DOMINION’S ECONOMIC POSITION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 51, 23 November 1928, Page 12

DOMINION’S ECONOMIC POSITION

“DANGERS OF OVEROPTIMISM” NEED FOR THRIFT AND PRODUCTION Dominion Special Service. Auckland, November 22. The dangers of over-optimism were referred to by Mr. Albert Spencer, the president, in his annual address to the Employers’ Association. He said that although the position had improved it was necessary to give attention to better business efficiency and the lowering of production costs to the manufacturer. Greater thrift bn the part of the individual and greater production on the part of the worker would also help to restore the Dominion’s economic position. “Speculation in land has been one steady, reckless gamble in the past,” said Mr. Spencer, “and many of New Zealand’s troubles are due to that. Another serious fault was the reckless trading of merchants, who had refused to recognise the diminishing purchasing power of the public. This led to a vast accumulation of merchandise In warehouses and shops, and the banks, had to be heavily drawn on, with the result that many traders were crippled with heavy loans and interest charges. From these depressing conditions the country was gradually emerging, and provided the lesson was heeded and less speculation was indulged in the future held something to be thankful for. ■ . “The constant and regrettable trend of the population to drift to the city has many causes,” said tho speaker, “among them being the fact that the younger generation has not been taught to recognise the limitations, with the possibility of improvement, of a rural environment. Instead of fostering an ambition to make a living from the land the education authorities encourage the belief that secondary and university education is essential to success in life. This brings a demand for specialised training at the expense of the State to qualify the young people to enter trades and professions which are overcrowded.”.