Prepared under instructions from the Hon. R. J. Seddon, Premier, by FE, J. Von Dadelszen, Registrar-General; Wellington, N.Z.: By' Authority, Samuel Costall, Government Printer; London; Eyre' and Spottiswoode, Fleet Street, B.C., 1893, We hnd occasion last year to speak in commendatory terms of the first issue of the handbook of New Zealand, which the enterprising officials of that" prosperous colony sent forth to the world. It met, we now learn, with so favourable a reception that the government decided on publishing a similar work under a somewhat different title, ang a copy has now been courtecasly sent to us. de is a model publication of its class, undisfigured by' the deadly dullness which seems to haunt the compilers of many official documents; based on governmental statistics its accuracy is pretty well assured, and finally it is issued at the moderate price of one shilling, thus placing it within the reach of a very wide circle. Some of the special articles which appeared in the preceding publication have been revised and reprinted, but a large quantity of completely new matter has been introduced into the book, including articles written. by experts on such subjects as agriculture, sheep-farming, meat-freezing, butter and cheese-making, climate and tem: perature, mineral waters, thermal springs, jand and income tax methods, ete. A new part has been added, and this should be greatly appreciated by prospective colo-rusts. It consists of a digest of the Innd-laws and descriptions of the various land districts. giving such particulars as_ the nature of the soil—whether fit for agrieultural, pastoral, or mining—purposes—the timber and other natural products besides mentioning the industries pursued, the towns and settlements, the means of communication, with other leading features. Happily New Zealand escaped frown the commercial crisis which seems to have temporarily affected most of the other Australasian colonies, so that, possessed of its many natural blessings,' which this handbook enables us to appreciate to some extent, there seems to be a very bright future before New Zealand.
The first part of the book comprises official and statistical information, deseribing the administrative machine and the men by whom it is worked, From the informa. tion. regarding emigration it can be seen that the colonists have a decided objection to the Chinese. In 1881 an Act was passed imposing a poll-tax upon Chinese immigrants, and from 5,004 Chinese settlers then, the colony now has only 4,444. We ' will not discuss the justice or advisability of such exclusiveness; no doubt there is something to be said from the excludes' point of view, but there is almost an apologetic tone about the remark which follows the declining statistics of Chinese immigration, that restrictive legislation on the immigration of Chinese has been assed in the Australian colonies as well as in New Zealand." With reference to trade, Hongkong and China come eighth on the list of importing countries, with imports valued at £51,866, India and Ceylon are third with £171,716, no doubt mainly due to the great liking the residents of New Zealand have for tea. It is curious to note that the Australian colonies seem
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.