POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE

Evening Star, Issue 22638, 3 May 1937, Page 8

POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE

N.Z. NEEDS POPULATION BANKER’S KINDLY VIEW OF LABOUR LEGISLATION POWERS EXERCISED WITH DISCRETION New Zealand’s surplus of natural wealth allows her a certain amount of extravagance, of which recent legislation is an example. This is the view of a retired Viennese banker, Mr J. P. Perry, who has been a close student of the Dominion’s economy and politics. Mr Perry, who is visiting the country for the first time, arrived in Christchurch on Saturday (says the * Press ’). Without an increase of population by immigration,; however, Mr Perry considers that the Dominion v can never make proper use of her natural wealth. With rising commodity prices and a continued excess of production over needs, the country will remain prosperous; bub immigration remains a necessity. “New Zealand is important, not by the size of her population now, but because of the importance she will have when her population increases,” said Mr Perry. “ That is a prerequisite of the greatness of New Zealand. . Millions could live and prosper where only 1,500,000 live to-day. New Zealand is like a nugget of gold weighing scwt, which a miner found but cannot- lift-himself. He may chip off portions of it, .as New Zealand is doing at present,-but to-get the full value of his happy discovery he must have help. “ I came to New Zealand to find put how Socialism works in a free and rich country. Reading the legislation, everything looks more serious than it is in practice. The practical British, mind has taken off many edges, and the legislation does not go to the extremes which one would imagine in reading it. The powers conferred are exercised 'with great discretion. 1 “The situation in this country is quite unusual,” he went on. “ The excess of your exports is sufficient to take care of the interest on your indebtedness, and unless you have to borrow again the financial market of London is not so very important to you. So long as you keep the balance of trade sufficiently active to take care of your obligations abroad, and so long as the ability of the people to be taxed will take care of domestic indebtedness you can go on with the present system. At present these conditions are fulfilledWhether this will be so in the future ,1 cannot judge.”