Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1888.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 11758, 12 April 1888, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1888.

The Viotorian boom is attracting the surplus population of the ether colonies. A considerable number of persons have gone over from New Zealand, though not nearly so many as in some: quarters is- made out. In fact ■it would appear aa if osrtain agitators were paitioularly anxious to exaggerate the extant of the exodus. What we mean will be made dear by .the following passage from an artiole in-.the Dunedin Star:— "A special telegram sent to us- by our Inveroargill correspondent,, wag, we regret to find, misleading. It was .stated that the s s Wairarapa left the Bluff for Melbourne, full of passengers, and that of 40. on board, very few indeed booked in luver. oargill ; the evident desire being to make it appear that the bulk of tbe passengers'were from Duaedin and north-. era ports. On inquiry in the proper ; quarter we find that the steamer did not oarry more than 150 passengers,- of whom 9 saloon and 32 steerage booked at Dunedin, and ,26 . saloon and 66 steerage passengers booked at nor< hern ports. It was anticipated that there would be o rush for steerage berths, and to meet it auxiliary steerage accommodation was provided for 30 passengers, but it was not required, as there was only one person who ■■ needed it. The .statement 'hat the cargo bad to be shut put; on account of the press of passengers is equally inoorreot, the facts being that .the ship can take 760 tons, that she had .only 420 tons on leaving the Bluff, that space for 300 tons wag reserved for cargo awaiting shipment at Hobart, and that' all cargo offering from New Zealand ports was' shipped. We have heard a good deal lately about the number of people who are leaving the colony for Victoria, and from fasts that have oom'e to our knowledge, a suspicion crosses our mind that intnrested persons are manipulating the wires and using the newspapers in older to m&ke it appear that onr population is fast leaving us,' There is no need to exaggerate the truth on the one hand, or to dißguise it on the other. A number of our people are at present leaving us— although wu do not think they will be long absent — as tbe result of a depression that has been long continue J, chat is at present in tenflified by the policy of retrenchment forced upon general and local govern* menls and private firms, and also of the exciting reports that are beiag continually received from tha premier business oolony on tbe other Bide. Anybody, however, who has looked under the surface, who has reflected at all upon the unhealthy excitement that at present exists in Melbourne, can Dot but fail to st)e that it must be folio wad by -a period of cruel depression, for which the experience of no city in New Zealand affords a parallel* A large section of the business men in Melbourne have been seized with a frenzied mania for gambling in mining stock and in town lands, and the giddy whirl is still being maintainedjivith b reoklessness that is, on tbe part of otherwise cool-headed business men, perfectly amazing to on-, lookers from a distanoe. Added to tbe general excitement thus engendered,and tbe false stimulus that it has given to business, is to be considered the vast expenditure that is being incurred in connection with the approaching Centennial Exhibition, which the prond Victorians hop 6to make a sight worthy :fco be seen by visitors from any part of the civilized world. With the influx of well-to-do people from Home and abroad arid from all the sister oolonies, who may be expected to grace the Exhibition with their presence, money will be plentiful, and the boom, though perhaps not in its present exaggerated form, will run right merrily along. But when the boom has died oat, and ihe Exhibition has been dosed, what then ? Then may we look for a neap tide in Viotorian prosperity, and with it a rush back to this colony, the most favoured naturally of tbe colonies of Australasia. We have seen the result of booms before to-day, Four or five years ago, Sydney, by virtue of tho borrowiDg

boom of New South Wales, " walked away," so to speak, from Victoria, and ' attracted population in shoals from all : the sister colonies. Similarly, by a oity land boom half a dozen years ago, ! Auckland exoited the envy of all otuer parts of New Zealand, and the unemployed petitioned the Government of the day to cmvey them in the Obvernment steamer to the favoured city of the North, where there was work and wageß for all, That boom died out, and everything came down with a orash. So may we look /or a topple ovrr in the big city of Melbourne, whan, .the present unhealthy speculative excitement dies out and business returns to its normal oodditioD. In the meantime there is good reason to expect that we shall experience a steady but sure revival of trade in New Zealand, and we may hope that when the turn of the tide takes place in Victoria we shall be in a position to absorb 'all : and more than merely the returning population. — — » :_. The prioe of bread is exciting oonaider" able interest in Auokland just new, and a combination of bakers and millers ban been formed to orush the nndersellera and boycott any millers who may dare to supply them: The following resolution was first passed, and subscribed to by some forty master bakers.: — " I'hat in consequence of the continued advsnoe in the prioe of flour we ara compelled to adhere firmly to the following prioes ; Prompt cash at the bakery for the 21b loaf, 3d. Booking price delivered, 3id." As, however, some few bakers still oon« tinned to out the price down to 2Jd per 21b loaf, a resolution .was passnd to tho effect that tue subscribing master bakers would not purohase flour from any miller found supplying that artiole to these bakers who persisted in selling bread at the reduced rate ; and this reselution was agreed to by several leading millers of the city, Mr Firth, how» ever, of the Eight Hour Flour Boiler Mills, holding out, on the ground that it is a principle of trade to Bell to all who can pay oash for their goods. He considers that the prioe at which they might subsequently sell the artiole is not his business, and therefore he has no right to deal with the matter. Tho other millers justify themselves in supporting the bakers' monopoly o» tho ground that they know that the bakers cannot make bread at 2£d the 21b loaf with flour at the present rates. Tho boyeottod bakers express themselves aa perfectly unconcerned at the attitude of the great majority of the trade, and of the millers, aud say that they have no fear of being able to procure flour ao long as they are able to buy for cash. In oonneotion with the bread discussion, Monday's Star publishes telegram* showing that in Wellington the price of bread is 2£d to 3d per 21b loaf, for cash over the counter, but 3£d if on credit, and delivred- Is Christoburch the price for cash and on credit is 4d per 41b loaf, but 4£ and 5d if delivered. In Dnnedin "the prioe paid for bread_ by the grooers is 4s 6a a dozen.- It is sold by them at ,4£d per 41b loaf for oash, and 5d if bo.-k.ed or delivered. In Sydney the price of bread is 2d to 2|d. Comment* ing on these figures the Star says : — | "We fail to see why Auckland prioßS should ' greatly exoeed these rates. If the bakers oau show that it does not pay to produce bread for less than 3d or 3£d, they may gain some sympathy in any attempt to regulate the business so as to extinguish the unfair oompeti* tion of tradesmen who sell bread at a price which is only possible by giving light ' weight or becoming bankrupt. But bo far from 2£d being a " catting", prioe, it seems from these figures, that it ought. to be the maximum retail rate, for oash at present.".