NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 370, 9 April 1908, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The statistician has been at work finding out how much the people earn in New Zealand. He was able to ascertain definitely bv the census that in 1906 there weie 227,083 male and 63,189 female wage earners. The women favour domestic occupations to the extent of 27,596, leaving a large majority in the category of professional or industrial pursuits. Agricultural, pastoral, mineral, and other primary producers are 63,624, in number, while industrial occupations give scope for 85,290 wageearners. It was not so easy to ascertain the value of production, but it was estimated that the aggregate earnings in 1906 were £24,2x1,000 (males £21,539,000, females ,£2,671,000). The average individual earnings were estimated at ,£94.8 per annum in the case of men, and .£42.3 for women. These wage-earners were responsible for a production valued at £41,153,769, pastoral, dairy, and poultry produce easily leading, its estimated value being £ 15,88 2,132. Agricultural produce of other descriptions, with a value of £6,163,895, was beaten by the output from our factories, aggregating £6,636,120, while our mines gave up £3,871,991 to the store of marketable commodities, and fisheries and forests, with other wealth-producing methods, added £l, 761,251 to the total. It was estimated that the building trades and geueral labour were responsible for creating values aggregating £6,838,380. I

A PakiJamkntakv Buff Book lias been issued by the Imperial Government, containing a statistical abstract for the British Kmpire in each year from 1892 to 1906. The area of the British Kmpire is 11,323,000 square miles. At the census of 1881 the total population of the British Kmpire was 303,696,000, in 1891 it was 345,352,000, in 1901 it was 385,346,000. The total value of the foreign and inter-Iraperial trade of the British Kmpire in 1892 was /,'926,572,000, of which 75,3 was foreign and 24.7 inter-imperial. In 1902 the total trade was of which 74.1 was foreign and 25.9 inter-imperial. In 1905 the total trade amounted t0^1,366,675,000, of which 74.1 was foreign and 25.9 inter-Imperial. In 1906 the total trade was ,£1,526,018,000, of which 74 was foreign and 26 interImperial.