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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Trade And The Outlook

Trade And The Outlook.

Otago has enjoyed a full share of the prosperity which has prevailed through out the colony for some years past, and Dunedin, as the commercial center of the province, has benefited accordingly. The statistics quoted in other sections of this book are a sufficient proof of the rapid and substantial advance made in recent years by the agricultural, pastoral, and manufacturing industries of the province. No part of the colony shows a more steady and uniform development in every form of activity best calculated to ensure the lasting welfare of the country. In the address delivered by the President of the Chamber of Commerce in 1902, it was pointed out, among other proofs of Otago's progress, that Dunedin's share of the accumulated saving in the Post Office Savings Bank amounted to £94;000 out of £550,460. The increase of imports at Dunedin and Port Chalmers for the year was over £94,000. While exports from Wellington were reduced by £400,000 in 1901, and by £145,000 at Auckland, the decline at Dunedin was only £14,800. As far as Otago as a whole was concerned this falling off was more than balanced by the great expansion of the export trade through Invercargill and the Bluff. At these southern ports the value of the exports for the year was actually over £263,000 in advance of the total for 1900. In view of the general decline in the colony's exports during 1900, this result is truly remarkable, and speaks eloquently for the natural resources of Southland and Otago.

Princes Street, Dunedin: 1903. Morris, photo.

Princes Street, Dunedin: 1903. Morris, photo.

The greater part of Otago's manufacturing industries are centred in and around Dunedin, and, in the number and variety of her industries, Otago now stands ahead of any other province in the colony. In 1896, Otago, with 516 distinct industries, was well behind Auckland with 573. But by 1902, Otago headed the list with 707 industries, against 667 in Auckland, 552 in Wellington, and 547 in Canterbury. Many of the provincial manufactures depend directly upon the pastoral industries, which, in Otago as elsewhere, must be the permanent foundation of the national wealth. Four woollen mills employing nearly 1000 hands, and paying over £64,000 a year in wages, use up wool worth £80,000 a year, and turn out goods worth £175,000. page 55 Otago's woollen industry is in fact much the most important in New Zealand. The eight clothing factories which depend largely upon the woollen mills, employ nearly 800 hands, and pay over £33,000 a year in wages. In addition to supplying the local needs of the mills, Otago exported in 1901 over twenty-three million pounds of wool, with a value of £642,888; and though the production of wool for the year showed a slight decline as compared with 1900, the high prices ruling for the better classes of wool during the middle of the year were a very encouraging omen to the squatters. The nine freezing establishments in Otago and Southland are among the most complete and successful in the colony. The dairy industry has expanded rapidly in Otago and Southland. and the butter and cheese from the southern districts enjoy a high reputation both on the London market and in the colonies.

Of the mineral wealth of Otago enough has been said in the section devoted to that subject. Between 1857 and 1901, Otago produced gold to the value of nearly sixty millions sterling. In 1901–2 over half a million pounds' worth of gold was raised, an amount which, though less than the gold export of Auckland, was considerably above that of Otago's old rival, the West Coast. Even in dredging, despite the collapse of an over-inflated market, the prospects of the province are particularly bright. An industry which brings in £8000 to £9000 a week cannot be considered a poor one; and as the less valuable claims are gradually weeded out, there will be an even brighter future in Otago for this, the surest and most consistent of all methods of gold-mining.

These remarks sufficiently explain the nature of Otago's commercial prosperity, and the probability that it will be steadily maintained for an indefinite future. The advent of the railway in districts not yet opened will, by facilitating transport and bringing large tracts of isolated land into touch with the coast and with Dunedin, create new industries such as fruit-growing, which hitherto have had to struggle along unaided. The fertility of the soil, and the suitability of the climate for grain growing, have been sufficently established by the agricultural returns already quoted. The pastoral industries are still in their infancy; and the mineral wealth of the province is yet far from the
Horse Shoe Bay, Stewart Island. Armstrong, photo.

Horse Shoe Bay, Stewart Island. Armstrong, photo.

page 56 point of exhaustion. It is chiefly in connection with mining that the commercial history of the province, and more especially of Dunedin, has been marked by crises and financial diffculties. But though such an era of reckless speculation as the late dredging boom may recur, the foundations of prosperity are too firmly based on the natural wealth of the country to be dangerously shaken. As far as Dunedin is concerned her position as the chief port of the province assures her commercial pre-eminence; and the fact that the headquarters of the Union Company are fixed at Dunedin makes it clear that her share of colonial and intercolonial commerce will continue to be large and valuable. No province in the colony enjoys a better prospect of permanent prosperity than Otago; and Dunedin is thus assured of commercial success and financial stability in the future. When the city is improved by the drainage scheme and the electric power scheme now contemplated, it will compare favourably with any city of its size in the colonies or the world, in all the conditions that go to promote health, wealth and happiness; and the record of the past fifty years, astonishing as it is, will be completely outdone by the progress and expansion of the next half century.
After the Fire in Princes Street, Dunedin; 1865.

After the Fire in Princes Street, Dunedin; 1865.