Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

Manawatu Herald, 29 May 1894, Page 3

Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

..... ♦ At Itoe* quarterly meeting of the above Chamber held on Friday Mr r J ames. M«Lellan, the President, gave an excellent address and famished the undermentioned particulars : — AHNUAL BETURNB. . The official annual returns for the year ending. March 81st, 1894, are now to 'hand. The exports for the quarter reach a total of £4,006,378, againrt.£B,6a6,99o for the corresponding period of 1898. This, however, must be put down to- its proper cause? Yiz;j the delay in wool shipments*'-' The increase in this article alone -last quarter is £550,000, and this :i»:-ftccounted for by the heavy shortage- to shipping ■< in December last. The total value of exports, not including specie or parcels post, for the North and South Islands is for the year 1 ending March, 1894, £9,043,848, as against £9,098,599 for the previous year. If we include specie- and- parcels post, our total exports are £9,858,678 for the year just ended, against £9,217,596 for the year ending March, 1898, show* ing an- increase 0f £186,082. Th« principal items of increase in our exports are :— Wool. £286,000; gold, £49,000;- meats, £15,000; butter and chee3o, £17,000; rabbit skins; £18,000 ; beans and pea*, £11,000 ; sausage »kiu3, £10,000 ; timber, £10,000; tallow. £10,000. The principal decreased items are : — Grain, £877,000; kauri gum, ' £68,000-; hemp, £27,800 ; hides and leathW, £14,000; potatoes, £21,000; grass -seed, £15,000; other produce, £86,000. WOOL. There has been an increase in the weight exported. The total quantify for tlw- period ending March -»1< 1894; pounds, agaimt 117,884,601:p0und3f0r the preceding year,* or nearly 8 million pounds weight of an increase^' These show^^relwe of J25,000 in preserve^jrtelt|iH: hams anU bacon, and salt b^f'ba^thef krerease in frozen meaflfc|fs,(HX). -"-^l,' "■ : - '. . •» Chtese lias Nlenpff to the extent of £16,000," ihe other hanl . bj^iieteaflefr ... nearly £32,000. This ia fairly satisfactory as regdE3Kßttl|w, But our Australian fiieriM ;^6poarrtd" be making better progrell^wittiNiairy products than we in Sew Zealand with, our better facilities. . . grain. The exports for- the last year were :—^yheat, 2,058,265 . bushels ; 0afc5, ..'. '1.806,4 11 .bushels; , total, 8,8641676 bushels; against, wheat, 2,018,883 bushels; oats, 8,047,829 bushels i total, 6,060,212 bushels for the -previous . year. . This U an enormous decrease. The price of wheat alto fell about sixpence per buihe£? Oats 1 improved, however, in price ftboui ifd par bushel on the average. -'■'1'..; «vh. .-■■.■■ Thtf decrease here is from 8984 torn in I^9B to 8253 tons in 1894, a. drog of 749 tons, and ' an export loss o£ji)»oul £50,008 in value, prices being «e4ueed ~sonie 35 to 40 per cent.--' ' -• ■-■• ■■•■, • '• ! ?'' ' HEMP. ■■"'■■ Th\§,h^ia also fallen ra quantity and price. Jjaat year's shipments: were 10,416 tons compared with ll,»9l|tQ»a for 1898, 15,505 tons in 1892 *ad 18,004 tons in 1891. This great fWKkg I ' off is much to be regrettoff, iti hemp is a large labour-em-ployilut.prpdvict,* bat with the low priceß^uifrig Jbt^^aniHa,. siaal and silver w|j||)jUl^anfl§r' -Jook- for any improvement -*nd the exports for the coibJm year will De Btl^ further it dueed?^commend to the shippi ng C( mpanieft- the- consideration uf a further reduction in freights, which »re now somewhat in excess of those oharged for manilla. It is to be hopetnflirt the- bonus offered by the Governmenjt tpp an improved machine'.^nii"' result in lessening the cost^bt^ftjiufacture. It ia evident from vie Jjgurea and prices here quotejUh/tjthe .XQlunie of qur exportsjtf tM»nM^ last year's values , wouli4»Wi«faow»a~ greaU'r agg*e* gate increase. Notwithstanding thia^yett will be glad to learn that tht exports- from Wellington during the period ending /M»rcb, ; 1894, are greater than those of the jrwDuTTTOrY , ; Foi^fch^iirjjfe time w recent years Wellington heads the list. The North Island as a whole shows a •light naSreaae, "wnile ~the South ZffiP exhibits a falling off.