Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDB REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1875. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 433, 10 February 1875, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDB REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1875. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

It is somewhat cheering to the journalist to record -that now, when the necessities of these Colonies are calling for the inauguration of industries, they are turning out remunerative. When the directors of the Mosgiel Woollen Company presented their annual report, they were able, after reserving a goodly sum for wear and tear, to declare a dividend of ten per cent, per annum, which, indeed, was much more, as the capital on which that was paid was taken up at periodical calls during the year. We have now before us some items gleaned the report of the Victorian Woollen and Cloth Manufacturing Company, presented by th,e directory at their half-yearly meeting op the 14th ult. From therepoet, it appears that during the halfyear just closed, the Company had sold 74,282 yards of tweed, 388 shawls, and 424 pairs of blankets ; and after allowing £1,000 reserve for additional tear and wear, the directors show a satisfactory profit of £3,762 9s. 4d. Supposing the next half-year to be equal to the one just closed, there will have been paid in wages £10.418 15s. 2d. ? and

dividends at the rate of twelve per cent per annum ; — certainly a very satisfactory statement to those who have had public spirit enough to inaugurate the industry. The) have founded a speculation that is at once paying withthe additional satisfaction of forwarding the prosperity of' the country. The hands employed in such industries do not represent the. whole of the good done. These in turn help to uphold other members of the community ; and it is hard to say* how far the £10,418 paid in wages will extend its benefits throughout the community. It may i*epresent half as many more individuals directly or indirectly benefited by the circulatidn of the money. We have sometimes thought that there has been an unreasonable reluctance on the part of the community to patronise ouv colonial industries. It .was some time before our own millers could overcome the prejudice in favor of Adelaide flour; and there is some fear that a like prejudice stands in the way of the fuller success of the Mosgiel and other woollen factories. But we should bear in mind that iti forwarding such enterprises, we are helping forward the common good. We were pleased to find the other day that the industries in and around Dunedin present to us something considerable in the way of li»bor employed, and the list is by no means exhausted." It is as follows :—": — " Scoullar's furniture factory employs 40 men ; Craig and Gillies' furniture department employs 43 men ; Larnach and Gutbrie's timber factory has 175 men; Inglis and Co.'s drapery, clothing, and furniture establishments give work to 230 males and females ; Kirkpatrick, Glendining and Co., drapers, &c, have 80 men and women ; Brown, Ewing, and Co.'s drapery and general warehouse has 170 men and women; Herbert, Haynes, and Co.'s clothing and drapery warehouse gives work to 60 men and women on the premises, and to 50 persons, male and female, outside the warehouse ; Sargood, Son and Ewen's clothing establishment has 200, male and female; Ross and Glendining keep 20 men ; Bing, Harris, and Co., have 20 men ; Butterworth Bros, employ 28 men ; (all wholesale clothing establishments) ; Hayman and Co., general merchants, had eight years ago, only 8 men, and now they employ 30 hands. The Mosgiel Woollen factory has 70 men and women ; and the Kaikorai Woollen factoVy, when formed, will employ about as many hands. Dunedin's six breweries have about 120 men; — Marshall's establishment alone pays, for working expenses, £12,000 annually. Burt's Copper and Brass VVorks and Lead and Pipe Manufactory, gives employment to 70 men. The foundries employ 121 men; blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and horse-shoeing establishments, 52; agricultural works, 100; flour mills, 50 ; soap works, 17 ; coach factories, 61 ; sera ted water manufactories, 26 ; timber yards, 218 ; printing offices, 211." When, in addition to the above, the industries in the inland towns are taken into account, our progi ess in this direction must be regarded as considerable. We only wish we could see some public spirit in a like direction among ourselves. There is wealth of water around us, and ere long there will be more. It would, indeed, be a pity to see the water races, which have served a grand purpose at the Blue Spur, allowed to ran to waste. Could we not inaugurate a woollen or a paper factory, and thereby contribute our quota to the prosperity of our adopted country 1