The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4277, 10 November 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1876.

To the politician and trader alike the Customs returns furnish a highly useful subject of study. In a young Colony, however, they do not afford that unerring clue to social prosperity which they do at Home, because in a Colony, by the gradual adop-

j tion of new industries, many products that used to pay import duties are manufactured in the country and go into consumption without payment of duty. Then, an enterprising Colony finds it needful, now and again, to incur a considerable expenditure of borrowed money forthe construction of public works having for their end the rapid develop meut of natural resources ; while, further, a Colony which is compelled, in its earlier years, to rely s mainly upon a few .staple products as articles of export is apt to suffer sharply from a decline in the price of those commodities. All these circumstances are jusc now affecting our Customs revenue, and the Eeriodical returns of the department must e interpreted accordingly, ' ur local industries are developing rapidly ; the Government has been expending large sums upon public works; and the market prices of wool and wheat are materially lower than they were a year or two ago. The latest published returns are for the three months ending 30th September last, or the first quarter of the financial year 1876-7. In one sesse, these returns are discouraging; hut persons accustomed to read between the lines will draw from them abundance of hope. The Customs receipts for tho quarter amounted to £303,430, whereas in tho Sep tember quarter of 1875 the sum of £312,472 was collected, thus showing a decrease of about £9,000. These figures, moreover, only indicate a part of the decline which redly took place, because the population of the Colony materially increased during the twelve months, which should, eastern paAhm, have caused a corresponding increase in the Customs revenue. Ihe causes we have mentioned prevent disappointment. A satisfactory feature in the returns is the fact that the “luxuries of the poor” seem to be consumed as freely as ever. The duties on tea, for example, yielded £17,853 in place of £16,374; on sugar and molasses, £29,323, instead of £26,400; and on tea and coffee, £2,456; whereas in the September quarter of 1875, £1,952 only was derived from this source. The poor man, too, was evidently not “robbed of his [English] beer ” by an unscrupulous Government, for the duties paid upon this liquid in its various forms amounted to £6,132, being £1,211 more than in the September quarter of the preceding year; and how much “ Colonial ” was consumed into the bargain official records do not say—-but the brewers, we fancy, could tell a tale if they liked Tobacco also shows a rise from £29,570 to £32,051 ; but the duties collected on splits, on the other hand, declined from £99,099 to £93,841, which, however objectionable from a revenue point of view, will not be disliked by the Good Templars. Where the revenue principally suffered was in the ad valorem duties, which fell from £93,227 to £78,446; and the inference to be drawn from these figures is the gratifying one that the over importations of draperies and similar merchandise, which ones threatened to create embarrassment in the commercial world, have been succeeded by more judicious trading in this respect; and the fact that speculative importers are recovering their senses is further illustrated by the duties collected on “goods by weight” having sunk from £18,677 to £16,035. The true intejpretatation of these two items is that trade is getting into a sounder condition than it was a shorttimeago ; and, for this reason, the figures are encouraging instead of depressing. The Colonial Treasurer, indeed, will find himself considerably at fault in his estimate of the Customs revenue for the year if things go on in the present fashion, since he calculated that the receipts for 1876-7 would be £14,000 in excess of last year’s, whereas the first quarter’s returns are those of a yearly revenue £36,000 less in amount than that collected ia 1876-6. It may happen, how ever, that the deficiency will be made up, either partially or wholly, during the remaining quarters ; but it must, nevertheless, not be overlooked in examining the financial position of the Colony. The decline in the Customs receipts finds its complement, of course, iu the tables of imports and exports for the quarter. The comparison with the returns for the September quarter, 1875, stands thus : September September Quarter, Quarter, 1875. 1876. Imports £2,041,237 £1,767,207 Exports 767,891 581,997 Tho import trade of Dunedin declined from £553,618 to £436,437, while its exports sank from £137,447 to £117,470. Auckland was a proportionately heavy sufferer, its imports, instead of figuring at £482,207, being valued at £371,752 only, while its export list shows goods to the value of £110,571 instead of £175,563. Lyttelton followed in the wake of its neighbors, though the falling off is less marked- The goods imported at Lyttelton during the last quarter were of the value of £322,084 or £33,179 less than in the same quarter of 1875. Wellington, on the other hand, exhibits a credit balance on her last quarter’s export list, which shows goods to the value of £353,982, while the goods imported in the corresponding quarter of 1875 were valued at £343,040. Her export list is rather puzzling, since it only records the shipment of goods worth £3,217 which seems very little merchandise for the Empire City ” to give in exchange for its £368,982 of imports. Possibly they conduct business on novel principles in that great political emporium. Amongst the minor ports, Invercargill and the Bluff (which arc bracketted together) take a respectable place, and both their import and export sheets exhibit an advance upon those for the September quarter of 1875. The imports for last quarter were £51,611 compared with £43,940, and the exports £14,309 compared with £8,020. In construing all these figures, however, the same caution must be observed as is needful in examining the Customs returns ; and it must not be concluded that the quarterly returns furnish an accurate guide to what the trade for the whole year will be; because, in ordinary seasons, trade is accustomed to vary considerably in the different quarters, and, of course, any unusual occurrence like the discovery of a new goldfield may give a strong and unexpected impetus to the Importer’s operations. The tables place in a conspicuous light the immense importance of pur trade with Great Britain in comparison of that done' with other foreign countries. The imports from Great Britain during last quarter amounted in value to £1,202,087, and tho exports thence at £307,244, although the wool season had not arrived. Victoria occupies second place amongst our foreign customers, having sold us goods to the value of £302,346, and taking merchandise worth £151,669 in return. Her Australian rival iu the New Zealand market-New South Wales—is, however, becoming more formidable every year. The imports from the latter Colony, in the tables under notice, figure at the respectable sum of £160,910; 'and the exports to New South Wales at £86,282 ; ana furthermore, while the Victorian returns show heavy declines in both imports and exports, the New South Wales' show a slight advance in the imports. Turning to more distant countries, it is almost humiliating, after the glowing visions of richly-laden argosies voyaging over the blue Pacific laden with Brother Jonathan’s kuiokuacks and Zealandia’s wool, which have so dazzled our eyes, to find that in the September'quarter of the present year the imports from the United States amounted to £S">,os2 in value and the exports thence to £osß—a trade not, indeed, to be scoffed at and stifled, bat rather carefully nursed in the hope of its growing to fine proportions, yet still very different to

what was dxpeoted, and with a balance clec-.do.ily-the wrong way. Were Congress but sensible enough to remove the protective duties from wool, which now obstruct the free entrance of that commodity into American ports, the trade of New Zealand with, the United States would expand'enor- ? 30 [ Although our export list contains f Ol fcy different articl3s, five only are of real moment; and of; these wool stands preeiLi icnfc’y the chief. The September quarter is a very unfavorable one forjtvool’ the bulk ot womb is shipped earlier in the year ; but evo i m those returns it figures for £91,299. Gold to the value of £296,468 was exported ; grain of various kinds to the value of £52.618; kauri gum, worth £12,794, » S i if ! pe(i: and ta^ow »- valued at. £67,/04. All these are raw products; manufactured goods, indeed, scarcely occupy a place in the list as yet, but will doubtless do so in good time.