CUSTOMS REVENUE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XV, Issue 661, 27 September 1871, Page 5

CUSTOMS REVENUE.

[From the Tiinaru JfferoW. Sept. 6.] . There <is . ho better gauge of the trade of a> place than tue offioial I Customs returns'. 'And therefore ifr is ',' satisfactory "to point to the return' of the Customs Revenue received m Ti--1 maru for lasl;, montli,. which shows a very marked increase on the corres- ' ponding mbnths of 1869 ami 1870— v being £477 175. 2 d over the revenue , received m August 1869, and £433 4s 9d over; tuat received m the corresponding month of 1870. This comparatively large receipt of £1,241 is not, we believe, due to any exceptional causes, but simply to the onward progress of the town and district. Strangely enough, that although the Customs Revenue has shown such a large increase on corresponding months of the two previous years, yet, the general trade during August was remarkably dull, more so than is usual during that proverbially dullest month m the year. Comparing the Customs returns received at the different ports for the past quarter, we find that, generally, there has been a falling oif m the ports oi the North Island, whilst tliere has been a corresponding increase m those of the South. Tbe Nortli Island returns amount to £66,680, against £73,989 m the corresponding quarter m 1870. In the South Island the returns show the receipts at £116,346, against £112,630 — excluding returns from Okarito and Chatham Islands, for which no figures are available the last quarter for the purpose of comparison. The North Island, then, yielding m its sum total less than two of the southern ports put together — Dunedin and Lyttelton — shows a decrease, ns compared with the previous quarter, of £7,309 ; whilst the ports of the South Island collectively give an increase of £3,716 m tbe quarter. The ports of the South Island which Bhow the most marked increase are Dunedin, with nn increase of £3,123; Lyttelton, £1,212; Riverton, £490; and Timaru, £414. Most ofthe other southern ports are stationary, some showing a slight decrease. In the North Island, Auckland holds first place m the list of decreases, the return for last June quarter being £7,945 under the corresponding ouarter m 1870. Wellington shows a slight increase, Napier a decrease, whilst New Plymouth and the other small ports remain about stationary with a slight downward tendency, with the exception of tbe Thamea, which counterbalances m some measure tbis general falling off by adding an increase to the revenue of £1,638. From these returns there is tbis cheering result to be gathered that trade and confidence are reviving m the South, and, let us hope, that as tlie tide has now turned, it will sweep us onward m a career of prosperity.