SKETCH OF THE PRESENT POSITION of the PROVINCE of AUCKLAND, STATISTICALLY AND FINANCIALLY.
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SKETCH
OF THE
PRESENT POSITION of the PROVINCE of AUCKLAND, STATISTICALLY AND FINANCIALLY.
Area of the Province is 17,000,000 acres. 1
European territory-1,879,459 acres.
Native territory--15,121,541 acres.
It is the object of the Provincial Government of Auckland to obtain funds to purchase from the natives the waste lands of the above 15,121,541 acres, and to plant upon them an European population; and it is calculated that the revenue accruing from such access of population would of itself be sufficient to liquidate the loan now sought to be negociated.
"A characteristic feature of the country of the Province of Auckland, is the very great extent of sea-board which it possesses. Afforded as this is by numerous deep water harbours and navigable creeks, it constitutes an element of immense importance in relation to the sources of the future prosperity of the country, and its capabilities of supporting a vast population."
"From Auckland to the north Cape (200 miles) there is scarcely a spot on which the traveller may place himself that shall be ten miles removed from some navigable creek, or from the sea, a matter of immense importance,
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in affording easy transit from timber, agricultural, grazing or mining districts, and of giving root to a hardy population." 2
Small steam vessels are now plying between Auckland and the parts of the coast above alluded to, and which are all more or less settled. To occupy a portion of the land above referred to, there are now either preparing in England for emigration, or actually on their way out, the Nonconformist special settlement, (last portion) the German special settlement from Hamburg, and the Church of England special settlement from Stamford, besides a continuous stream of ordinary emigration.
In 1858 the European population of Auckland, without counting the military and their families, was 18,177; in 1861, when the last census was taken, it had amounted to 21,420. 3 In addition to these there are about 38,000 natives in the province, consuming large quantities of manufactures, sugar and tobacco, and sending back flax, kauri gum and grain.
In 1858 the revenue of the Province of Auckland, was £65,507; in 1861 it amounted to £97,692 4
In 1858 the revenue of the Islands of New Zealand was £341,655. In 1861 it had arrived at £691,464. 5
In allusion to this general measure of prosperity, the governor, Sir George Grey, in the opening speech of the last session of the general assembly, says 6 " * * * Dur-
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ing my absence from the colony its progress as a whole, appears to have been steady and rapid; settlements which at the period of my leaving were in their earliest infancy, have grown into populous, wealthy, and flourishing provinces, exhibiting a healthy vitality, which appears attributable in no small degree to the large amount of local self-government which forms so prominent an element in the constitution of the colony." " * * * A comparison of the census taken on the 16th December, 1861 with that of 1858, will be found to exhibit a most satisfactory result."
Dr. Bennett, the registrar general, writes, 7 " * * * nor is this evidence of prosperity restricted to Otago. At nearly the other extremity of the colony, Auckland, without the attraction of an actually developed gold field, (for the sanguine expectations formed of the auriferous wealth of Coromandel, are only just now about to be decisively tested) shows a population less by only 2,287 than that of New Zealand in 1851."
In 1857 the whole banking business of Auckland was transacted by the branch of the Union Bank of Australia; its assets were then £418,801 14s. l1d., and its liabilities £446,567 13s. 7d.
In 1863 there are existing three banking establishments, with arrangements in progress for opening at least one other bank. 8 The following table shows the comparative increase of banking business in New Zealand over a period of six years.
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* Vide New Zealand Government Gazette for 1863.
The New Zealand Loan of £500,000 was effected in London in 1857 (with government guarantee) at par, bearing 4 per cent, interest.
By act of general assembly the waste lands of the provinces, including reserved lands for city, harbour, hospital and college endowments, vest in the governments of the respective provinces. In Auckland the provincial estate of waste lands amounts to 879,459 acres, and the land in the hands of the natives to 15,121,541 9 acres. It is to purchase a portion of this native land that one
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item of the proposed loan is required, while the estimated cost of planting the emigrants on the land, so obtained, forms the amount of another of the items.
In order to introduce emigrants of a class particularly required, £100,000 is wanted. These three items comprise £200,000, and the expenditure may all be considered reproductive. From the revenue to be derived, calculating at present rates, and without direct taxation from the increased population, it is reckoned that the whole loan, now to be contracted, may be liquidated.
The redemption of provincial debentures, for which £45,000 are required, will materially decrease the provincial expenditure; the interest to be paid on them being at six per cent., instead of the colonial rate of ten per cent.
The sum of £70,000 required for public buildings is also an economical measure, the rents and expenses of the present buildings being more than equivalent to the usual English rates of interest upon the sum required.
The expense of maintaining additional police as guards in the wooden prisons, is an item that would cease to appear in the expenditure, while the sale or letting of the various sites of the now scattered public offices would contribute materially to the means of liquidating this portion of the debt and its interest.
The sums required for the Auckland harbour trust, and for city improvements, when lent to the respective corporations by the government, will have for security the extensive and valuable endowment lands, as well as their dues and rents, both of which are now yielding
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an important revenue, and are year by year increasing in value. 10
The sum of £75,000 for public works is intended to be expended on roads and bridges to open distant and desirable districts, and bring into productiveness localities that are now almost inaccessible from the impediments presented by a river, or a few miles of rough country. 11
The provision in the "Loan Bill, 1863," to the effect that no portion or instalment, raised by the loan shall be operated upon until a special enactment referring thereto has passed, is most important, and is a guarantee for its fair and useful expenditure.
Before concluding, I may state that the war which has broken out in the province of Taranaki has not depressed business in Auckland, but rather is conducive of confidence, and the expectation that with the combined sagacity of Sir George Grey and the ability of General Cameron, the disaffected native tribes will now be brought under the influence of British laws, and become an integral portion of the producing population of the New Zealand Islands.
CHAS. HEAPHY, C.E.
Auckland, June 6th, 1863.
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No. 1.
Table shewing the Numbers, Sexes, and Ages of the Population (of European descent) in New Zealand, as ascertained by a Census taken in December, 1861.
* In addition to the enumerated Population of Otago, there are believed to have been about 3,000 Gold Miners in different gullies and on the roads, on the day when the Census was taken, making the estimated actual Population of the Province 30,163, and of the Colony, 102,021, exclusive of the Military and their Families.
Population of the Cities or Chief Towns of the several Provinces (included above):-- Auckland, (City and Port) Males, 4,226; Females, 3,763; total, 7,989. New Plymouth, Males, 1,062; Females,842; total, 1,904. Wellington, Males, 2,052; Females, 2,124; total, 4,176. Napier, Males, 533; Females, 391; total, 924. Nelson, Males, 1,873; Females, 1,861; total, 3,734. Picton (Population not separately stated). Christchurch, Males, 1,598; Females, 1,607; total, 3,205. Lyttelton, Males, 1,045; Females, 899; total, 1,944. Dunedin (City and Port), Males, 4,169; Females, 2,354; total, 6,523. Invercargill, Males, 391; Females, 218; total, 609. General totals, Males, 16,949; Females, 14,059; Persons, 31,008.
Comparative Table showing the Numerical and Centesimal Increase (or Decrease) of the Population (of European Descent) in the several Provinces of New Zealand, during a period of Three Years, viz: December, 1858, to December, 1861.
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No. 2.
Comparative Table showing the Numerical and Centesimal Increase (or Decrease) of the Population (of European Descent) in the several Provinces of New Zealand, during a period of Three Years, viz: December, 1858, to December, 1861.
The Chatham Islands not being included, the addition of 50 (viz: 27 Males and 23 Females) to the totals for 1861 in the above Table--and in the other Comparative Tables which follow--is necessary to bring those Totals into agreement with the General Totals of Population in Table No. 1.
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No. 3.
Comparative Table shewing the Numerical and Centesimal Increase of the Population (of European Descent) in the Settlements or Provinces of New Zealand, during a period of Ten Years, viz: December, 1851, to December, 1861.
Stewart's Island (as well as the Chatham Islands) is not included in the Comparative Tables relating to 1851.
