the Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1890.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7700, 4 November 1890, Page 4

the Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1890.

Thb publication of the returns of imports and exports lor the past quarter, enables us to make up the figures for the year ending September 30th last, and the results, as will be seen, are highly gratifying. Daring the past twelve months the exports of the Colony are valued at £9,985,240, or just upou ten millions sterling. For the previous twelve months ending September 30th, 1889, the exports are valued at £8,986,540. In other words the exports during the last year have shown an increase over those of the previous period of about a million. On the other hand, the imports have been almost stationary. For the year enjfng September 30th, 1889, they fijje £6,124,576, and for the past trwelve months they were £6,371,479. For pke sake of comparison, .we give the figures in a tabulated form:—

Exports, Imports. Year ending September 30th, 1890 ... £9,985,240 £6,371,479 Year ending Septem- ' be>3oth,lßß9 ... 8,988.610 Increase... ... £098,700 £246,903 The exports it will be seen ha. ye, as we have already said, increased by about & million, while the imports have only advanced by a quarter of that amount. The figures are certainly moat suggestive. For the past twelve months there has been a surplus of exports over imports of ,£3,613,761, while the surplus for the same period ending September 30th, 1889, was £2,861,964, While all the other colonies are; either showing a large balance the other way or only disclosing js. slight exceffl* of exports, Hew Zealand has, for the past three years, been gradually increasing the volume of her exporta, while her imports have practicably remained unaltered. Wβ have said that the imports hive remained practically, unaltered. This is true as applied to the Isat thWe years, the tne years ending December 31st, for 1887, 1888 and 1889 being £6,245,515, £$,941,900 aod £6,297,097. Going a few years backwards, however, it was' far from beiag the case. In 1882 the imoorts were over is "1883 just about £8,000,000, and from that time onward they have oonti&oed to

fall till they hfi-re reaohed the pfgHWj amount. On tfcs otSier hand the exports hate risen from in I§B3, to «9,83»,i55 in 1089, while as we have seen the volume for the past twelve months hai about touched The meaning 6! such a et»ta of things has been frequency disoussed in these columns.: The fact that Hew Zealand has been for some time paei exporring faf more than she has been importing ■ has raised the question what ie being done with the surplus. For the past twelve months, assuming that the value put upon our exports is accurate, we have aentavray; £3,600,000 if prth of produce more than we have imported. Such a large sum should certainly show an appreciable effect upon the etateof the colony, and undoubtedly it I has. Had we not .been able to dp so, under existing circumstances, the result would certainly have been, disastrous. It would have meanb that we were unable to meet our obligations at Home. The surplus means that we have been able to pay onr way, to meet the interest on our-debt, publicly and privately. It means, also, we admit, that there has been little or no progress made as far as the importation' of foreign' capital for investment here is concerned. Our own population have put; tbeir shoulders to the wheel, and have shown an amount of enterprise, to say the .least of it, remarkable. It would be more satisfactory, however, were we able to see an increase in the volume of imports. That would mean that the tide had turned as regarding immigration. By immigration we mean the natural increase in population which results from people coming to the colony and investing their means in productive enterprise. The opinion of the financiers in London has, it is satisfactory to learn, completely changed with respect to this colony. But that good opinion has not yet been felt to the extent it should be throughout Great Britain. Nor are we at all surprised at thie. Confidence is of slow growth, and confidence in New Zealand and her institutions has received (several rude shocks of late years. But our export trade cannot go ou expanding in the manner it has done without producing results of a favorable nature. A good deal of course depends upon the attitude taken up by the electors during the next few weeks. People at a distance do not discriminate, and when they find men-who olaim to be leaders advocating schemes of a revolutionary character they are apt to conclude that there must) be a very considerable number cf people who not only talk such language but that , actually there is some ; prospect of their wild schemes being put into practice. The sooner that notion is removed the better, and the only way in whioh to accomplish it effectually is for the electors to return an overwhelming majority to* the House pledged to a moderate and strictly unsensational programme. 'The electors , cannot be too strongly ttrged -to make the yeiy most, of ,5 th'ei* pre-; sent opportunities. They, oiight to realise the true'significance of the rapid expansion of our exports and'the stationary nature .of our unp'orts. The former fact means that, in spite of our .difficulties, we are; developing, : the xesouroea of the couhtry, while thej second',fact .points to the/conclusion' that this work ißjbeihg done almost: exclusively by the population already settled here! On the other hand were there a steady stream of immigrants of the right kind—-men: with means, prepared to make the colony tbeir home— the imports would • increase, because money corned to a country, not. in cash ' but in the shape of imports. These new settlers' would in turn add to the value of our and even if the. balance still remained-as now- progress woafcL be visible. But an essential condition of such 9, form of immigration must b& confidence' iri the' gdod faith , x>P the people of the: oolcfny. Progressive taxation^.-and a general scheme of bursting 'up, would effeqtiuaUy turn 'aside ' any stream of .''immigration such as is so muot cle-: sired end send It elsewhere. Those who are so eager to make all kinds of experiments in land legislation and; taxation, forget the special circunv stances in which we are placed. They; overloolrthe heavily indebted as we are, it is of the moat vital lm* portance that we should hot only o& tain but retain the confidence of the people of Great Britain and nothing will do more to destroy the confidence already acquired , as a reputation for wild experiments in connection with land settlement and taxation. '■