GREAT BRITAIN'S BURDEN

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 293, 11 December 1929, Page 9

GREAT BRITAIN'S BURDEN

STAGGERING UNDER WAR DEBT. NEW ZEALAND'S BEST BUYER. OUTLOOK FOR AGRICULTURE. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, this day. After a seven months' tour of Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, Mr. S. C. Sutherland, manager for Wright, Stephenson Co., has returned to Dunedin. While abroad he made a close study of the.agricultural and pastoi-al development of various countries. "Although a tremendously wealthy country, Great Britain is staggeiing under an enormous load of debt, and her recovery to pre-war prosperity is, in my opinion, going to take a very long time," said Mr. Sutherland. "The general opinion at Home.is that Mr. Baldwin made too liberal a settlement .with America, and that he could have made a much more satisfactory settlement so far as Great Britain ivas concerned. When a New Zealander considers that. Great Britain takes practically all our meat, butter and cheese, and 50 per cent of our wool, it is not difficult to realise that the prosperity of this country is almost entirely dependent on that of Britain. "Our produce has a particularly good name with consumers at Home, and the quality of our butter, cheese and lamb was very favourably commented on by those in the trade. The North Island and the southern portion of the South Island have improved the quality of their fat lamb to a very great, extent during the last year or so, while Canterbury lamb has gone back. If Canterbury farmers wish to retain the good name their lamb has enjoyed, they will have to pay more attention to breeding, and so produce a carcase suitable for the Home market." Mr. Sutherland was impressed by the manner in which New, Zealand's butter and cheese were advertised. Visits were paid by Mr. Sutherland to two famous Royal shows, the English show at Harrogate and the Highland show at Alloa. After carefullv

studying the stock displayed, he was of the opinion that Home breeders could beat New Zealand producers only in beef cattle and Ayrshire dairy cattle (the latter being bigger than the New Zealand breed), and in Southdown sheep. Home" Eomneys were too big, plain bodied sheep, and would not be at all suited for the breeding of lambs for export from the Dominion. The French were getting right down to production. Country on the battlefields was reinstated and the people wore exceedingly industrious. As the visitor motored along the roads in the evening he would see whole French families toilincr in the harvest fields. Belgium was undergoing very intensive cultivation, not an inch of ground being wasted, said Mr. Sutherland. Belgians worked long hours, from dawn to dusk. The outlook for France and Belgium from an agricultural viewpoint was very good. No one could help being struck by the way in which the Germans are settling down, said Mr. Sutherland. Everybody in Germany seemed to be happy and contented. The Germans were very desirous of encouraging tourist traffic, and they gave Britishers "a wonderful hearing."