LAST YEAR'S EXPORTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2679, 27 January 1916, Page 5

LAST YEAR'S EXPORTS

9—,— _ STATEMENT BY MR. MASSEY. "Wo had a particularly good searon' '" J last year, and 'I believe we are going j to have a bettor one this year," saia • ; Mr. Massey at the Levin Show yesterday. "Last year our exports exceeded 1 by £5,500,000 the exports in the previous year. Last year's exports were £32,000,000; the previous year's £26,500,000. These, of course, are round • figures. I predict that this year we\: will exceed that £32,000,000. All im- \ portant point is that a large of the exports I refer to were the product of the soil." Mr. Massey quoted the following ex- : port figures lor last year:— ' j Mutton 2,893,000 Lamb 3,004,000 Beef ...;• • 1,626,000 Wool 10,387,000 Buttor 2,700,000 > "Cheese '........1 ....... 2,730,000 Hemp 571,000 1

Total '••• 23,952,000 So, practically £'24,000,000 worth of our £32,000,000 worth of. exports were agricultural products. . ' . "Mind you,' 'the Premier continued, "we are experiencing the high prices which are due to the war. That has got to be admitted However, as producers (and, like yourselves, I am a producer) wo would very much prefer peace —an honourable peace —with moderate prices, than war with extreme prices. The- value of the meat supplied to the Imperial authorities was somewhere about £7,000,000 to date, and the supply was still going on, and our exports in this connection would be limited only by the capacity, of our ships. He felt pretty confident that we would be able to get away this season the goods that required insulated space. Two or three months the. .Im-. perial Government said it was necessary to requisition, for 15,000 ton 6 of cheese about one-third of the country s export quantity. The-price was 7Jdper lb., which was now below the market price, but there had been hardly 1 a grumble. The producers had entered enthusiastically into the scheme, and New Zealand was getting all the cheese ; it required without the "slightest difficulty. That fact was appreciated not only by the New Zealand Government; but also by the Imperial Government.