New Zealand Agriculturist WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1879. OUR EXPORTS OF PRODUCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 952, 7 May 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

New Zealand Agriculturist WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1879. OUR EXPORTS OF PRODUCE.

A remark that fell from his Excellency the Governor during his visit to Oamaru clearly showed that very erroneous ideas prevail outside the Colony, and even within it, as to the size, population, trade, and importance of Oamaru and the districts surrounding it. Many persons are apparently in the habit of judging of a place by the figure it makes in the published Customs returns, and where the exports of any port are set down at a low figure in these returns, they, without further inquiry, write the place and district down as of no very great importance, and very naturally so, for the trade which any town or district does with other places, even though within the same country or colony, is a sure-index to its wealth and importance. There cannot be prosperity where the imports are large and the exports small. A country must always possess some means of bringing back to its coffers the money which it sends away for the purchase of articles that it requires. The money so expended must be continually returning to us in some shape to enable us to continue our purchases, and the country that exports largely and imports but sparingly must eventually become wealthy. Rut our object in writing is not to prove the correctness of the theory upon which men are in the habit of basing their opinions of the importance or otherwise of a town or country. Sir Hercules Robinson is evidently one of those who study figures with the view of arriving at facts. He has been studying the Customs returns of New Zealand, and finding that Oamaru did not show up well in the way of exportations, deduced therefrom the conclusion that it was not a very important place. That he was agreeably surprised on arriving here we know; that he was convinced of the excellent nature of the country which environs Oamaru we are confident: and that he has gone away with a very different opinion of the nature, capabilities, and importance of this part of the Colony we are equally sure. But Sir Hercules Robinson is unquestionably not the only one who has been deceived by the fallacious Customs returns purporting to give the imports and exports of the various ports of the Colony—returns which show only the shipments to places beyond New Zealand, and pays no heed to the exports coastwise. To places like Oamaru this system is manifestly unfair and thoroughly misleading. Waitaki County is the greatest grain-producing portion of New Zealand, and Oamaru bids fair to become the grain emporium of the Colony, if not eventually the granary of all the Australasias. As Mr. Evans put it the other day when interviewing the Go-1 vernor on the subject of the Sydney i Exhibition, this is the Adelaide of New Zealand. Our trade- at present is chiefly confined to the supplying of other portions of the Colony with agricultural produce, and consequently, while our direct exports to other lands are not great, our trade with places in the Colony is well-calculated to astonish even those who know the grain-grow-ing capabilities of North Otago. But there is another way to account for the apparent smallness of our shipments abroad. Nearly the whole of our produce destined for other portions of the world is sent to Dunedin, and there shipped away, Dunedin and not Oamaru getting the credit of the exports. With a view of showing what we in this part of the Colony are doing to increase the prosperity of the Colony, we have been at some trouble to obtain complete returns of all the produce, manufactured and in its natural state, shipped from Oamanl during the month of April. This information we give below in a tabulated form : but it must not for a moment be imagined that it represents the whole of the produce sent away from the district, for we know that the railways have not been idle. At the same time we think that the figures which we publish will clearly show how fallacious is the prevailing idea outside the Colony with regard to the importance of this portion of the Colony.

Many will, we feel sure, read with astonishment the announcement that during one month nearly 23,000 sacks of wheat were sent by sea from this district, nearly one-half of the total amount being forwarded to Dunedin, there, very probably for the most part, to be transhipped elsewhere. Our exports of oats have, however, even exceeded those of wheat, the total quantity sent away during the month having been 23,512 sacks, Adelaide being the recipient of the largest quantity, and Dunedin the next largest importer. The tabulated statements given below will show that we have been supplying nearly every portion of the Colony with some of the various classes of produce either in their prepared state or otherwise. We have not space at present to go more fully into this subject in this issue, but we may revert to it on some future occasion. We have said enough, we think, in conjunction with the figures given below, to show that this district is no sluggard in the march of progression, and that we are doing our share to increase the wealth and prosperity of the Colony. The following statements of the exports of grain, flour, &c„ during the month of April have been carefully ascertained by a perusal of the manifests of the various vessels that cleared outwards during the month : wheat. Sacks. Liverpool 0,571 Mauritius 300 Dunedin ... ••• ••• 11,1/ if Invercargill ... ... ••• ■ 923 Auckland ... ••• ••• ••• 450 Manukau ... 1,800 • Wellington ... 1,350 New Plymouth ... ••• 120 Greymouth ... ... ••• CI Hokitika 52 Total ... ... ••• 22,804 OATS. hacks. Mauritius ... ••• 3,300 Melbourne 5'19? Adelaide ... ••• ••• 6,653 Dunedin ... ... ••• 4,500 Lyttelton 355 Auckland ... ■■■ 1,921 Wellington 190 Wanganui I°3 Napier... £OO Gisbonie ••• ••• ••• /O'J New Plymouth ... 1,040 Greymouth ... ... 250 Hokitika 230 Total 23,512 HAItLKY. Sacks. Dunedin 2,676 POTATOES. Sacks. Dunedin ... ... ••• ••• 70 Invercargill ••• 136 Gisborne 60 Greymouth 121 Hokitika -. 102 Total 489 flour. Sacks. Mauritius 1,000 Dunedin ... ... ... ••• 644 Lyttelton 50 Auckland 767-A Wellington 1,420 Wanganui 360 Napier 100 Gisborne ... ... ... ••• 390 New Plymouth 100 Greymouth ... ... ... 325 Hokitika 20 Total 5,176 J pollard. Sacks. Dunedin 52 Wellington 120 Greymouth 64 Hokitika 30 Total 266 bran. Sacks. Mauritius 400 Dunedin 130 Wellington ... ... ... 350 Greymouth 537 Hokitika 150 Total 1.567 OATMEAL. Bags. Lyttelton 30 Auckland 40 Wellington 95 Wanganui 20 Gisbonie ... ... ••• ••• 30 Greymouth .' 70 Hokitika 50 Total ... ... ••• 335 CHAFF. Auckland ...20 bales ) 47 bales Wellington j i O O bags Hokitika 49 bales In addition to the articles which we have enumerated in tabular form, large quantities of wool, hides, sheepskins, and many other things have been shipped away. It is impossible to arrive at a complete knowledge of the whole of the produce, &c., sent from the district, or to form anything like a satisfactory estimate of its total value, owing to the lack of records under certain circumstances. We have, therefore, been compelled to limit our efforts to the plain unvarnished statements given above, but we hope that our efforts to arrive at some idea of what the town and district are exporting will tend to dispel the erroneous and damaging impression which appears to exist that this town and district are not of any very great importance.