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New Zealand Mail, Issue 245, 20 May 1876, Page 12

The Melbourne Argus of Saturday, April 22, in noticing the Blue Book containing the results of the last New Zealand census, takes occasion to institute a comparison between the manufacturing progress of this colony and that of Victoria, the result of the contrast being largely in our favor. As our Melbourne contemporary puts it, this result is all the more remarkable, because the Victorians have so long been accustomed to assert that, in the way of manufactures, they led the Australasian colonies, that they have at last come to regard this as an incontrovertible fact which it seems rude to dispel. And our progress in manufacturing industries has been made without the assistance of the exceptionally protective tariff which pre'vails in Victoria. We have a uniform ad valorem duty of 10 per cent., in pki ce of the 20 per cent, ad valorem duties for the sake of protection imposed in Victoria. With us, too, the protective tendency even of our 10 per cent, ad valorem duty is almost neutralised by the duties on many raw materials used in our manufacturing industries. Now, when bearing these facts in mind, we come to consider in comparison the progress of manufactures in New Zealand and in Victoria, we shall find that this colony outstrips her sister and neighbor. In 1874 there were engaged in industries in this colony 9925 persons. Of these 214 were engaged at grain mills, 430 at breweries, 1187 at flax mills,, and 8194 in what are grouped as miscellaneous. The above total of 9925 persons engaged in industries was out of a population of 299,514, exclusive of Maoris. Now, the population of Victoria in 1874 was in round numbers 800,000, that is . to say more than twice or nearly three times as large as that of New Zealand. Now if the boasts of Victoria as to the immense impetus she gave to manufactures as compared with the other

colonies were correct, it is plain that a much larger percentage of her population should have been engaged in {industries than was engaged in ISiew Zealand. But we find that the percentage so engaged was absolutely less than here, being 25,192 out of the population as given above. We had occasion recently to institute a comparison between the progress of this colony and that of Victoria in railway construction, in which New Zealand came off with advantage. The comparison in manufacturing progress, as recorded above, leaves us still with the advantage on our side.