TRADE PROGRESS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 361, 24 June 1897, Page 11

TRADE PROGRESS.

During the reign of Her Gracious Maj esty Queen Victoria the trade of the British Empire has expanded to an extent far in excess of its growth in any previous firno of similar duration in the nation’s history. At the time when the 'Queen ascended the throne the colonies were in their infancy, and New Zealand had but a handful of Europeans within her boundaries. It is only the very oldest residents who can form any accurate estimate of the great difference between the state of things as they existed, say forty years ago, and the great progress and high state of civilization as presented to us in the year of grace, 1897, and in nothing is this advancement and progress more strikingly manifest than in the hotels and hotel accnmmodation which is obtainable in all parts of the colony. Fifty years ago the hotels in the cities were mere shanties, and we are informed that the whole hotel accommodation in the colony was only what was provided for by less than 100 bed-rooms. In the outlying districts even worse shanties existed, where' various compounds were dispensed to bush men and whalers, the whole arrangements being primitive in the extreme. To-day there is no settlement of any importance that has not ample accommodation for all travellers, and everywhere a sojourner can find “his comfort at his inn.” In the cities and boroughs, and in some of the large settlements, palatial structures have been erected, and taste and refinement is everywhere observed ; in fact, it is authenticated by tourists and others that in no place in the British dominion can better hotel accommodation be found than in this colony. At the present time there are over two thousand bedrooms in the hotels in the city of Auckland and suburbs, which goes to show the amazing growth of the Trade, and the successful efforts which have been made to provide for customers and patrons. A majority of the best of the hotels are built of brick or stone, thus minimising the risk of fire; notwithstanding this, fire-escapes and all the modern appliances are attached to provide for rapid exit in the case of a conflagration. Perhaps in no other trade is competition so keen as amongst hotel-keepers. This is evinced by the number of “ officers” from the respective hotels canvassing for custom on the arrival of every steamer into our large ports. This competition ensures first-class viands and liquor. The manufacturing of beer has been equally rapid and gigantic in its growth. When the Queen was crowned the beer industry in New Zealand was not worth considering, and years after, up to the early sixties, it was utterly insignificant in comparison with its present dimensions. Its importance and value to the colony was infinitesimal as valued side by side with what it is to-day. We remember wandering into the Provincial Council in Auckland in the year 1865, and the Council was debating a motion to impose a heavy duty on English or any imported beer, in order to protect and foster the local industry. We well remember one member, a sturdy old Scotch free-trader, who, adversely criticising the motion, said, “ I dinna ken what hon. members mean by calling the manufacturing of

beer in Auckland a local industry, for you import the malt, you import the hops, you import the sugar, the salt, the casks, the coal, and it seems to me the only article of local industry is the water.” At .that particular time this statement was mainly correct, but to-day many thousands of bushels of barley are yearly made into malt, the growing of which gives employment to hundreds of farm hands in New Zealand, and is one of the greatest sources of wealth possessed by the farmers of this colony. The hop industry, too, has made rapid strides, especially in the Nelson provincial district, where the work associated with the hops causes the whole place to appear a perfect hive of indus-

try in the gathering season. The quality of the beer, too, has greatly improved, and our local firms have taken prizes for their products, one of them against the whole world, at a great exhibition held in a neighbouring colony, and the old opprobrious name of “colonial swipes” is rarely, if ever, applied to the colonial article, as made and publicly dispensed at the present time. Then there has, as a matter of course, been a large increase in the number of hands employed, and we are informed that one firm in Auckland pays over £ll,OOO annually in wages alone, whilst over three-quarters of a million sterling has been invested in the trade in Auckland. Taking the Trade as a whole, those engaged in it were first and foremost in action re the Jubilee celebrations, many having gone to considerable expense for illuminations and other demonstrations. In fact, it is safe to say the Trade is loyal to the core, and always has been. We heartily congratulate the brewers, the hotel-keepers, and the Trade generally on the great progress that has been made during the Record Reign, and we feel assured that the progress in future will be greater than that which has so pleasantly distinguished the past.