SCIENCE.-SUPPLEMENT. 



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1886. 



THE PROGRESS OF NEW ZEALAND. 



The very interesting paper by Sir Robert Stout, 

 premier of the colony of New Zealand, lately 

 read before the Statistical society of London, and 

 now published in the journal of that society, de- 

 serves a wide notice, not only because of the 

 interest of the facts and figures adduced, but "be- 

 cause of the scientific way in which they are 

 exhibited and discussed. 



New Zealand has passed through several dis- 

 tinct economic eras, said the speaker. In the 

 earliest days it was looked upon as the seat of the 

 whale-fishery in the Pacific, and whalers from all 

 parts of the world were found in its harbors. 

 Following the whale-fishers came traders who 

 bartered with the Maoris. After this came the 

 settlements founded by the New Zealand company ; 

 and the result was the active pursuit of agricul- 

 ture, the products being sold to the gold-diggers 

 of Victoria. Pastoral pursuits also became of im- 

 portance, and an export trade of considerable 

 amount sprang up. But in 1861 the gold-fields in 

 Otago were discovered ; and the rush of adven- 

 turers to New Zealand soon swelled the population 

 to such an extent that there was a home consump- 

 tion for every thing that could be raised, and not 

 only did exports cease, but food-supplies had to be 

 obtained from abroad ; and while Chili and South 

 Australia provided wheat and flour, England was 

 drawn on for dairy-products, hams, etc. After 

 1864 agriculture in New Zealand developed much 

 more rapidly, and more lately a number of manu- 

 facturing industries have been built up. 



At the end of 1884 the colony's population was 

 564,304, of whom 306,667 were males, and 257,637 

 females. In addition, there are perhaps 45,000 

 Maoris. In 1881, when an accurate census was 

 taken, 45.60 per cent of the population were born 

 in New Zealand, and the percentage of native- 

 born New-Zealanders goes on increasing. Accord- 

 ing to the same census, 41.5 per cent of the inhab- 

 itants belonged to the Church of England, 23.09 

 were Presbyterians, and 14.08 Rom/an Catholics. 

 In 1884 the colony's birth-rate — proportioned to 

 each 1,000 of the population — was 35.91 ; the 

 death-rate, 10.39 ; the marriage-rate, 6.87. This 

 marriage-rate is lower than that of any of the 

 other Australasian colonies. Of those whose occu- 

 pation was determined by the census enumerators. 



we find that 70,926 v^ere engaged in trade, com- 

 merce, and manufactures ; 54,447 in agricultural 

 and pastoral pursuits ; 14,273 in mining ; 10,233 

 in the educated professions ; 41,635 in ordinary 

 labor, domestic service, and miscellaneous. 



Education is well cared for under the general 

 education act of 1877. Of persons between fifteen 

 and twenty years of age, 97.48 per cent are able 

 both to read and write : after twenty years there 

 is a decrease in this percentage, but it is slight. 

 There are 24 secondary schools in operation in the 

 colony, the number of pupils enrolled being 2,577, 

 and the annual expenditure on secondary educa- 

 tion 71,517 pounds sterling. New Zealand univer- 

 sity is solely an examining body : it confers degrees, 

 but employs no teachers. The teaching-work of 

 the university is done by five affiliated institutions 

 at Dunedih, Christchurch, Auckland, and Nelson. 

 The number of university students in 1884 was 

 499, and the expenditure for university education 

 £26,815. The expenditure in primary education 

 was £363,316 (including £49,769 on buildings), the 

 number of pupils enrolled amounting to 96,840. 

 The colony supports one civil policeman to every 

 1,293 of population. The number of offences 

 against the person was, in 1884, 871, or 1.57 per 

 1,000 of population ; and the i^roportion of offences 

 against property, 2.14 per 1,000. This is a better 

 showing than that made by any of the neighbor- 

 ing colonies. The amount of juvenile crime is 

 very small ; and Sir Robert Stout attributes that to 

 the elaboration of the industrial school system, 

 now a permanent institution in the colony. 



The government has three industrial schools 

 under its control, and also occasionally supports 

 childi'en at private institutions. Children com- 

 mitted under the industrial school system are of 

 three classes : 1°, those who have themselves done 

 wrong ; 2°, those who were in destitute circum- 

 stances ; 3°, those whose parents have either done 

 wrong or neglected them. The total number com- 

 mitted in 1884 was 313. 



As to illegitimacy, — a test often applied to 

 determine the morality of a community, — New 

 Zealand compares favorably with other colonies, 

 though there is an increase in illegitimate births as 

 the colony grows older, and as the population 

 grows more dense in the cities. In 1884 the ille- 

 gitimate births averaged 2.95 for every 100. 



The larger settlements are well supplied with 

 libraries and museums, and the desire for read- 

 ing-matter is increasing. In 1884 books to the 



