NEW ZEALAND IMPORTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13674, 17 August 1908, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND IMPORTS.

GROWTH OF A DECADE. The Registrar-General haa distributed a leaflet' showing the values of;' the chief classes of imports into New■',: '■ Zealand during 1907, with, for purposes of comparison, a similar list lor 1897. The figures invite a fe\f remark's.' ..Taking thenv in order, the first class dealt wiUi would show the outside world that New 1 Zealanders are pretty well, not to say expensively, clothed. Assuming tha; the imports in each year represent consumption, and disregarding any difference in prices, these differences being unascertainable, the, comparative tables 'show that the imports have increased in much larger ratio than the population. It may safely be memory, gives assurance of it —that in 1897 the people were well clad, the drapers' and clothiers' ; shops well s'ocked, yefc while the population increased in the interval by a little more" than, one-fourth, the"!."; impor.s of closing and materials therefor, : increased bv under two millions -J nearly three and. three-quarter millions. The increase took place in every division of the class, but not equally. The values of apparel and slops, boots and shoes, hosiery and linens, were each move than twice as great in 1907 as in ibd7; Imports of metal goods and material increased by more'-than 100 per cent., from under-'one and a-half to more than three', millions. Naturally cutlery and sewing machines-, the demand for these being limited to the; extensions of the marked due to the increase of population by one : fourth and the replacement of worn-out articles, showed the smallest , increases. An effect of the building boom is seen in large increases in nails and artificers' tools, and that of a general progress in industries by an expansion of about 125 per cent, in tue imports of machinery and agricul.ural implements. Iron and ! steel in the rough and wire, lumped together, were in both years the largest item, and last year approached a million and a quarter, more than-twice as much ' as it ; was a decade r before.". ". ■ New Zealanders. are great tea-drinkers, and taking the figures devotion.; to the clip | that cheers is becoming -greater, for the consumption increased by half, while the j number of consumers inci eased by only a fourth. Sugar does not show anyi king like such a, growth of consumption, though a larger growth than the population. The highly taxed luxuries, alcoholic liquors and tobacco also sowed expansion considerably wider • than r tha population—over 70 per cent. The demand for foreign printed books grew in the ten years by only 60 per cent., but for paper and stationery by over 100 per cent. ; A.large class of miscellaneous "articles contains a few items worth nothing. The space for the value of motor cars and motor cycles imported in 1897 is blank; there were none imported. Last yeai the imports ran into nearly £200,000. Tha cycie-makers and. repaireis last year required about one-third more material than in 1897," but the dealers .brought in about, twice as many finished machines, £128,000 'worth. The reduction in the grow.h of-grain is reflected iii the lessened'import of bags and! sacks,',; Uie only line showing a falling off. The fall was a considerable one, from £127,000 to" £50,000. On the other hand, "good times" appears to be indicated by a growth of over 250 per cent, in the value of vehicles and materials therefor. The output of candle factories is by no means keeping pace with the demand; appears to be, falling" off in fact; for the imports last year were, 150 per cent.- more than ten .'years ago; and last year's total, £66,500. manifestly suggests that there is plenty, of;: rodhi for expansion in this line of: industrj': Thetbuilding boom is reflected' again in the largely increased import'Of cement," which in spite . of the local' factories,- increased 1 from less than £40,000; to, oyer £IOO,OOO Vwoivh. 'lt is reflected .again (the progress of exhaustion of native forests to be taken into account here) in the growth of the imports of timber in the decade from £60,000 to £270,000. While . farmers needed fewer sacks they .required mora manures, the imports of these rising by 250 per cent. The business of chemists and druggists has grown by over 100 per cent) in the period ht question. So also has that ot fancy goods and toy dealers. ' The former last year imported £340,000. worth of stock, and. the latter over £200,000 worth. Ihe total, imports of 1897 were valued at a trifle under eight millions; those of last year oyer eixteenand a-half millions. Of' last year's total 10£-millions came from the' United Kingdom, 2 l-3rd from'' Australian, 1| from other British Possessions (total British 14 l-6th), nearly 1£ from the United States, from Germany about one-third

and from'"other' foreign countries abottt half a million (total foreign 2 l-3rd millions).. . .