THE "FAMINE SCARE."

New Zealand Mail, Issue 879, 4 January 1889, Page 24

THE "FAMINE SCARE."

TO THE fiytTOß OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. SIR, —Some arrant nonsense ha 3 been talked about a famine in Australia being imminent, the assertion being based on potatoes fetching 6d per lb and flour L 4 per 100 b. What absurdity I Those prices were quoted as ruling at the Etheridge, a sort of deserted quartz mining camp of under 100 miners, situated out on a road to nowhere, some 300 miles inland from the Gulf of Carpentaria. And this is hone st journalism ! Why, the fact is living i.e., the price of bread, meat, fish, fruit, butter, vegetables, &c. —is as cheap in Sydney and Melbourne as in Wellington. A few of the last quotations of prices in Melbourne may be of interest :—Elour, Lll 10s to Ll 3 ; Potatoes, L 7 10s to L 8 ; new (in cases)j Lll ; cheese, 6d to 8d per lb ; butter (fresh, best), Is to Is 2d; oats (heavy), 4s 2d per bushel. Vegetables in good supply. On the 20th November 32,500 fat sheep were yarded for sale, selling up to 12s 6d for prime crossbred wethers. Same day, 10,000 fat lambs, prime, 7s 6d to 9s. Fat cattle yarded on the 21st November, 3920; prime, Lll to Ll2. In Sydney market, same week, were yarded 37,500 fat sheep and 2500 fat cattle, in addition to which were numerous large sales of stock at the other towns. Yet ignorant people cry out about a famine,, and say that the inhabitants of Australia are depending entirely on New Zealand at present ! Bosh ! Why in South Australia and Victoria there are some 200,000 tons of last season’s crop of wheat or flour still to export. The last account of present harvest said there would be a surplus of 5,000,000 bushels of this present harvest for export, a portion of which is now afloat for, and value quoted in, London. Victoria promises to reap quite 8,000,000 bushels. Anyway, it is a certain thing Australia will bo very short of oats, but will have ample wheat for its own consumption, Those telegrams about crops are very unreliable, The American crop is little if any below the average. Telegrams announced the French crop a total failure ; the actual yield is 253,000,000 bushels, the average French crop being 283,000,000. Telegram-s were in all the papers that crops round Albury and Wagga were a total failure. The last Albury post X had said very little about drought, a long story about a flower show at Albury, and about a trial of reapers and binders at Wagga, and that the crops round Jerilderie a very dry spot were stripping 1G to 25 bushels per aero. It i 3 a great pity that some people seem quite unable to puff New Zealand up without running down Australia,. There are a large number of old Victorians now resident here, and all I know have a very warm feeling of affection for that colony, and it is far from pleasant to see it abused untruthfully. Fly own experience since landing in Melbourne in" 1852 has been derived from over a ten years’ residence in these colonies. As to the assertion that the aborigines of Australia were always starving, it is rubbish. No land under the sun had such a wealth of animal food, fish, flesh, and fowl ; born and expert hunters, their food was always in abundance. —I am, &c. J.L.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. Silt, —My last letter on face of it refers to Australian markets of November, but is 6d per lb for potatoes aud L 4 per 1001 b for flour at the Etheridge a fair quotation of prices in Australia ? Also, can the alleged fact that potatoes are Ll 4 per ton in Sydney be deemed a further proof of this (much- wished for) famine'? It is not long since potatoes could not bo bought wholesale in Wellington under Ll 7 per ton. Good flour, such as Allen’s, Meeks, &c., cannot bo purchased under Ll2 per ton f.o.b. ; so that flour now is costing Wellington bakers the same price as the Melbourne baker pays ; and bread the same ; no difference in price between 1 lie two cities. As to thos; vast shipments, it is more than probable some shippers will lose heavily. In Monday’s paper wo have quotations of Australian new crop in London. And for the fortnight ending December Bth some 55,000 sacks wheat and flour were shipped from Melbourne. Surely if Australians dreaded a famine, they would not export so largely and persistently. It is not denied that many farmers are stripping 16 to 25 bushels per acre. (I did verify it.) Facts are stubborn things. Again is quoted beef at 3d and mutton 2W in butchers’ shops ou Lambton-quay, but a reference to butchers’ bills shows me pork 6d, veal 6d, beef 4d, mutton od, at which prices the same articles can ne purchased in Melbourne. As to ignoring the drought, that is baby talk. The drought i 3 a sad reality, and it differs rom former droughts in that it has come before Christmas instead of after, and is therefore more disastrous in its effects. If my letter has the desired effect of staying that reckless abuse of all things Australian —that sort of “can any good thin? come out of Nazareth” style—l have not written in vain. As to Mr Bennett’s expectations, I have still such faith in the resources of the Big Island that I would not advise any large shipments of moat or wheat. As I said before, horse feed will and must be in large demand. Potatoes are still an open question as to price, but a fair price ami fairly good demand are also assured. But as to famine prices ruling, and the inhabitants of Australia being utterly dependent on New Zealand, I am still satis-

fied that this will not be so this season. 1 My experience counts for over a 10 years’ residence in each of the three large colonies. So I have had as long a residence in New Zealand as Victoria to cure that tendency to blow. But to compare New Zealand-with Victoria—oh, don’t mention it ! No doubt each, as Natty Bumps said, has its gifts.—l am, &c., J.L. January 2nd, 1889. TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. Sir,—There are inspectors going round seeing each person keeps his or her resi dence clean from rubbish. This would be one good step the Council has taken if it was not for one thing, and that is the inspectors going into people’s houses, not satisfied with looking round the people’s yards. Now, sir,, this is just as much as to say that people keep their houses like pigstyes. I would not be so much surprised if they went into houses of a dirty nature, but what surprises me is the inspectors going into respectable citizens’ houses. This matter ought to be looked into at once.—l am, &c., December 20. Citizen. [We cannot agree with our correspondent. Such inspection as he objects to appears to us absolutely necessary. Some people do “keep their houses like pig* styes,” so as to be a danger to themselves and their neighbours. But theinspection must bo general. There would be an immediate outcry agaiust favouritism.—Ed.]