THE COLONY'S PRODUCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1973, 12 September 1889, Page 1

THE COLONY'S PRODUCE.

The annual addresses of the Presidents of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce have for some years past furnished the best review of the commercial and industrial situation of the colony. That which was delivered last week by Mr Albert Kaye maintains this honourable tradition, and is probably the most exhaustive account of the progress of a single year that has yet been published. It may be added that the progress thus recorded is, we should think, almost unparalleled in the history of any colony. The gold discoveries, it is true, advanced Victoria by leaps and bounds of greater extent, but the distinction of our present progress is that it is universal, and attained not by any special circumstance nor in any two or three special products, but extends along the whole line of our productions and their values. The single broad fact that in the year ending June 30th last, our exports ex--ceeded in value those of the previous year by one and three-quarter million, and those of any year before that by over two millions, is wonderful enough. But our gratification is greatly enhanced when ■we find that this increase is not only an increase in values but in quantities, and that the improvement in our powers of production is keeping pace with the rise in prices. A detailed list of the sixteen principal articles of export, furnished by Mr Kaye, shows a uniform increase in quantity as well as value, and all the minor expository tables which he quotes accumulate powerful evidence of the probable permanence of the progress recorded, and add to the confidence that prosperity 1 is returning steadily as well as swiftly., It would be impossible in the space at our disposal to give even an idea of the mass of statistical information which Mr Kaye has extracted from the official returns" and tabulated so effectively. "We must content ourselves with selecting a few items which have specially impressed us, and calling attention to such portions of the accompanying remarks as deal with aspects of the situation which have not been previously treated by our own Chamber. Running the eye down the table of exports, we notice that the largest increase in value and quantity of export was in wheat, of which in 1887-88 the export was 700,000 bushels, valued at LI 00,000, whereas in 1888-89 it was 3,500,000 bushels, valued at L650,0()0, or five times as much in quantity and six and a-half times as much in value! Wool shows an increase of 4,500,0001b in quantity, and L 300,000 in value ; frozen meat, 150,000cwt, and nearly L 250,000 ; oats, nearly 500,000 bushels, and over LI 50,000 ; flax, over 6000 tons, and nearly L 140,000. Flour, bran, and sharps show an increase of 13,000 tons, and LI 20, 000 ; whilst amongst minor items we note that butter, of which the total export now stands at 33,000cwt, valued at LI 40, 000, shows an increase of 7400cwt or L 56,00 0; timber, L 36,00 0; coal, L 32,00 0; tallow, L 37,000; and potatoes, Lr21,000. In. his remarks upon the wool trade Mr Kaye tells us that the demand for local manufacturing purposes in 1888-9 shows an increase of 100 per cent, on that ' of 1887-8, and now reaches the respectable total of over 4,000,0001b. He also states that we may expect a large increase in the demand for the United States, whose wool production has now reached its maximum. This demand is to be chiefly directed 'to crossbred wools for carpet-making, thus again increasing the value which crossbreed sheep have acquired through the

demand for freezing. Grain is Mr Kaye's strong point, and the tables he furnishes on the different aspects of the trade are most exhaustive. It is of course known to everybody that this year has witnessed an extraordinary expansion in the Australian trade, but we do not think its extent has yet been gauged in public. Mr Kaye informed us that there has been an increase from 82,000 bushels, valued at LI 1,000, in 1887-8, to 1,480,000 bushels, valued at L 285,000, in 1888-?. In other words, the export to Australia last year was 18|- times as large in quantity and 25 times in value as that of the previous year. Another table shows that the total gross produce of the white crops of the whole of Australia for the year just ended has been less than that of New Zealand. Still more welcome than this record of past triumphs is the news, of which Mr Kaye is the bearer, that the United States are now considered by the most competent authorities to have reached the iimit of their wheat export. There can be little doubt that we should gain in the competition with the States, if we followed the American practice of grading the grain before export into recognised qualities. Mr Kaye strongly urges the advantages of this practice, at the same time recording with satisfaction the improvement that is taking place in the general repute of New Zealand wheat and the excellent quality of the last season's crop. Thence he passes to a minute examination of the condition of the frozen meat trade and other industries, which have so recently been commented upon in our own Chamber that we need not go over the ground again. Our attention is, however, arrested by a table showing the course of flax production for the last 16 years. In 1873 the export was 6454 tons, valued at L 143,799. In 1874 there was a sudden drop to 2039 tons, and L 37,690. Since then the value has moved between a minimum of L 7874 in 1879 and a maximum of L 41,955 in 1882, until last year it jumped up to L 76,919 for 4379 tons, or, roughly speaking, half the value and two-thirds the quantity of 1873. The last six months show still better results — namely, 6000 tons and LI 33,820, or nearly as much as the whole year 1873. Proceeding to general comment, Mr Kaye remarks that though there has been a decrease in the export trade of the year " there has been a marked " absence of the forced and cutting " trade usually the outcome of over- " burdened stocks and a noticeable pre- " sence of a steady and profitable turn- " over on the business carried through." He dwells no more strongly than is required upon the exorbitance of the freights charged from London to New Zealand as compared with those to Australia.- The number of bankruptcies, he tells us, is reduced by 155 from the previous year's chronicle, and contends that the steady increase in the Savings Banks returns and preponderance of small amounts shows that capital has felt the depression far more severely than' labour. After so many proofs of progress he urges that the Canterbury people should contribute liberally to the ■ success of the approaching Exhibition, and concludes a remarkably painstaking and most valuable address, with' a strong expression of opinion, based on 12 years' Australian and six years' New Zealand experience, that permanent prosperity is at hand. In the discussion which followed, we notice that Mr Stead warmly advocated the resumption of immigration on a large scale, taking up the general ground that the progress and prosperity of young countries depended upon their population. This general maxim is true enough,but in the present circumstances of this colony the only class of immigrants who- would be useful are men ready to settle upon the land, and Mr Kicliardsoh seems , to be

unable or unwilling to provide land enough for the existing demands. We doubt whether this colony will ever again find it desirable to resort to State immigration, except for special classes of settlers, and the first thing is to have land available for settlement.