WOOL AND WHEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1396, 1 November 1884, Page 2

WOOL AND WHEAT.

To the Editor. Sir—Will the present low prises for wool and wheat continue to prevail 1 This question involves a matter of such vast importance to the whole of these colonies, that a few remarks bearing upon it, by an old settler, may not be considered out of place, especially at the present time, when the public journals have informed us that for the past financial year the Customs revenue shows a falling off of over L 120.000, notwithstanding that there has been a material increase of population during that period. When the present low prices for wool and wheat are duly considered, in relation to the enormous public and private debts of New Zealand, the whole matter begins to put on a rather serious aspect; and it will be admitted that the more light which can be thrown upon the subject the better, so that every settler may be placed in a position to consider whether there are breakers ahead of him or not. 1 I firmly believe, after much careful consideration of the whole subject, that 1 prices, both for wool and grain, are 1 more likely to fall yet lower than the re- ' verse ; although I hope my views may 1 prove to be erroneous. It is time only 1 which will show whether they are or not, In order to enable your readers to take 1 a thoroughly comprehensive view of the > subject, I must ask them to consider some important events which have taken place ■ during the past forty years. About the > y-ac 1845, the terrible famine sorely '• afflicted the Irish people, and depo- ' pulated that country to the extent of > nearly 2,000,000. It was not death alone ‘ which deprived that country of so many of its inhabitants, although that vast | numbers perished by famine and disease . is beyond alt but Ireland’s deep I distress afforded an opportunity for the c United States and Canada to secure that - which they so much desired to acquire at that time —a large increase of population. - The stream of immigrants across the Atlantic may have been checked to some 1 extent, for a time ; notably during the great civil war gwhich raged with such fury between the North and South some twenty years since. But whatever causes may n have been in operation, from time to time, to temporarily arrest the throng of people r from the Old World to the one thing is pretty certain, that something like s 15.000,000 of human beings have passed - over the Atlantic during the last forty s years, say, on an average 350,000 per 2 annum. It is very well .inown that * during some years the number of people ’ who landed in America reached some s seven or eight hundred thousand. One ’ million aid a Half of Irish are said to have landed in the United e the years 1845-54. The next event of importance which occurred to cause a flow of population from the Old World to the~ New was the of the wondsrfully rich goldfields ofJCalifornia. These important discoveries anna led to similar discoveries in p Australia atoufc tho y oar ISSI, vvhen a % great rusdj of people set in to Melbourne, t In a few years the goldfields began to dej dine, both in America and Australia, and y the amount of gold produced in both o countries has steadily diinin shed during t the past twenty years, a The great decline in the yield of gold a naturally led to the rapid settlement of a the land, and tens of thousands of men t were not slow to perceive that the land y was very good ; and proceeded to carve } out homesteads for themselves in America, 0 Australia, and Sew Zealand. Many persons may not be aware that a Australia contains an area about thirty 1 times that of New Zealand, and that the . whole of North America has a surface a about three times that of Australia. a Enormous areas, larger than all the ■ kingdoms of Europe, have been explored; and to a very great extent occupied for i pasioral and agricultural pursuits in r Australia, North and South America, and a in New Zealand during the past forty years, and the vast improvements in ) steam navigation, effected during that . time, have also player an important part a in opening up the countries named and [ in the development of their resources, t The steam plough, the steam thresher, , and reapers and binders have all very 3 materially aided to increase the produc- , tion and to reduce the price of grain; and , with, I believe, three lines of railway t completed across the American Continent , opening up States, several of them as large as first-class European Kingdoms, it , is no wonder that the prices for both of the commodities referred to are low, and ( I fear that the limit of the low prices is , yet reached. We have seen how a great flood of , human beings were influenced to cross , the sea during the past forty years ; just . at a time when much wanted, so far as concerned Great Britain. It is therefore . no matter for surprise that vast areas of 1 land have been explored and occupied by enterprising men, and that the supply of both wool and grain has been in excess of the demand for years, and that the value of both has steadily fallen. It has been within the past forty years that nearly the whole railway systems of Europe, America, India, the Australian colonies, and the Cape of Good Hope have been inaugurated. European Russia has not only bean opened up by railways, but steamers have been placed upon her larger rivers; and no doubt the emancipation of serfdom has led to greater individual exertion, and has tende ■ very materially to a largely increased production of wheat, in a country with a population of, say, 75,000,000. The moat important point yet remains for consideration. What prospect is there of any improvement in the market values of the commodities referred to I i The silver lining” to the cloud is the frozen meat industry. Like every other branch of industry it will have to make its j way, and it is doing it right well. I be- i lieve that in a few years it will be enor mously developed. Millions of John I Bull’s children, who have had to be con- t tent hitherto with very little meat, will i be enabled to indulge more frequently at ; sixpence per pound. e But for wool I can see no prospect of 1 any increased .value ; irather, I regret to a say, tho reverse during the remainder of i the present century. The frozen meat c industry, which will unques ionably prove r of Immense benefit to the whole of the a people of these colonies, will so stimulate A the breeding of sheep, not only in Aua- n tralasia, but also in South America, I: the Cape and elsewhere, that a ii yet larger production of wool will u undoubtedly be the result. And E it is only reasonable to suppose that the ii present lor prices for wheat will lead to ft large areas, hitherto developed greatly to b the production of cereals, bong with fi drawn from the cultivation of such crops B for tho moro remunerative pursuit of in

sheep breeding. The withdrawals of land from the cultivation of cereals will no doubt cause the grain market to improve after a time, but I fear that the progress of any material improvement in prices so far as the markets of Europe are concerned, will be slow, having due regard to the enormous areas of agricultural land now being opened up in the Old and New World by railways. Some further views I contemplated communicating to you on the subject I must hold over for another letter, as 1 feel that I have already tre-ipassed upon your space at unreasonable length.—l am, etc., J. B. Wulums. Mount Scmers.