IMPORT AND EXPORT RETURNS.
The export returns for September quarter -bhow a total of £2,805,773, as against £2,129,960 for the corresponding quarter of 1901. The three quarters by cotnpan&on come out as fo[low. — 1902. 1901. March ouarter .. £3,863,245 £4,584,689 Julie quarter .. .. 4,058,021 3,388,85 C September quarter .. 2,805,773 2,429,960 Totals .. .. £10,727,039 £10,403,535 Showing a subst.uit.al increase of £323,504. The details for the auaitei are as follow — Gold, an increase "of £114,224 (£544,509— £430,255) ; silver, a decrease of £5079 -(£13,058— £18,134) ; kauri gum, a decrease, of £270,048 (£105,281— £132,329) ; timber, a decrease of £22,685 (£56,384— £79,060) ; butter, a most remarkable mcreate of £90,303 (£122,072— £32,369); cheese, a decrease of £5040 (£13,001— £18,044); preserved msats, an increase of £14,053 (£40,156 — £26,073) ; live stock, a. large increase, which we may ascribe to the Australian demand, of £55,852 (£61,932— £6050) , frozen meat, again a large incjease of £157,595 (£-706,712 — £549,117), which, following the hvtge increase on the preceding quarter of really Jf200,000, io all the more remarkable, especially as the Australian shipments were going on at the same time ; sausage skins, an increase of £7392 (£17,558— £10,166) ; sheepskins, an increase pi
no less than £42,361 (£101,551 -.£59,190) ; tallow, an increase of £30,655 (£119,531— £88,846) ; rabbitskins, a decrease of £3734 (£18,391— £22,125) ; wool, an increase of £62,714 (£320,848— £258,134), the valuation being a trifle over 6d per lb, and as a considerable proportion must be scoured wool this does not seem too high. Agricultural products show a large decrease of £180,842 (£292,451— £173,293). This includes a fallin" off in oats of £95,000, in wheat of £87,000,. and in potatoes of £22,000, but there is an increase in bran and sharps of £9700, maize £13 000, and sundries £7000. Leather shows a falling off of £8581 (£21,048— £29,629) ; pborrniuni, a very important increase of £72,285 (£117,571— £45,286), the valuation being about £24 10s a ton, rather a high average. Thus, a falling off in one product is made up by an increase in another, and on the whole we progress on our totals. The returns of imports are rendered comparatively nugatory for the purposes of comparison by the omission to state the amount of specie included in them. This is no small matter, as we see by the year book the imports of specie in 1901 amounted to £464,000, and we do not know what it ha* been this year. Such as they are we give the totals, which are £3,216,891 for last quarter, as against £3,314,936 for the corresponding quarter last year. If specie were deducted there would probably be a larger difference. Auckland shows an increase of £130,000; Wellington an increass of £99,000; Lyttelton a decrease of £108,000 ; and Dunedin a decrease o£ £151,000, which indicates, we fear, which ■nay trade is trending, and shows how rapidly the North Island is distancing the South.
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