DOMINION AFFAIRS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 142, 20 June 1927, Page 3

DOMINION AFFAIRS

COMMENT AT HpME • THE FISHING INDUSTRY (From "The Post's" Represithtative.) LONDON^ 4th May. ■ The "London Weekly" draws atten. tion to the statement made'by: a-Lon-don daily, that "New Zealand is said by our locomotive builders to be th« most loyal of the Dominions of th«j Mother Country." "We have here,',' says the "London Weekly," "a new concept of loyalty— apparently loyalty can be judged on » commodity basis. This should lead to amusing results. Let us apply this commodity loyalty' conception to the other side of the trade balance. Judg. Ed by this standard, the whole of'tha North of England is .'disloyal' in butter—since they appear to prefer to ob-. tain their butter from Denmark. It is also sad .to contemplate how many stout Conservatives .throughout this country should—if 'commodity loyalty' is to be the vogue-^be arraigned before the Courts on the charge of high treason owing to their inveterate * disloyalty* in wine and tobacco. Coming back to the subject of locomotives, it is ex. tremely difficult to assign the-crown of loyalty to any particular Dominion, since the trade returns show a yearly fluctuation in the purchases effected. For instance, last year Australia wag the chief Empire market for British locomotives, her.purchases reaching the value of almost half a million sterling; m the previous two years it was Indianext year it may be South Africa. TRADE WITH MANCHESTER. N At the annual meeting of :the Man. Chester Wholesale Provision':" Association, Mr. Eobert Graham, whopresided* referred to the subject of direct shipments from New Zealand. It was a! great matter of regret to most of them, he.said, that so far this season not one of the West Coast boats from "New Zealand had come direct to Manchester, ivery one had discharged its cargo at Liverpool—at least, so far 'as cheese' was concerned. New Zealand, he thought, would find out that-this was a mistake, because when the Canadian season opened and Canadian cheese became available by; direct steamer it was only likely' that: consumers would give Canadian the preference when they had to pay 2s 64 extra to bring the other from London. Canada was the only country that "was sending a good service'"' of.steamers direct to_ Manchester, arid it was'gratifying to know that those steamers wera getting good cargoes both outwards and inwards. ■ •"■ In a brief reference to the new law regarding the use of preservatives iii food, Mr. Graham expressed the. view that it would not hurt the provision trade anything like so much as people imagined. If proof were needed it was supplied by New South Walesf which had not used preservatives in buttep for three years. : "■'.■.:• "STUPID OFFICIALDOM." The following paragraph under th« heading of "Stupid Officialdom" appears in the "Manchester Evening Chronicle":— ../:- ■ "A confrere who was in Sew Zealand when the Duke and Duchess of York were touring the Dominion tells me that for lack of appreciation of the needs of the Press in connection-with, the Royal functions, and iii some degree unnecessary officiousness, the officials of Government House, Auckland ■ have, few equals. It seems that these local officials were overawed by the importance of the occasion, and..failed to realise the democratic methods which have always characterised Their Royal Highnesses. Finally, he tells'me', the local Press transferred their grievances to the Duke's personal staff, and, thanks to the energetic representations of Mr. A. H. Batterbee, of the Dominions Office, whom we all know here a» th« essence, of tact and discreet initiative, and who is specially attached to the Duke's staff, matters were immediately: straightened out. :■■•■ '. ' "Frequently, I am told, the Duke and Duchess astonished local officialdom by. breaking away from the formal programme in order to gratify their desire to mingle more freely with the people whose guests they felt they were for the time being.*-' A week or two "ago "John' Bull*' wrote of a certain advertisement offering employment in New Zealand. The advertiser made it a qualification that the applicants should send £3 along with their applications. "John Bull" now mentions that" since our exposure the police have made inquiries, and Mr. Edwards has flown.. Perhaps he has taken one of the jobs in New Zealand." ' ' THE FIBHIKO INDUSTRY. An article in the "Fishing News" deals with the subject of commercial fishing in New Zealand waters. "This Dominion," says the 'writer, "has a fishing industry'which is almost in its infancy, and the people take a large portion of their sea food in the shape of Canadian and Scandinavian canned goods. The chief reason for the slow development of the industry appears ' to*be the lack of. exact information which would attract capital. The Government maintains a fisheries section in the Marine Department, and has officers -who have done: well with the resources at their, command. The Government offers loans on easy terms to encourage the erection of fish-storage and to aid fishermen in purchasing boats and gear, but little advantage has as yet been' taken of these offers. ' . "At present, while there are some British and native-born workers in the industry, there is also a considerable section of Europeans, chiefly "Italians. Hardy and industrious as these men are, it is felt that the indu.stry would advance more surely and speedily (and would secure greater public *- support) if it were more in the hands of our British stock. It is a striking anomaly that a great fishing nation should leave this fruitful field to. another race.' The industry holds possibilities worth investigation with- a view to the double British migration which is most helpful —the introduction of British capital and enterprise, and skilled British fishing labour." v -