The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1909. AN INTERESTING SPEECH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 542, 24 June 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1909. AN INTERESTING SPEECH.

The'speech of the Minister for' Agriculture at Palmcrston North yesterday contained much that was of interest and something .' .of . value. Mr. Mackenzie should know a good deal about the country's products,: and while there may be differences of opinion on some of the points raised by Him in regard'to these, his views'in the main will be generally' agreed with. , AVhero .the- Minister was lacking was_ in his failure to show the way to attain the ends desired. One of the matters touched on was the quality of our dairy produco. Mr, Mackenzie, like many others who have studied the sub-: ject, appears to liave coma to definite conclusions on thy question of moisture in ■ butter, r For some time past tho more far-seeing of those interested in the but'ter trade have .issued warnings against the practicc of sending butter containing an oxcesaivc amount'of moisture to tho Home market. This practice may have met with a momentary success, but it was not likely to deceive for any length of, time tho buttcr-blendoM in England, and

its effect, in the long run was bound to depreciate the standard of value of New Zealand butter with tho English buyer. The fact that tho Government has this matter under consideration should stimulate those who. have been endeavouring to convince the butter-makers of tho country of the unwisdom of preparing for oxport butter containing such an excessive amount of moisture as has been produced hy certain factories in tho Dominion.. No one will disagree with tho:Minister as to tta necessity for further improving the dairy industry. We should all like to see this country doing bettor than any other .country in the world, .a 9 he urges it should do, in the matter of our staple products. AJI recogniso the disadvantage we suffer in the 'matter of distance from our chief market. all are equally interested in and anxious- to know is, how the > producers of the country arc to attain the state of perfection aimed at,in order to enable them to overco:""! the disadvantages: under which they labour in: the matter of markets 1 If Mr. Mackenzie had been a little more -explicit on these points, his, speech wpuld have been of even. greater interest and certainly of greater value.

Wo do hot, propose to touch on all the matters referred to by the Minister. Some do not,call for ,comment. His reference, however, to the over-population of the citics as against the country cannot be passed over, without reference.,' Mr. Mackenzie said : "The fact was that New Zealand was, in some respects, following on wrong-lines. Too many peoplei were congregating in tho towns." He added that this was a condition' prevalent all the world over, and ho might have supplemented this still further 'with tho information >, that fcho condition was growing worse, instead of better. It is not surprising that the Minister did not dwell overmuch on this unsatisfactory condition of things,'.but ho might at least havo some means of adjusting the balance, or,of reducing tho disproportion in this country to a more reasonable fig-' ure. than that quoted by him. Mr. Mackenzie is a new member of the Government, ho is not even a full member' of it, but ho has been in public life for a groat many years, and he cannot therefore plead ignorance of the causes which have' assisted to bring about tho state of things which he very properly bemoans. He must be aware of the fact' that for years past the doraand for land has far 'exceeded the supply. : He must know that whenever Crown lands arc placed on the market there .is a rush 1 of applicants— would-bo. country settlers—the great majority; of. whom are turned away emptyhanded. He must . know 'also- that . the man on the land, .when he does get there, is-assailed from all directions; he' is harassed by inspectors; he is regarded as i ..»■ milch cow for taxation purposes;'. the .Socialists of tho, towns clamour for penal ' treatment of him. Here and there something is done 1 for . him by the •' State by way of instruction or advice, but on the wholo ho is discouraged-rather than encouraged.-; Is: it, any wonder .that the rush for tho 'land is not greater ? - The wpndor is that the army of is, so ■ great.;: If Mr. Mackenzie .is sincere in his desire to see land settlement progress, and we cannot believe that any woll-wisher of the Dominion would not,wish to scp this, let; his Government find land 'for/the* people.'; Let- it bring ■down . a oNatiyo :-.lands policy.i that: will throw open'for lands settlement the vast areas of-Native lands'lying, idle and unproductive. Let it hold out inducements to. the. young men, who are; leaving this .country for Queensland and olsowhere •whore land is cheap, and plentiful, to stay here-and use their capital and energies in developing the;':, bountiful resources of their own land. - Let it endeavour to give tho farmer a proper sense of'security ;-lift from his mind the uncertainty arid; concern he .feels? as to the futuro drift of legislation* ; in : this country. If Mr. Mackenzie can induce ; his Government >tp do these things, in a few years'- time ho may spe a; material change in tho drift of. population— a change beneficial hot only to the country settlers, but to the whole Dominion; for it is-hardly necessary to remind him that the prosperity of New/Zealand is .dependent oh our primary producing industries,'which are in the hands of the man on the lan i.