_CONCLUSION._
At the commencement of this narrative, I expressed my opinion that
persons fond of outdoor amusements, and with moderate incomes, would
get on very well in New Zealand. Four or five hundred a year is thought
little of at home, but a gentleman out here with such an income, would
be deemed a man of very considerable importance, and if he felt an
inclination for politics, would have little difficulty in securing a
seat in the House of Representatives.
These are the kind of men the colony wants--men who would take up
politics for the good of their adopted country, and not for the sake of
an honorarium which the country cannot afford to pay.
New Zealand has now passed the pioneer stage, and, like a newly built
and furnished hotel, is prepared to receive any amount of visitors,
but they must bring their cheque books with them. She has all the
necessaries of ordinary civilised life, plenty of labour, cities lit
with gas and the electric light, churches, houses furnished with
bath-rooms and hot and cold water pipes, clubs, hotels, railways,
telephones, roads, carriages, tramways, steamships, yachts, billiard
rooms, and her big dock in Auckland, which Mr. Froude laughs at in
"Oceana."
Now I cannot resist saying a word or two about this part of his book.
Mr. Froude seems annoyed with the citizens of Auckland for the
improvements they are carrying out, particularly with the dock, and
predicts that New Zealand will never grow into a new nation thus.
I don't for a moment presume to dispute Mr. Froude's judgment with
regard to the baneful effect likely to be produced by a big dock on
a young colony; it is a subject I have never studied, and I have no
intention of pitting my opinion against his. Still, _humanum est
errare_, and Mr. Froude, though an historian, is human, and in this
particular instance, most colonials in the province of Auckland think
mistaken as well, as he certainly is with regard to the harbour and
the dimensions of the dock. Referring to them, he says: "Public works
form the excuse for the borrowing, and there are works enough and to
spare in progress. They are laying out a harbour, cutting down half
a hillside in the process, suited for the ambitious Auckland that is
to be, but ten times larger than there is present need of. They are
excavating the biggest graving dock in the world (the _Great Eastern_
would float in it with ease), preparing for the fleets, which are to
make Auckland their headquarters."
I am utterly at a loss to know what Mr. Froude means by saying they
are laying out a harbour, as Auckland harbour has been laid out by
nature, and man has had no hand in it. A part of the foreshore has
certainly been reclaimed within the last three or four years, and
on the reclaimed land now stands the Auckland railway terminus, the
Auckland Freezing Company's premises, some large flour mills, an
hotel, and some other buildings. To fill in this reclamation, they
utilised a precipitous hill, over-shadowing the main road from Parnell
to Auckland, which was slipping, and in a highly dangerous condition;
but how can that be called "laying out a harbour"? The hill had to be
removed, as part actually slipped one morning, carried away a building,
and fell across the road, nearly burying an omnibus and its contents.
Does Mr. Froude blame the Harbour Board for converting this dangerous
hillside into valuable building land?
With regard to dimensions, the new Auckland dock, "The Calliope" (which
Mr. Froude calls the biggest in the world), is 500 feet long. There
are two docks, I believe, at Birkenhead, each 750 feet long; two at
Plymouth, each 644 feet long; one now in course of construction in
Sydney, N.S.W., 630 feet long; one at Carleton, N.B., 630 feet long;
and one at Liverpool, 501 feet long. The _Great Eastern_ steamship is
one of the two vessels afloat that will _not fit_ in the Calliope dock.
So much for Mr. Froude's facts about the dimensions of the dock. Now a
word about the wisdom of having made it.
Auckland harbour is, without question, one of the best natural
harbours in the universe. Its depth is so great that ships can enter
at any state of the tide. A channel a mile wide, and so perfectly
clear of obstacles that the services of the pilot are often dispensed
with, leads to its entrance, which is snugly sheltered by outlying
islands. Its coaling facilities are magnificent, the supply of coal
inexhaustible, and its position with regard to the groups of islands
forming the eastern portion of the continent of Australasia, must
render it, I should think, a desirable point for a naval station. All
it required to make it perfect was a dock of sufficient dimensions to
take in any of Her Majesty's ships of war, and hence the big dock. If
Auckland is ever utilised as a naval station, immense benefit must
accrue to the town. A man of war or two, with six or seven hundred
hands apiece, means a good many hundred pounds' worth of business a
week to the tradesmen of Auckland. But Mr. Froude says this sort of
thing will never make New Zealand a nation. He thinks the people should
go and live in the country, raise crops, breed sheep and cattle, and
not bother about towns and big docks. Surely he forgets that the farmer
must have a market, and that his prosperity depends on the demand for
his produce, and therefore in a great measure on the prosperity of the
towns.
A few more words, and I will have said my say. I trust the reader
will pardon all my shortcomings, and will bear in mind that I have
only endeavoured to describe my own experiences in the colony, my
own impression concerning matters that have come under my notice,
and some opinions I have gathered from old colonials. I know nothing
of agricultural pursuits, but believe that the kind of farming most
suitable to this part of the colony is sheep-farming, my principal
reasons for so thinking being that many of the Kaiparians appear to
do well at it, and that a Matakohe resident, our local J.P., carries
off nearly every year two or three prizes for sheep at the Annual
Show held in Auckland, and last year the first prize for Shropshires.
Grapes do splendidly in this district, and I think wine-making will one
day become a leading industry. The olive also grows remarkably well,
and I fancy I see another industry sticking out in that direction.
Our mineral resources have never been tapped, hough there are many
indications of hidden wealth.
The colony is undoubtedly passing through a period of depression (in
which it is by no means singular), and is suffering as well from too
much government, both local and general. It however still possesses
plenty of vitality, and only wants time, and men earnest for its good,
at the head of affairs, to nurse it into a vigorous and flourishing
condition.
At the present, indeed, it offers little inducement to professional
men, to endeavour to pursue their callings, but what better time, when
land is so cheap, could be selected by gentlemen with small fixed
incomes to come out, and purchase properties. I should strongly advise
family men to bring if possible their own servants with them, and to
get an agreement signed immediately on reaching Auckland, binding them,
on consideration of the passage money, to remain a certain time in
their service at certain wages. I cannot help thinking that there are
many at home with moderate incomes who would do far better out here,
and who could become important personages in New Zealand if they chose
to take up public matters. They must, however, as I mentioned before,
be people who like a free and easy life, untrammelled by stiff rules of
society. The climate of the North Island is said to be all that can be
desired for those whom a tropical life has unsuited to endure the harsh
winds, the fogs, and the cold of England; and although I have not
travelled the colony sufficiently to feel competent to pass an opinion
as to which are the most desirable localities, still I do not think I
can be wrong in mentioning as a summer or autumn retreat the Northern
Kaipara.
THE END.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
Transcriber's Notes
Page 19: Page 20: Page 29: changed, Manakan to Manukau
Page 76: Page 83: Page 102: Page 140: Page 197: changed, Nikan to Nikau
Page 112: changed, lessons to lessens