The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1158, 3 November 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1869.

We some time since received a copy of a formidable-looking volume of statistics, issued from the Government Printing Office at "Wellington, which should have been made tbe subject of comment ere ! this, had not our time and space been fully occupied during tbe interval with matters of more pressing moment. Moreover, productions of this nature possess few features of attraction, and ar e apt to be pushed aside in favor of subjects leSB dry and formal. The book before us portends to be "StatisticalTables in anticipation of the Annual' Volume of Statistics of New Zealand,* for the year 1868," and a glance at its' interminable columns of figures would be quite enough to deter most persons from going deeper into it than the title page, except, perhaps, a few enthusiastic statisticians and political economists. To the majority of people such publications, unless id a condensed form, are a dead letter, notwithstanding the fact that there is no individual or class in the community that might not with much advantage study at least those pages bearing more directly upon his or their particular trade or pursuit. Indeed, the principle

that success in either industrial or mercantile undertakings* of any magnitude depends, in these days of cheap and rapid transit, in a great measure upon a perfect knowledge of the requirements of distant localities with reference thereto, is becoming,. daily more widely l acknowledged, and more generally acted upon. To no section of our populace are such compilations more valuable than to our agricultural settlers — the producers of those necessaries of life in universal consumption — and yet, as a rule, they have been the last to admit their utility, and to act on the information therein conveyed. In the ! old country, the yeoman long regarded i minute enquiries as to the probable yield of his fields as an impertinent and unwarrantable interference with his private affairs, and .the knowledge .thereof, by others than himself, as certain to be detrimental to his interests. He therefore had small scruples in falsifying the statements he made.. Never dreaming of i deriving . benefit from, the: ; aggregate results himself/ .'he cared little how he misled others--^provided the deception had a tendency to raise the price of wheat— and preferred to plod sturdily and stupidly" on in the footsteps of his equally conservative progenitors. Sense has, however, ultimately mastered selfishness, and the English, husbandman has come to recognise his interests as inseparably associated with those of the nation at larger ? The consequence is^that throughout almost the entire civilised world> agricultural" statistics are made up with remarkable precision and minuter ness, to the jnutual benefit of .. producer and consumer. Fortunately ? in" this colony the collectors would have but little to encounter in the way of such obstructive prejudices as we have alluded, to, and the results arrived at may therefore be accepted as correct. Our farmers, need no longer toil on in ignorance as to whether their labor may or may not be profitable, the tables before us being both sufficiently accurate and reliable to form the basis of subsequent operations. By carefully collating the figures given below, they may determine which cropsare likely to command a ready market, aod, by consequence, which will give the best remuneration for their labor and outlay* always bearing in mind peculiarities of soil and climate. Those interested in other industries, carried on to a limited extent in our raidsc, may also profitably peruse what we append, whilst those possessed of means may be pointed to numerous enterprises within our own shores awaiting only the investment of capital, skill, and energy to make them sources of wealth and national prosperity. As showing the magnitude already attained by the agricultural and pastoral interests of the colony, we give the following summary of the totals under each heading. At the time the statistics were collected, the number of acres under crop in the colony amounted to 687,015. The stock held in the colony numbered 65,715 horses, 312,835 cattle, 8,418,579 sheep, and 115,104 pigs. In addition, there were 323 mules or asaes, 12,000 goats, and 676 ,000 poultry. There were 579 thrashing machines (92 steam, 17 water, and 470 horse), 736 reaping machines, .12 steam ploughs, and 28 steam harrows. The production of butter, during 1868, was 3,834,252 lbs., and of

cheese 1,300,082 lbs. The number of holdings in the provinces was as follows: —-Auckland, 2667 ; Taranaki, 421 ; Wellington, 1170 ; Hawke's Bay, 336-; Nelson, 1031 ; Marlborough, 326 ; C&nterbsr£, 2872 ; Westland, 86 ; Otago, 246 f; Sout£ land, 559. * V " ' •

What margin there is still left for the producer to operate upon, what increase must be accomplished before it can : be said that the supply equals the demand — even for home! consumption, with population at its present limits— may best be gathered from the tables relating to the imports and exports for the year. In an able and lucid article on this subject, the. Timaru Herald remarks : — " On looking over the returns, everyone \ will naturally exclaim against the ruinous j j system of importing so many articles which can be produced .in the Colony. I We have taken the trouble to compile from the statistics a few figures showing; the yearly expenditure, inforeign coun- \ tries, for productions which should, at: least in part, be raised in the Colony. The j following are items we have selected to' I illustrate our case :— ■ .

" Now, does it iiot appear rather remarkable that«a country so well adapted for raising dairy produce should eipend with other countries a sum of over £100,000^ in one year for its supply of. butter, eggs, bacon, hams, cheese, and fresh: jbeef ? It is clear that the settlers of New Zealand are either too rich to pay attention to" dairy farming, or else they find the cultij vation of cereals more remunerative; Then again let us consider the enormous suras drained away from the Colony for flour and wheat, amounting ia .value to £216,416 in the year 1868. There was; however, a small export, amounting in value to £39,106, which must be deducted j but then there is left an excess of imports over exports . to the .value of £177,310;: Indeed the only satisfactory items in the table are barley and oats, where the excess appears in favor of the colony. So also it appears very absurd that we should pay to a neighboring colony so large a sum as £155,628 in a single year for coals, when; we have within our own borders millions of 'tons of equal,- if not superior quality. - And yet our best coal is really dearer than that imported from New South Wales, because we have never yet set about working it in a business-like manner. Then again, if we take the items of beer and malt, we find the excess of imports over exports amounted to no less a sum than £122,770, half, of which at least might have been saved to the Colony with proper enterprise among bur capitalists. And further,- what is to prevent = , us from manufacturing bags and sacks out of the native flax, and so retain within the Colony the capital sent jto_ foreign Ci>untrie^_^he. siira expended in 1868 for this purpose shows -merely the beginning of a s trade which must ere long assume vast proportions, and give employment to hundreds >of people. But there is one portion of the. statistics, which calls for special notice—that relating to the drink imported iuto this Colony, which is not decreasing in tfife* ratio-antieipated< through the commercial and general of the Colony. It seems that the people are still rich enough to waste a sum of nearly £400,000 a year in intoxicating, liquors. This expenditure is out of all proportion when compared with that of other countries, antl W not easily accounted for, except by the broad fact of the comparative wealth of the. people, Tbe total for 1868 shows a reduction, as compared with "that of 1867, of more than £60,000; but this c is accounted for by the fact, that last year colonial beer largely superceded the use of English ale, and it is probable that the difference of £75,000 between the two years, was expended in the Colony. We - can in no other way account for the large reduction in this item, especially irhen spirits show a large increase. In the four items of spirits, there is an aggregate increase of £33,222 ; but in the milder dririk-^wine — thereis a decrease of £23,000. * * * •■■•-•.# These returns afford food for the reflection of political economists, and will show the real causes of the prosperity or wretchedness, the improvement or deterioration of the Colony. .1* .*: * What we contend is that the Colony yearly wastes a gigantic sum which might be profitably employed in trade ; and that it expends large sums annually with other countries for products which could be just as cheaply raised within its borders. These facts tend to show that our laws are not framed with the mos£ accurate and long-sighted perception, of their effects,' and they induce 'first stagnation and then decay. A reform is certainly needed in our tariff, and it may be that the great question of Free trade versus Protection will shortly be brought prominently before the country."

Imports. Exports.; Agricultural Implements £17,771 £109J Bags and Sacks ... ... 36.123 672} Barley 3.025 H452| Beer, bottled 65.023 3 298: Beer, draught 20,540 2,503' Butter 28,760 2,626, Canvas 7.692 501 Chaff 12,729 nil Cheese ... 12,046 1,672' Chicory ... 2;494 425 C0a1... 154,624 1,363; Egtfg 11.5ri9 nil . Flour 146,387 4,661 Fruit (green) ... ... 20,005 . 8. Furniture 27,098 1,46 a Maize 16,971 345' Malt 44,750 1,442; Oats 2,149 66,644 Wheat 70,029 34,445 Bacon and Hams 43.T2L 989, Beef (fresh) 5,735 409?