THE DOMINION'S WEALTH

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2228, 14 August 1914, Page 4

THE DOMINION'S WEALTH

N POSITION AND PROSPECTS. fc. ■■ • ' • ■'■ , ' Speaking at ;the annual meeting of / shareholders of the National Bank of New ■ Zealand, held iu Loadon on July 7,. Mr. J; H. S B. Coates, general manager, who was present, in his spoech, had the following! tg say. about Nw Zoalaud:— The success of a, financial institution ; was closely bound, up, with the progress of the. country in whioh it carried on its i< operations, so he brought them to a wider '■ view,when hesaid that the.ir progress was but a reflex of thfi prosperous conditions that had prevailed in the Dominion. How marked «nd permanent hod been the pro. - gress and prosperity of New Zealand the t following statistics would show, In 1894 \ their white'population, was .688,000; it 1 was now 1,100,000. The capital value of i land and improvemerits was then ,£122,000,1 000; it was now ,£341,000.000. The occupied holdings of land, then 45,000, were now about 75,000. -The area under cultivation was then 10,000,000'" acres; it ..was now 17,000,000 acres; and the total agea . in occupation was now 40,000,000 "acres. 'Imr , ports were then under and , 'how exceeded .£22,250,000; while exports, r then .€9,000,000, were now about i 000. The cash accumulations of the peo- , pie in joint stock and in savings bank, , ' which were under ,£18,000,000 in 1594, now exceeded ,£43,000,000. Beyond .question, i this all-round expansion in the Dorain- ■ ion's wealth, and production had ! healthily stimulated by a Government policy of .'acquiring laud for close settlc- • mont and financially assisting the settlers ■ to bring the land into production, a policy Reflected iu their chief items of export—namelyy wool, frozen meat, l and dairy produce. Nor had their general industries lagged. behind. Tho value of manufactures * and produce—excluding wool, frozen meat, and dairy produce-' bad increased. from .£7,500.000 in IE9G, to ,£20.00(1:000 in 1911. It could not be supposed that in New Zealand thev were yet Hearing high-water mark. There were large areas of country, more especially in tho Nortli Island; still, nnoccimied. and C'lich of that occupied was cnrinbie of further improvement. , be a rashmroi w]io would now rndravoiir to siiess at Hio. Dominion's nnmi.il wealth nroducHfm whep all U« unoenni" ,l ! a«fl waste la"ds were sett.l«) *■** inMlWnHv and"' fnllv iW«H fr i'ndne*rv wM fn "w>iK--and rr.infnll. ,Tl>» foil, of N«w 7»nli>"d' W»'»'>!«!,. fl)o'(-l!r"n(-p fptrnv>vflfo, tile ■ Minflll' Hi" nnWllll^'' ,,, 'l* , W-.-: jr<,«(t n n,l BnorrrofJ,. ,a-nA viri'o. Thn V**l<{- ,' hn<\ nv?»i"<Vi«i survnlv. fb° -mifWk wns , novpr l'ri»ht?r. !ind thp nosition never more sure.... ■■ • ; '..:■■