NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALASIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2054, 4 February 1889, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALASIA.

Thar" New -Zeahnd Times " has the followng^— " We recimmend a careful peroial of volume Ii of the Victorian Year Be ok f< V 1887 8, compiled by H, H.

Hayter, the well-known Government s^«tatiffc-tif Viotorlft, whloh we have received by the latest math To ordinary readers masses of figures are their bite notr-j-a thlsg to be avoided. It indeed reqaires a skifnl hand to make figures Interesting. Bab K^eTitnrerto Bay that Hayter's Year Book figuret as fftsolnatlng as fiotloo. The elaborate "ey stem of comparison adopted by Hajter shows at a glanca the reatrpDaitions cocupied by the various ooloplw ofjthe Anstr&laslan group, and the 'most casual reader will soon grasp the

fact that NewZaaland occupies a positi

equal io most respects to the sister aplanles. In a brief article we have not r > ropn> to enter into minute details,, but will gather a few of the leading items to show the comparison between yourselves snd ; the rest of Aja'stralaata, Tlrat", as to oar progress, we stand second la Australasia for the number of vessels - we own. We are third In our number of poet offices open. . We are first by. a large m{jo!Jl£y In th^nnmber of letters received and f despatoht d "per haad, the figures standing thus ;— For 1886— New Zealand, 67 89; Western Aas'ralia, 4969; New Sooth. Wales, 45J; 73 ; VlotorU, 39 03. We have' W post office ta every 96 square miles,

Victoria has one to every .61, Tasmania next with 'otte to every 105, We Me.f'Utib inthe length cf. tele••^l'iiph JltiesJ open' Io 1886, end third In the ratio of telegraphs to are* and population, and In the number of telegram* rJervhead. We are second Ib reference '' to the length of railways, while as to

the cost of them per mite ,we are fourth

on the Hat for cheapness, ours coating ;s7sea, ai against Victrria'd £13.714, New nß»Qfeh'-tWaies' £12,741, and Tasmania's £BQBLper mile. Wltn regard to our productive powers we oan hold our own In most thtdgV. with any of the colonies. The jiean average produce per acre of wheat

for the past eleven years Is— New Z island 26 00 bushels; Tasmania, 18 18; Vic-*wia,-12-02; Netf South Wales, 14 81. In oats, barley, and potatoes, we head the

list .by a l»rge|peroentage

Weueellß 77

lb cf ingar per head per annum, the highest cpnsarnpHon m the world ; South Australia corning next with 102*11 Ib, and Great Britain with only 68*99. b. With oar lpxnrles, we act with moderator*, our tobscdo J coDEumpt!on bbihg 1"75 Ib per! head, ss against New South Wales, 35 3 ; Qaeferiirand. 349; Western Australia, 3.26 ; and Victoria; 293 lb. Oar con■nuiptlon of wine per bead Is o*27gal , aa •g»ln?t Western AnstraHa with Us 2 J522*!, •nd'^Vft'tbila; l*o4gaf. Oar ' coDeomption of spirits per head fs only 0*92 pal., as against {l:85?el *In Qieensland, l*39_'»L fo' Kew' Sonth Wa^es, and l'l2gtl In Victoria. We are the second largest exporters of wool m Australasia, raising nearly donble the quantity of eny otber oolony with the exception of New Sonth^ Wales. With regard to crime In pF^fertfbo to popnlatloD, Western. AnstraUi, Qaeepslscd, New Sooth Wiles and vf^orfa',' h»ve far more criminals than we have, and In the nnmbsr of arrests and convfotf Jns for varlons offjncea, we stand th^'iowalst In the seven polonies with the exceptidii of Sonth Anstralla. A osrefnl perusal of the few figorss we have room to qnote will tend to show that, notwlth•tanding the many disparaging remarks made about New Zealand, It Is able to bold Its own ..agslnst any. of Its sister oolcnJes, and It matt be remembered that the »by& figures. principally refer to the ststla^lca, of tlie year 1886, We fully believe ibat when the retarns are completed f fqrlßß9 it will be showD that we hay^e. made rapid strides m coming to the fionilka the leading colony of the Southern ■eai. ■•"" ' -■'„ ■