The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1886. The Putltion of the Colony.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1331, 2 September 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1886. The Putltion of the Colony.

At the annual general meeting of the Canterbuiy Chamber of Commerce, held at Christchurch on Tuesday afternoon, the retiring President, Mr G. G, Stead, read a report dealing exhaustively with the trade and position of the colony. On such a subject few men can speak more authoritatively than Mr Stead, and a brief summanry of his review may not be out of place. In dealing with the effect of the depression upon New Zealand he does not consider that we have retrogressed during the last five years. It is true that we have not advanced by “ leaps and bounds ” —the period having been what Mr Stead terms one of comparative “unprogression ” —still, he contends, we have not only made some progress but have actually increased our national wealth, and he proceeds to quote figures in proof of his statement. Commencing with population the census returns show that the total number of persons in the colony, exclusive of Maoris, was in 1881,482,019. The census for 1886 shows a total of 578,283, an increase of 96,264 on the former quinquennial period, or within a fraction of 20 per cent. On referring to the sheep returns it is found that a

considerable increase is taking place in our flocks, the numbers being as follow:—On 31st May, 1880,11,530,623 ; on 31st May, ISSS, 14,546,801, an increase of 3,016,178, being equal to 26.16 per cent. In Canterbury during the same period the percentage of increase was 34.07. This is eminently satisfactory, and it bears a most favorable comparison with the progress made by our neighbors, the Australasian colonies, as well as with that of every other country. During the four years ending ISS4 the sheep of Australia and Tasmania increased by barely 2 per cent. In 1885 the flocks of the United States showed a considerable decrease on the number for the previous year, and in the ten years ending 1884 the countries fof Europe also showed a light falling off. “ The other countries of importance are the Argentine and Uruguay Republics. In the Argentine Confederation there were 61,000,000

sheep in 1880, 69,000,000 in 1883, and they are supposed to have increased to 73.000. in ISBS, but there are no official returns to that date. This increase, however, vast as it appears, is only some 19.67 per cent, for the five years, as compared with 26.16 in New Zealand. In Uruguay there were 18.000. sheep in 1884, and the number had fallen to 14,536,000 in ISB4, or a decrease of about 3|< millions in the ten years. It is thus seen that, with the exception of the Argentine Republic, New Zealand is the only country in the world that is increasing its flocks in any marked degree.” The agricultural statistics show that the area of land under cultivation is being steadily extended, the acreage for 1885 beihg over six and a half millions, an increase of nearly 40 per cent during the preceding four years. This is very striking when compared with the returns of 1885 for England, which show a total area under cultivation of every description, including permanent pasture, of only 24# million acres, and

the comparative magnitude of operations in this country becomes manifest when it is noted that the ratio of cultivation in New Zealand is xi. 65 acres per head of population as against barely one acre per head in England. A reference to the returns from our coal mines also reveals a rapid and sure progress, year by year, in this important industry. Another cheering feature in our statistical position is the rapid development of the exports of manufactures and minor products. In 1880 the value of the exports of these was £255,192 ; in 1885, £1,360,057, an increase of £1,104,865. As Mi

Head, remarks an increase of over 400 ® )er cent within five years in articles of :omparatively minor importance is hard 1 o parallel in the history of commerce. 1 Mr Stead goes on to say : “ The pro- j *ress of the merchant shipping of a J :ountry is often accepted as a test and < measure of its commercial importance 1 and development, as, ceietis paribus, ■ that country is usually most prosperous ; and progressive which has the largest dealings with the rest of the world. It must be evident that a command of the means of economical transportation of commodities from its own to other ports will, other things being equal, give the country possessing such means a decided advantage in the race for wealth” and it is therefore gratifying to learn that with the solitary exception of Great Britain, New Zealand owns the largest steam fleet per capita of any country in the world. In considering the present position of the colony, Mr Stead says there can be no doubt that our progress has been much retarded by the low prices ruling for our staple products in the markets of the world, and we have not made that headway which our previous experience taught us to look for as a matter of course. With a foreign debt of 31 millions, he considers that until there is certainty of a substantial rise in value of our chi if exports it is absolutely necessary that our legislators should taper off our future borrowing, or we may find “that we have moulded a concrete debt difficult to liquidate.” He believes that foremost in the future troubles of New Zealand will be the question of further borrowing as “there are masses in this country who, reckless of the after consequences, demand the expenditure of borrowed money simply that labor may be paid for at a fictitious value.” With ordinary prudence and self denial, however, he considers that we would soon put our finances on a solid footing and he quotes figures exhaustively in this connection. With regard to our future, Mr Stead expresses himself in terms of hope, and in conclusion says : —“ If, basing our anticipations upon our thirty-five years experience, we were paraphrasing what Macaulay wrote half a century ago —to prophesy that in another thirtyfive years New Zealand will have a population of five millions better fed, clad, lodged, and educated than the average well-to-do classes of to-day, that scientific cultivation, rich as a flower garden, will cover a great portion of these islands; that our debt, vast as it seems to us now, will appear to our children a trifling encumbrance; we might be deemed visionary. But when we consider what this young colony has already achieved, and bear in mind that it is inhabited by a tirelessly progressive people, who have the courage and endurance, the ambition and the determination, to succeed—for these are the qualities characteristic of emigrants —why should we not anticipate that progress at least equal to that of the past is destined to continue in the future?”