Hill. — Technical and Scientific Training. 155 



a large measure is a reflex of early precepts, and although 

 nationality is something, intercourse is something, latitude is 

 something, the fact remains that " we are what we are " as 

 the outcome of our early associations, whether viewed phy- 

 sically, mentally, or morally. Circumstance has no master, 

 and these conditions that operate in self - preservation, 

 whether as a (State) community or an individual, naturally 

 tend to control all our subsequent activities, no matter in 

 what direction our energies may be directed. 



Thus the modern system of commercial intercourse is 

 making the world more and more interdependent — the parts 

 upon the whole and the whole upon the parts — but in what? 

 Formerly a nation was self-contained and self-sustaining. 

 Every country was occupied by its own people, who produced 

 what was needed for their own sustenance and support. The 

 power of self-reliance was a powerful factor in developing 

 aspects of national character that proved of inestimable value 

 so soon as the desire for intercourse and discovery began to 

 manifest itself. The convenience of position has determined 

 the growth of the commercial cities of the world ; and, as 

 the growth of new centres of industry proceeds, so will the 

 present lines of influence become modified. Every city, 

 primarily, is dependent in its growth and general well-being 

 upon its position in relation to means of sustenance and 

 prosperity ; and it follows that towns in the colonies will 

 grow according to the capacity of a district to sustain their 

 growth by the products of the soil, either in their utilisation 

 or in the fostering of industries. A new country may possess 

 advantages in the way of producing certain articles, and still 

 the best interests of that country may be served by fostering 

 for a time the generalisation rather than the specialisation 

 of production. It is certain that the tea-plant will flourish to 

 perfection in this North Island of ours, and so also will 

 the mulberry, the particular food of the silkworm ; but no one 

 that I am aware has ventured to suggest the cultivation of the 

 tea-plant for economic purposes, and certainly it would be 

 a difficult matter to expect the success of the silk industry 

 as against countries like Japan, and China, and even France. 



From what is here stated it will be apparent that the ques- 

 tion as to what industry should be fostered and what disre- 

 garded is of supreme importance to the future of our country. 

 And what is of importance to us in the consideration of ques- 

 tions bearing upon production is of equal importance to others 

 when viewed from their particular standpoint. Adaptation is 

 an attribute of success in any undertaking, either of the indi- 

 vidual or the State ; nor should we be led astray by the success 

 that one country achieves in a certain direction and think that 

 what one country has achieved can be equally well achieved 



