THE PRELUDE TO THE COLLAPSE OF 1893 53
in the different colonies. For the four colonies mentioned, the stop-
page of the supply of capital for the year 1880 marked a swing
in the aggregate trade from an excess of imports of nearly 8%
millions, to an excess of exports of nearly 3% millions, or a
difference of approximately 12 millions. This situation in four
independent and widely separated communities, which, however,
drew their capital supplies from the same source, is a very
pretty illustration, in the coincidence of precisely similar
changes, of the effects of capital borrowings.
Tare VI
Balance of Trade for the British Colonies.
Victoria ’ 3
New South Wales .
New Zealand
Canada ’ ,
Totals
1878.
Excess of
Imports.
£
2,580,000
£112,000
2,631,000
2 095,000
8,418.000
1880.
Excess of
Exports.
L
1,398,000
1,575,000
191,000
984.000
3.448,000
1881.
Excess of
Imports.
466,000
1,279,000
1,396,000
1,708,000
4,849,000
The resumption of capital imports in 1881 marked, in
Australia, an immediate return of the former prosperous con-
ditions. Much of the new capital introduced both publicly and
privately was being devoted to pastoral development in the
Riverina, and to the opening up of sugar-growing country in
Queensland. Added to this was the effect of a revival of specula-
tion in mining as evidenced by the formation of many new
companies. The outcome of this three-cornered competition
for financial support between banks, land companies, and mining
ventures was a fierce scramble for capital which led to the land
companies offering the unusually high rate of 5 per cent. for
money at call; and to the banks scouring the United Kingdom
for deposits even at this early day. Business concerns of all
sorts were paying handsome dividends. The banks for the next
ten years commonly paid 10-14 per cent., and the land com-
panies bid even higher. From this time forward small cash
payments, long and easy terms, and an almost total absence of
cash sales characterized the land transactions.
