The Evening Star THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1872.

Evening Star, Issue 2907, 13 June 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1872.

Occasionally subjects crop up in the Imperial Parliament which show that, notwithstanding the vast advance in social and political science made during the past thirty years, there is a leaning to interfering with industry by a certain class of legislators. We do not suppose such men as Mr Muntz would go so far as to prescribe the cost of a man’s coat, or whether the poor should dress in lindsay woolsey or broad cloth. He might perhaps be content to let them do as they chose, so long as his coat did not cost him an extravagant price and there was a chance of getting a new one when needed. But we see no difference in principle between dictating what the inhabitants of a country shall wear and what they shall or shall not eat. Mr Muntz, no doubt actuated by the best intentions, drew the attention of the First Lord of the Treasury to the excessive price of meat in the United Kingdom, and to the “ serious reductions in the stocks of sheep and cattle,” and suggested as a remedy that Her Majesty should be advised to issue “ a Royal Proclamation (in accordance with former precedents) enjoining all loyal subjects to abstain from the use of veal and lamb until such time as the stocks of cattle and sheep shall have regained their former numbers.” We need hardly say that such a proposition was net entertained by the Government. Mr Gladstone had less faith in the loyalty of the people, where the luxury of the table is concerned, than Mr Muntz. Such a proposition might do in Athens under a Lyourgus, or in ancient Rome ; but sumptuary laws in England long remained a dead letter, and the contempt with which they were regarded fully justified Mr Gladstone’s reply. He said :

He was obliged to give a decided answer in the negative to his hou. friend, admitting at the same time that he had a very considerable sympathy with the spirit of the question. It was not possible for Her Majesty’s Government with any advantage to atte ;=pt to issue a Royal Proclamation in the atnre of a sumptuary law, which would not be obeyed, ami would have a tendency to bring authority into disrepute rather than to promote the obj' ct of his boo. friend.— (Hear, hear.) To repress gross and needless waste, and contribute as far as possible to the provision of an abundant supply of animal food for the people, was a matter of the greatest importance to the country, and he wishful there were any legitimate means by which the purposes of his hon. friend could be promoted, but he was afraid that to exercise public authority on the question would not be becoming or expedient.

The subject is however interesting to the Australian Colonies for it points to the advantages likely to accrue to the grazing interests through the opening up and extension of a market for preserved meats. The high price of provisions has naturally drawn attention to the causes and probable means of supply, and the Times has published not only an able review of an article which appeared in the Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society, written by Mr H. S. Thompson, of Kirby Hall, Yorkshire, but lias supplemented it by an article condensing the information into readable space. So intimately is the subject connected with our industrial and commercial future, that we have no doubt those portions of that article bearing upon the prospects of our pastoral interest will be read with pleasure. The Times considers the rise in price is not owing to dry seasons or murrain, but to increased consumption, and continues : In considering a subject of this sort, three questions naturally arise : —What have we actually got ? what do wc want that we have not got ? and how is that want to be supplied? The calculations made by Mr S. IT. Thompson, of Kirby Hall, Yorkshire, bring us by a succession of steps, which we shall venture on abbreviating, to some highly practical results. Every year, it seems, our farmers and graziers now send to market some 2,337,000 cattle, calves included ; 13,200,000 sheep and lambs, and 4,137,000 pigs, That, at least, was the product, according to careful estimate, of the year 1871, and if wc convert these animals into their weight in dead meat, we shall find that just 1,206,478 tons of that description of food was supplied for public consumption from the farms of the United Kingdom. But there are the imports from foreign countries to be added? Certainly, thous'li we fancy most people will be surprised to find how little they count for. All the cattle, sheep, and pigs brought to us from abroad in 1871, though the imports of the year were the largest ever known, produced but 81,578 tons of dead meat in aid of the home stock. However, the account is not yet quite closed, and here we come in sight of a land of promise. Besides the imports of live cattle, there were imports of provisions, fresh, salted, or otherwise preserved ; and while the supplies of the former kind exhibit very little elasHcity even under the stimulous of strong demand, those of the latter are already multiplying abundantly. We must here put a few figures, respecting the meat supply in the years 1870 and 1871, again before the public, for the tale they tell is most important :

It will be aeen that the total resources o 1871 were in excess of those of 1870 by up wards of 80,000 tons. But whence did tha increase come ? Almost half of it came in the shape of “imported provisions”—that is to say, from Australia ; one-third was due to improved home production, and just onesixth, and no more, arose from imports of live cattle. The conclusion is plain If we are to augment our meat supply to any good purpose, we must turn to British pastures and Australian sheep runs.

After a few observations, showing that if disease could be so far checked as to save but two per cent, of the sheep and cattle annually dying from it, the result would be an addition equal to the live stock imported, the Times says ; Before long, we trust, Australia will tell for more iu this reckoning than at present, but, as things now stand, a good or bad grazing season iu this country affects the meat market m >re sensibly than any fluctuation in the imports of live cattle from the Continent. . . • The reader has now seen precisely what we have got, and the most promising plan for getting more ; but there still remains the inquiry—what more do we want '! That is a question not to be easily answered, though one of the calculations arising from the statistics we have given may as well be mentioned. If the whole amount of our meat supply, home and foreign together, is distributed over the entire population of the country, it will give, wc are told, just about “ seven imperial stone per head” a'l round. Now, a stone of mentis eight pounds, so that every man, woman, and cluld in the kingdom would have 5011). of meat in the year, or a little over one pound a week all through from Christmas to Christmas. We need not add that the distribution is by no means of this uniform character, hut that is the view which may be given of the actual extent of the supply, and its proportion to a natural or probable demand. ihat this demand will grow, as it has grown and is still growing, we can hardly doubt; nor can anything furnish more conclusive evidence as to the increasing prosperity of all classes of the poop e. It would he curious to learn what the consumption of meat per head was in 1832; but that “ butcher's meat ” has been brought within reach of class after class is beyond all dispute. Meat can hardly now be described as “unknown” to any class, and this enormous rise in the demand, be it observed, is in spite of a prodigious rise iu price The additional thousands who now eat mutton more or less frequently eat it at twice the price it would have cost them forty years since. Even twenty years ago meat was to be bought at sixpence a pound, and it is not very long since the price asked by butchers provoked a kind of popular riot, like the bread riots of less exacting generations. However, with our own pastures, easily improvable, and with Australia in reserve, we may contemplate the future ■without despair, and rejoice unconditionally at that increase of consumption which tells so unmistakably of the ever-extending distribution of nationalj wealth and popular comfort.

To Correspond ents. — The letter of Mr Campbell and that of William M'Lennan, will appear to-raorrow. The Suez Mail.—Owing to the continued interruption of telegraphic communication with Auckland, we are still without the mail news. Princess Theatre—The drama of “ Will and the Way” was repeated last night to a moderate attendance. To-night “ Not worth a Struggle” will be produced. Political. The Southland Times understands that there will shortly be a vacancy in the Provincial Council, consequent on the departure of the representative of the Waihopai District, Mr John Blacklock, who sails for America in the Nebraska. Supreme Court. —The next sitting of the Supreme Court in Dunedin for the despatch of criminal and civil business is fixed for Monday, the Ist July, at ten o’clack a.in. It is announced that civil cases will not be called on before Tuesday, the ninth of July. Owners of New Zealand Land in Russia. —Mr Gledhill stated in the Taranaki Provincial Council the other day that there are owners of laud in the Province residing in Russia, and he objected to any tax on the land until these owners were apprised of it first. This is food for reflection. The Circus. —On account of the extreme inclemency of the weather there was no performance at the Circus last evening. Tins evening is announced as an extra night, devoted to Caledonian performances, Rob Roy, &c. To morrow evening Messrs Towers and Wills take their benefit, and on Saturday there is to be a mid-day performance as well as the one in the evening. The Right Sort of Immigrants.— Under this heading a correspondent writes to the Wellington Independent; —I note in your issue of the 15th ult., an extract from the Waranr/n Chronicle as follows A farmer residing within a hundred miles of Muddy Creek, and whose age is 56, states that he has an uncle living who is 0!) years of age ; his father is 94, and is still hair and hearty ; his aunt died at the advanced age of 104 ; he has fourteen children slill living, of whom six are married, and nineteen grandchildren. We wou'd draw the attention of the ‘Government of Action’ to the above facts, and suggest the advisability of importing a few more of his family. Not much need for assisted immigration then !’’ I would ask you which has most assisted the population of a colony, the farmer above mentioned or Mr , who lives within a hundred miles of Raugitikci, and who has 10 children living, 7 of whom are married (one alone of whom has IS children), 65 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren (his own age is 85), making a total of nearly 100 people, many of whom are in a fair way to augment that number.

The Norman Romance.— The Norman romance case is far from being played out, and has cropped up again with a new feature. Jt appears that by the publicity given to it by the Star it has found its way into the Sydney Morning Herald, by which means a new claimant to the propeity has been stirred up, In the shape of an eldest son. The former was simply the husband of a daughter by an alleged former wife, this person claims to be heir-at-law; he therefore takes precedence in the field. From accounts to hand w r e learn that he has been employed as a clerk in some of the offices of the railway department of New South Wales,

and occupies a good position. He, as soon as acquainted with the state of affairs, sought legal assistance in Sydney, and by that aid has given authority to Mr E. Bennett, attorney and barrister of Auckland, to prove his claim, and take steps to secure the property prior to iiis visit by the next vessel from Sydney, when he intends to apply for letters of administration The plot thickens. Mrs Norman will oppose bis application, and as it will take mouths to obtain the necessary proofs, the estate will suffer in law costs. Meanwhile, however, we hear that Mr Norman, who was always believed to be in a good position, did not die possessed only of the United Service Hotel, but other property is now alleged to belong to him, not only in Auckland, but also iu New South Wales.

Owing to the inclement weather the Dunedin Hide Club match, which was to have taken place on Saturday next, is postponed until the following Saturday, 22nd inst. It will be seen by advertisement that arrangements have been made to hold a series of Evangelical Services. The first meeting will be held in Knox Church on Monday, 17th inst.

1870. 1871. Tons. Tons. From home-bred animals 1,240,603 . .. 1,266,478 From imported animals 66,556 .. 81,578 Prom imported provisions ... ... 57,743 ., 99,125 Total meat supply 1,364,902 .. . 1,447,181