NEW ZEALAND'S FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11551, 15 January 1901, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND'S FUTURE.

WHAT IS WANTED. A CHAT WITH MR. ARTHUR MYERS. [FROM our OWN* CORRESPONDENT. I ;'v ' London, December 7. • A few days ago I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Arthur M. Myers, of Auckland: It had reference to a subject of great importance to all the component parts of the British Empire; to none more than to New Zealand. It was that of the retention of commercial supremacy. Mr. Myers, having been a delegate to the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire, which sat in London a few months ago, having prior, to that made observations . while travelling through America, and ; having continued these, more recently, during an extended European tout, X found he had possessed, himself of a mass of information which fitted himj in an inusual degree, to' speak upon the question. At the outset there was no intention to interview" or extract information for journalistic use. But Mr. Myers' views appeared of such value that I asked permission to use them. It should be understood that the conversation had; throughout, direct reference to, and bearing on, New Zealand's task in the future.

"What I saw both in America and Gei" many- convinced me that if we are to hold our own in the world there must be greater attention paid to commercial and technical education. We have, had a good deal of what might be termed socialistic legislation in New Zealand, the major portion of which I consider in the best interests of the community; but that has been principally for the adult and aged. Would it not be well if attention were now more turned to our youth ? It is upon him that, the future w'U rest," said Mr. Myers, on the subject being introduced.

Then we have plenty of raw material, especially coal — superabundance of it— which, if utilised by skilful and economical labour, must place the manufacturers who possess it ahead of those who do not. Why should, not steps be taken to see that the very most is made of it ?" Evidently, Mr. Myers does not consider the present system adequate ; and I said so.

" I *do not consider the present education we give our youths sufficienty practical," he replied. . " Every. facility should be given to them to meet the requirements of progressing commercial and industrial life. At present they are not educated up to a sufficient standard. Ido not . mean reading, writing, and arithmetic, or the elements cf some technical instruction. What is required is to train and cultivate the intelligence of the people, and not turn out a lot of unskilled boys and girls, making more of a class the market for whom is already more than . full. Technical education produces love of work, recognising that skill is 1 re- i quired to".become,efficient 111 everything. "Take for' instance, agriculture. Education in that should be pushed to the fullest education both scientific and practical. Important as this is, generally speaking, it is of particular importance to New Zealand, where we have not been a com-* munity of farmers for any considerable time. One of the burning questions in all countries of the world is the congregation of people in cities. Such education in agriculture, as I have described, would naturally | create a greater desire than at present exists to settle on the land, and.would produce a farmer able to take full advantage of his profession and industry. That would help to solve the great problem of the increasing tendency for everyone to congre- j gate to towns instead of settling on the land, arid help to recognise more than we do at 'present, the dignity of labour." Agriculture, it may here be stated, was taken simply as an instance, because it is of such moment to New Zealand, representing there, as it does, such large interests. " Both in point of numbers and commerce, in the United States*they are increasing at a greater ratio than any other country. Owing to their wonderful resources, spread over such a large area, they are practically able to supply themselves with all they require. They are thus more than ever they otherwise would be formidable as competitors in outside markets. And they will continue to compete more and more keenly. With all this I was very much impressed, both in America and Germany, by the keenness • evinced for- • technical and commercial education, and the strong impulse to cater for the world's markets. It is to this they owe so much of their success and to the conservative policy pursued by English manufacturers and commercial men. It is conceded that, notwithstanding the favourable position held by England, and the practical monopoly possessed of many markets, Germany and the United States have both become very formidable competitors everywhere. New Zealand having entered the world's markets— speak apart from our trade with Great Britain— should do well to take .these lessons to heart. And thus it is that the most statesmanlike work our politicians can undertake is seeing to the proper and complete education, technically and commercially, of our youth, in order to prepare somewhat for the great battle for: commercial-supremacy war that is ,going to be fiercely fought out :in the twentieth century." Naturally this conversation as to the competition of the United States and of Germany led up to the mention of an Imperial Zollverein. On this subject Mr. Myers said: : "In view of the fact that Canada at present, has a preferential tariff of 35£ per cent, in favour of Great Britain, there is no doubt that in the not distant future this is going to be a burning question throughout the British Empire, and needless to say the enormous possibilities resulting commercially, as well as politically, are very great. And we all .know that when Britons make, up their minds to look things squarely in the face they come out very strong in the end. Of course, I think a time has arrived when a fixed policy as to how far socialistic legislation is to go, should be settled, as undoubtedly the feeling exists—and will continue to grow—that there is not sufficient confidence among capitalists to invest further money in the colony until each one knows where the line is to be drawn, a state of feeling which is detrimental to the best interests of all classes. As we are practically all Liberals now in the colony, it certainly appears to me that the line of demarcation as to how far socialistic legislation is to be carried should be settled by the. people, the appeal to whose common sense it can with every confidence be left." Summing up, Mr. Myers pointed to the fact that New Zealand was importing large quantities of railway material from America, in support of his statement that the. United States was ousting British manufacturers. "In other words, he said', "we are not conducting our commercial campaign so scientifically as we should endeavour to conduct a military campaign ; that is to say, we have no policy, and that is what we want in New Zealand. We want to know where we are."