Some Comparisons.

The fact that the year 1900 closed the first half century of Canterbury's growth may justify a few comparisons between the present and the past of the province. Taking the years 1854 and 1900 as offering an easy means of contrast, it is found that the population of the province rose, within fifty years, page 7 from 4000 to 145,000. In 1854 the Customs revenue amounted to £3594; in 1900 to £343,233. In 1854 imports totalled £54,715, and exports £13,000; in 1900, imports were valued at £1,776,331, and exports at £3,722,777. In 1854 there were only 2260 acres under cultivation; in 1900 as many as 2,408,906 were tilled. In 1854 there were less than 100,000 sheep in the province; now there are considerably over four millions. It is safe to say that no other country in the world can produce proof of such marvellous progress in so short a time. And this progress is as great relatively as it is absolutely. The total exports of the colony for the year ending June, 1900, were valued at about £13,400,000. The exports for Lyttelton and Timaru, representing the products of Canterbury, totalled £3,700,000, or more than onefourth of the value for the whole colony. The export figures for 1899 were:—For Lyttelton, £2,311,000; for Wellington, £1,896,000; for Auckland, £1,860,000; and for Dunedin, £1,316,000; showing Lyttelton to be ahead of the other great seaports in the value of its trade. As one among many proofs of the value of the public assets in the provincial district, it may be mentioned that the land revenue from Canterbury for the year ending the 31st of March, 1900, was £93,000, which was at least £26,000 more than the amount derived from any other district. The accumulations at the Savings Bank may be taken as a fair gauge of the wealth of the middle classes in the community, and in this respect Canterbury, in spite of its smaller population, easily surpasses the other provinces. On the 31st of March, 1900, the amounts on deposit at the various Savings Banks within the four provincial districts under consideration were as follows:

Christchurch (population of Canterbury, 145,000), £1,003,000.

Wellington (population of Wellington, 132,000), £855,000.

Auckland (population of Auckland, 165,000), £819,000.

Dunedin (population of Otago, 174,000), £797,000.

Another form of evidence for the comparative wealth and prosperity of Canterbury may be derived from the statistics referring to the value of land in the different provinces. Taking the figures for 1898, the comparison works out thus: Canterbury (14,040 square miles), unimproved value £20,458,825, improvements £10,123,432 —£30,591,251; Wellington (11,003 square miles), unimproved value £16,772,591, improvements £12,133,570 —£28,906,165; Otago (25,487 square miles), unimproved value £15,270,154, improvements £10,259,776—£25,529,930; Auckland (25,746 square miles), unimproved value £14,236,611, improvements £10,538,871—£24,775,682.

These figures are given here, not for the purpose of instituting comparisons between Canterbury and the other provincial districts of the colony, but in order to indicate the progress which has been made by Canterbury itself within fifty years after its first settlement.