
 
 5,650 
 
 4,495 
 
 Nelson 
 
 ... 18,839 
 
 20,441 
 
 Westport 
 
 67,259 
 
 52,483 
 
 Greymouth . . . 
 
 ... 284,124 
 
 306,542 
 
 Hokitika 
 
 ... 216,905 
 
 143,559 
 
 Ly ttelton 
 
 90 
 
 ... 
 
 Oamaru 
 
 
 650 
 
 Dunedin 
 
 ... 418,979 
 
 358,335 
 
 Invercargill . . . 
 
 ... 38,636 
 
 52,938 
 
 1,227,252 1,080,790 
 
 N.B. The above returns are published on Government authority, but 
 a slight analysis of their contents is sufficient to show that they are not 
 altogether reliable. For example, the total export from the Port of 
 Greymouth for the year 1880 is set down as being of the value of
 
 Appendix. 
 
 379 
 
 250,147. The export of gold alone, for the same year, is put at 
 284,124, It seems, too, most extraordinary that a coal port like West- 
 port should have an import trade of 27,624, whilst it is given as export- 
 ing produce of the amount of 717. Possibly the export returns are 
 mixed up with those of some other port, making the total results more or 
 less accurate. 
 
 TABLE D. 
 
 RETURN showing the amounts contributed to the Colonial Revenue by 
 each Province, in the classes specified below, during the financial 
 year 1881-82. 
 
 
 Customs. 
 
 Stamps. 
 
 Land and 
 Property 
 Tax. 
 
 Beer 
 Tax. 
 
 Land 
 Revenue. 
 
 Total 
 by each 
 Province. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Auckland . 
 
 315,858 
 
 25,431 
 
 31,829 
 
 12,764 
 
 37,661 
 
 423,543 
 
 Tarnnaki . . . 
 
 13,342 
 
 2,716 
 
 3,902 
 
 1.047 
 
 84,164 
 
 105,171 
 
 Wellington . . 
 
 231,793 
 
 26,711 
 
 37,162 
 
 7,245 
 
 23,810 
 
 326,721 
 
 Hawke's Bay 
 
 42,851 
 
 8,555 
 
 13,778 
 
 1,980 
 
 5,674 
 
 72,838 
 
 Nelson .... 
 
 55,981 
 
 4,313 
 
 8,198 
 
 2,368 
 
 9,730 
 
 80,590 
 
 Marlborough . . 
 
 6,732 
 
 1,532 
 
 4,805 
 
 808 
 
 3,132 
 
 17,009 
 
 Canterbury , . 
 
 249,236 
 
 43,424 
 
 72,307 
 
 14,141 
 
 92,032 
 
 471,140 
 
 Westland . . . 
 
 54,072 
 
 2,512 
 
 812 
 
 126 
 
 1,914 
 
 59,436 
 
 Otago .... 
 Total . 
 
 500,224 
 
 45,927 
 
 79,609 
 
 16,932 
 
 247,446 
 
 890,138 
 
 1,470,089 
 
 161,121 
 
 252,402 
 
 57,411 
 
 505,563 
 
 2,446,586 
 
 This table is inserted to show in some degree the comparative wealth 
 and resources of the several Provinces. In explanation it may be men- 
 tioned that the lar^e sum contributed to " land revenue " by Otago arises 
 from the many leasehold runs contained in that Province. The land 
 and property tax, being raised on a property assessment, is a better indica- 
 tion of the relative standing of the Provinces towards each other in so 
 far as regards freehold estate and accumulated capital. The beer tax 
 shows that Auckland, Canterbury, and Otago are the chief seats of the
 
 3 8o 
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 brewing industry the brewers being responsible for this tax to Govern- 
 ment. Because Otago pays the heaviest tax for beer, it does not follow 
 that it is all consumed in a Province which, as a matter of fact, sends 
 beer largely into Canterbury. Again, Dunedin is a central depot, and of 
 the large amount paid by her to customs a considerable proportion should 
 fairly be attributed to the business which, though passing through the 
 port, finds its real outlet in South Canterbury. The force of these 
 remarks can be better estimated by inspecting the columns devoted to 
 stamps and property tax, in which, although Otago shows a certain 
 apparent superiority, there is nothing to prove that she does so in reality, 
 when her far more extended area is taken into consideration. 
 
 TABLE E. 
 NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS. 
 
 Working Account, showing the Revenue and Expenditure for the 
 financial year ending 31st March, 1882. 
 
 Section. 
 
 Miles 
 open. 
 
 Revenue. 
 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Per 
 cent of 
 Receipts. 
 
 Revenue 
 per Mile. 
 
 Expendi- 
 ture per 
 Mile. 
 
 North Island 
 
 
 t. d. 
 
 i. d. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 . d. 
 
 Kawakawa 
 
 
 621 2 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whangarei 
 
 5 
 
 1,408 12 7 
 
 1,801 8 9 
 
 127-89 
 
 281 14 7 
 
 360 6 9 
 
 Auckland 
 
 130 
 
 72,127 4 11 
 
 49,294 16 7 
 
 68-34 
 
 527 13 2 
 
 360 12 7 
 
 Napier 
 
 70 
 
 33,721 10 
 
 18,164 1 6 
 
 63-87 
 
 481 14 " 7 
 
 269 9 9 
 
 Wellington 
 
 69 
 
 41,815 1 8 
 
 31,324 7 6 
 
 74-91 
 
 606 4 
 
 453 19 7 
 
 Wanganui 
 
 115 
 
 43,690 3 7 
 
 28,614 4 11 
 
 65-20 
 
 381 13 
 
 248 16 4 
 
 New Plym< uth. 
 
 61 
 
 13,231 6 
 
 9,489 6 10 
 
 7172 
 
 275 16 2 
 
 197 16 4 
 
 Total 
 
 449 
 
 206 814 11 11 
 
 138 688 6 1 
 
 67'06 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 South Island 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hurunui-Bluff . 
 
 810 
 
 651,762 7 11 
 
 363,964 10 1 
 
 65-84 
 
 818 12 9 
 
 457 3 
 
 Greymouth 
 
 8 
 
 10,873 14 3 
 
 6,157 18 1 
 
 47-43 
 
 1,359 4 2 
 
 644 14 9 
 
 Westport 
 
 10 
 
 6,372 2 1 
 
 3,784 18 6 
 
 69-40 
 
 637 4 2 
 
 378 9 9 
 
 Nelson 
 
 23 
 
 8 518 14 8 
 
 6 235 12 
 
 73'20 
 
 385 17 4 
 
 282 9 
 
 Picton 
 
 19 
 
 7 684 16 9 
 
 6,268 3 11 
 
 68-55 
 
 404 9 4 
 
 277 5 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 870 
 
 685,211 15 8 
 
 384.411 2 6 
 
 66'13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 1,319 
 
 892,026 7 7 
 
 623,099 8 7 
 
 58-64 
 

 
 Appendix. 
 COMPARATIVE SUMMARY FOR PAST THREE YEARS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Miles 
 open. 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Per cent, 
 of Receipts. 
 
 1881-82 
 
 1 319 
 
 x. d. 
 892,026 7 7 
 
 . rf. 
 523,099 8 7 
 
 58*64 
 
 1880-81 
 
 1,277 
 
 836,454 1 8 
 
 521,951 14 2 
 
 62'40 
 
 1879-80 
 
 1 172 
 
 762 572 18 1 
 
 580 010 9 6 
 
 76 '08 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 TABLE F. 
 NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS. 
 
 Hurunui-Bluff Section Main Sections and Branch es Working Account 
 showing the Eevenue and Expenditure for the financial year ending 
 31st March, 1882. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Miles 
 open. 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Per cent. 
 of Receipts 
 
 Christchnrch Section 
 
 145 
 
 ,. d 
 234,185 7 7 
 
 >. d. 
 108,887 12 9 
 
 46-50 
 
 
 43 
 
 7,310 15 1 
 
 7,257 15 3 
 
 99'28 
 
 Southbridge Branch 
 
 25 
 
 13,062 18 4 
 
 8,574 9 2 
 
 65 64 
 
 Springfield Branch 
 
 43 
 
 14,028 5 6 
 
 9,524 14 10 
 
 67' 89 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 256 
 
 268,587 6 6 
 
 134,244 12 
 
 4998 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 104 
 
 79,813 17 8 
 
 51 201 4 1 
 
 64'] 5 
 
 
 26 
 
 7,337 4 11 
 
 3 953 14 
 
 53*88 
 
 
 4 
 
 1,761 1 3 
 
 1,558 3 7 
 
 88-48 
 
 
 21 
 
 5,256 15 1 
 
 3,463 19 5 
 
 65-89 
 
 
 15 
 
 3,192 19 5 
 
 2 962 7 11 
 
 92'78 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 170 
 
 97,361 18 4 
 
 63,139 9 
 
 64-85 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dunedin Section 
 
 115 
 
 185,942 18 4 
 
 97 367 19 11 
 
 5236 
 
 Walton Park Branch 
 
 3 
 
 839 16 9 
 
 927 12 6 
 
 11045 
 
 
 9 
 
 2843 15 2 
 
 2 956 13 11 
 
 103-97 
 
 Lawrence Branch 
 
 22 
 
 7,529 9 
 
 6 866 9 1 
 
 91'19 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 149 
 
 197 155 11 
 
 108 118 15 4 
 
 54 "84 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Invercargill Section 
 
 172 
 
 76,735 16 5 
 
 49 367 3 
 
 64'33 
 
 
 15 
 
 1 fl94 12 
 
 2 353 11 3 
 
 117'10 
 
 Riverton Branch 
 
 48 
 
 9 927 3 8 
 
 6 740 19 6 
 
 67-90 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 235 
 
 Sri 657 12 1 
 
 58 461 13 9 
 
 65-94 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grard Total 
 
 810 
 
 651,762 7 11 
 
 363,964 10 1 
 
 55-84
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
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 PS, 
 
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 SCO <74 O) O) 
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 rH CO O ' rH Q " 
 
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 Appendix. 
 
 383 
 
 00 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 60 
 
 fl 
 
 'So 
 G 
 
 __~ 
 
 
 
 
 <D 
 
 4) 
 
 * 
 
 to 
 d 
 
 - 
 
 jpojg 
 
 said 
 
 -ui) daaqg 
 
 m papiqoui) 
 SMOQ auipaaa 
 
 35 I> 0" * OT rH CD 0> 
 CO IM O CO 
 
 S 
 
 t^ CO O i 
 
 -*OCC 
 U5 Oi l> 
 
 Or-lt-UiOOlOCCt-COr-l 
 
 CO CO 
 
 01 -v 
 
 <N IM 
 
 10 oo 
 
 X CO 
 
 o co 
 
 a> o 
 IMCO" 
 
 8088V 
 
 pan 
 
 ui papnpui) 
 
 i jo 
 
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 CO 
 
 to 
 
 X X 
 
 os t- 
 
 to >ft 
 
 OJ X 
 
 oTift" 
 
 (M (M 
 
 s 
 
 x 
 to 
 
 is 
 H 
 
 <& 
 
 X X 
 
 J>*> 
 
 X X 
 
 ase 
 ase 
 
 ; 'O 03 to 
 
 ~ Q) 03 
 
 11 
 
 C 
 C 
 
 Numerical i 
 Numerical d
 
 384 
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 TABLI 
 
 ACCOUNT of Land under Cultivation in February, 1882 ; the result 
 
 Provincial Districts. 
 
 Number of Holdings over 1 acre in extent. 
 
 Freehold. 
 
 Kented. 
 
 Part rented, 
 part freehold. 
 
 Total number 
 of Holdings. 
 
 (1882 
 Auckland < 1881 
 
 ( 1882 
 Taranaki j 1881 
 
 ( 1882 
 Hawke s Bay., j iggi 
 
 (1882 
 Wellington ... 1 ^ggj 
 
 , ( 1882 
 Marlborough .. j iggi 
 
 C 1882 
 ^ elson (1881 
 
 -.-IT ,- j C 1882 
 Westland -s 10 oi 
 
 4,704 
 4,565 
 
 937 
 
 845 
 
 423 
 
 390 
 
 6,064 
 5,800 
 
 943 
 
 722 
 
 249 
 261 
 
 139 
 139 
 
 13,31 
 1,122 
 
 683 
 647 
 
 267 
 210 
 
 132 
 112 
 
 1,082 
 969 
 
 2,142 
 1,868 
 
 913 
 
 774 
 
 334 
 
 278 
 
 3,389 
 2,920 
 
 424 
 396 
 
 127 
 
 81 
 
 96 
 65 
 
 647 
 542 
 
 866 
 776 
 
 442 
 501 
 
 297 
 263 
 
 1,605 
 1,540 
 
 229 
 150 
 
 69 
 
 87 
 
 21 
 
 20 
 
 319 
 257 
 
 (_ lool 
 
 ( 1882 
 Canterbury ... < jgg, 
 
 C1882 
 Utaffo . . .. s i oo-i 
 
 3,649 
 3,355 
 
 1,451 
 1,347 
 
 706 
 677 
 
 5,806 
 5,379 
 
 4,092 
 3,447 
 
 1,377 
 1,514 
 
 586 
 657 
 
 6,055 
 5,618 
 
 ( 1881 
 North Island.. ] iogi 
 
 South Island.. < IQQ-I 
 
 Grand Total... j iggi 
 
 Increase in 1882 
 Decrease in 1882 
 
 8,472 
 7,802 
 
 2,366 
 2,090 
 
 1,028 
 919 
 
 11,866 
 10,811 
 
 9,260 
 8,124 
 
 3,466 
 3,530 
 
 1,706 
 1,682 
 
 14,432 
 13,336 
 
 17,732 
 15,926 
 
 5,832 
 5,620 
 
 2,734 
 2,601 
 
 26,298 
 24,147 
 
 1806 
 
 212 
 
 133 
 
 2,151
 
 Appendix. 
 
 385 
 
 o( a Collection made by the Eegistrar-General in that month 
 
 Extent of 
 Land broken 
 up, but not 
 under Crop. 
 
 Land under In Grasses 
 Crop, exclusive after having 
 of Land under been broken up 
 Grasses. (including Hay). 
 
 Total of Land 
 under 
 Cultivation. 
 
 Grass-sown 
 Land not 
 previously 
 ploughed. 
 
 Acres. 
 26,973 
 35,114 
 
 Acres. 
 40,893 
 38,220 
 
 Acres. 
 264,962 
 252,972 
 
 Acres. 
 332,828 
 326,306 
 
 Acres. 
 292,844 
 279,843 
 
 1,351 
 2,294 
 
 9,056 
 7,170 
 
 35,419 
 30,800 
 
 45,826 
 40,264 
 
 93,002 
 84,127 
 
 10,484 
 14,530 
 
 10,320 
 10,085 
 
 103,514 
 94,622 
 
 124,318 
 119,237 
 
 579,233 
 566,802 
 
 5,027 
 15,385 
 
 33,269 
 28,174 
 
 121,475 
 106,305 
 
 159,771 
 149,864 
 
 750,426 
 666,240 
 
 10,401 
 
 4,482 
 
 12,282 
 12,315 
 
 22,574 
 22,966 
 
 45,257 
 39,763 
 
 38,233 
 44,352 
 
 4,551 
 3,948 
 
 18,048 
 17,761 
 
 49,108 
 42,279 
 
 71,707 
 63,988 
 
 76,066 
 66,227 
 
 82 
 1,308 
 
 1,015 
 891 
 
 3,503 
 2,604 
 
 4,600 
 4,803 
 
 6,286 
 7,594 
 
 100,662 
 130,208 
 
 502,404 
 461,359 
 
 674,895 
 567,445 
 
 1,277,961 
 . 1,159,012 
 
 176,050 
 148,835 
 
 89,021 
 86,203 
 
 375,198 
 341,796 
 
 496,425 
 448,577 
 
 960,644 
 876,576 
 
 154,054 
 124,359 
 
 43,835 
 67,323 
 
 93,538 
 83,649 
 
 525,370 
 484,699 
 
 662,743 
 635,671 
 
 1,715,505 
 1,597,012 
 
 204,717 
 226,149 
 
 908,947 
 834,122 
 
 1,246,505 
 1,083,871 
 
 2,360,169 
 2,144,142 
 
 450,689 
 391,367 
 
 248,552 
 293,472 
 
 1,002,485 
 917,771 
 
 1,771,875 
 1,568,570 
 
 3,022,912 
 2,779,813 
 
 2,166,194 
 1,988,379 
 
 44,920 
 
 84,714 
 
 203,305 
 
 243,099 
 
 177,815 
 
 c c
 
 386 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 TABLE 
 
 STATEMENT OF THE EECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE OF THE CONSOLIDATED 
 
 Ordinary Revenue 
 
 EECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance on 31st March, 1881 : 
 Cash in the Public Account and t 
 Advance in the hands of Officer 
 ment 
 Colonial 
 
 
 . d. 
 
 24,883 7 
 44,463 15 1 
 
 i. d. 
 10,686 3 4 
 
 69,347 2 1 
 8,500 
 
 *. d. 
 
 88,633 6 5 
 
 3,512,070 7 6 
 
 s of the Govern- 
 
 Foreign 
 
 
 Worn Silver Coin in traruitu to M 
 
 Ordinary Revenue : 
 Raised by Taxation 
 Customs 
 
 elbourne Mint ... 
 
 El.470,107 18 8 
 161,115 11 8 
 1,427 3 7 
 250,974 17 3 
 58,555 17 11 
 
 1,942,181 9 1 
 
 1,357,486 1 3 
 188,502 17 2 
 
 3,488,170 7 6 
 23,900 
 
 St&nrns ... 
 
 Land Tax 
 
 Property Tax..... 
 
 Beer Duty 
 
 Receipts for Services rendered 
 Railways 
 
 884,733 7 8 
 152,516 9 6 
 77,555 8 6 
 58,486 10 5 
 
 40,740 15 5 
 34,076 8 1 
 15,133 8 5 
 94,243 13 3 
 
 Postal 
 
 Telegraphic 
 
 Judicial 
 
 Land Transfer and Deeds 
 Registry 
 
 Registration and other Fees.. 
 Marine 
 
 MiflWllflTiprm> ,,,.,,,,.,.,,,,,,,,, 
 
 Territorial Revenue : 
 Depasturing Licences, Rents, Ac. 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 184,519 3 10 
 3,983 13 4 
 
 Treasury Bills 
 r contra 
 
 Treasury Bills issued under " The 
 Act, 1880," in renewal of Bills, as pt 
 
 T 
 
 ... 
 
 jtal 
 
 
 3,600,603 12 11 
 

 
 Appendix. 
 
 K. 
 
 FUND FOB THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING MARCH 31st, 1882. 
 
 Account. 
 
 EXPENDITURE. 
 
 Permanent Appropriations : 
 Civil List 
 
 s. d. 
 26 321 17 2 
 
 . d. 
 
 JG . d. 
 
 Interest and Sinking Fund 
 
 1 500 988 12 8 
 
 
 
 Under Special Acts of the Legislature 
 
 52 102 13 5 
 
 
 
 Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation and Akaroa 
 Railway Trast 
 
 539 4 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 579 952 8 
 
 
 Annual Appropriations : 
 Class I. Legislative 
 
 
 
 
 II. Colonial Secretary 
 
 178 756 7 8 
 
 
 
 ,, III. Colonial Treasurer 
 
 32 427 17 8 
 
 
 
 IV. Minister of Justice 
 ,, V. Postmaster-General 
 
 111,612 7 
 
 227 498 18 4 
 
 
 
 ,, VI. Commissioner of Customs 
 
 
 
 
 VTI. Commissioner of Stamps 
 
 
 
 
 VIII. Minister of Education 
 
 
 
 
 IX. Minister of Native Affairs 
 
 
 
 
 X. Minister of Mines 
 
 
 
 
 XI. Minister for Public Works .: 
 
 
 
 
 XII. Minister of Defence 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,695,072 12 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 278 8 9 410 
 
 Deficiency Bills outstanding on 31st March, 1881, 
 paid off. 
 
 
 
 94,200 
 
 Treasury Bills issued under " The Financial Arrange- 
 ments Act, 1876," due 1st November, 1881, and 
 renewed, as per contra 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 talance on 31st March, 1882 : 
 Cash in the Public Account and in transitu 
 
 
 128 779 9 9 
 
 3,396,920 4 10 
 
 Advances in hands of Officers of the Govern- 
 ment 
 Colonial 
 
 
 
 
 Foreign 
 
 22,817 7 10 
 
 
 
 Worn Silver Coin in transitu to Melbourne Mint ... 
 
 49,286 10 6 
 
 72,103 18 4 
 2,800 
 
 203,683 8 1 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3,600,603 12 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 o c 2
 
 3 88 
 
 TABLE 
 
 TABLE ATTACHED TO THE COLONIAL TREASURE a's 
 The Public Debt of New 
 
 LOANS. 
 
 CIRCULATION. 
 
 Amount. When Redeemable. 
 
 UNDER ACTS OF THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT : 
 
 
 
 375,000 
 25,000 
 50,000 
 60,000 
 
 
 311 
 
 1 600,000 
 93,100 
 I 1,519,400 
 
 i 4,660,100 
 V 1,000,000 
 
 1 3,200,000 
 
 17,000 
 | 2,000,000 
 
 > 750,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 4,000,000 
 1,000,000 
 2,500,000 
 5,371,200 
 524,000 
 
 V 900,100 
 /- 280,300 
 
 On presentation 
 January, 1888 ~ 
 October, 1888 I 
 October, 1889 1 
 June, 1894 
 1 July, 1891 
 15 July, 1914 ] 
 1 November, 1915 
 15 March, 1891 
 15 June, 1891 
 16 December, 1891 
 36 years from issue 
 1 January, 1893 
 15 April, 1913 
 36 years from issue 
 31 December, 1885 
 1 July, 1910 
 15 April, 1913 
 25 June, 1881 
 15 July, 1906 (5/30) 
 36 years from issue 
 15 April, 1913 
 15 April, 1882 
 1 June, 1907 
 1 Feb., 1904 (5/30) > 
 
 1 November, 1903 
 1 Feb., 1904 (5/30) 
 15 July, 1906 (5/30) 
 15 May, 1914 
 15 December, 1881 
 15 October, 1883 
 15 October, 1913 
 15 October, 1885 
 Various 
 15 July, 1906 (5/30) 
 
 15 April, 1891 
 
 1 Feb., 1905 (5/30) 
 1 Mar., 1918 (lu/40) 
 IMar., 1918(10/40) 
 1 November, 1929 
 1 November, 1889 
 
 1 November, 1882 
 
 1 November, 1882 
 1 November, 1881 
 31 December, 1882 
 30 June, 1893 
 
 33 years from issue 
 1 July, 1886 
 Various 
 
 30 years from issue 
 60 years from issue 
 1 July, 1898 
 
 31 December, 1882 
 
 New Zealand Loan Act, 1856 j 
 
 488,000 
 600,000 
 201,800 
 236,000 
 93,900 
 
 1 
 New Zealand Loan Act 1863 
 
 Consolidated Loan Act 1867 \ 
 
 4,583,100 
 64,000 
 13,000 
 
 Defence and Other Purposes Loan Act, 1870 < 
 
 Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, J 
 1870 | 
 
 600,000 
 50,000 
 20,000 
 75,000 
 5,000 
 250,000 
 
 2,100,000 
 372,100 
 27,900 
 200,000 
 500,000 
 
 North Otago District Public Works Loan 
 Act, 1872 
 
 1,500,000 
 500,000 
 
 Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, f 
 1873 I 
 
 General Purposes Loan Act, 1873 < 
 
 12,300 
 49,500 
 20,900 
 18,500 
 6,200 
 142,600 
 500,000 
 
 I 
 
 Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 
 1874 
 
 180,000 
 
 60,000 
 23,900 
 310,100 
 326,100 
 
 New Zealand Loan Act, 1876 
 
 New Zealand Loan Act, 1877 
 
 New Zealand Consolidated Stock Act, 1877.. 
 New Zealand Loan Act, 1879 
 
 Treasury Bills- 
 Treasury Bills Extended Currency Act, 
 1873 
 
 Treasury Bills Extended Currency Act, 
 1876 
 
 Financial Arrangements Act, 1876 . 
 
 Treasury Bills Act, 1879 
 
 Treasury Bills Act, 1880 
 
 UNDER ACTS OH ORDINANCES OP THB LATE 
 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS : 
 Auckland Loan Act, 1863 
 
 31,600 
 13,500 
 18,000 
 
 77,700 
 22,800 
 116,700 
 
 Wellington Loan Act, 1866 
 
 Nelson Loan Act, 1874 . 
 
 Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway Loan 
 'Ordinance, 1860 
 
 Canterbury Loan Ordinance, 1862 
 
 Otago Loan Ordinance, 1862 
 
 ADVANCES otr SECURITY OF DEBENTURES AND 
 TREASURY BILLS : 
 Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 
 1870 
 
 300,000 
 600,000 
 
 28,365,511 
 | 800,000 
 
 Treasury Bills Act, 1879 . 
 
 Totals 
 
 
 29,166,511 
 
 
 * This rate is payable on the amount of the original
 
 L. 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF GTII JULY, 1881. 
 Zealand on 31 st March, 1881. 
 
 389 
 
 SINKING FDNDS 
 ACCHOBD. 
 
 NET 
 INDEBTEDNESS. 
 
 ANNUAL CH\ROL. 
 
 INTEREST. 
 
 Siskixi. FUND. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 >. d. 
 
 *. d. 
 
 p. cent. 
 
 t. d. 
 
 p. cent. 
 
 i. d. 
 
 . d. 
 
 
 311 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 387,812 8 11 
 
 112,187 8 4 
 
 4 
 
 20,000 
 
 2 
 
 10,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 62,696 8 6 
 
 30,403 11 6 
 
 6 
 
 5,586 
 
 2 
 
 1,862 
 
 7.448 
 
 
 
 f 6 
 
 24,400 
 
 1 
 
 4,880 
 
 29,280 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 20,000 
 
 1 
 
 5,000 
 
 2fi,000 
 
 447,426 19 3 
 
 1,071,974 9 
 
 " 
 
 12,090 
 
 2 
 
 4,030 
 
 16.120 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 14,160 
 
 2 
 
 4,720 
 
 18,880 
 
 
 
 I 6 
 
 5,634 
 
 2 
 
 1,878 
 
 7,512 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 229,155 
 
 1 
 
 45,831 
 
 274,986 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 3.200 
 
 
 ... 
 
 3,200 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 620 
 
 
 
 520 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 30,000 
 
 "i 
 
 6,000 
 
 36,000 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2,500 
 
 ... 
 
 
 2,500 
 
 
 
 4* 
 
 900 
 
 
 ... 
 
 900 
 
 1,072,034 7 9 
 
 7,788,005 12 3 
 
 4 
 < 41 
 
 3,000 
 225 It 
 
 
 
 3,000 
 225 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 12,500 u 
 
 
 
 12,600 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 105,000 
 
 "i 
 
 21,000" o o 
 
 126,000 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1J.884 
 
 
 
 11,884 
 
 
 
 *i 
 
 1,255 10 
 
 
 
 1,255 10 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 8,000 
 
 2 
 
 4,000 
 
 12,000 
 
 
 
 4i 
 
 22,600 
 
 
 ... 
 
 22,600 
 
 3,476 12 7 
 
 33,523 7 5 
 2,000,000 
 
 5 
 
 / 44 
 
 1 5 
 
 860 
 67,500 
 25,000 
 
 10* 
 
 7,000 
 
 7,850 
 67,500 
 26,000 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 492 
 
 
 
 492 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 2,476 
 836 
 
 
 
 2,475 
 836 
 
 ... 
 
 > 750,000 
 
 < 4 
 
 740 
 
 
 ... 
 
 740 
 
 
 
 1 ** 
 6 
 
 279 
 7,130 
 
 
 
 279 
 7,130 
 
 
 J 
 
 5 
 
 25,000 
 
 
 
 25,000 
 
 936 15 7 
 
 49,064 4 6 
 
 5 
 
 2,500 
 
 
 
 2,500 
 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 44 
 
 180,000 
 
 
 ... 
 
 180,000 
 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 5 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 5 
 
 125,000 
 
 
 ... 
 
 125,000 
 
 
 5,371,200 
 
 4 
 
 214,848 
 
 
 
 214,848 
 
 ... 
 
 524,000 
 
 6 
 
 26,200 
 
 
 
 26,200 
 
 
 900,100 
 
 3|d.p.d. 
 
 46,200 8 11 
 
 
 ... 
 
 46,200 8 11 
 
 9,490 19 6 
 
 22,109 6 
 
 6 
 
 1,896 
 
 2 
 
 632 
 
 2,628 
 
 6,676 7 5 
 
 6,923 12 7 
 
 8 
 
 1.080 
 
 2 
 
 270 
 
 1,350 
 
 
 18,000 
 
 7 
 
 1,260 
 
 
 
 1,260 
 
 32,291 8 
 
 45,408 19 4 
 
 6 
 
 4.H62 
 
 2 
 
 1,55 1 
 
 6,216 
 
 2,196 2 1 
 
 20,603 17 11 
 
 6 
 
 1,3(58 
 
 1 
 
 2is o o 
 
 1,598 
 
 32,305 10 1 
 
 84,394 9 11 
 
 6 
 
 7,002 
 
 1 
 
 1,167 
 
 8.1H9 
 
 2,057,241 15 1 
 
 26,308,269 4 11 
 
 
 1,327,827 18 11 
 
 
 120,052 
 
 1,447,879 13 11 
 
 
 300,000 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 600,000 
 
 Sfd.p.d. 
 
 25,664 1 3 
 
 
 
 25,664 1 3 
 
 2,057,211 15 1 
 
 27,108,269 4 11 
 
 
 1,353,492 2 
 
 
 120,052 
 
 1,473,544 2 
 
 issue, viz., 70,000. t Rate of interest varies.
 
 
 390 
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 LAND SET APART ON DEFERRED PAYMENTS IN THE WEST COAST (NORTH 
 ISLAND) LAND DISTRICT. 
 
 Open for sale on application, on Friday, the eighth day of September, 
 one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, the upset price being fixed 
 by his Excellency the Governor. 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 RURAL DEFERRED-PAYMENT SECTIONS. 
 
 Block. 
 
 Section. 
 
 Area. 
 
 Upset Price per 
 Acre. 
 
 OEO SURVEY DISTRICT. 
 
 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 . d. 
 
 I. 
 
 54 
 
 108 
 
 500 
 
 
 61 
 
 130 
 
 400 
 
 
 63 
 
 50 
 
 600 
 
 
 65 
 
 50 
 
 600 
 
 
 68 
 
 150 
 
 500 
 
 II. 
 
 3 
 
 60 
 
 500 
 
 
 15 
 
 130 
 
 500 
 
 
 19 
 
 126 
 
 500 
 
 
 23 
 
 100 
 
 500 
 
 III. 
 
 5 
 
 60 
 
 400 
 
 WAIMATE SURVEY DISTRICT. 
 
 I. 
 
 16 
 
 50 
 
 300 
 
 
 19 
 
 80 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 23 
 
 120 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 26 
 
 108 3 3 
 
 400 
 
 OPUXAKE SURVEY DISTRICT. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 7 
 
 109 
 
 400 
 
 
 10 
 
 135 
 
 500 
 
 
 13 
 
 100 
 
 600 
 
 
 16 
 
 88 
 
 500 
 
 
 19 
 
 75 
 
 500 
 
 XIV. 
 
 9 
 
 126 
 
 500 
 
 KAUPOKONUI SURVEY DISTRICT. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 28 
 
 82 3 
 
 300 
 
 
 32 
 
 50 
 
 300 
 
 To BE SOLD FOR CASH. 
 
 WAIMATE SURVEY DISTRICT. RURAL SKCTIONS. 
 
 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 I. 
 
 28 
 
 107 
 
 400 
 
 
 32 
 
 60 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 33 
 
 87 
 
 200 
 
 
 35 
 
 76 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 36 
 
 81 
 
 2 10
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Block. 
 
 Section. 
 
 Area. 
 
 Upset Price per 
 Acre. 
 
 II. 
 
 18 
 
 A. B. P. 
 
 103 
 
 s. d. 
 200 
 
 
 19 
 
 95 
 
 200 
 
 
 21 
 
 77 
 
 250 
 
 
 22 
 
 73 
 
 250 
 
 
 24 
 
 75 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 25 
 
 82 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 27 
 
 69 
 
 250 
 
 
 28 
 
 70 
 
 300 
 
 
 30 
 
 70 
 
 400 
 
 III. 
 
 26 
 
 258 
 
 300 
 
 
 27 
 
 203 
 
 300 
 
 IV. 
 
 74 
 
 50 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 76 
 
 48 2 3 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 77 
 
 48 2 3 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 79 
 
 48 2 3 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 80 
 
 41 3 
 
 300 
 
 
 82 
 
 50 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 83 
 
 60 
 
 400 
 
 
 85 
 
 112 
 
 500 
 
 
 88 
 
 50 
 
 500 
 
 
 90 
 
 59 
 
 500 
 
 
 123 
 
 70 
 
 300 
 
 
 124 
 
 44 1 12 
 
 300 
 
 
 125 
 
 40 
 
 300 
 
 
 126 
 
 70 
 
 200 
 
 
 127 
 
 41 4 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 129 
 
 50 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 130 
 
 50 
 
 2 10 
 
 Wahnate : Blocks 1., II., III., and IV., parts of the land known as the continuous 
 Native reserve. The sections front to cleared road-lines, running back into the bush. 
 The land is partly open and partly bush. 
 
 NGAIBE STTBVEY DISTRICT. KUBAL SECTIONS. 
 
 
 
 A. B. P. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 V. 
 
 73 
 
 99 
 
 150 
 
 
 75 
 
 147 
 
 150 
 
 
 77 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 
 78 
 
 158 
 
 150 
 
 
 79 
 
 158 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 81 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 
 82 
 
 98 
 
 150 
 
 
 83 
 
 102 
 
 150 
 
 
 85 
 
 167 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 86 
 
 99 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 87 
 
 99 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 90 
 
 222 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 92 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 IX. 
 
 1 
 
 147 2 36 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 2 
 
 165 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 5 
 
 197 
 
 1 15 
 
 
 7 
 
 . 165 
 
 1 15 
 
 The sections in Block V.. Ngaire, lie to the westward of the Waingongoro River, 
 and are connected with the railway-line by cleared road-lines. The bush is mainly 
 light timber, soft woods, and a few rata; and the land is well watered.
 
 392 
 
 New Zealand as it is. 
 
 Block. 
 
 Section. 
 
 Area. 
 
 Upset Price per 
 Acre. 
 
 OEO SURVEY DISTRICT. RURAL SECTIONS. 
 
 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 I. 
 
 55 
 
 90 
 
 400 
 
 
 56 
 
 75 
 
 500 
 
 
 60 
 
 112 
 
 200 
 
 
 62 
 
 100 
 
 500 
 
 
 67 
 
 80 2 24 
 
 500 
 
 
 69 
 
 158 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 71 
 
 77 
 
 500 
 
 
 72 
 
 147 
 
 200 
 
 II. 
 
 4 
 
 90 
 
 400 
 
 
 8 
 
 100 
 
 400 
 
 
 9 
 
 100 
 
 400 
 
 
 10 
 
 54 
 
 400 
 
 
 12 
 
 75 
 
 400 
 
 
 13 
 
 101 
 
 400 
 
 
 14 
 
 130 
 
 400 
 
 
 16 
 
 160 
 
 400 
 
 
 17 
 
 80 
 
 400 
 
 
 18 
 
 100 
 
 400 
 
 
 20 
 
 130 
 
 400 
 
 
 21 
 
 100 
 
 400 
 
 
 22 
 
 105 
 
 500 
 
 III. 
 
 3 
 
 66 
 
 400 
 
 
 6 
 
 60 
 
 500 
 
 Oeo : Blocks I., II., and III., all open level land, situated on both 
 sides of the coach-road, from four to nine miles south-east of Opunake. 
 
 Terms of sale : One-fourth of purchase-money to be paid at sale, and 
 the balance to the Eeceiver of Land Revenue, Patea or Hawera, within 
 one calendar month from date of sale; otherwise the deposit will be 
 forfeited, and the contract for the sale of the land thenceforth be null 
 and void. 
 
 Crown-grant fee to be paid on completion of purchase. 
 
 Should there be more than one applicant for any one section, the same 
 is put up to auction between the applicants. The above are only a few 
 examples selected for the purpose of showing the average prices for 
 Government land ruling on the West Coast of the North Island. Far 
 larger quantities than these are at the present moment open for selection. 
 These properties are all situated near the coast, and south of Mount 
 Egmont. 
 
 G1LBKKT AND K1V1M,T<J.\, LIMITED, ST. JOIIN'S 
 
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 TjDUCATIONAL List and Directory for 1886-87. 5^ 
 
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