CENSUS INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS.

Evening Post, Volume LIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1897, Page 2

CENSUS INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS.

The Registrar-General sends us the following :— ■' i The tables relating to the various manufactures, works, &c, in the colony are now complete, and the total result compared with thatsfiownatthetwo previous Censuses is exhibited', below. It must be remembered that while all establishments or works are included which are of the 'nature of a factory, employing a number of persons, using some kind of machinery or plant, and probably steam or* water power, the smaller establishments where onl/ a fen* persons may ba engaged in making articles for retail disposal, or in repairs, as a general rule are kept out of the tables, which do . not therefore give the value of all the work done in such matters as boot and shoe, general clothing, and furniture making, &c. But though it is hot easy to settle in all cases what to put in and what to leave out, it can be fairly well done, and quite sufficiently so to admit of reliable comparisons being given of different Census results, so as to afford a just idea of the development or otherwise of the various branches' of industry. The totals for the industries do not include mining and quarrying, which will he treated of separately. In the short .statement of totals now appended, no account of quantities of the various manufactures or produce can be stated, but merely the aggregate value thereof. The value of all manufactures only increased between 1890 and 1895 by the sum of £775,523, while the increase for the previous quinquennium was as great as £2,062,458. But a moderate increase in money signifies in respect of some items a

greater increase in production. When the full series of detailed tables is published, the increases of quantity will appear where they exist. Meanwhile the increase of £775,523 on the" total value must be admitted, and any difference in the purchasing power of money borne in mind. The average price per cwt of frozen mutton for 1885 was £1 5s o£d. In 1890 it had fallen to £1 3s B|d, and in 1895 further declined to £1 Os 6Jd. These are exporters' declared values. The development of the butter and cheesemaking industry, by way of factory-work, has helped greatly towards the result shown of increase since 1890 ; on the other hand, the decline of the flax and grain milling has operated unfavourably on the comparison for the years 1890 and 1895. The great rise of the meat-freezing industry happened between 1885 and 1890, and this large increase, representing in money no less than £920,781, is probably the principal cause of the increase for the whole of the manufactures being so much greater for the period 1885-90 tha,n for 1890-5. But there is also, amongst many other causes, the fact that the phormium industry was prosperous in 1890 (showing an increase over 1885 amounting to £214,207 value), but iv 1895 in a state of the utmost depression, the value of the product of the mills being only £82,546, against £234,266 in 1890.

•No information available. tOmitting Government railway workshops and Government Printing Office. The following' is a list descriptive of the molt important industries in operation in 1896, to whioh the previous figures refer, and a companion of the values of output for 1836, 1891, and 1896 :— Total Value of all Hanufactubeb oe-Pbodttce, including eefaies.

* Not including Government Railway Workshops, t Not including' Government Printing Office.

isao, lovi, low. Meat freezing and £ £ £ preserving works (1891 and 1886 .-,,,, , „,-. ),i" figures include boil- ' ' .. iugldown works) ... 1,615,&9 1,464,859, 643,878 Bacon-curing establishments 86,022 83,435 ' 68,798 Butter and cheese factories 501,274 150,957 43,094 Grain mills 874,656 $91,812 754,830 Biscuit factories ... 118,979 127,147 47,784 Breweries and malthouses 418,880 380,849 421,197 Aerated waters ... 98,609 91,091 94,098 Soap and candle works 152,298 155,714 180,745 Chemical works ... 75,320 41,563 34,293 Sawmills 898,807 832,959 1,177,713 Flaxmills 32,546 234,206 20,059 Gasworks 199,025 178,947 194,653 Iron and brass foundries, boileramking, machinists, &c.* ... 302,815 403,635 368,919 Agricultural implement factories ... 102,054 144,472 111,823 Coachbuilding and painting works . . 148,969 189,660 123,54t Tanning, fellmongering, and woolscouring 1,237,252 1,026,349 634.91J Woollen mills ... 802,423 279,175 194,311 Clothing and boot and shoe factories 616,158 570,315 514,506 Other industries, in which the value of manufactures was under £100,000t ... 1,768,1041,476,227 1,237,426 Totals 9,549,360 8,773,887 6,711,37£

April, '96.' April, '91. March, 'B6. So. No. No. [anufactures and ' Works 2,459 2,254 1,946 [antte employed— Males 22,986 23,664 19,601 v females ... 4,403 ' 2,989 2,494 . ■ Totals ... 27 t ,3S9v- 25,633 ■ 22,095 ' " rages paid— Year '9s. Year '9o. Year 'Bs. T6 males „„ £1,576.076 £1,705,641 , ,• „ To females":.. 131516 ' 102,999' • , Totals ..I £1,907,592 £1,808,640 *, -■ [ors?-power ... 28,089JU!p, 81.8W fc.p. 15,491h.p. total, approximate facturea or pife- • '<l ' > '' ».' ,L dudet. ... , ... £9,549,360 £8,773,837 £6,711,875; total approximate value of — Land :.. " ... £1,063,989 £1,286,735 £1,477,996 Buildings ... 1,743,073 1,483,903 1,446,082 Machinery and plant ... 2,983,955 2,491,189 2,172,852 Totals ... £5,796,017 £5,261,826 £5,096,930