PROSPERITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 17 July 1925, Page 5

PROSPERITY

ALL CLASSES MUST SHARE TRUE IMPERIALISM AND PREFERENCE SPEECH BY PR DIE MINISTER It was found impossible to accommodate all who wished to attend the New Zealand Club luncheon at Wellington, at -which the principal guest and speaker was the Prime Minister, the Hon. J. G. Coates, savs the New Zealand Times. The Prime Minister spoke on fhe prosperity of the Dominion, in which all classes must- share. He referred to Imperialism and preference, and said that trade and commerce revealed whether the Empire service was real or came only from, the lips. He said the Government desired their confidence and co-operation, and the benefit of their advice. Mr Coates also touched on various interesting subjects, of which details will be found below. At the luncheon, Mr E. W. Kellow was in the chair, and was supported bv the Mayor, Mr C. J. B. Norwood, Mr F. D. Thomson (secretary to the Minister), Mr Marcus Marks, and others. The chairman said they all regretted the necessity for a new Prime Minister, but were glad -of the choice that had been made. Mr Coates was old enough for such. a responsible position, but young enough to have enthusiasm to carry * Kim to the' success which they hoped would be his. Mr Coates, who received a spontaneous ovation, expressed his thanks tor the welcome, and i#.id that fne gentleman sitting on his right was one whom he met on first going into Parliament, and was known as the Hansard reader. While -he thought it would be right to touch upon one or two things .which he considered were of importance, he wanted them to realise that he did not intend to touch upon party politics. There were two schools of thought, and one which they all stood for was constitutionalism. With their problems was the extending of the Imperial arch. There were some who talked Imperialism, but when their Imperialism was analysed it was not that at all. They were not constitutionalists. Every day this country had first-hand information from those at the heart of the Empire on all matters, and had an opportunity of expressing an opinion as to what this country’s ideas were and what its position would Tje if certain arrangements were carried out. While advising the Imperial authorities what New Zealand’s views were, so far as the final steps were concerned they left it entirely to the Mother Country, and whatever they did New Zealand followed on and stood in behind. (Applause). Their support must be whole-hearted.

New Zealand, while far from the heart of the Empire, was an important part of it, and had its duty to do in all matters which assisted the Empire. In that connection it was prepared to assist and provide naval defence for the protection of the Empire and the trade routes, for naval supremacy ensured their national safety and existence. They knew the Old Country was experiencing trade depression and difficulty in connection with the unemployed. They in New Zealand did try by way of immigration to assist them, and it was their duty to bring their brothers and sisters from overseas and employ them in useful channels, so filling up the vacant spaces all over the country. They must go further and place orders for material which would give employment by taking British manufactured goods in preference to others. (Applause). WHAT WAS WANTED

“It is very easy to give lip service, continued the Minister, “but what we actually do with our trade and commerce tells the best story, which is a better story than all the lip service which can be given. It behoves all who are true Imperialists to render that service so urgently called for at the present moment. The Government desires your confidence and co-operation, and to have the benefit of your advice. It may or inav rot have been so in years gone by. fdo not want to refer to the past except in feelings of admiration for the great work done by all predecessors . I don’t wish to say that- our administration and different departments have not tried and done great work m co-operating with the business people of New Zealand, but I do suggest, that we can cany it a great deal further.” Remarks recently made would almost lead them to suppose that the primary pro ducers’ interests conflicted severely with the interests of the business community, but, in his opinion, that was entirely wrong. They were so closely interwoven that- they could not be separated, but success could only be achieved with duo and proper regard to finance as being the basis upon which everything else was built up. The past year had been a buovant one, and there had been a surplus of which they were anxious to make the best use. CARE IN FINANCE ‘lf money is to flow in its proper nels it is essential wherever possible that taxation shall be reduced to a reasonable level. Mut may I say that we will not be able to give the benefit to all sections of the community or accomplish anything unless we find our structure of finance is sound and methodical. The ftrinciples of finance had no different efect upon the Government than upon private individuals. A Government, if ft desired to be humanitarian, if it desired to accomplish anything must have good finance, which could only be done by business' application as applied to a successful private concern. An important factor was the export and import trade. The danger of over-importation was indeed, for in 1920 the excess of imports over exports was 19 millions. In the four years since the exports had exceeded imports by 28 millions, but in the last year the excess of exports was only 4A millions, which was not enough to pay interest. Therefore they must regard that aspect, of the matter with due care. A good deal of reorganisation was going on in various departments in an attempt to accomplish something. While there were demands for concessions here and there, and while everyone was anxious to put- the cost on the other fellow, it was essential to find out the importance of the industry before asking it to pay charges it should pay. In. the reorganisations which had been carried out,' the whole objective had been to give nothing but the best service. To that end their help and advice were sought,, and they should consider it as if the Government services were private, services. There, were some who would argue as to whether certain things should or should not he handled by the Government, but it was too late to talk of that now. He did not know that it was sound either Who would dream of making the I*. and T. service a private corporation to-day? Because they were State railways w r as no reason why they should not take an interest in them. If the railwavs made a loss they had to pay, and whether they paid for the service rendered or through taxation made no difference. What they were trying to do was to make it a good service that would pay for itself and stand

on its own footing, so that the general taxpayer should not be called upon to pay an unknown quantity. They were endeavouring to bring into the State Departments a live interest, and they mast hav« the hearty co operation of the men carrying out. the service. He would like to express his appreciation of the loyal and admirable way in which assistance had been rendered to himself and the heads of the departments in trying to bring about improvements. SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM We- bnav not have brought about many improvements vet, but 1 sincerely believe we have laid the foundation stone on which we can gradually and comparatively quickly give benefit to tli 3 community as a whole, and in years to come will give you something you never bad before, and that without increased cost to those who use it and at no cost to the general, taxpayer of the country. (Applause). 1 look forward to support iron) those, people who place their country ahead of party, and I ask them to rally round and give us a hand to see that the heritage of our country is placed first on every occasion and make il a happy land, so that others will come along and assist us in making a success and a joy of the heritage that, has been 'handed down to us. (Applause).