NEW ZEALAND COONISTS.

Colonist, Volume XXIII, Issue 2688, 3 April 1880, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND COONISTS.

(From the Qtago Daily Time*). OPtbo total population of this Colonj numbering! exclusive of Maori*, in March, 1878, 414,412, a very large proportion are included under the head of domestic occupations ; that is to say, "wives, mothers, and children,. aii'l those in attendance on them. Under this head are included hotelkeepers, and inn and club servant's. The total number of persons thus accounted for was 263,750, and it included 89,380 males and 174,361 females. We may look upon these as, in the main, persons to ba supported, by the labor or the means of others; and the number ol those who remain to support them is 150,662, of whom 141,609 are males, and 9053 are females. A very interesting question naturally arises as to how these are all employed. We have first 8220 under the head of professional, of whom 1907 are schoolmasters and mistresses, 458 clergymen, 285 lawyers, 273 doctors, 183 civil engineers in private practice. Then we have under this head 799 Government office™, other than professional or subordinate, 371 police, 362 armed constabulary, and a great variety j of otlicroocupations, suoh as musip teachers, artists, literary menj &c, Ac. These eight thousand and odd " professionals" represent on the whole the higher grades of culture or of specialism in the Colony. First in importance in point of numbers, we must place the industrial classes as distinguished from commercial and agricultural. They- number 57,086 persons, and include 4916 females. Next to these come persons engaged in agriouUural and | pastoral pursuits, who number 47,967, including 604 females. After tliese ome the commercial claw, which numbers 18,092 persons, nnd including 444 females. Then there is the large number of 17,071 under the head "indefinite and nonproductive," which embraces most of those out of business — " living on their means " —but this class also contains, 11,355 laborers not otherwise specified. It includes 999 females. It will be observed, except in the agricultural and pastoral class, comparatively few women are employed, and in that class only one wotian to about twelve men. The great bulk of the women are in the domestic class, which is their natural and proper place. The real producers are the 126,000 persons" who aye employed in mining, agricultural, shepherding, laboring, and various industrial pursuits. The distributors are nearly ali included in the 18,000 of the commercial class, and represent about one person to every seven of the '■ producing classes. We thus roughly arrive at something like the fol'owing proportions :—To every 100 persons engaged in producing there are~--206 persons dependent 6 „ ministering professionally 14 „ -distributing. But there were besides dependent on the communifc at large 2301 persons supported by charity, and 759 in prison*, making.a further burden nn the whole of the classes, whether producing or distributing.