FOOD SUPPLY FOR BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22768, 21 July 1939, Page 12

FOOD SUPPLY FOR BRITAIN

# GROWING INTEREST IN ARGENTINA “WRITING ON THE WALL” FOR NEW ZEALAND [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON. July 20. Modern wars wore won not on the battlefield, but by the destruction of the morale of the people, said Mr W. J. Lyon (Government. Waitemata) during the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of. Representatives to-day. Defending the Government’s policy of making New Zealand self-sufficient, he said it was necessary to keep up the standard of living of the people, and that was justification of the encouragement of secondary industries and the imposition of exchange control.

Great Britain was now being forced to find alternative supplies of foodstuffs in the event of war, said Mr Lyon, and that was why there was an increased interest recently in Argentina, which was the nearest source of supply for foodstuffs, as it was only 4000 miles from Britain as against 11 ~000 miles for New Zealand. “Argentina is rapidly developing .from a pastoral country to a primary producing country,” said Mr Lyon, “and in this development New Zealand is helping by 4he exportation of stud stock. The writing is already on the wall for New Zealand. New Zealand must build up an ability to maintain its standard of living if the necessity arises. We are in a vulnerable situation geographically, and with our small population we are a temptation to the land-hungry nations. We must build up a larger population, and we must have secondary industries to make for self-sufficiency.”

Mr Lyon said that to make the recruiting campaign a success every member of the community must give encouragement. He appealed to the women of the country to encourage the youpger men to offer themselves for the defence of the country. It was necessary to make the people realise that the modern territorial was a person on whom the country might have to depend, ahd was not merely playing at soldiers.