New Zealand in evolution, industrial, economic and political; . ds who hadbeen plundering the country and the natives had almostall fled. The worst, at any rate, had disappeared, whilethe better had become decent citizens. After a short interregnum of chaos—Lieutenant Short-land, Administrator, 1842-3 ; Captain Fitzroy, Governor,1843-5—another strong man came into office, CaptainGeorge Grey, the greatest pro-consul of the colonialempire. He found a legacy of despair. Wakefieldsscheme of colonisation was already ruined by the removalof its foundations—the steady supply of land for disposalat th
New Zealand in evolution, industrial, economic and political; . ds who hadbeen plundering the country and the natives had almostall fled. The worst, at any rate, had disappeared, whilethe better had become decent citizens. After a short interregnum of chaos—Lieutenant Short-land, Administrator, 1842-3 ; Captain Fitzroy, Governor,1843-5—another strong man came into office, CaptainGeorge Grey, the greatest pro-consul of the colonialempire. He found a legacy of despair. Wakefieldsscheme of colonisation was already ruined by the removalof its foundations—the steady supply of land for disposalat the sufficient price. What with the Treaty of Waitangiand the penury of the Government, there was, to allintents and purposes, no land in New Zealand at all. In1841 the colonial revenue, chiefly from land sales, was-^37,000; the following year land yielded ?;^i 1,000, andin 1843 only ;^i,6oo. Greys advent was a magic touch. Backed by a decentmilitary force, he put a summary end to two native wars,and then proceeded to sort out the land tangles. He was i. THE LAND FOR THE PEOPLE 177 altogether better situated than his predecessor, but hewas also a man of infinitely better calibre, and under himthe colony made a real advance. The large areas ofland which he purchased from the Maori and madeavailable for settlement were now a decided attraction tomen who had been reluctant to go out into the wildswhile the natives still remained arrogant in the face ofofficial weakness. Moreover, this land was cheaper thanthe sufficient price land of the impoverished brought stock over from New South Walesand took them afield. In Otago—the Scots province which was founded in1848—the price of land was fixed at £2, but it had to bereduced before the pioneers could be induced to go farfrom Dunedin. In Canterbury it was -^3. But in bothof these provinces lands which had been held by thenatives and did not come within the endowment of thesettlement were sold cheaper. Thus
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnewzealandeconomicco
