H.—lB

XLVI

Showing Consumption, per Head of Population, of Articles in Common Use, 1891-1911-continued. C. Tea, Coffee, &c, Sugar.

The per-capita consumption of tea and sugar, which is a better index of the con-suming-power of the general population than that of beer, spirits, wine, and tobacco, which is subject to other than economic influences, has increased greatly over the period—that of sugar by nearly 50 per cent., and that of tea by 25 per cent. 4. Dr. Mcllraith stated that the period from 1887 to 1891 shows the lowest standard that New Zealand has experienced since 1860, judging the standard of comfort by the volume—not the value —of the things consumed in New Zealand, and this was the period in which twenty thousand more people left New Zealand than entered it. For that period the standard worked out at 98. He drew up the following table showing the changes in the general prosperity of the people judged by the volume of the goods they consumed : — Table 32. —Prosperity Table.—Average over Quinquennial Periods. 1880-84 .. .. ..125 1894-98 .. .. ..113 1881-85 .. .. ..129 1895-99 .. .. ..116 1882-86 .. .. ..126 1896-1900 .. .. ..125 1883-87 .. .. ..118 1897-1901 .. .. ..135 1884-88 .. .. ..11l 1898-1902 .. .. ..142 1885-89 .. ..107 1899-1903 .. .. ..152 1886-90 .. .. ..101 1900-4 .. .. ..164 1887-91 .. .. ..98 1901-5 .. .. ..169 1888-92 .. .. ..99 1902-6 .. .. ..171 1889-93 .. .. .. 101 1903-7 .. .. ..182 1890-94 .. .. ..102 1904-8 .. .. ..187 1891-95 .. .. ..104 1905-9 .. .. ..184 1892-96 .. .. ..107 1906-10 .. .. ..188 1893-97 .. .. .. 110 1907-11 .. .. ..190 p . , Compared with Period Compared with Period. 1887-91. ifenoa. 1887-91. 1880-84 .. 27 per cent, higher 1898-1902 .. 45 per cent, higher 1884-88 ..14 „ 1903-7.. ..86 1893-97 ..14 „ 1907-11 ..94 These figures show that in the years 1907-11 we consumed per head almost twice as much in volume as we did during the period from 1887-91. Each person

Prosperity tables.

Year. T( Total Population (including Maoris). p<jr Heftd sa. Coffee, Cocoa, and Chicory, j Sugar. Duty Per Head. Per Head i I)uty Per Hear! i Dut y m Head, j per Head i-er Mead. j per Head 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 675,775 692,426 714,258 728,121 740,699 754,016 768,910 783,317 796 s 359 810,536 830,800 851,072 875,648 900,682 925,605 956,457 977,215 1,008,373 1,030,657 1,050.410 1,075.250 lb. 6-00 5-90 5-72 5-67 6-04 5-88 5-93 603 6-03 6-38 6-63 5-98 5-98 5-80 6-37 6-41 6-93 6-41 7-08: 7-22 7-50 s. d. 3 0J 2 111 2 101 2 10 2 6f 1 Hi 1 Hf 2 0 2 0 1 81 1 11 1 0 1 0 0 11 i I j i lb. 0-84 0-79 0-79 0-67 0-65 0-70 0-70 0-67 0-80 0-57 0-44 0-49 0-54 0-61 0-53 0-51 0-62 0-55 0-44 0-54 0-52 i i i s d. 0 21 0 21 0 21 0 2 0 If 0 1| 0 If 0 If 0 2 0 11 0 11 0 l| 0 If 0 If 0 1-1 0 11 0 1|0 If 0 11 0 1| 0 If ! lb. 80-7 83-8 88-3 87-2 88-5 894 92-0 93-6 97-0 98-8 98-5 102-8 104-0 104-9 100-2 105-6 106-6 103-9 114-7 107-9 115-4 s. d. 3 41 3 6 3 51 3 7-1 3 81 3 8f 3 10 3 10f 4 01 4 1 4 1 • 4 31 4 4 4 41 4 2 4 4f 4 51