HON. W. NASH

Hokitika Guardian, 16 August 1937, Page 5

HON. W. NASH

RETURNED TO N.Z.

REPORT OF POSITION.

(Per Press Association —Copyright)

AUCKLAND } August 14. After being ten months in Great Britain, Europe, and U.S.A. the Min-

ister of Finance (the Hon. Walter Nash) returned to New Zealand to-day. On his arrival, Mr Nash was met by the Prime Minister (Mr Savage), members of Parliament, and civic dignitaries.

‘T have with me exhaustive reports on economic, social, and administrative life in England, which are of concern to New Zealand,’’ said Mr Nash. “What are our marketing problems in England, our publicity problems, and our questions of Imperial relations? All aspects of these and other questions have been fully explored. This of course, is in addition to the negotiation of trade agreements. “As to my visit to the United Kingdom, it commenced at the British Government’s request before Christmas. My negotiations were interrupted by the abdicat ion of proceed lire and the Christmas holidays,. hut in spite of unavoidable interruptions of this nature, the negotiations made solid prokress. I shall have more to say on this later.

“The portion of Tasman shipping, Tasman airways, Pacific shipping, and Pacific airways is to some extent already known. Negotiations on these subjects have not been without their difficulties, but the results are of enormous importance to New Zealand, depending, as she does, perhaps more than any other country, on outside communication.”

He issued lengthy statement covering the major matters which he had dealt with- while overseas.

The first thing mentioned by the Minister was the extraordinary extent of goodwill known in every part of the world to himself and the members of his staff. In the United Kingdom, in Germany, in Soviet Russia, in Denmark, in the Netherlands, in France, in Canada, the United States, and Panama, the fact that the delegations came from New Zealand seemed to open up avenues of information and goodwill that s eemed quite extraordinary. The Minister said he he felt that in the United Kingdom this was to a certain extent due to the sportsmanship of New Zealand cricket and football teams, and also largely to the high reputation of the New Zealand soldiers in the United Kingdom and in other countries during the war period.

The Minister said that during his period overseas he investigated the marketing procedure in connection with New Zealand beef, mutton, lamb and P'g products, butter and cheese, fruit, honey, wool, hides and skins. Visits were paid to the Smithfield meat .market, to Covent Gardens anci to Spitalfields fruit market, and several days were spent by the Minister in Tooley Street investigating the procedure followed in the marketing of dairy produce. Separate reports on these subjects would be submitted to Cabinet. Negotiations in connection with trade agreements were conducted with the Governments of the United Kingdom, German, the Netherlands, Canada, and .United States, Panama, France and Brazil, and discussions were also carried on with the Governments of Soviet Russia, Southern Rhodesia, Palestine, Denmark, the Irish Free State, and Yugoslavia.

During the Imperial Conference, in company with the Prime Minister, the questions of defence, foreign affairs, shipping in general, Pacific shipping, Tasman shipping, air communications in general, and particularly in Pacific and the Tasman, were all thoroughly discussed.

The Minister mentioned that tin* load on the New Zealand delegation was particularly heavy in that it had a smaller number of Ministers in London than had any other country, which meant that he personally had to be a. member of many committees. “As chairman of the general Shipping Committee dealing with the Pacific shipping, and as a member of the committee considering civil air communications and trans-Tasman airways and, in addition, as the New Zealand representative at the special meetings on defence, I naturally was occupied pverv minute of my time from the opening day of the conference to the departure of the Prime Minister for New Zealand,” he said.

Air Nash emphasised that New Zealand really required more Ministers in London on occasions such as the Imperial Conference. Investigations made into the marketing of dairy produce, meat fruit, liotiev and wool were very full. One member of the staff spent in all two or three weeks in following butter and cheese from the arrival of the produce till it reached the actual consumer. These investigations wore made at Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, and Tooley Street, London. Separate reports were being prepvared on each procedure. The Minister said that he felt that these reports and the time given to the investigations had built up data in exces s of anything known before. These would he invaluable in enabling the Government to determine its poljcv in connection with marketing in general. Tn addition to the investigations referred to, the Minister said he had had conferences with the Rani; of Eng-