Manawatu Evening Srandard. Circulation 3,800 Copies Daily FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1911. CAUTION AND ECONOMY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9539, 16 June 1911, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Srandard. Circulation 3,800 Copies Daily FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1911. CAUTION AND ECONOMY.

Ix ilie coinniercial life of -the Dominion one of tlio most •important utterances of the: yoar is always the annual address. delivered by the Chairman of Directors' ot the Bank of New Zealand. AVo publish in anothoi* column Mr H. lleauehamp'fi deliverance today to the fcharelioldere, ami would enjoin on everyone' interested in the. Dominion's progress the duty of earoftilly studying so weighty a pronouncement.. To many it will come as a surprise- to know that the. dominant' note of .Mr Hoauehanip's remarks is one of .caution, and his appeal for economy on the part of those-engaged in commercial and : agricultural ptn'.suit.s hacked up with ■ figures . and facts which are. not palatable.Our exports last year practically re-; niained at ; a standstill; .the;.■increase being only £29.8] 8, while there was a big jump upwards in' the import, which increased by;£2,6ll,24s.:.aWthe*chairman points out, there has been a tendency to over-importationj' and. the position ' suggests to 'the discerning the need for caution. Says the Chairman of Directors: ■ "It is out of the'amount realised '■■for;our exports that we pay ior the goods we import and also provide for the annual interest on the public indebtedness of the com- • niunity to the. foreign money lender. : ■„ The;, interest charged oil Our. debt is estimated at £3,500,000 per annum, and does not ap- . pear excessivo. In the four years V to March 31st, 1911, our imports were valued at £65,939,067, and the amount due on interest during the same period Was, approximately, £14,000,000. New Zealand had therefore to find a sunr of £79,939,067. Our exports for the period totalled £77,596,252 y .so that we were £2,342,815 short 1 of requirements."

Suck figures are sufficient justification for the chairman's call for caution, and need to be very carefully weighed. They show that the margin we havo. to work ou is decidedly email and is continually endangered by. the. incubus of our ever-increasing' national debt. Wool, which plays 60 large a. part in the Dominion's prosperity,..is the cause of our, .inarking time this year, and we ar.o aga iii filiown how dependent the country.iVon the much-., maligned wool-grower. There was a dcci ease in the vm 111 e. ot" on r wool. 1 export oi nearly a million. • 'While the \. total figures for the year in the dairy \ industry were decidedly satisfactory if' must ho remembered that the latter';' liflf ■of the financial year, which in-1 dudes' the first four 'months oi . the 5 present calendar year, reveals a stated : of / affairs not. altogether satisfactory. ;owiiig to the dry season there has been a big drop in exports, the decrease on butter and cheese . being I l-10.030. ■ ThcrdlisyCjiowevcr,, ground | j for considerable satisfaction incon- j templating tlie great strides' made by : the dairying industry during the last four years, which are sufficient to warrant the assumption that the present shortage is only a temporary one. The figures quoted by Mr Beaucliamp. sliow : . that there lias been a fifty per cent increase in. our output '' during the period quoted, a state of affairs that must be extremely gratifying to all concerned. ' On all other points the ;aiimuil • statement is a..satisfactory one, ami may he accepted with equanimity. }lr Beauehamp sees no.danger ■iii the rumours of an invasion of Xew Zealand by the great . Beef Trust.. There, is. no room for it here. "It seems to me," he says, "that so long as the railways are. ■ owned by the State it/would be quite impossible for ■ the Trust to capture the trade." The chairman concludes"Whilst the figtires I have placed before you emphasise, in. my opinion, the necessity for a policy of economy and caution, the immediate outlook is, speaking, generally, by no means unsatisfactory. Although there are strong indications that the produce year will yield a. smaller return than the previous one, . the difference will not be great enough to create any real hardship. The com- ; ing year promises to be one of low prices for .commodities." .