THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1896. THE VOLUME OF AUSTRALASIAN TRADE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1262, 7 May 1896, Page 22

THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1896. THE VOLUME OF AUSTRALASIAN TRADE.

Tin-: total volume of Australasian trade for the year 1895, according to the figures published by the Registrar-General of New South Wales, reached X\ 11,51:5,757, or nearly a hundred and fifteen millions. At the accession of Queen Victoria that was about the volume of British trade. At that date the Australasian colonies practically were not; now they have a population of four millions and a volume- of trade of one hundred and fifteen millions. The record of fifty-nine years is striking enough to make us wonder what tho next half century has in store for us. In this Connection the returns discloso a very important feature. It is that tho exports of the Australasian group are considerably larger than their imports. Time was, not so very long ago, when the balance was tho other way. Wo do not refer to the stress and bustle of the time when tho gold fever was high and fortunes wore everywhere. We refer to the days of recent booms when foreign money came into Australia at a rate unexampled. It was about that time that New Zealand set the example of showing a balance in favour of tho exports. Now every colony is doing tho samo thing, except Western Australia, which is in the early mining stage which warrants a large excess of imports.

Western Australia is doing good business, and so is the rest of Australasia, which is feeling at last the benefit of the investment of much borrowed money. It is a sign that the next half century may be as profitable as the last. In the figures the Mother Colony occupies tho first 'place. Of the hundred and fifteen millions of trade New South Wales has nearly thirty-eight millions, or a shade over one-third. It is not a little remarkable that her 30 millions are hotter than the volume of the year 1894 by six millions, and than ISD.j by one and a half. The soundness of tho position is shown by the excess of not less than six millions of exports over imports for the latter year. Victoria comes second on tho list with a total of 27 millions, and a proportion of 23 per cent., and it must be borne- in mind that tho Victorian volume of trade is swelled by a large import and export business done on New South Wales account for Riverina. Now Zealand, which did not got tho wool clip away before the new year, looks rather a bad third in the comparison, with a volume of close on fifteen millions, and a percentage of nearly fourteen. Freetrade is proving a great friend to the Mother Colony, which with Victoria deserves to be congratulated on the increase I in tho exports. '"The imports seem unduly | large for Victoria, but if their bulk is a sii.ni that solid investment has taken the [ place of wildcat speculation all will bo well. These two great colonies have put their shoulder to the wheel, and are push- j ing themselves out of the rut. New Zea- j land does not grudge them the success of their sheep walks. It is when we come to the value per head of the trade that we can see tho prize that the Australasian group has to oiler to commerce. The order is:-West Australia, £:,:, I l;Sd: South Australia, S £3(J I 1; lid ; Queensland, =£3l 12s lid ; New South Wales. X'2!) 10s lUd ; Victoria, .£22 17s lOd ; New Zealand, ..£2l 12s; Tasmania, -Cls j los Id. lint with these figures we have to read the value per head of the domestic exports, which "give us the best means id' judging of the relative producing power. The order here is:—Queensland, £tt) lis 7d; West Australia. £ll 5s 7(1; Now South Wales, £l2 19s lid; New Zea-

land. ..'J 12 2s 7d; South Australia, £li) 9s 3d; Victoria, JB!) His 10.1; Tasmania, £H Is. Here Queensland is far and away ahead ; West: Australia, being in the early "old stage, does not count in the comparison; New South Wales and New Zealand come well together in the second place. In the ca.se of our Colony, it is at the

same time quite safe to say that the method of calculating per head is far j lister than for New South Wales, where wool is so large a part of tho exports. On the wlmle New Zealand comes out of the comparison very well, and all Australasia is seen to occupy a position most attractive to the commerce of the world. It is the sunshine after the storm.

THE BRITISH INTENTION IN THE SOUDAN.

To those who have watched recent event.-, and studied the map of Equatorial Africa, the question of the policy now unfolding on the road to Dongola has be.como very inter-sting. In the first place the intention, whatever it is, appears to be known and acquiesced in by Europe. It is evident from tho behaviour of the Powers that' Great Britain has a free hand to do whatever seems t > the Government to tin necessary. Lord Salisbury only tho other day spoke out in the most definite manner, using words which leave no doubt of Ihe intention to reconquer the Soudan for civilisation. While the expedition is slowly making- its way towards Dongola, we note a significant item of news. It, is that Baron Davis, of tbo Belgian army, is advancing northwards 1r,,.,! |be farthest boundaries of the C..,)1g0 i'Vee Slate at the head of a strong', well-armed force up tho Nile, with ' orders (o conquer from the Khalifa the Huhr-nbGuznl country, north of the Equatorial Province which was conquered by Sir Samuel Laker, its first Governor-General, and so long maintained by the unfortunate Emia Pasha. This expedition northwards is understood to bo in co-operation with the BritishEgyptian expedition southwards from Egypt on Dongola. The next step, if all goes well, will, we may readily conjecture, bo from the liaiir-el-i la/.al and Doug.da simultaneously ...s, Khartoum, the Khalifa's capital. Already largo numbers of Arabs are in the pay of the British. Now this is what tho Arabs would like to have done when General Gordon went through to Khartoum on his, last expedition. lint his announcement that he had not come to Htay, but only to get away with the garrisons and foreigners, cooled the ardour of the great Sheiks'. They said they would not help tho_Egyptians, because when the Egyptians got away the Mabdi would be down on them. They therefore joined the Mahdi. The fact that they have joined the British - Egyptian force now is a proof that they have been satisfied" that the expedition has come to stay. When the advance is made later on Khartoum from north and south, the Italians will no doubt bo able to help by operating from Kassala on the flanks of the advance. Moreover, Uganda, far to the south, being now a British possession, affords a base for tho southern expedition, and a recruiting depot for men, under the conduct of officers of the Indian Army. Lastly, troops are under orders for the Soudan, both in England and in India.

It is clear, therefore, that the British intention is to reconquer and oceuj)y the whole of that portion of the Soudan and of its Equatorial Provinces which border the Nile. It is the cause of civilisation, which happens to be the cause also of Great Uritain, Italy, and the Congo Free State. If all goes well, tho British flag will fiy from Zanzibar to Cairo, and the date of the

' British evacuation of Egypt will be the Greek Kalends. If till does not go well, things will be different. For the present the advance is slow, because the railway lino has to be carried on beyond Akasheh towards Dongola, and tie Nile cataracts above that town will not be safe to negotiate) till the autumn. For a time, therefore, it will be a record of unimportant .skirmishes, unless the advice of Lord Charles Beresford is taken. That oflicerhas published a fiery, characteristic letter, declaring that the only hope of success is to smash up the Mabdi's troops by a sudden, determined, rapid rush on Dongola; seize that fertile source of provisions, and wait quietly for the rising of the Nile before advancing on Khartoum. Whether that alternative will be adopted remains to be seen. As for the Belgian expedition under Davis, we cannot expect to hear much about it that is reliable, except at long intervals.

Til E FRUIT-GROWERS' CONFERENCE

Unuapi'lLY for this Colony, the loading feature of the first day's Conference was the absolute unanimity with which everybody, including the New Zoalanders, denounced the apathy and backwardness of the New Zealand farming community as fruit-grower.-'. According to the Conference, a more miserable and unenterprising set of men there is not on the face, of tho earth than the agriculturists here who ought to be fruit-growers. They know nothing, they do nothing-, and apparently they do not'want to do anything. There are here and thero individual growers and associations who have done excellent work", are doing it, ami growing very excellent fruit of all kinds, the grape, the orange, thtf citroii, the apple—best coiinfiy on earth for the apple'one expert said--the pear aid a. hundred others. Hut tho Colony is fifty years old, has the best climate for growing full-il.ivoiired fruit in abundance, and imports fruit to the extent of nearly JJUKUIUO a year.

The Government, on the other ham!, has scattered abroad throughout the community every kind of information relating to fruit-growing, of both practical and scientific character. Moreover, to show that no one cm say that the Agricultural Department exists for the sole purposo of throwing leaflets out of a. window, many experts have been engaged, who are trying to get up an interest in this very important branch of tillage. To give them a chance the Government has, as the Premier told the Conference, given them a railway tariff which deprives them of the old excuse that their produce is blocked by the railway rates. The truth is that the rural populations of Australasia but a few years ago knew absolutely worse than nothing about fruitgrowing. The Australians and Tasmanians (they lirst) have begun to awakes from the dense sleep of ignorance a little before the New Zealanders. That is tho main difference between us. The. others are consequently ahead, and we must follow as soon as we can. The reason for the long night of ignorance which has lain for so many years like a blight on the industry of Australasia lies on the service. It is that rural Australasia came out of rural Uritain, and rural Britain has been for centuries, in comparison with the peasantry of Italy, Germany, France and Spain, a stranger to nearly all the small arts without which (dose settlement is impossible. Flails, forks, billhooks, scythes, pitchforks, spades these and kindred tools the English peasant got on with well. Put with tho pruni".g-lcnife, which belongs to the orchard, and with the tillage of tho. orchard, and many other things connected therewith, hi! was not acquainted. The same thing' was oi.servahlc in the colonies, and in an increased proportion. And it might be said, parodying a fam-ius saying', the! (hough there are among oar farmers tod iv on • hundred religions, there is practically leaf

The fact thai the Continental peasantry habitually turn on! scores of varieties is typical of the superiority they enjoy in the n'rls pertaining to small cultivation. Hut those bad (dd days ;l ,v going-. The cultivators are becoming as much alive as are their Governments to the necessity of increasing- their resources by increasing their knowledge. These conferences are the best of all the methods of acquiring knowledge, for they are marts for the exchange of information by experts who have acquired knowledge by experience, for which they have paid. They should be supplemented by large establishments, maintained by the Slate for purposes of study and comparison. Then these conference-; will realise to the full their do-tiny as a f-Y-deraf ion of all the knowledge and expert skill in Australasia, and a voluntary, informal but, very real control over the direction of enterprise.