The Star. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1880. NEW ZEALAND TEADE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 63, 17 November 1880, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1880. NEW ZEALAND TEADE.

** For the first tune for many years the imports and exports from New Zealand nearly balance each other. The results are concisely stated by the Wellington Prices Current, from which ■we compile the following table ; — Year ending Imports. Exports. Difference. Sep. 30. £ £ £ 1877-78 8,103,300 6,194,152 1,909,648 1878-79 9,074,927 5,989,783 3,085,144 1879-80 6,024,687 5,917,165 107,522

It is necessary to bear in mind that, owing to a far more careful system of valuation of exports having of late been insisted upon by the Government, the decrease in the value of the exports is apparent rather than real. In wool alone the difference in the export values attributable to this more careful valuation for the twelve months under consideration, is estimated by the Wellington Prices Current as equal to 14 per cent., or in round numbers to £400,000 less in export value returns.

We venture to point out that this sudden shrinkage in the import trade of one-third, equal to about three millions sterling within the year, is alone sufficient to account for the distress ftTici hard times which have been felt in Wellington and other similar distributing centres. The value of the imports into Wellington during the year ending 30th September, 1879, was, in round numbers, ; during the subsequent twelve months, only ; consequently, the amount of import trade actually decreased by about 44 per cent, within the year. It is Burely no wonder that failures of retail dealers were so common as to cause no remark; the exigencies of the position simply left many ot them no opportunity of paying their way. Very few communities could have successfully weathered so severe a financial storm.. Hardly a single large or leading commercial house has yet failed, although the figures which we have quoted show that the " screw " has been put on without mercy. The commercial prospects of New Zealand appear to us to be very much-brighter than before the storm, which has, so to say, cleared the air, and introduced a quieter and healthier spirit into trading circles than has been known since the great Loan policy was first introduced some ten years ago.

As a further instance of the remarkable change which has come over the spirit of the times, we may mention that the quarterly banking returns show that, whereas in September, 1879, the excess of advances over deposits was £4,988,000, in September, 1889, the excess had come down to .£1,664,000. The Wellington Prices Current remarks that, should the process of reduction continue at the same ratio for another six months, the curious condition would be presented of the banking requirements of the colony being met by means of local deposits only.