H.— 44

8

The quantity and value of the chief exportable products of Samoa during the past five years are shown below: —

The export of rubber from Samoa ceased in 1918, and has been re-established only in recent years. The quantity exported during 1928 exceeded that of 1927, but the value was less owing to the fall in the price of rubber. Cook and Niue Islands. The Dominion proper does a substantial trade with the Cook and Niue Islands. The following figures show the value of goods purchased during the past four years by the Dominion from these islands : 1925, £126,465 ; 1926, £119,407 ; 1927, £113,396 ; 1928, £112,817.' The exports from the Dominion to Cook and Niue Islands amounted in 1925 to £80,977 ; in 1926 to £109,636 ; in 1927 to £98,669 ; and in 1928 to £95,914. The total external trade of the Cook and Niue Islands last year was £290,265. Trade between Cook and Niue Islands and New Zealand in 1928 represented 71-9 per cent, of the total imports and exports of those islands. The principal items received by the Dominion in 1928 were oranges, £58,000 ; tomatoes, £18,000 ; bananas, £26,000 ; copra, £7,000. Trade with Canada. Our trade with Canada continues to expand, and the year's exports proved to be a record both in volume and value. In last year's report it was pointed out that there was an increase of just over 100 per cent, in the value of the exports, and for the financial year just past the figures show a further large increase, the comparable values being 1927-28, £2,065,222, and 1928-29, £2,866,623, an increase of 38-80 per cent. Canada now ranks fourth in importance in her purchase of New Zealand products. The value of the trade with Canada during the last four years was as follows : —

The value of the main lines of produce exported to Canada during the last four years was as follows :—

The increases in sales of butter, sausage-casings, hides and skins, and wool noted in 1927 continued in 1928, in addition to which there were increases in the exports of frozen meats, cheese, hemp, and kauri-gum. The volume of sales of butter, wool, and sausage-casings to Canada has been a great benefit to New Zealand producers. The diversion of the large quantity of butter (10,000 tons) during the year from the London market has had a very material bearing upon the trend of world prices, and helped to secure for New Zealand dairymen a range of prices higher than would otherwise have been the case. The progressive increases in values shown each year, particularly during the last three, are due mainly to New Zealand's participation in the Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto in 1926, and the operation of a reciprocal tariff. In no part of the British Empire —or, in fact, the world— is New Zealand treated so favourably in regard to her leading exportable products. The following

Cocoa. Copra. Rubber. Calendar Year. ; ; Tons. Value. . Tons. Value. Tons. Value. £ £ £ 1924 .. .. .. .. 1,016 57,958 13,202 284,272 1925 .. .. .. .. 664 39,626 14,519 331,274 3 1,165 1926 .. .. .. .. 356 20,151 12,249 275,086 33| 6,702 1927 .. .. .. .. 792 48,216 11,665 242,672 158 24,802 1928 .. .. .. .. | 959 69,507 15,989 j 319,259 167 17,268

Calendar Year. Exports to Canada. Imports from Canada. £ £ 1925 .. .. .. .. .. 423,068 3,916,237 1926 .. .. .. .. .. 861,717 3,431,533 1927 .. .. .. .. .. 1,666,598 2,739,826 1928 .. .. .. .. .. 2,469,150 3,258,828

1925. ' 1926. 1927. 1928. £ £ £ £ Butter .. .. .. .. 26,360 230,562 899,727 1,565,646 Sausage-casings .. .. .. 231,884 319,470 422,655 461,074 Hides, pelts, and skins (undressed) .. I 66,809 97,316 56,062 81,785 Wool .. .. .. . . 53,951 158,329 213,140 224,810