MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR EUROPE and AMERICA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 143, 18 June 1891, Page 5

MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR EUROPE and AMERICA.

OUR HOME LETTER,

Auckland, June 18,

Since the despatch of our last monthly summary there has been little of ab. sorbing interest to chronicle in connection with the affairs of the colony. Parliament is sitting, having just opened, and there is every prospect of a lively and busy.session.

In business circles throughout the colony things are little altered from their usual condition, trade being none too brisk; but from many sides comes the cheerful opinion that " business is going to look up" in many lines, and that the " hard times " which have been such a fruitful theme of doleful commiseration and unhappy predictions amongst pessimists for so long in this colony are passing away, to be succeeded, with the aid of wise legislation and the settling of the surplus lands of the colony, by a period of permanent and substantial prosperity. Already, in the South Island especially, we believe there are evidences that the tide of prosperity, which was deflected from New Zealand for so long, chiefly through bad and reckless legislation, is on the flow again, and that much happier times are in store for the settler and the trader. There is an ever-increasing demand abroad for New Zealand products. Our frozen meat, dairy produce, and grain exports are multiplied infinitely in quantity each year, and the splendid direct steam communication now established with the Home Country is doing wonders to develop the export trade between the colony and England. With the proper settlement of the land, which the present Government appear desirous of effecting as above almost every other matter for legislative reform, it is certain that the country will go ahead, not perhaps " with leaps and bounds," but in the steadily progressive movement which leads on to wealth and prosperity. And, given favourable conditions, the joining of New Zealand in the surely-approach-ing Australasian Federation cannot but hasten in an almost incalculable degree that happy consummation for which patriotic New Zealanders have sighed so long.

Perhaps the roost eventful occurrence of the month has been the opening of Parliament at Wellington, which took place on the nth inst. There is an immense amount of work before the House for this session, and it is expected that the sitting will this time prolong itself ior four months. A very large number of new Bills have been given notice of, together with those adjourned from last session, and there are many intricate and wide - reaching political questions to be brought up for discussion, including the very important question of Australasian Federation. A report on the recent Federal Conference proceedings at Sydney will be submilted by the New Zealand delegates to the meeting, comprising recommendations for the consideration of the Legislature. Sir George Grey, who has returned from Sydney after quite a triumphal tour through Australia, intends from all accounts to make a vigorous battle in the House in the cause of Liberalism, and for the furtherance of the measures which he has promoted for so many years. The present Government, headed by the Hon. J. Ballance, may be described as a popular one, far more so in fact than any Administration which has held office for years past. The Opposition is numerically weak, while the Government is a very strong one.

His Excellency Lord Onslow opened the new session of Parliament in a well-worded but, as ueual, non-com-mittal speech. He gave a rather vague delineation of the intended policy of the Government, but the speech created a favourable impression amongst members. The speech referred to the continued soundness of the colony's finances, and the substantial progress made by its chief industries during the year, to "the further increase in the remarkable volume of our exports, to the desirability of settling the waste lands of the colony with bonafide cultivators, and to the proposed further purchases of land from the native population in the North Island.

, The Financial Statement of the Government has just been placed before the country, and the Ministry deserve credit for their promptness. Mr Ballance's statement is very copious, but clear, and gives full information of many measures which the Government deem necessary in the present financial state of the colony.

The Ministerial proposals with regard to taxation are probably the features of the budget which have been looked forward to with the greatest interest, and which will be most keenly criticised. The scheme which the Treasurer has submitted to take the place of the property tax is a much more complicated device than that highly discredited piece of financing. Its aim, however, is to distribute the burden of taxation in proportion to the ability to bear it. The tax en improvements on property up to is to be absolutely abolished, but it is proposed to impose a graduated tax upon all persons and companies, the value oi whose land, Jess the of improvements, JBhall amount; to ;£s> ooo > Hwcpgk

ing to the following scale •:■ —On a total taxable value of to ;£ 10,000, y&d; on a total taxable value of to ,£20,000, on ditto, p^20,000 to iyid; on ditto, .£50,000 to on ditto, and over, It is estimated that the deduction of improvements will cause a loss of revenue of about and the graduated tax wili biing in an increased revenue of which will be paid by less than 3,000 owners. More than or the graduated tax will be paid by owners who hyve each land of greater value than

With regard to the smaller land owners, .the Ministerial proposals distinguish between men who have properties, including improvements, which are worth .£1,500, and those whose estate is . below that figure. Mortgagees will have to bear their share of the tax on the ground that they are really joint owners of the land. In the case cd companies an income tax of is in the £ will be substituted in place of the existing levy upon capital. In levying a tax upon private incomes, the Treasurer proposes to exempt altogether incomes erf less than to impose a tax of 3d on incomes over and under and a tax of sixpence over ,£SOO. In every case, however, the exemption will be deducted from the amount liable to taxation. These changes are so fully explained in the budget speech, which we publish in another column, that it is unnecessary to recapitulate them here. Without the detailed tables which are attached to the Financial Statement, it is impossible to pass any opinion upon the soundness of the Treasurer's conclusions under these heads.

With regard to the general policy of the Government, we are promised a vigorous settlement scheme, a better system of dealing with native lands and general reform in the administration —all changes which are urgently enough needed. Whether the Ministerial measures are well calculated to attain them, we are scarcely in a position to judge until these measures are submitted in detail. The Government, however, have evidently a good grasp of the urgent needs of the country, and are animated by an earnest desire to satisfy them, and these qualifications will dispose the people to give their policy an indulgent reception.

The census returns —the general totals of which are now complete—-exhibit the progress of the colony in a very unfavourable light. The total increase since the last census is 40,206, and when we remember that during the five years that have elapsed the excess of births over deaths was more than 60,000, we realise the full significance of the exodus of population which we have so often had occasion to deplore.

The great preponderance of females in the towns is another significant fact. It points unmistakeably to the migration of the bread-winners and sons who have been unable to find suitable employment, leaving the weaker members behind. Until the classified tables showing the ages of the people are available, we cannot say precisely to what extent the colony has suffered from the exodus of adults, but the general totals furnish sufficient evidence to satisfy us that a large proportion of those who have gone away were men in the prime of life.

There are, however, various modifying circumstances which should not be lost sight of. It may be noted that the chief loss has occurred in the large towns, and that there has been steady growth in a majority of the country districts. Auckland city alone has lost about 5,000; but it must not be supposed that the whole of these people have left New Zealand. A considerable number, no doubt, have gone upon the land, and the shifting of the population from the towns to the country must be counted as a gain rather than a loss. In Victoria there has been an enormous increase in the population, but when we note that upwards of 100,000 people have been added to the overgrown metropolis ot that colony, while the country districts have been absolutely stagnant, we may well contend that the New Zealand returns, read in conjunction with the enormous expansion of its exports, really exhibit a much more healthy condition than prevails in the premier colony. The causes of the lack of employment in New Zealand, which has driven away so many of its citizens, are of course well understood. The contraction in borrowing and public works expenditure at a period when neighbouring colonies were borrowing heavily, and sustaining a high rate of wages artificially, is ample to account for the whole of the loss that has occurred.

In a colony which has for many years engaged in the importation of people at the public expense, and has undertaken to find them in employment by borrowing millions abroad, it must be expected that the moment the subsidies which have sustained them are withdrawn, they will find it impossible to obtain new avenues for their labour at once in the ordinary channels of industry and commerce, at a time when trade is being adversely affected by a contraction in public expenditure. In ail new countries, also, the people shift readily. They are very loosely attached to the soil, and have no apprehension about seeking their fortunes in a new field.

There is little doubt, however, that many of those who have left New Zealand' might have been retained in the country if the Government had taken steps to open up good land within easy access of a market. This is readily seen from ; fact that./; the :SQ#h%l*Wi^^§r£:

land monopoly prevails most extensively, has made very much less progress than the North. The centesimal increase in the North Island was 9"35, and in the South Island only 4*98. The disparity between the population of the South Island and that of the North is thus steadily lessening, and in all probability the scales will be turned within the next twenty years and the North Island will have the greater population of the two. The capacity of its land for sustaining a prosperous agricultural and manufacturing populaiation assures to it this destiny.

To obtain a fair view of the changes which have taken place in New Zealand during the past five years we ought to set side by side with the returns of population the statistics of industry. When we do that we feel that even though the discontinuance of borrowing has caused many to leave New Zealand, the good effects arising from the extensive movement which has taken place in the population have preponderated over the evil. While the imports have been practically stationary —in 1887-8S they were ,£6,309,260, in 1890-91 .£6,285,919 —the phenomenal increases in every branch of production have swelled our export returns enormously. The statistics recently gazetted for the year ending the 31st of March exhibit the following gratifying results :—

The following tabulated statement for the years 1890-81 and 1887-8 shows the relative growth that has taken place during the past four years in the principal classes of produce exported from New Zealand :—

The bank discount returns also show that the trading community is depending upon credit to a much smaller extent than it ever did before; and tested in other ways, there are many, indications that the industrial and commercial condition ot the colony is healthier than it was when population was growing at an abnormal rate and inflated land values were taxing the productive energies of the community.

In the labour world, things have been fairly quiet in New Zealand since the recent maritime strike. It is true that there is at present an unfortunate strike in the boot trade in Auckland, which has dragged on for some months past, and of wnich the prospects of settlement are still remote. But there is a growing feeling in favour of peaceful arbitration between employer and employee on vexed trade questions, and there is little doubt that this course will be largely adopted in future, instead of resort being made to disastrous strikes and lock-outs.

A Municipal Conference, composed of representatives from the principal city districts and boroughs in the colony, is now sitting at Wellington to consider various reforms proposed in municipal powers and administration, and it is expected that results highly beneficial to local bodies will accrue from the meeting.

The proposed adoption of a penny postal system between this colony and Australia has gained a strong advocate in the person of the Hon. Mr Ward, Post-master-General, and it is very probable that a Bill will be introduced this session providing for the establishment of an intercolonial penny postage so far as New Zealand is concerned.

.890-91 ... 389-90 ... .838-89 ... .887-88 ... ... £9,S04,658 ... 9,709,145 ... 8,201,731 ... 7,069,247 Total ... £34,784,781

Produce 1890-91 1387-3 Wool Gold Grain —Wheat, Oate, Barley and Male... Flour, Pollard, Bran and Oatmeal Tallow Meats —Preserved ... Cured and Salted ... Frozen Live Stock ... Butter Cheese Rabbit Skins Sheepskins Hides and Leather... Gum Kauri Timber New Zealand hemp Hops Potatoes Grass Seed Coal Fish Fungus Sausage Skins Chaff Beans and Peas Apparel Woollens Other New Zealand Produce £ £ 4,199,421 3,400,350 692,775 812,333 900,779 382,219 121,476 54,846 159,240 130,236 134,843 74,232 43,672 43,986 1,152,948 475,500 46,565 54,531 118,523 70,808 97,150 65,777 118,487 108,229 138,407 55,342 98,384 65,077 414,362 377,689 184,283 135,027 317,527 31,461 10,360 7,502 78,070 30,902 25,848 40,729 79,633 40,760 15,622 \ 13,346 1 25,779 I 3,957 I 27,013 f 244,359 10,086 i 15,642 I 184,719' Total New Zealand Produce 9,428,922 ; P ecie 241,564 te-Exports 134,172 6,707,895 217,287 144,065 tals 9,804,658 7,069,247