THE "SYDNEY HERALD" ON NEW ZEALAND

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1348, 19 February 1881, Page 3

THE " SYDNEY HERALD" ON NEW ZEALAND

The Sydney, Momyng H*ratsh»M an attiole on the New .Zealand sfcfciifcicsjfrotn whioh. we quote tbi? following jmumu^*,:— A* lit 1 spite of ijlw oqn)aier^aj,4«prwwion throntfh ,whioh New, Zealand, has, for pome time teen passing, tkclatwft , ot^tiatios of that CpljO^y prove, that she is stiU making pro;'gre«js in. some ;of;. ; of;. the chief:, elements , of, national gr?atneaa. In ; 1854; her population, e:iccjusjve,,6f Maoris, who certainly haye contributed 7 little < to her advancement, Vaa jentitnated/ at < 32,664 j «gainst 251,315 for New South Wales., At the sa,me Sate, Victoria, had ,812,307 inhabitants, Souih, Australia 92,545, and Queens* laud, whioh wasthea.part of New South yf ales'i had only about,* couple of thousand wh^te residents throughout the whole of her, Vast territory. ' In point of numbers, Victoria still holds the first place, but of late years (New.' South Walts has been fast overtaking .her, and New Zealand faster still. At the present moment Australia mustcontatn not tery far short of threo million;people of the BrUULttook. The signs of the times are that in another decade Victoria will be surpassed by the Mother Colony, and may even be run close for second place by New Zealand. But,, why should any one of these rigorous young colonies grudge r . prosperity, ,to th* , r,e»t ?* . faster' any one grows" the better it will be for the others j and. when, this great continent and its adjacent islands have a population of ten millions ' instead of three, as they soon will hare, the magnitude;* of. i their mutual "interests wul enable them! 'to 'overcome all tariff difficulties, and whatever else may stand in the way of an united 'Australasian dominion. The rate of, increase in New Zealand for 1879 fs given at 7.2 per cent, upon the number of the previous year, and that is larger by' nearly one-fourth than for New South Wales. But these estimated rates are subject to corrections on both sides, and while our Registrar expects an increase for overland arrivals, the Registrar of the Island Colony expects a decrease for Unrecorded departures seaward. ' The gain by excess of births over deaths was 16,733 in the larger Colony, and 12,487 in the smaller, and, therefore, the latter has the advantage under this head, due to a somewhat higher birth rate. The marriage rate is about the same in both Colonies — 14£ for every thousand persons living— and that is commonly accepted as proof of the easy circumstances >of the people* But it is curious to notice the different proportions, of the marriages celebrated by, the different religious' denominations in the two Colonies. , In New South Wales 45 per cent, of all the marriages celebrated during the year were by the Church of Eagland, 18 per cent, by the Roman Catholic Church, and the remaining 47 per cent, by other denominations, 'and at registrars' offices. New Zealand 22 per cent, were Church of England ; 12£ per cent. Roman Catholic, and 651 per cent, of other* denominations— nearly one-half the latter being Presbyterian. The marriages by registrars instead of by ministen, were 6 per cent, of the whole in New South Wales, and 17f per cent in New Zealand."