VICTORIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4029, 16 January 1875, Page 6 (Supplement)

VICTORIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

The Melbourne Argus, in an article on i;ho vajue qf Xunnigratiou, gays :—

Nearly 50,000 immigrants landed in New Zealand during the year 1874, and a vory large proportion of these were consigned to the Province of Otago, Nevertheless, so great is tho scarcity of labour there, that some public baths which the Town Council of Port Chalmers had determined on constructing, cannot be proceeded with, owing to the want of hands. Tenders were advertised for during several weeks in succession, and not a single application was sent in, Facts like these speak for themselves. So do tha " Statistics for Now Zealand," from which we borrowed some figures a few days ago. They show that tho consuming power of the population of that colony, as exhibited by the value of its imports, is actually greater than it is in Victoria, the amount per oqpite being £22 9* 3|d in the former, and £31 cjs 9d in the latter country ; while, in spite of our exceptional adr vantages, !New Zealand runs us very hard in the matter of industrial productiveness, her exports being .£l9 9a 11 \d, and ours no more than £19 12s 2|d per head.

Cn-3 of the stock arguments of the opponents of assisted immigration is that its effect is to glut tlie colonial labour market, and to bring down the rate of wages. Let tis submit both these assertions to the test of experience. A steady stream of population has been pouring into New Zealand for some years past, and that stream was never so broad and deep as during the year which is now ending. y e t labour of all kinds was never in such brisk demand, while wages are actually higher in that Colony than they are here. Not only sq, but the very description of labour which has been introduced to the largest extent is precisely that^ which is commanding, relatively speaking, the most liberal reumne-ation. In order to show that we are bp&aking by the card, we quote fie following from page 155 of the New Zealand Statistics, and from page 25 <f Mr Hayter's Victorian Year Book for 1873 :— Victoria. New Zealand. Farm laoijirors, r>pr week with rations \\ .. \fs i(] 2.0.3 IKs to 35n rioiifjhnicn, tin dp .. l« s }.o 20s 20-; to 40s Shepherds, per aniuiii}', with rations .. .. £30 to £50 £35 to £70 Stoyklioppdps, do do .. £35 to £50. £35 to £05 General labourers, pfcf' day; without rations .. Gs to '(a g s to X2s Stonclji-o ikers, per cubic yanl.'do Is G4 to 4s 2s oa to-is 3d Gardeners, per wool;, do., 20s to 25s 21s to 48s The maximum r.»te of wages for masons, plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, and blacksmiths is higher in seven out of the nine provinces of New Zealand than it is in Victoria ; while domestic servants command about the same remuneration in both colonies. But an Important element in the question yet remains to be noticed, and that is the purchasing power of itjouey in the two countries. As regards provisions, prices are almost identical. House rent and fuel, however, arp much lower in most of the New Zealand provinces than in Victoria ; >yhile articles of wearing apparel are from 15 to 30 per cent cheaper in most of the principal towns than in Melbourne. Thus, then, the exchangeable value of a sovereign may be ffiirly stated to be somewhat greater in New Zealand than in this colony.

In instituting these comparisons, which, unfortunately, are unfavourable to Victoria, we have availed ourselves of information drawn from official sources, and published under the authority of our own Gpverninent and that qf JSpyf

Zealand respectively. Kobody can examine the statistics of both, -without being painfully struck by the serious retardation of our progress aud prosperity which has taken place under the baneful regime of protection. Since 1865 the population of New Zealand has increased upwards of 50 per cent. During the same period our increase has been less than 33 per cent. Between 1865 and 1873 the revenue of the latter Colony increased 80 per cent. ; while that of Victoria increased by about 20 per cent. only. In the same interval the deposits in the savings banks of New Zealand rose from £87,400 t0,£812,144, or in other words, they were nearly decupled ; but in this Colony the rise was from £734,56S to £1,498,618 only ; that is to say, they were rather more than doubled ; while it is a singular fact, illustrative of the commercial and social activity of the people of New Zealand, that while they have only 2389 miles of line of electric telegraph, and the population numbers less than 300,000, they sent 637,941 messages in 1873, as against the 788,167 telegrams despatched along the 392S miles of wire by the 800,000 inhabitants of Victoria during that year. We have selected a few of the more salient statistics of the two colonies for the purpose of exhibiting the superior rate of progress which is observable in New Zealand, as compared with the sluggish puce at which we are travelling ; and we ask the most bigoted protectionist and the most empty - headed bawler against assisted immigration, how he can explain the humiliating difference thus made apparent ? It will scarcely hs contended that New Zealand possesses any special advantages that are denied to this colcrny, or that her population is more energetic or industrious than our own. But she has this in her favour, that her statesmen have the cour.ige of theiropinions, and do not sacrifice their intelligent conviction respecting the policy whie:i is best adapted to promote the common weal to the " yea and nay of general ignorance."