The Poberty Bay Perald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1161, 30 October 1880, Page 2

The Poberty Bay Perald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

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>JDr. Hector has ; written- a :band-book iX'otfNew.'Zealand in Connection with the i-M^lboui'tt'Exhibitionvl As is usual in -all matters undertaken by Dr. Hector it is, and con- ' : fains" an extraordinary ; Va.moun't" of . valuable information. In the cp.m- ''• fparatiVe f pof>itJatioh tables; ISk w ; Zea-' !?nom ,18i?8 $o y&t? the average >i increase about, 7. per cent., but in one i yJearj froui ; June ,1873, to June, 1874j an r enormpus leap was made, granta ttnde'r'thePttbHc' Works policy. ,-aln^that r twelve months ■; the ■■ increase -was ! at.the fate of 45; : per cent., but ':i r that j wjas only . temporary, increase , : In: -1875; falling ■-. Jto '("1 OV per 'cent, f j and in; 1876 to,6iper .cent., gradually -' i coming' down- to '■ 3.5 per cent-in t,87.8. ? " : Tlfese estimates, however,' ' are/subject '^/to^^ckirrecfcion of 5 per : cent., the Jcensus .of 1878 pro viilg that the population , ; was under-estimated by abbui; ib,'dOO "souls: Nekt ; to New. Zealand, Queensland shows,; ; the , greatest fluctuations,' the highest being -:■ hP'yip'T&i 'a :r sudden fall appealing ;i* ; next year, an ; abrupt rise in '77,1 and anotßer drop itt?7B; In Few South Wales and SouthAA-ustralia the rate of ir increase, is shown to have been pretty v{;(iit«idUy improving the whole time^ \..whyefin.jVictoria r it has- as,. steadily „.'' jdeclined.^ [':. Tasmania^ JEsxcept in 1878, 1 : '- yi ckjcupies the lowest position, an actual d^creasi^ in "i he pppitlatiori of 0-5 ;Y ' ; . ' " ! '^/ - l^rf-- - d^th-i»fe.?siioys what Dr. •-'Hector' fruiy'^lls 1 "a ; remarkable * uniformity "' ; *in its fluctuatiohsu: Though it would;i be -difficult to ex4;^;plain^ .the; )factihremaihs.^;that, sjiighte^Ariations> the -year ; most fatal, jn^En|lan3 th^mbsfr fatal* iti'the : ■''cjo^oni^,' ' said vice . vtrsd'.:' England shows the iiigtiest death-rate/ with the .exception of 1875, when Queensland "^'ragisteied'highCT.^ The^lowestdea,thrate in tHe whole teri v yeai's was that hn-c- of New 'Zealand. :In i '}■'. the ' -■ f :aver4ge ' qf ' th'e'ten years was • about ■^p^r lOO'O/wliiie 5 inNew' Zealand it was only 12 per 1000. The Aus- 1 < '< all i prettyVTcilosc together] -thd fines' in the diagranii gis'tting I almost, inextricably bmixed.. . The averagg, w.§s; about 1 5 per 1000,---f^oQHJ^^B^f^JßS'j=*lio,-f?iosf^fa.tal. ■ -C ■>\ exppjis ; jand imports ; show great variations, but is.pne. f exception to this, in^ the, ■-* "caße of ?Vic^oria. /> Every "year I this , colony; ;'sho:ws a falling;pff. In 1368' -she was at the head of the list, withgifa^^andjjimnortsjqf .yalue of, per head of the population. The' fi.fdd'&mward'. tendency in the following' year,; and in 1878 the v^^tarh'g^were'OnlyCJ^ per head?* New Zealand givei^£4'23 jfer head in 186§i ; pj^liiUing jo v£3js;in .then going up; to .£44 in 1 $13 i.and 1874, ending at . £35 in 1878. New 1 South Wales "■■ shows a considerable increase. From

itheiourth position in 1868 she rose j stoi5 to i the highest place in 1875, and has fsince disputed the palm with^Queensland. It' is noticeable that the most Free Trade colonies give the best returns, while those in which a Protective tariff is most developed show the worst. The debts of the colonies-afe I often .compared to that_ of England^ the figures given being invai'iably caculated at per head of the popula -tion. -The- better ability- of -the colonies" to beafetih^strain is shown by the fact that/in - 18Y2, and 1873, her most prosperous years, England's total trade < abibunted to only-£3J per head oif the ; population, . while >rthe« average for the ten years walkabout £18 per head. ' ' v In /the local exports table New Zealand started with^ £fl& per head in 1868, arid /after reaching .£2O in 1871 there Vas a grad&l decline, the figures in; 187.8 being- £ls per head. Victoria su]& from, £lß :. per head to £12. Nevr South "Wales* commencing at £10, reached £17^in^i877/ the latest return available.

In the table devoted to railways theiplace of honor is occupied by: New Zealand, and is marked in-1878-2-58 miles per 1000 of population ; Queensland, Soiiih Australia, Tasmania, Victoria,, and New South Wales, following in the order nanied, ajl being better placed than the United Kingdom, the proportion in, -that country being 0*54 miles per thousand. | The average yield of wheat' per acre in the Australian colonies con 1 trasts favorably with the general average given of America. The yield in New Zealand stands considerably higher than that of the other colonies Tasmania taking second -place, New South Wales being next, then Queensland, Victoria) and -South Australia, the average of the las^ named .colony being lower than that of America. : Every year, the single^exception of l : B69,;Kew .Zealand is ,at v the top! of the list, and then Tasniania, -which occupied the place of honors only counted one bushel per acre more. For the ten years the average r in this : colony was about 26 bushels per acre Tasmania, 19 bushels ; Victoria, Queensland, and New; South Wales, from 12 to 13 bushels ; and South Australia, ■-. 9 bushels. . Here there were no very great fluctuations, but in all the other colonies the farmers underwent- great changes of fortune. | The lowest averages in .New Zealand —for 1869 and 1879-rwere 23 bushels per acre ; the highest was in 1876 when the yield was 31 bushels. Victoria fell from. 26 bushels -in 1875 to 10 in 1878. : ' In Sbuth Australia the yield, 1872,;18.76, v and 1879, averaged only 6 bushel's per acre. ■ The table,, devoted to? goldtion' shows a , marked xie'clirie in the quantity of gold raised in Victoria and- New-Zealand ; theyield in New South. Wales has fluctuated yerylittle and. in Queensland quantity of gold raised in 1874 was nearly, double that of 1868, but it has since been falling off.- In 1868 the gold exported from this colony was L 9 10s. per headj'increasing to LlO 10s. in 1871. Then there is a steady falling ofi' the value ; for 1 878 being only L 3 < . per head. -