OUR COUNTRY

Southland Times, Issue 19590, 11 August 1922, Page 2

OUR COUNTRY

WEALTH AND PROGRESS. A STUDY IN STATISTICS. An Australian Premier was once asked what was the first article he packed in his portmanteau, prior to leaving for the Imperial Conference. He replied, “The Official Year Book.” On ocean-going steamers, when the smoke-room gossip turns on countries that have been visited, it is always the man who has given more than a casual glance at the statistics of the wealth and progress of his country and of the world in general whose statements carry greatest weight among his fellow-passengers. To paraphrase Kipling’s query, and give it a local application, “What do they know of New Zealand, who only New Zealand know?” For it is only by comparison with other countries that we are able to arrive at a correct relative assessment of our progress.

A statement appeared in a recent issue of The Dominion that the index figures of the prices of the three food groups—groceries, dairy products, and meat—was down to 1528. The statement in itself would be accepted as bearing good news, but, when one compares the achievement of other countries in getting prices down to something like a normal level, New Zealand results are convincing indeed. The country that has succeeded best of all in getting prices down is South Africa. What cost the housewife there £1 before the war broke out, costs her now £1 4s. The New Zealand housewife pays £1 Bs., but she has paid as high as £1 165., during the period when prices were at their peak, two years ago. And that is how she reckons her gain or

The population of New Zealand is 1,217,000, according to the latest estimate. For every person in New Zealand there are five in Australia, six in South Africa (four and a half of whom are coloured people) and seven in Canada, thirty-six in United Kingdom and ninety in America. Yet, although New Zealand may be behind other countries in population, an examination of her commercial activities reveals interesting facts. Take the overseas trade, for instance, and compare it with that of other countries. Japan’s overseas trade is worth £7 per head of her population, New Zealand’s is . worth £B9, and that is the highest figure in the world. Switzerland is next, with £75; others are United Kingdom, £53; Canada, £«sfl; Australia, £4O; France, £3O; and United States, £lB. Prior to the war, Belgium had the world’s greatest trade per head of population. Due allowance must be made f&r the circumstances of other countries in effecting a comparison. The chief exports of New Zealand, in the order of their value, are wool, meat, cheese, butter, hides, tallow, coal, and timber. The Dominion’s best customer, Great Britain, takes nearly three times as much as all her other overseas customers together. Nexx, in order of the value the goods they take from here, are America, Australia, Canada, and the Pacific Islands. The chief articles New Zealand buys from overseas countries, in the order of their value are wearing apparel, boots, and shoes, iron and steel, machinery, hardware, and metal manufactures; motor-cars; tea and sugar, oil, beer, spirits, wine, and tobacco; paper, books, and stationery; chemicals; leather; and fruits. From the United Kingdom, we get nearly haff our imports. For every £3O worth of goods New Zealanders get from the United Kingdom, they get £lO from Australia, £ll from the United States, £2 from Canada, £2 from Fiji, £1 10s from Japan, £1 from India, and 15s from Ceylon. New Zealand has 3000 miles of railway, compared, with 21,000 miles in Australia. A little over forty millions sterling have been invested in the railways of the Dominion. The annual revenue from the railways is about 3Z per cent, of the capital invested. This is slightly higher than the net return in Australia. The articles posted annually through the Post Office per head of the population in New Zealand are: 109 letters, 3 post-cards, 25 books, and 14 newspapers. There is one telephone' for every thirteen people in the Dommion. The total area under cultivation in New Zealand is about 18,000,000 acres, and the principal crops are wheat, oats, barley, and maize. There are a million dairy cows, two million other cattle, 23 million sheep. 350,000 horses, and 267,000 pigs. Five million sheep are slaughtered annually for food purposes. There are four sheep in Australia for every one in New Zealand. India is the cattle country of the world. There there are forty head of cattle for every one in New Zealand. United States lias 20, Brazil 10, Argentine 9, Australia 4, United Kingdom 4, Canada 3, and Sout h Africa 2. Twenty-eight thousand tons of butter are produced, and 15JJ00 tons exported in ti»e year. The value of minerals won from the earth in the Dominion is nearly 150 millions sterling, of which gold amounts to 90 millions and coal 27 millions. The revenue of the country is £2B per fiend of population, of which £lB comes from taxation. The expenditure is about £2O jier bead, and nearly one-third of it goes towards the payment of the national debt, which iquals £162 per head of population, or about £2O more than the Australian debt. The deposits in the banks of New Zealand average £5O per head of population, or a few shillings less than the average in Australia. The assets of the banks here are 56 millions, and the liabilities 68 millions. Thirty-eight people in New Zealand have an income of over £lO,OOO a year—Dominion.