H.—ll

VII

It may be noted that there is a decrease of £1,106 in the shipbuilding, of £897 in the basketware, and of £6,056 in the miscellaneous trades. This deficit, however to be regretted, is small compared with that of last year, when there was a decrease of £50,846, mainly caused by the failure of the flax and fellmongery businesses. These two years taken together show a loss of £56,902 in the annual wagesheet over that of three years ago, and absorb part of the increases shown by the larger trades, but flaxmilling and fellmongery have improved very much lately, and are on the ascending scale, so that we -may confidently look forward to a plus sign against their earnings for the next annual report. The local distribution of the wages paid is as follows : —

Factories in New Zealand.

* Excluding Auckland, Wellington; Ohristchurch; and Dunedin Cities; respectively. This table shows that of the four chief cities Auckland takes the leading place in wage-expenditure by nearly £165,872 over its nearest competitor, Ohristchurch. Auckland. Ohristchurch. Wellington. Dunedin. £997,264 £831,392 £800,357 £758,199. Ohristchurch, however, paid £29,310 less in factory wages this year than it did the previous year. The others paid considerably more. Auckland. Christchurch. Wellington. Dunedin. 1908-9. .. .. £921,314 £860,702 £784,177 £723,962 1909-10 .. £997,264 £831,392 £800,357 £758,199 + 75,950 -£29,310 +£16,180 +£34,237 If we consider, however, the case of each chief city together with its surrounding industrial district, the wages paid give the leading place to Wellington. Wellington. Auckland. Canterbury. Otago and Southland. £1,626,908 £1,477,814 £1,095,240 £1,175,229. The numbers of employees engaged in factories in the four centres are — Auckland. Christchurch. Dunedin. Wellington. 11,237 10,173 9,666 7,661. There is a falling-off in numbers employed on those of the preceding year in Auckland of 132 workers ; in Christchurch, of 111 ; in Wellington, of 602 ; while Dunedin gained 43. If we include together with each chief city the industrial district surrounding it, we find the manufacturing workers distributed as follows ; — Auckland. Wellington. Otago and Southland. Canterbury. 16,593 15,938 14,360 13,601. Again, taking the chief cities alone (without their surrounding districts), the proportion of employees to wages paid is as follows : Auckland paid 11,369 workers £997,264; Christchurch paid 10,284 workers £831,392 ; Wellington paid 8,263 workers £800,357 ; Dunedin paid 9,643 workers £758,199. The factory worker thus appears to receive on an average £9 a year more in Wellington than in Auckland ; £16 more in Wellington than in Christchurch ; £18 more in Wellington than in Dunedin. Note.—These figures are the result of the division of the wages shown this year by the number of employees working during 1908-9. We do not get from employers until the following year the amount actually paid to their employees during the period. For instance, the total wages paid for the year ending 31st March, 1910, will nnt he given until the collection of schedules in April, 1911.

Numl iber of Persons engaged. Industrial District. Male Employees. I Age Age *&£./, 14-10. 17-20. 2^ d Female Employees. j __ _____ _! Age Age jtf A nf 14-16. J 17-20. j I l| Number of Workrooms employing __ © m o to UP tO ' CO H « H 8 o| & § Total. Persons.! e | $|^ Total Wageo paid during the Year.' Auckland City Wellington City Christchurch City . . Dunedin City ""Northern District .. Taranaki District .. *Wellington District Marlborough District Nelson District Westland District . . *Canterbury District * I Otago District 1 Southland District Totals i [ I .. I 652 1,323 6,087 .. 355 778 4,104i 509 1,056 5,288i .. 571 957 4,793! .. 287 620 3,850 .. j 108 205, 1,426 .. ! 415 8201 5,7061 28 76 490! .. ! 80j 153 702 1 100, 191 1,075 191 418] 2,205 .. i 121 250 958 214 351 1,981; .. j 3,631 7,198' 38,665; I 542 1,108 1,525 11,23 370! 753 1,301 7,66 492! 1,0331 1,795 10,17: 656 1,019 1,670 9,66 119, 227! 253 5,35 46 95: 102 1,98 229 457! 650 8,27' 15 28] 29 66 33 76! 96! l,14i 56 107: 104J 1,631 89 198 327! 3,42! 35 88; 199 ! 1,65 91 1 169; 237 3,04: 2,773J 5,358 8,288 65,91: 11,237 7,661! 10,173! 9,666 e>356 1 1,982 8,277 666 1,140; 1,633] 3,428! 1,651 3,043 57 31! 73] 56] 56 ! n n 36 to! S3 Jβ! 51 13 13 1,550 1,276 1,067 863 1,348 1,139! 1,143 990 1,284 1,241 513 565 2,022 2,030 171 168! 356 303 395 354 904 913 503' 486 637! 578 J 11,893 10,906 l,5fi 1,06 1,34 1,14 1,28 51 2,02 17 35 39 90 50 63 11,89 50 67 48 43 84 13 22 71 50 95 04 03 37 1 93 I ) 1,276| 199 85 1,5ft J 863 160 51 1.07' ? 1,139! 134 69 1,34: ! : 990 152 (58 1,20' I 1 1,241! 132 18 1.39 ! 565 41 5; 61 ! 2,030i 202 18 2,251 L 168! 12 1 18: i 303 321 3: 33) i 354 51 1 40( I 913 73 8 99i] 486 32 4 62! f 578 84 8 671 i ' ! 10,906 1.304 338! 12,54! 199 160 134 : 152 132 41 202 12 321 51 73 32 84 85 1 1,560 997,264 51 1,074} 800,357 69 1,342 831,392 68 1,207 758,190 18 1,391 480,550 5] 611 199,986 18 2.250 826,551 1 181- 58,775 3 338 91,080 1 406| 165,909 8 994! 263,848 4 522: 141,580 8 670; 275,450 338 ; 12,548 5,890,941 65,913 1,304