OUR IMPORTS IN 1878.

Otago Witness, Issue 1476, 28 February 1880, Page 9

OUR IMPORT S IN 1878.

In accordance with our ueual custom, we have attempted an analysis of the returns supplied uh by the Govertment Printer of the imports for 1878. The well-known blue volume of some 280 pages, entitled " Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand for 1878," did not reach us until last month, and the pressure of other matter has prevented our noticing it; since ihen. It contains particulars of population, trade, finance, law, &0., and vye shall ior the present deal solely with Part iii, " Trade aud Interchange," confining ourselves maiuly to imports, and only referring to other details as far as may be necessary to illustrate tlie bearing cf facts relative to imports. Had we recsived these statistics earlier, we might have considered them calculated to afford some guidance to merchants in contemplated transactions. As it is, they are, as we have before frequently complained, comparatively out of date, and are therefore only interesting from wtiafc we may almodt call the historical point of view. Tae total declared value of the inipoits for rhe year amounted to L8,755,G67, < f wh ich the United Kingdom contributed L 5,333,17 0; Victoria, L 1.433,702 ; New Sousu Wales, L789,739j United S.atea, L 432.67 6; Tasmania, L 110,450 yhina and Mauritius, £372,663 j the remainder

being from miscellaneous sources, of which India, with L 131.136, stands a long way first. ThuH in round figures 60 per cent, came from the TJrjifced Kingdom, and 27 per cent, from the Australian Oolocieß, leaving only 13 per cent, to be contributed by other pl««e3. We summarise hhe chief imports un'er a f«w general heads, and give also the figures for the two preceding yeare in parallol columnß [for the purpose of comparison :— 1876. 1877. 1878. Total imports of all kinds .. £0,905,171 £6,073,418 £8,765,667 Deduct Public Works plant .. 831,371 164,851 205,850 £6,573,800 £6,808,567 £8,550,317 Thtw we have larger aprarent imports in 1878, »b competed with 1877, by no less than L 1,741750., 741 750. The imports cf Public. Workd plant naturally became lees as the chief railways approached completion. The details are as follow :— PUBLIC WORKS PLANT. I 1876. 1877. 1878, Kails and railway plant .. £311,122 £153,404 £196,811 Budge material .. 1,655. 1,844 30 Telegraph material 18,594 9,603 8,509 £331,371 £164,851 £205,350 We now come to the most injpomnt class in , poiufc of value of all our imports, viz., SOFT-GOODS AND CLOTHING, and under tnis head the figures for the three years are as follow :—

A glaDce at theee figures shows that an enormous, and, indeed, almost alarmiug increase took place in these articles, amounting in the BpgrßgatetoLs9o,Bs2, and of this sum boots aiod pboes contributed L 49 659, and woollens and blankets L 29,613, notwithstanding our local manufactures. We will now give a heading that serves as a very fair index of the pereor s " marrying and Bottling down," viz , HOUSEHOLD FURNISHINGS.

We might have added brushware, mattiag, platedware, and sewing-machines to the above. Tney amount to nearly sixty thousand pounds, but would spoil our table for purposes of comparison with thope of previous ye&va. The figures which we have given in the table call for little comment. There i* a considerable but not remarkable increase. Under musical instruments, pianos figure to tbe extent of L 42,472, which seems rather startling when we remember that a piano is, or should be, good for at least 10 years' work. At that rate ihere ought to be some thousands of families in possession of one of these instruments. No wonder concerts fl mrlsh, when a taste for music is co widely diffused. We might roundly estimate that after adding 25 per cent, for tradesman's profitß to the above grand total ot L 278,399, and allowing a hundred pounds to each family for these " furnishings," that about 3500 households were set up in these necessaries of middleclass housekeeping by the imports of lost year. Let us now take a list of still more generallyuaad commodities —

£1,168,413 £1,292,060 £1,471,009 We have only taken the most important article?, and of these two, coffee and spices, amounting to about L 34,000, stem to have eacaped our notice in previous years, and I hi-re-fore are not inserted above. Bufc for purposes of comparison tbe table gives all we require It will be specially noticed bow great ia the increase on sugar and tea. There are in this list many articles with which we might, almost entirely supply ouTsalven, as flour, jams and jellies, green fruits, &c , &c, aud doubtless we shall do so as years go on. We come now out of the region of necessaries to that of luxuries, and firyt of these, both in point of their cost and their consequences, we must place BPIRITOOI7R LIQUORS. 1876. 1877. 1878. Spirits £281,872, £240,588 £247,926 Wino 98.586 95,382 103,281 Beer 80,579 78,332 115,207 £461,337 £414,302 £466,414 We have here a considerable increase in tbe grand total, but only a slight increase — and as compared with 1876 a considerable decreaseunder the head of spirits. The increase is almost entirely ia the lighter beveragss— beer aud wine— indulged in by the men wealthy classes. Still the total, multiplied by the intermediate profits and the duty, is a melaacholy one, and a worse tax on the community than the property tax. Now let us turn to a few other and mure harmless lOXUEIES. 1876. 1877. 1878. Tobacco and cigars ..£100,429 £118,523 £13d,513 Fancy goods .. .. 83,346 79,701 92,073 Jewellery .. .. 73,603 46,037 51.557 £257,438 £244,261 £275,173 The comparatively slight riae in jewellery pro'iably results from the marked preference l&U ly Known for showy silver ornamenti. Had gold been as much worn asm i/revioun years tbe figures would have been hipber Tie increase in tobaco is large, especially when we Fen that it fa on tho top of a large increase in 1877 a-< compared with 187 G. It rr-xcains to be seen who! her rrcent legislation will open a market for New Zealand-grown tobacco. To counterbalance in some degree tbo expenditure on vsoeless luxuries, ye ):n-ve the following figure under the howl of what we may term LITERATURE, 1876. 1877. 1878. Printed hooks .. £83,508 £115,707 £113,098 Printing materials .. 53,957 62,869 82,991 £.142,465 £181,576 £196,089,

The enormous increase in 1877, in the value of books imported, over the value received in 1876, has been followed by a Blight falling off in 1878 In the total, however, we have an increase of about L 15.000, and so we may console oui selves tbat if tbe people drink more, they Hre lectured as much as ever for it in the columns of the Press. We will now take two important heads which represent partly the aotivifcy of our manufacturers and partly tbe investment of capital in building.-! and improvements : MATERIALS FOR MANUFACTURES.

The heaviest decline here is in hops and malt. There is no doubt that we are rapidly apprracbiog the time when we shall make all the malt wo want in the Colony ; but the falling off in our imports of hops cannot but cwse groat suspicion as to tbe ingredients re>Uy used to give a bitfcfr flavour to Colonial ale, though it, may be partly accounted for by a reduction in prices. MATERIALS OF A PERMANENT CHARACTER.

These figures indicate extraordinary activity in all branches of the building trade, while the increased importation of American agricultural machinery is correlated with the enormous increase in our production of wheat in 1879, and the introduction of the reaper and binder. We must now only give two other items, as it is impossible for anyone satisfactorily to follow all the figures in detail : — GOAL, 1876. 1877. 1878. Total imports for the year „ .. £241,168 £240,638 £268,436 — tho tonnapr* being respectively 157,558, 155,996, and 174,148 toDB. The gradual decrease in our imports was checked ia 1878, and a great deal more imported coal than usual was taken in that year. 'EhU might have b°en anticipated by anyone couverdxtit with the list of "materials for manufactures" given above, and by tbo increase cf st<am navigation ; but for all tbat it is very significant, as pointing to the desirability of developing our various coalfields, SPECIE. 1876. 1877. 1878. Gold, silver, and copper . . £106,412 £426,585 £333,140 The reexports in the same years were L 61.936, L 158.247, and L 109.550. Thß operations for the year 1877 resulted, therefore, in a net addition to our currency and reserves of L 223.590. The conditions which cause requirements for extra currency are not well understood ; it is ia a measure regulated by the notions of the banks as to what is necessary, and we cannot say how far we have at present enough coiDB in circulation to facilitate "giving change." We should imagine that we have nearly as much gold as we want, but certainly th*re is a dearth of silver. The import for 1878 was L 25,715, as against an fxport of L 4283, of which L 3260 went to Chili. Probably in 1879 a larger quantity was received. Of copper, or more strictly br>^r,z3, we only imported L 5 worth. We shall know in Bix months what arrived in 1879. There haß long been a scarcity ; in fact drapers' tokens still circulate freely in some districts. We will now eliminate specie transactions from our former totals, and show the KET TOTALS FOR THE THREE YEARS. 1876. 1877. 1878. Total imports, less Public Worksplant£6,s73,Boo £6,808,567 £8,550,317 Deduct specie .. 106,412 426,585 333,140 £6,467,388 £6,381,982 £8,217,177 The chief articles which have contributed to swell this enormous increase, amounting to nearly two millions sterling, are easily seen from the tables above. Thereis increase in almost every item, the most striking, perhaps, Iwinp in soft goods and clothing, and materials of a permanent character, which together account for a million of the increare, Unfortunately the-rn is no corresponding 1 increase in exports, which are less tt e n in 1877, and we will proceed to estimate their amount. The differaroo between our imports and experts may host be seen after olhxinatfcg Bpecio from the expoits, and then comparing we obtain :— Imports. Exports, Total for 1878 .. ... £8,217,177 £6,906,150 Remarkable figures for a] population of 465,000 of both races. This leaves a surplus of L2,3U,027 rendered possible, directly or indirectly, by the money we have borrowed, by the sums sent us as payment for land, to some extent by over-importation by traders, and by a few other causes. Our imports and exports of specie are so obviously independent of, and trifling compared with, these large totals, that we obtain a strong confirmation of the accepted doctrine in political economy, that large international payments are elwaya really paid in goods. Year by year, however, the iutorent on the sums borrowed grow larger, and the problem of taxation already is found a very knotty one. The great excess of England's imports over her exports is duo to quite another cauße — namely, the immense sums remitted annually in payment of interest for money lent. The difference in 1877 was nearly 1/100.000.(100 sterling and in 1878 was L 81,000,000. Ouv position, then, is an entirely different one, and j may well Induce us to pause and reflect on the liabilities we are incurring. Should tiny doubt the inferences we have drawn, we will attempt a very rough calculation of our total exports and imports since 1853. Adding millions only, we get — Total imports for 26 j'oars in millions . 117 „ exports „ „ „ .. 77 „ surplus of imports .. ..40 Of this about 20 millions really consisted of poods sent to us, representiag our loans iv Europe The rc-st must be attributed to English capital invested here. During these 26 years we have also had to pay back nearly L 10,000,000 as interest, and allowing for that, which of course really went in goods, it would srem that our position is critical, and that nothing can save us from severe financial difficulties but the enormous annual increase in the produce and value of our land, and tlw influx r.f outside capital. What this increase of value must be may be gathered w inferred from one item oniy. The amount of wool eeut Homo in the last five years is ox folI"\vh. We have taken the returns not, as npuallv givon, up to 31st Pecsmber, but up to 30th September, bo aa to get the produce of

each year into one line, irrespective <f late and early shearing :— WOOL EXPORT IN POUNDS WEIGHT. 1874.. .. .. .. 47,424,882 1875.. .. .. .. 49,942,148 1876.. .. .. .. 55,975,177 1877.. .. „ .. 50,520,278 1878.. .. .. .. 62,166,251 The increase for la«t year, therefore, amounts to 5,645 9731 ha weight, and wo find it stated that L 355.484 is the declared value. Grain exports, as is well known, have recently nearly doubled every year j soon our coal will, at any rate, meet internal requirements; and in view of these fac's we may safely conclude that our future commercial progress will enable us to carry the burdens we have incurred in our easier d* sire for progress. Ib is, on the wholo, satisfactory to know that the imports of the last quarter of 1879 show a great decline aa compared with those of the corresponding quarter of 1878, and there arp indications that our market will soon be reduced of any over-stocks. The figures as telegraphed era : — For quarter ending 31st December, 1879 . . £1,550,670 For quarter ending 31st December, 1878 . . 2,252,373

1876. Galvanised iron . . £ 99,756 Fencing- wire . . 50,811 Hardware and ironmongery . . 264,882 Ember .. .. 79,682 Machinery — agricultural .. .. 55,633 Machinery — other kinds .. .. 118,551 Cement „ „ 60,730 Furniture . . . . 59,100 Watches and clocks .. 26,381 Saddlery and harness 63,408 Paints and paint oil „ 63,071 1877. 1878. £104,161 £193,028 70.852 100,598 236,440 299,256 78,802 94,305 88,752 141,205 74,365 125,355 50,203 81,471 62.545 86,067 18,475 25,211 60,825 73,676 70,333 87,516 £948,003 £906,088 £1,307,748

1876. 1877. 1878. [yon (bar, rod, pig, &c.) £120,815 £93,457 £107,542 Lead and leadwara . . 19,679 9,760 23,072 Leather and leatherware .. .. 58,215 57,710 74,362 Bark .. .. 23,709 16,952 29,141 Hops „ „ 27,276 24,295 17,033 Malt .. .. 15,390 9,635 7,752 £265.084 £211,815 £258,952

3. 1876. Sugar .. ~ £437,312 rea .. .. 195,815 Flour and wheat . . 71,104 Rice .. .. 38,890 Dilmen'a stores . . 65,545 Jams and jellies . . 35,761 Dried fruits . . 55,181 Ghreen fruits . . 32,261 Butter „ .. 648 Salt .. .. 12,725 Vinegar .. .. 11,816 Starch and blue .. 8,393 Fish .. .. 36,588 3ocoa and chocolate .. 15,193 handles .. .. 88,717 Kerosene .. .. 36,133 Matches and vestas .. 29,431 1877. £429,262 212,908 119,199 81,895 64,503 41,343 51,864 42,449 129 12,606 10,345 10,431 37,214 16,597 9G.412 71,429 43,401 1878. £524,377 303,858 69,776 44,173 79,698 44,660 49,646 49,011 2,885 15,345 11,951 10,485 47,524 20,304 103,268 59,592 34,456

1870. krpoting £26,214 Klcloth 7,751 'aperhangings and scrim 28,920 larthenware .. .. 29,391 !hina and glass (all kinds) 67,027 -amps 11,173 lusical instruments .. 37,186 1877. £20,684 10,312 24,878 40,491 73,658 10,980 50,640 1878. £43,553 17,430 82,351 37,963 73,353 10,117 63,632 £206,662 £240,043 £278,399

J.OIU, 4.011. )rapery .. £798,805 £858,378 Apparel and slops 181,978 177,099 Jottons .. 84,261 83,033 iVoollens and blankets .. 137,769 107,594 .inena .. 12,702 12,752 3abcrdashery .. 85,031 78,962 tflllinory .. 19,399 24,127 Hosiery .. 30,838 29,054 Silks .. 29,135 34,987 Hats and caps .. 51,633 58,57(3 Joota and shoes .. 135,491 181,385 £1,667,002 £1,645,947 £1,223,947 253,201 142,085 137,207 19,405 73,719 23,057 82,299 32,641 68,091 231,044 £2,230,599