The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1898. TEN YEARS PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 278, 24 November 1898, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1898. TEN YEARS PROGRESS.

For tie causo that laebi assistauca, For the ■vttoc? t!iat needs resistance, For the futuro in tlio distanoa, And thu csod that no oaa &*.

, —i The Registrar General, Mr E. J. Yon Dadelszen, has issued some instructive returns giving a statistical view of the colony in 1597 and 18S7, showing the progress made during the past decade. An examination of these figures must afford great encouragement to all who have the interests of New Zealand at heart. They contain evidence of healthy growth in e\ery department. The population has increased by 125,695, and now numbers 729,056, exclusive of Maoris (39,854). The imports in 1897 were valued at £7,994,201, an increase of 31.82 on the returns for 1887, and the exports were worth. £9,590.207, an increase of 45.33 per cent. The capital value of the land and improvements is £138,----591,347, an increase of .'.'4.70 per cent. in ten years. The increase on unimproved value is assessed at £5,903,SOS, and in the value of improvements, £ 15.549,708. The estimated amount of private wealth is nosy £183.781,780 or £252 per head, while in 1888 it was £131,345,925, or £216 per head. The growth in income during the past three years, as shown by the income tax returns, was very "remarkable, in 1595-0 the revenue derived from this tax was £ 92,788; in 1596-7, £105,504; and in 1897-8, £115,210, the rate of the tax being1' uniform throughout. The approximate value of manufactures, including repairs, in 1595 (the latest return) was £9,549,360, as compared with £6,711,----379 in 18S5, an increase of 42.29 per cent. The following1 detailed figures for 1897 give an excellent indication of the agricultural, pastoral, commercial, and industrial condition of the colony:— Occupied lands: Holdings. 58.904; holdings, extent of (including Crown pastoral leases). 33,312,212 acres; land in cultivation (including sown grasses), 11,483,127 acres. Live-stock: Sheep, 19,067,954; cattle, 1,209,105; horses, 252.834. Shipping: Jnwards, 599 tons; outwards, 075.333 tons. Government railways: Miles open, 2,055; receipts, £1.370.008. Electric telegraph: Miles of line, 0,484; messages, 2,090,233. Post office money orders issued: 293,059; value, £970,831. Banks of issue: On deposit, (year's average), £14,290.512. Savings banks (Post Office and private): On deposit, 31st December, £5,520,050. Government Life Insurance: Policies in force, 30,174; value, £9,857,010.' Total export of wool, 135,835,117 lbs; value, £4,443,144. Total exports of frozen meats, 1,407----921 cwt; value, £1,500,280. Total export of tallow, 310,200; value, £259,964. Total export of sheepskins, 3,685,----05 li.value, £188,121.. Total export of butter. 99,022 cwt; value, £402,005. Total export of cheese, 77,083 cwt; value, £ 150,517. Mining: Output of coal, 840,713 tons; value, £420,350; output of gold, 251,045 ozs; value, £980,204. These figures furnish the best possible answer to those political Jeremiahas, past and present, who have taken a dismal view of the colony's affairs. The statements that improvements upon land have increased 52.05 per cent, in ten years, that there has been such a substantial increase in the volume of private wealth, and an increase of £3,045,156 (44.4S per cent.) in the value of the exports of. New Zealand produce, are especially gratifying. The growth has not partaken of the character of a boom; it

has ai'isen from the steady substantial development of the colony's resources, and for that reason affords the greater assurance of permanence.