H.—l7.

The Imports into Western Australia. —The following figures show to what an extent the imports grew during the years stated : — Produce. 1899. 1900. £ £ Butter 184,329 294,457 Ham and bacon 83,970 97,051 Eggs . ••• ••• 50,682 60,465 Fresh meat 10,814 8,167 Pigs ... ... ... ... •■• ... 5,985 5,776 £335,780 £465,916 The Products interchanged between Western Australia and Next) Zealand are very variable, being to a large extent regulated by the prosperity of Western Australia and the supply of the required produce in the sister-colonies. The following table gives a summary for the ten years from 1891 to 1900:— Year. Exports. Imports. \ Year. Exports. Imports. 1891 890 19', 222 1896 ... 20,157 1892 250 25,335 1897 ... ... 1,055 22,048 1893 400 748 1898 ... ... 305 9,101 1894 13 461 1899 143 8,513 1895 745 1900 307 68,346 The Principal Imports from New Zealand for the year 1900 were oats, cheese, butter, preserved tongues, preserved milk, preserved meats, oatmeal, and woollen goods, the value of the importations of the first-named article being more than 50 per cent, of the total. The various items are specified below :— £ & Butter ... ... ... 3,053 Bacon ... ... ... 195 Cheese ... ... ... 6,064 Ham ... ... ... 693 Cordage ... ... •■■ 288 Preserved meats ... ... 2,221 Oats ... 37,011 Tongues ... ... ... 4,480 Wheat ... ... ... 1,216 Preserved milk ... ... 3,450 Woollen goods ... ... 255 Oatmeal ... ... ... 1,780 Fish ... ... ... 880 Pollard ... ... ... 272 Drapery ... ... ... 131 Potatoes ... ... ... 398 Barley 70 Timber 1,549 Barley (malting) ... ... 324 Various ... ... ... 2,853 Hops 322 Malt 841 £68,346 The Exports to New Zealand of West Australian produce are almost entirely confined to hardwood timber, such as jarrah, and even this article is only supplied in very limited quantities, the total value of such timber exported to New Zealand in 1900 being £172. Customs Duties. —Prior to the initiation of the Federal tariff the duties imposed on the principal articles of trade between this colony and Western Australia were as follows :— Goods. Duty. Goods. Duty. Oats ... ... 4d. per bushel. Preserved tongues ... 2d. per pound. Cheese ... ... 2d. per pound. „ milk ... 15 per cent. Butter ... ... 2d. „ „ meats ... £d. per pound. The Federal Tariff, which came into force during the sitting of the Committee in Perth, will handicap New Zealand products to a much greater extent, and all the more so because by the provisions of that tariff it is compulsory for the West Australian Government to gradually withdraw the Customs duties which they used to levy on importations from the other States of the Commonwealth equally with New Zealand. It may be taken for granted, therefore, that New Zealand will be handicapped to an extent which will correspond to the whole of the duty imposed by the Federal tariff, which is given below as far as the produce already referred to is concerned. Goodß. Duty. Goodt. Duty. Oats .. ... 7d. per bushel. Tongues ... ... 2d. per pound. Cheese ... ... 3d. per pound. Milk ... ... l£d. Butter ... ... 3d. „ Meat ... ... 2d. Meat. As may be learned from a perusal of the evidence, almost the whole interest of the inquiry centred itself on this question, and the endeavour to ascertain whether a good supply of this commodity could not be obtained at a more reasonable rate. The meat-supply of Western Australia is at present obtained from two sources principally, both of which are only capable of supplying inferior meat. The first of these sources is the inland district, from which cattle have to be driven long distances, hundreds of miles in most cases, to the railway or the seaboard, and thence by rail or steamer respectively to Perth. In this case, the stock are so knocked about in transit as to form very poor butchers' meat on arrival in Perth. The second source is the frozen-meat supply from Melbourne, which is brought up in refrigerated steamers from Victoria once a fortnight. There is no doubt that the class of meat supplied by Victoria to Western Australia might be very greatly improved, but as matters stand at present Western Australia gets all the frozen meat which Victorian exporters do not consider good enough

2—H. 17.

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