BETTER OUTLOOK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22580, 19 November 1936, Page 13

BETTER OUTLOOK

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE PERIOD OF GOOD PRICES LIKELY FOR TWO YEARS PROSPERITY IN BRITAIN The prediction that for the next two Tears or so prices in England for meat, dairy produce and wool will be good, was made by Sir .Tames Parr, former High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, who returned to Auckland bv tlie Pangitata yesterday. Sir James sounded a° note of warning to producers, however, to build up a reserve during the next two or three years fltrniiist !>;id times, which it was anticipated wotilll follow when Great Britain curtailed the enormous expenditure which was at present stimulating industry. '•Great Britain is prosperous." said Sir .lames. "Nearly all the staple industries are doing well and unemployment is going down steadily. The purchasing power of the people is higher than it has been for years past. There can ..be no doubt that Great Britain's recent tariff measures have stopped foreign dumping, and many industries have doubled their output. But there are now other factors in play. For instance, there is not a large town in Great Britain in which new buildings are not going up and this building ! boom will continue for a year at i ast " Boom in Rearmament "Further, there is clear evidence that many more ships are going to be built, | including a new Queen Mary, which ; would substantially help the shipbuild- i jng yards. But the main factor during j the next two years will be a boom in • rearmament. It is only just beginning , and will not reach the peak for a year ; yet. All this will affect New Zealand j prices. It will mean, without doubt, j that for the next two years or so New Zealand prices will be good for meat, dairy produce and wool. A\e may safely bank <Jn that." Sir James pointed out that New Zealand had come to regard Denmark as its greatest competitor in dairy pro- j duce? This year, however, New Zealand had beaten* Denmark in quantity. NewZealand should realise that its big com- j petitor was Australia. Highest Quality Essential Eleven years ago, when he first went to England as High Commissioner. Australia sent about one-fourth of the quantity of butter to England that New Zealand sent. Next year, given a good season, Australia will eclipse NewZealand in quantity, and the quality of Australian butter was improving every year. "At all costs New Zealand must keep up its reputation that the best produce conies from the Dominion," added Sir James. "We have too much at stake to do otherwise than maintain the highest quality in our exports. Unfortunately, some of our dairy factories are inclined to be negligent and to give the Dominion product a bad name. 1 would especially ask the dairy £roduce industry not to let down the •ominion by sometimes sending away an inferior product. A Note of Warning "I ought to say that some of the leading economists predict that when Great Britain's enormous expenditure in the directions I have indicated ceases, the country will be in for a poor time, so that our producers should endeavour to build up a reserve during the next two or three years against bad times. "I have been High Commissioner at a time when we have had to struggle hard against heavy quotas and tariffs being imposed on our produce by the Mother Country in order to give the British farmer a chance to make a good living. So far we have succeeded, the threatened duties on meat and butter haying been kept at bay. The British farmer is not at all pleased with the results of Mr. Walter Elliot's agricultural policy, and I predict that now Mr. W. S. Morrison has taken Mr. Elliot's place, the English farmer will renew his agitation."