BETTER THAN BEFORE THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 124, 26 May 1920, Page 7

BETTER THAN BEFORE THE WAR

NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION

OPTIMISTIC SPEECH BY HON. D. H. GUTHRIE. (BT TELEGRAM.—SPECIAL TO THE POST.) PALMERSTON N., This Day. "After five years of turmoil and war. New Zealand comes out in a better position financially than it held before the" war," stated the Hon. D. H. 'Guthrie, Minister for Lands, at a complimentary banquet to delegates to the Farmers' Provincial Conference last evening. They nsed not have wondered lisld the country gone back, and they should feel all the more proud because it had gone forward. (Applause.) He was glad that although the farmers had struck ;> note cf caution there was no feeling of pessimism. With a country such as New Zealand what had they to fear? There was no need to be frightened of the future. He was certain that with attention to business, and with economy, _,lhe finances of New Zealand would come out on top. Increased production and j closer settlement were essential 1:1 order I that the financial burden might be spread ! over as ni.iny people as possible. He j had alluded in passing fashion to the • mir.ncial situation. A fe'.v years nsro •they talked in hundreds and thousand's; now they talked in hundreds of' thousands, and in millions. People had acnepted the position during the war. when the Government was unable to make bit; wants or push on with public works. A few years ago people .would have been. .1 shocked to a degree if a Minister had proposed the expenditure of a million pounds. GOVERNMENT LOANS. During the war the Government raised in New Zealand the sum of 379.C32.0C0. ; If any one on the 4th August, 1914, had had the temerity to say that- that was : uossible they would have Been scoffedl at. Loans raited in England totalled £25 - ■000,000—a grand total of £1C5,C00,000. That was the war indebtedness, but New Zealand benefits! jrvsatly, because the interest on the £79,000,000 remained jin the country. In 1914 New Zealand had in fixed and fres deposit £24,000,----000. but that figure had now grown to £50.000,000. How had New Zealand arrived at its present strong financial position? Well, wool in 1910 was worth ei^ht millions, and in 1919 worth nineteen mi!lions. The figures regarding" other items of produce were, respectively j Frozen meat, three millions and ninemillions; butter^' ons million and three millions; cheese, one million and seven millions. General trade over same period showed an increase of forty-four ' millions. Even during the year 1918-15 ' general trade had increased by thirty millions. The excess of exports over imports for the year 1919 totalled £21,----353,231. The figures he had quote* should bs encouraging to the farmers, for nobody would suggest that the Dominion had. reached .J;he zenith ■of her prosperity. SS SETTLEMENT OF SOLDIERS. '. Mr. Guthrie then dealt with the settlement of returned soldiers on the lines published in The Post last Saturday, and asserted that there had been "more closer settlement during the last three years tha* during the preceding thirty I years. He regretted. ,that soldiers were not keen to settle on undeveloped land that had been made available by the Government. In selecting to go on highpriced land they were making a mistake. If only they would go out back a. big future awaited them,'and he wanted to say that publicly in the hope that some soldier settlers would-realise their mistake. However, from the reports which he had received from the commissioners, he could say that among the new soldier settlevs there would not be more than 3 per cent, of failures. In all classes of settlement there were at least 3 per cent, of failures. In all, a sum approaching £20,000,000 hod been spent in repatriating men and placing them on the land. It was a gloriobs thing to say I that New Zealand had been able to do that, and the country and the Government were glad that producers had helped so much by bringing £139,000,----000 into the Dominion. All that had happened since "commandeer." He- did not like the word "commandeer" ; it was not a right word. The "commandeer" was really a voluntary arrangement regarding the glut. It was largely a question of shifting, and the Government was in constant communication with the Imperial authorities regarding the position. Six ships were at present loading, and 19 ships were in eight. ! There was reason to believe that the j Imperial Government would not insist that all its 1 meat should bo lifted before the new seaEon^s meat was taken away.