The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, November 26, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 960, 26 November 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, November 26, 1879.

Mr. Buckley is doing good service to the country in assisting Major Atkinson to bring the people of New Zealand to face their difficulties. There can be no harm to let the truth be known as to our real position, whilst much injury may be done by concealing it. Mr. Buckley has moved from his seat in the Council " That it is desirable that the true value of the exports of the Colony should be ascertained by the Customs Department." This, Mr. Buckley asserts, has not hitherto been the case, and not being the case the country has been deluded into the belief of a prosperity which does not exist. The mover went into the question very exhaustively, and he showed by figures and the returns he was enabled to obtain that our exports for the previous years had been overvalued by quite one million sterling. The consequence of such over estimate, Mr. Buckley averred, must be apparent to all who gave to the subject the smallest consideration ; for official returns, published under the I authority of Government were not only j misleading to ourselves, but to those outside of us. The mover instanced, in support of his assertions, several articles of export which were estimated greatly in excess of their market value. Wool was declared last year, as nearly as possible, at Is. l^d. a pound, and the total value of staple exported at £3,292,000. Now, as is well known, a small proportion only of wool exported from New Zealand is scoured or washed. Therefore to value our last year's clip at ls. l|d. as the selling figure is an absurdity. The Hon. Mr. Bucklfy estimates that this export was overvalued by £615,000. In the discussion which followed, the Hon. Mr. Robinson and Colonel Whitmore argued that if exporters were willing to pay insurance on their own estimate of their produce, no harm could arise in accepting their valuation. If these returns of the exports of the Colony are to be of any real value, tbey should be as nearly correct as circumstances would permit, and we are glad that instructions are to be issued to the Customs Department to exercise a check on overvaluations of exported goods. From a tabular statement of the several Australasian colonies, we gather tho following, which, bearing on the question of overvaluation of our exports, is sufficiently alarming. Western Australia alone of thcolonies shows, per head of popula tion, an increased value of exports over imports, the amount of increase being £1 5s 4d per head. Tasmania's imports are scarcely at all in excess ofher exports. The other colonies are in the following proportions : — Queensland, £1 3s 9d per head of population; Victoria, £1 8s sd; South Australia ; £1 10s } New South Wales, £2 13s 2d ; while in New Zealand, the excess of imports over exports per head of population amounts to L6 9s sd. It may be that the values of exports in the other colonies are alike with us overstated, and in all probability the relative proportions between the colonies would remain unaltered, but the figures we have quoted are sufficiently alarming. The relation between the imports and exports of a country is much the same as that between the revenue and expenditure of an individual or of a corporative body, and New Zealand would thus appear to be annually spending (irrespective that her reports are overvalued) a far greater amount than she produces. The value of imports to New Zealand is, of course, largely made up of material for the prosecution of public works, railwayiron and the like, but other colonies have with us public works for which they have imported materials. The producing capabilities of this colony are, perhaps, greater than any of the neighbouring colonies, and it would seem that the deduction to be drawn from the above figures is that we are more extravagant as a community than our neighbours. During the year 1878 the exports from New Zea- j land were less than in the previous year £312,000, while the imports increased about £1,800,000. The decrease in the value of the exports is largely accounted for by the fall in wool, but there is nothing to

warrant such an enormous increase in our import trade. There is an increase in the value of soft goods imported of about £600,000 ; of iron, hardware, ahd machinery (not including railway material) of £300,000 ; and an increase of a like amount in the class which includes spirits, wine and beer, tobacco, sugar, tea. The increase in the value of machinery imported (£124,000) is largely accounted for by the influx of reapers and binders. With the knowledge that our import trade has so enormously increased during the past year, one has not to travel far to seek causes for the tightness of money. The falling off in the value of gold exported is very noticeable. The amount of this export for 1878 was £1,244,192. In 1871 £2,788,000 of gold was exported, and that this enormous reduction has been counterbalanced by the increase cf other exports is a very satisfactory evidence of the material progressson of the colony during those years. The increase in the value of grain and flour exported was for the year £263,761, an amount which almost counterbalances the falling off in the value of wool. Notwithstanding the large amount exported, valued at£574,000, flour and grain was imported to the value of £140,000,