MATERIAL PROGRESS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 1, 26 September 1907, Page 9

MATERIAL PROGRESS.

SIDE-TRACKS IN STATISTICS. Statistics are tlio refugo of the student desiring to ascertain tho jiaterial progress of a country. Columns of figures, statistical charts and diagram delineations are n®t. without ..interest to tho critical, but to the average reader of it newspaper tabulated figures are a ,soro~trial. Yet. how is it. possible to convey to the public an appreciation of tho' remarkable ' progress made by New'-Zealand during tho past fifty years, without falling back upon tho dry-as-dust. columns of figures? To-day, when there is a disposition to give full play to patriotism, it is necessary to parade a few figures to illustrate the material prosperity and progress of tho Dominion. Population. Away back.,ill 1840, according to official records,, .jlic population of tho colony totalled 2,050, and in the sixtysix years that Have rolled by the population has doubled itself no fewer than eight tin.es, as.'.will be seen from the following table.:— Year. Population. laii ~ ... 5,000 181-2 ... 10,002 1850 22,108 1858 ... ... ... 45,510 1861 ... ... ■... 99,021 .ISGG ... ■:... 204,114' ' 1877 ... ........ . ... 408.618 ' 1903 ... ..... . 832,505 , In the earlier years the doubling process was accomplished rather quickly because the figures were small and. immigrants were.. Attracted to the country. It will bo noted that when tho population was last doubled the process occupied twenty-six years, from which wo ..may assume that ,:i good many years must elapse: before the statistics show double tho population of 1003. Tho. population at the closo of last year was 908,726, showing an increase of 76.221 sinco 1903, itid on this average increase the population should exceed 1,600,000 111 about--thirty years.

In the fifty years .1807-1906) the records sliow that 741,891 babies were born ill New Zealand. Babies luwo a way of causing expense," and the .arrivals of the past fifty years must have cost tlio parents quite seven and a half millions sterling. If the Now Zealand babies of the past fifty years could bo lined up for a perambulator procession, they would, four abreast, make, a line 138, miles long, and moving at tho rate of forty a minute they, •vould tako about 310 hours to pass ,i given point. Tlie.ro were comparatively few marriages in the. past fifty years; tho ntHcial records give a total of 171,374. Tiio wedding rings for tho happy or unhappy brides, at a guinea a piece, involved an expenditure of £188,343, and the weight of the gold in the rings in. the aggregate was approximately 44,814 ounces. Trade. ■ The vital'statistics are not of the same special interest- as those relating to- trade and interchange. In these figures wo sco what use tlio peoplo ihavo made of their time and opportunities. It may bo claimcd for the 7ew Zealanders that th'oy aro an iniustrious lot at all events. Tho commerce of tho country shows marvellous expansion. In 1856, the exports of New Zealand produco wero valued at £318,433; by 1861 the valuo was quadrupled, for it then stood at ,£1,339,241; two years later—that is, in 1863 —tho valuo was more than doubled, for the exports for that year amounted to £3,342,896. Twenty years later, in 1883, the exports were doubled, tho figures then , being £6,855,244,' and twenty yCars later still, in 1903, the valuo was doubled once more, for tho exports for tlic.t year amounted to £14,838,192.' But this does not give a fair idea of what has been done. Talcing quinquennial periods, it will bo scon that in tho past twonty years the progress has been phenomenal, thus:— Five years. ■ Exports. £ 1882-6 ... ... 33,029,673 ! 1887-91 ... ... 41,677,072 1892-96 ... ... 44,575,9.18 ' 1897-01 57,466,704 : 1902-6 ... ' '... 76,252,454 The exports of 1902-6 wero moro than doublo those of 18S2-6, and if tho same rato of oxpar.sion is maintained the exports of the lustrum 1922-6 should approximats to £152,000,000. With respect to tho imports, up to about 1887, tho values each year, with tow: exceptions, wero greater than the exports of New Zealand produce, but in tlio past ten years tlio margin of difference has been much in favour of the exports. Taking the wliolo fifty years 1857-1906, the exports of. Now Zealand produce; aggregated in value £351,423,463, while the imports for tho ' same period amounted to £351,142,537, the': difference between tho two amounts being £280,926. Wool is, of coiirse, our staple product, and the oxports of wool in the past fifty years brought us in £147,033,750, equal to nearly half the total valuo of tho exports. Of gold wo exported 17,710,493 ouuccs, valued at £69,501,565,,, and these two ifcms account for about four-sevouths of the totai exports. Fronsn Meat, In the last twenty-five years frozen moat and dairy .produco have been important factors, and it- is by the development of these- industries that -we havo been ablo .to so largely increaso tho volumo of our exports in recent years. In all, we havo exported 2-3,12!!,!)72cwt. of frozen meat in the period 1882-lSfiO;" and, so far as the IJritis.il Umpire is concerned, Now-Zea-land 'may be regarded as tlio meat depot. Assuming that tlio whole of the frozen meat exported was mutton, then tlio total weight is equivalent- to 56,24;'),9-14 sheep, or nearly three times the. number we have in our paddocks to-day. If we had'them on the roads, cioso packed and marching two abreast, they would stretch away for about Ifj.OCO miles, and if; placed aboard tho insulated chambers' of steamers. '100,000 carcases in each vessel, 562 steamers of the si::c of the N<-«" . ftoaiaiul Shipping Company's "Tuiukina." would be wanted for transport purposes. Suttar awl Cheese, " Butter and ehecfo have iipired as exports of tho colony for <ho past fi.'t.v years, but it is only wi.'.hin the last fifteen yearu that the develop-

niont has been noticeable. Taking tho exports m quinquennial periods, and covering tho past twenty-five years, tho quantities and 1 values illustrate tile growth and importance of tho industry :—

BUTTER, CHEESE. Five years, cwt £. cwt . lri7 9t isn'S?i! 363,625 43,033 ,z^?s lR . 5 92>972 167 - W 372 ' M6 :!!?, ? 6 - 302,167 1,242,244 291464 SBG 945 lS? aS» 3,001,120 422*977 895!907 1902-06 ... 1,4)9,44 6,873,121 353,820 1,090,196

2,730,852 12,078,082 1,283,723 3,068,790 The quantity of butter exported doubled during each lustrum, which i» a remarkably good record. To miko the quantity of butter exported during the past'twenty-live Years, it has IPquired approximately 658,174,704 gallons of milk, or enough o/ the lacteal fluid to fill more than thirtyfour reservoirs of the capacitv of the Wamui-o-Mata. Savings of the People. New /iealanders aro not only an industrious people, but tliev aro also provident. Tho Post Office .Savings mn.t is the test, of the saving instinct, and smco tho establishment of tho Bank m 1567 tho amount of tho doposits has doubled no fp.wcr than six times. At the closo of December, 1867, the deposits, inclusive of interest, totalled £71,197; in tho following year the suiii was more than doubled, for it amounted to £163.518; three years later—in - IS7l—tho amount stood at £357,654, and by tho close of 18T4 it touched. £770,836. There was.an interval of eleven years, and at tho ond of ISBS tho deposits aggregated £1,638,036, or considerably more than doublo the figures of 1874. It took but eight years to see another' 100 per -cent, increase, for in 1893 tho deposits amounted to £•3,241,998, and nino years later —in 1902—tho figures reached £6,553,787. But stated thus tho figures do not show the great accumulations of savings that have taken place during past fifteen years. Takini; tho figures for the past twenty-five "years, it ;a possible, to get an idea of the growth, thus :— Year. Deposits. £ 1881. 1.232.758 1886 ... - .... 1,615,979 ■ 1891 2,695,447 ' 1896 4,311,635 1901 ...' ... 6,350.013 1900 . ... ... 9,953,265 In tho past fifteen ■ years tho do posits have increased more than 350 per cent. The deposits, inclusive of interest, at tho closo of last year were I sufficient to give every member of tho European population nearly , £11. The growth of the savings may ho shown by taking tho number ;of accounts and tho average amount -per account as under:— "■Average No. of jper acct. Year. Accounts. ;£ s. d. 1881 ... 51.008 ... 124 3 4 1896 ' ...: '- 74371 ... J2l 11 8 1891 ... 104,467 ... ; 2o 16 0 1896 ... . 147,758 ... 'fl9 3. 7 ' 1901, :.. 212,436 ... 29 17 10 19C6 ... 298,746 ... 3§ 6 4 The deposits of the private banks tell tho same excellent story of expansion. In 1881 such deposits totalled £9,069,377, increasing to £10,579,711 in 18S6, 'to' £14,490,827 in 1896, and to £22,202,639 in 1906. Taking tho two lots of deposits together the total is £32,155,904, equal to just about half tho National Debt. The Public Debt.

And that reminds us that New Zealanders aro not lacking in courago when it comes' to " running into debt." Tlio Public Debt (gross) on March 31, ISSS, was a little more than £32,000,000, and on March 31 this year it amounted to over £04,000,000, that is to say tho Public Debt has neon doubled in twenty-two years, and at the presont rate of increase it will bo doubled,again at the end of thirtytwo years. Besides the Public Dobt, there is the debt of tho local bodies totalling about £10,000,000, .and the registered mortgages amounting to £59,000,000, to say nothing of Bank advances, promissory notes, debentures, and other forms of debt. But taking, tho Public Debt, tho local bodies debt and tho registered mortgages, .we havo a total of £133,000,000, equal to about £146 per head for overy man, woman and child. If this amount could bo-massed in the metal it would weigh over 700 tons. We appear to bo ablo to carry this with-a degree of ease that is very gratifying to tho politicians who are anxious to udd to tho weight each year.

CAPTAIN COOK'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ZEALAND. Tho following description of New Zealand is a literal transcript from Captain Cook's journal :— "Mention is likewise mado.in the Chart of the appearance or aspcct of tho face of tho Country. With respect to Tovy Poenammu (South Island), it is for tho most part very Mountainous, and to all appearance a barren Country. Tho people in Queen Charlotto's Sound —those that came off to us from under the Snowy Mountain, and the -fivo we saw south-west of Cape Saunders—wero all tho inhabitants, or signs of inhabitants, we 'saw upon tho wholo island; but most part of tho Sea Coast of Aeheinomouivo (North Island), cxcept the south-west side, is well inhabited;' and although it is a hilly Mountainous Country, yet the very Hills and Mountains aro many of them covered with wood, and tho Soil of the Plains and Valleys appear'd to bo very rich ana fertile, and such as wo had an opportunity to examine wo found to bo so, and not very much encumbered with woods.

"It was the Opinion of evory body on- board that all sorts of European grain, fruit,■ Plants, etc., would thrive here; in short, was this Country settled by an industrious people they would very soon be supplied not only with the necessaries, but many of the ' Luxuries of Life. Tlio Sea, Bays, and Rivers abound with a great Variety of Excellent Fish, the most of them unknown in England, besides Lobsters, which wero allowed by every one W1 bo the best they ever had eat. Oysters and many other sorts of shell ftsh nil Excellent in their kind. Sea and Water Fowls of all sorts are, however, in no great plenty; those known in Europe are Ducks. Shags, Gannets, and Gulls, all of which were Eat by us, and found exceeding good; indeed, hardly anything caiiio Amiss to us that eou'd be Eat by 11, in

"So far as I am able to judge of tlie Genius of these people it docs not appear to mo to l:e at nil difficult for strangers to form a settlement in this Countrythey seem to bo too much i'ividod among thomsolvos to unite in opposition, bv v.-liich means, and hind aiid Gentle usage, the Colonists would be able to form strong parties among them."