The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4136, 24 October 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1884.

Wiikn dealing with the statistics of the colonies generally, we said those relating to New Zealand were not so .satisfactory as could bo wished, so in this artide we purpose examining the results of the year, and comparing them with those of other years instead of with our neighbors. In the year 1883 our increase by immigration was three times what it was in ISB2, showing conclusively that when the tide sets in for the colonies, through the great prosperity of one or two of them, the immigration is distributed among them. Five years ago our gain from immigration was equal _ to what it was last year, while the total gain of the colonies was only half of what it was last year, so that from this we hoc wo did not do as well as we should have done. Our birth rate is steadily falling, in 1878 it was 42, in 1882 it Avas 37, while last year it was only 3G. Our death rate is also increasing, but very slowly, and the colony must still be looked upon as the healthiest country in the world in which to live. Steadily downwards is the course of our marriage rate, in 1878 it was over 8, in 1882 it was OYcr 7, and in 1883 it was under seven, and at trio bottom of all the colonies. During the five years our public debt has increased by ten millions, and contrary to the general opinion we now owe much more per head than we did then, at the former period it stood at £52 per head, while now it stands at £58. During those five years our population has increased by twenty-five per cent., a highly satisfactory increase, but when we turn to the figures dealing with trade, our disappointment is great. Our imports in 1883 were less than in 1878 by three quarters of a million, while our exports increased by only one million. In other words, our total trade in 1878 was £3o per head as againet

only £28 in ISS3, so that we get by taking population ami trade together tins strange paradox—our population has increased by twenty-five per cent., while our trade during , the same period has decreased by twenty per cent. The paradox is made still more puzzling when we turn to the agricultural returns, where we learn that with a very much increased area under wheat, the average yield has increased from 23 to 26 bushels per acre. Oats show a slight falling off in area but an increased yield, the average having risen from 30 to 3-') bushels per acre. Turning next to live stock, we find that horses and cattle have considerably increased, but not in proportion to the increase which has taken place in the population, but Avhere the shoe pinches, is the fact, that in those five years our sheep have only increased one quarter of a million or less than two per cent., while Queensland in the same period, notwithstanding serious droughtsand other troubles to which we are not subjected increased by 110 per cent. Summarising the results, we find that while we have been increasing in population our resources have not been developed in proportion, practically we are supporting a much larger population on a but very slightly increased national income, and tlie result is depression in parts, and a feeling everywhere that we are not progressing as we ought. The question, of course, at once suggests itself, what is'it that is handicapping us in the race ? The question is easy to ask but difficult to answer, and a satisfactory solution of the problem would be worth more to the colony than a score of acts of Parliament. We have tried the system of stiff protective duties, though nominally imposed for revenue purposes, and they have failed to give us prosperity. We raise less revenue per head than wo did five years ngo, and yet wo seem to feel it more, and in that respect we stand alone as each of tho other colonies has increased its revenue per head considerably. We work our railways as we work our tariff at the highest rates, and just as the tariff cannot screw money out of us by increasing the duties, so our railways have utterly failed to pay their interest when worked at rates for most classes of goods from thirty to fifty per cent higher than those charged in tho other colonies. Ono cause of our present depression is the fact that the inflated prices of land, on which far too heavy advances have been made by individuals and companies, has tended to raise tho rates of interest charged to those engaging in enterprises in which outside capital is necessary, and thus the desirable margin has been lost, and what might havo been a success lias been converted into a dismal failure. As a colony we have aided and abetted in raising the rates of interest on boiTowed money, by our refusing to let well alone. Every law we pass is amended almost as soon as passed, and thus that most sensitive of all things—capital is frightened and scared. While practically New South Wales has had a land bill in force for twenty years, while tho Victorian Act is more than ten years old, we have been eternally tinkering - our land acts, till security there is none, and ono never can say with certainty what the law on the matter will be a year hence. For that fickleness we pay the price. Elsewhere legislation is slow, sure, and thorough. In Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia Parliament sits longer, but a score of bills is reckoned a wonderful achievement to pass into law while wo manage four score in a shorter session. We arc cursed with centralism such as is known noAvhere else, and in no other colony if in force could it do tho harm that it Avorks here. These are some of the causes which have tended to handicap us in tho race, but there

are others that could bo named. Our Governments have encouraged fads of every conceivable character, and this has tended to disorganise and damage trade. The loss a Government interferes with trade the better ; leave it alone, and leave it to the care of private enterprise are safe rules. We are eager to grow the olive, the orange, tobacco, rush into the silk industry, promote traffic in the South Seas where trade there is none, while all the time wo neglect or discard the industries in our midst. We have not space to enter at present fully into this question, but we will only touch on one point, that referring to the growth of fruit. Wo arc anxious to rush into the cultivation of the orange which for some time to come could only be looked upon in the light of an experiment, while wo import thousands of pounds' worth of apples and jams, and at the sumo time we know the fruits of which the jams are composed and the apples that are imported can be and arc grown here but not in sufficient quantities. That which we have proved we disenrd for that which we know nothing of, and this is typical of us as a people, wo arc lacking in stability, and by tho aid of those who ought to know better we are led away after fads instead of persevering and increasing in those arts and industries which wo have successfully established.