A USEFUL ADDRESS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 125, 19 February 1908, Page 6

A USEFUL ADDRESS.

Ik delivering his annual. address to a Chamber of . Commerce, the Chairman is hampered 1 by the unwritten rule •that he nlust. not appear as'a controversialist'., : The subjects which lie, must deal with ; are mostly large issues, difficult to treat without impinging on politics, and his .freedom' of treatment, is accordingly very restricted. In his address.-jyesterday to the .local',.Chamr- - .ber, Mr., Harkness'was evidently con-, scious of this restrictive obligation, but he contrived, nevertheless, td say well some things that needed saying. The people of this country have been accustomed .by Ministerial! statistics- to regard the expansion of the Dominion's trade as'being of itself entirely destructive! of the.-occasional, warnings of prudent men that our present, great prosperity cannot endure'for ever. It is well to .have this hasty conclusion, challenged every now and then, and for this reason Mr: Harkness's warning of the possibilities—lie does not, of course, say'the probability—of a perr iod of depression. The last ten years have been tf fat-3'ears," but the prosperity of the decade has arisen mainly from the :i high'prices ruling., for our staple products .in the ' world's' mar-' lcets. -■ Mr. Harkness disclaims the'role of a pessimist ; indeed, he sees 110 reason to believe, that we shall have to face a decided slump in values. "I3ut indications are not wanting that'the coming l year will' not 'exceed its pre-, decess.qr ■ iii quantity or value." Unforeseen contingencies, he went on,, might interfere with trade conditions in Great Britain, resulting, in a decreased spending power amongst the people who make up our market. , -i Some counteractive, such as-'this to: the .unalloyed optimism prevailing in some quarters has long, been required. The audiences who listen to Sir Joseph •Ward are never given" anything 'but the rosiest pictures, and the Govern-, ment, as a whole, is more concerned to " make a good showing" than to make -.'people; think. The observations of Mr; Harkness upon the l many diverse, significances of trade figures are worthy of careful reflection. Another portion of the Chairman's speech which calls for notice was his advocacy of a serious immigration policy. ' Our 1 population, lie pointed, out, "is not increasing in that ratio that the needs : of the Dominion demanded," and Mr. ; D. «T. Nathan later on noted that -'our population is not increasing in.propor-;' tion to the public debt." We observed the other day, in dealing with this subject, that, although the'' Premier ! is, theoretically, in of a large immigrant assistance in the work of developing the; country, - the mea- • sures so,.far taken by the"Government are quite inadequate to the end which ithey seek to attain. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce has done well to direct pointed attention to tlie country's need of population, and we should be glad to see the Government , make _up its" mind (upon the subject, and risk the displeasure of the Trades and Labour Councils.. . j'