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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 23

Part II. — What has been done

Part II.

What has been done.

It needs no exercise of the imaginative faculties, but simply the ordinary capacity of observation with which the average man is gifted, to recognize the wonderful progress in industries and productive powers which New Zealand has made of late years. It is not necessary to dwell upon the earlier days, when order was emerging from chaos, and when the colonist was too much habituated to the arts of war to cultivate the arts of peace, and when industries and manufactories were not dreamed of amid the struggle for bare existence. For the purposes of this essay it is enough to survey the work of the last ten to fifteen years, during which the export of wool, gold, grain, hides, and tallow has grown to such dimensions that New Zealand ranks among the foremost-producing countries of the world. During that period one entirely new industry in the world's history—the export of frozen meat—has come into existence; and, under somewhat altered conditions, and allowing for the fluctuations of the markets, is destined to assume gigantic proportions in New Zealand. The frozen-meat industry is now as firmly established as the production and export of grain and wool. The raw material is abundant, and the capacity for production immense; but, in the case of all three kinds of produce, the market has been equally depressed. Such times of depression page 8 must exist, though in minor forms, even when New Zealand frozen meat has surmounted the obstacles which still attend it, and when the grievous burden of excessive freights, and the existence of rings of middlemen, have been removed. New Zealand will always be open to the competition of pastoral countries nearer to the European market; though, if her trade be cleared of its present impediments, the fluctuations of the markets will be readier known and more accurately anticipated. The State can do no more for the frozen-meat trade than has already been done, except to open up, by national agency and inquiry, fresh markets in Asia and other parts of the world. But in the quality of the article, the condition in which it is exported, its adaptability to the English palate, and the facility with which it is taken direct to the consumer will, in the future, lie the main elements of the success of New Zealand's trade in frozen meat. Of the frozen-meat trade, as of the export of wool, grain, and other staple products, New Zealand can re-echo the words with which the Loan and Mercantile Company conclude their annual review of the trade and commerce of San Francisco for the year 1884, and say that, although the low prices ruling for the past two years have been a serious drawback to the prosperity of the colony, yet the bounteous yield has enabled the industrious to maintain their footing, and if repeated in future years will enable producers to cover previous losses, and bring over previous obligations, that were, for a time, a grievous burden to carry.

The value of the export of New Zealand wool in 1884 was £3,267,527, exceeding the previous year by £252,066; gold exceeded the previous year by £96,508; hides by £16,162; skins by £27,861; salted beef by £6,682; tallow by £1,272; kauri-gum by £5,545; and frozen meat by £226,801. In the last-named industry the export was nearly three times that of the previous year. On the other hand, the export of wheat fell off by no less than £630,581, or nearly 60 per cent. Land devoted to wheat-growing had for the most part been given up to grazing and to the frozen-meat industry though, as oats increased by £96,473, that cereal had apparently taken the place of wheat to some extent. Barley fell off by £5,209; but it is notorious that large stocks were held in the colony ready for better times, instead of being sent to a low and falling Home market. There page 9 is nothing unsatisfactory, therefore, in the present position of New Zealand's staple products; and the exports are calculated to profoundly impress the observer with a sense of her material resources, and the healthy flow of capital which has taken place to develop them.

The growth of new exporting industries deserves fuller consideration than can be given it in the present essay. In 1884 butter to the value of £66,593, and cheese to the value of £25,095, were exported, showing an increase on the previous year of £24,503 in the one case and £18,163 in the other. The dairy factories of New Zealand are yet in their infancy, and there is no industry which ought more to engage the attention and capital of the small producer. So also with bacon and hams, for which the colony is acquiring a special reputation, and the export of which increased in 1884 by £4,159.

The decline in New Zealand flax was very marked, and must continue as the products of imported civilization supplant the raw material of untilled land. Potted and preserved meats declined by £13,554, partly owing to the trade having been supplanted by the frozen meat, and partly by the remarkably low prices ruling at Home for those choicer and more special potted delicacies which the colony is so well able to produce.

Nor is it only in the exporting industries that the progress of New Zealand has been so marked during the past fifteen years. With the growth of population has come a healthy demand for local industries, and there are districts dotted with factories, some of which, such as those for woollen goods, hold their own with any in the world. In the New Zealand woollen trade one factory has exported goods to Victoria, and sold them at a profit; another has sent a shipment to Glasgow, and a third has sent one to London. There are not wanting signs, even in the present depression and stagnation of capital, that the woollen trade is capable of great extension. Its success in the colony has been greatly due, in the opinion of the manager of one of the largest factories, to the State protection hitherto accorded it. The same authority considers that, if the import duty on apparel and woollens were increased, the New Zealand trade would drive out the imported article, increase the out-put of existing factories, bring into life new ones, lessen the cost of page 10 woollens and clothing, and give, employment to a very large number of hands.

Nor ought the agricultural implement industry to be passed over in silence. It has been stated that one firm in the South Island pays away in wages £20,000 a year.

The iron and metal trade is another industry of which New Zealand has reason to be proud, for such work as is turned out by Messrs. Burt, of Dunedin, or Messrs. Scott, of Christchurch, need not fear comparison with anything in Birmingham, the metropolis of hardware.

In soap and candles the finest articles are now made; while twenty years ago nothing but tallow dips and common yellow soap were made in the colony.

In leather, boots and shoes, and saddlery the progress has been really startling. From figures quoted by the Hon. Robert Stout in his speech at the closing of the Wellington Exhibition it appears that in 1864 the colony imported about three hundred thousand pounds' worth of these articles. In 1884, though the population had increased from 184,131 in 1864 to 608,401 persons, the imports of leather, boots and shoes, and saddlery amounted to only £251,267, while hides and skins were imported to a large extent. Facts like these are pregnant with hope and encouragement.

So also with carpets, the manufacture of which in New Zealand is quite of recent date, but is already a flourishing industry, producing articles of sound, durable, and beautiful workmanship, and competing in price with the Home importations.

There are no statistics available to show the number of hands employed, or the value of the land, buildings, machinery, and plant engaged in the manufactories and works of this colony at the present time; nor will such statistics be at the public disposal until after the census has been taken in March next. But between the years 1878 and 1881, the date of the last census, the progress was striking. The number of hands employed increased from 15,177 to 17,938, or a total of 2,761; and the number of manufactories and works from 1,271 to 1,643, or a total of 372. In April, 1881, the capital sunk in land and buildings was £1,993,330, and in machinery and plant £1,612,141, showing an increase, since April, 1878, of £231,636 page 11 in the one case and £322,763 in the other. There can be little doubt that the increase from 1881 to the present time has at least been equal to that between 1878 and 1881.

As will be seen when the imports come to be considered, the local industries are remodelling the trade of the colony. On every side there are busy producers with brain and hand, capital and machinery; and that it should be possible to collect together such wonderfully-varied industrial exhibits as those in the Wellington Exhibition of 1885 testifies to the industrial progress of the colony. Stimulated by what has been done, New Zealand determines to do more; her success as a producer and manufacturer in a few things is leading her to direct her energies to many. Proceeding steadily upon the lines of policy already indicated, her industrial future is bright and hopeful, and within measurable distance she may contain within herself a manufacturing population without poverty, and natural wealth without glaring inequalities of distribution. She must be wary and watchful, and on the alert to seize ideas of improvement in existing industries as well as schemes for promoting new ones. It is within the scope of this essay to consider some of the ways in which this can be done, and they will receive attention presently.