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Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2365, 6 September 1887, Page 2

The population of the Eastern seaboard of South America—viz., the Portugese Empire of Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and Banda Oriental or States on the Rio de La Plata —may be estimated to aggregate twenty million souls, including European, African and Indian races. Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, a beautifully situated city, with one of the most magnificent harbours in the world, possesses about 300,000 inhabitants. The Empire contains other largo coastal cities, but in more equatorial latitudes, such ns Santos, Pernambuco, Para and Bahia. At the mouth of the La Plata are the populous cities of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, each the capital of one of the

Spanish Republican States. The noble River La Plata is navigable for large vessels for hundreds of miles, being the highway to tho largo interior Republic of Bolivia. It is of great consequence to us in New Zealand to study the condition of those countries, and to acquire all the information wo can of their trade and commerce. The manners and customs of their mixed population cause them in the order of things to be consumers principally. Moreover, they are consumers of such products and manufactures as we arc turning our attention to most and are most desirous of increasing if we can secure profitable and sufficiently absorbing markets. For instance, take one of our principal staples, cereals. New Zealand wheat is admitted by experts to be the finest in the world. This colony cannot consume more than a bare proportion of what it ought to produce ; and, unfortunately, we are so far removed by our antipodean position from the great markets of Britain that we are. practically shut out from them by the cheaper labour, and stupendous productions of India, United States, Russia and Egypt. This serious drawback to which we have not hitherto given sufficient attention, operates, against most of our great staples, and disheartens our producing classes. If New Zealand wheat is of such excellence, it follows that New Zealand flour should be superior, or at least of equal quality to the flour of any other country. The South American countries we have named are large importers of flour. Brazil is, next to Great Britain, the best customer in this commodity of the United States. In 1886 she imported from America 542,449 barrels of flour, valued at 1,674,227 dollars. Rio alone imported in that year 36,000 tons of American flour. The average annual import of this article into the Empire from the United States is estimated to be 750,000 barrels- Now, we can surely make on effort to secure a footing in those markets with full confidence in the prime quality of our own article. New Zealand must aspire to fulfil her destiny of becoming not only a maritime nation, but also the great supplier of the Southern Hemisphere for which her geographical position is so favourable. In place of committing the the extreme folly of closing our doors against the outside world, and thus annihilate over agricultural interests, we should by every means in our power extend our commercial relations with every people, every country and island within easy reach of us. For some time we have been tapping the Brazils through the direct steamers that touch at Rio ; but the. rich opportunities placed within our grasp have failed to rouse any of that spirit of enterprise for which our race is so pre-eminent.