The Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4218, 2 September 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1876.

Thk growth of trade between New Zealand and Australia has proceeded so silently and continuously that the magnitude which it has already attained has escaped general observation. The steamers which ply between New Zealand and Melbourne and Sydney reach our ports crammed with merchandise, and depart almost as heavily laden; while it is not an uncommon thing for freight to be left behind simply because the steamer by which it was intended to bo conveyed had notjroom to hold it. The crowds of Victorian commercial travellers who descend upon the Colony im a perennial stream ore likewise an indication of the lively business intercourse subsisting between the Colonies ; but circumstances such as these, although significant enough to the eye of tbo expert, do not come within the scope of the public’s vision. The hold which Victoria has obtained upon the Otago trade has also rather obscured the rapid development of ihjb trade with other Australian Colonies, and many persons wore perhaps surprised to

lea»t eacMktly that Messrs M^Mbcean, Bt.ypKvico.OD, and Co. had made arrangements for bringing Tasmania into their line of steam c.o;nmnnication with New Zealand,' Vfototkv, however, still does the lion's share of tho business, her transaotioaj with New Zealand exceeding in value those of all the other Australian Colonies put together. The subjoined table, showing the value of the imports and exports of New Zealand from aud to the colonies mentioned during the yeajr 1875 proves this fact conclusively :

•w , Imports from Exports to New South Wales ... £M9,UI £215,105 Victoria, 1,678.070 1,124,657 Queensland 10,9*4 8.404 S Australia ... 50,871 8,216 W. Australia 18129 , Tasmania ... 148,813 3,483 The exports to Victoria, however, included L802;617 worth of gold, transmitted to Melbourne for shipment to England er for coinage; so that what may be termed the exports proper to that Colony were of the value of £322,040 only, thus exhibiting a larger balance against us than the transactions with New South Wales show. Summing up the figures, wo get a total of £2,855,988 as the value of the imports from Australia, and, omitting the gold, £560,548 as the value of the exports to that country. These figures are a long way from being satisfactory. The bulk of the goods brought from Melbourne are imports from England, which could just as well be shipped direct to New Zealand, and would be sc shipped in a healthy state of commerce. The present system means that the consumer has to pay not only the freight charges from Home, with the New Zealand traders’ charges added, but also the commission of the Melbourne merchant, through whose bauds the goods ought never to pass. Probably this matter will adjust itself by-and-bye, and New Zealand will learn to dispense with the Victorian middleman. In the meantime, the large shipments of merchandise to and from .New Zealand have created a flourishing carrying trade, and must have put enormous gains into the pockets of the owners of the intercolonial steamers. Very little of the profit comes here, however. The steamers which ply between Melbourne and New Zealand belong to Victoria; while the Auckland and Sydney steamers are likewise, we believe, Australian owned. One solitary steamer, plying between Dunedin and Sydney, appears to represent New Zealand’s share in the intercolonial carrying trade, so far as steamers are concerned. The one-sidedness of the present arrangement is so obvious that the projectors of the Australian and

New Zealand Steam Shipping Company (Limited) have endeavored to remedy it and to enlist the sympathies of the New Zealand mercantile community by placing three New Zealand gentlemen upon their directory; and it is perfectly certain that if new arrangements are instituted, this Cblony will not be satisfied unless it icoeives a substantial share of the profit*, to the making of which it so materially contributes. This, it must be plain, ottly be secured by tha people of New Zeafoqd having a large ai^tae'to the proprietory eft any new company Shat may be established. The directors of the present undertaking are men of standing; its capital apparently sufficient for tno purpose; and the enterprise bears the aspect of perfect good faith. Its prospect of pecuniary success is purely a matter for investors to ascertain for themselves, ond with which we have no concern whatever. But what \ve do regret is, that if changes are t5 be made, they should not result in the headquarters of the Melbourne trade, at least, being fixed at Dunedin. Large as the intercolonial trade now is, -it has scarcely emerged from its infancy. Australia will soon count its millions of inhabitants ; and the 400,000 persons who now form the total population of New Zealand will ere many years have rolled away double or treble their number. The natural resources of either country, too, are but imperfectly known, and still less developed. The rich colonics of Queensland and South Australia have barely found a footing in New Zealand marts; and our productions are almost unknown in theirs. There is a great commercial future before Australia and New Zealand, if they will only diligently cultivate business relations with each other ; and there is an immense advantage to be gained by getting possession of the vantage ground at the ontset. If Dunedin makes a bold effort now to become the head quarters of the Victorian and South Australian carrying trade, it will stand a good chance of remaining here, and the prosperity of Dunedin will grow with its growth; but if the head quarters of the carrying trade once become settled at Melbourne, it will bo very hard indeed to shift them elsewhere. We fully recognise that New Zealand cannot stand alone in this matter, and that any attempt to do sa would probably end in defeat. There must be a division of profits between the Colonies; but looking at the returns of imports and exports above quoted, New Zealand, by contributing the bulk of the profits, has acquired a fair claim to be made the head-quarters of the steamers, and Dunedin is the only port in the Middle Island where they could be fixed. The Sydney trade, for the most part, goes to Auckland, And its channel is not likely to be disturbed just yet, although the transactions between the Middle Island and New South Wales are by no means contemptible. Such as they are, they would naturally converge on Dunedin in tho event of that port being made the centre from which the carrying operations of Victoria and South Australia with New Zealand were conducted.