"A WEAK LINK"

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10715, 8 October 1920, Page 7

"A WEAK LINK"

MEW ZEALAND'S HANDICAP MORE ACTIVITY IN ENGLAND NECESSARY. DOMINION" PRODUCERS AND EMPIRE CONSUMERS. | "While I must confess that the pri- ! ces of some of the essentials in NewZealand- are astonishingly high," said la recent arrival to a •'New Zealand Tiuies" reporter, "tho prices of meat lat Home ;uc simply shocking. Bacon is now being retailed at 3s per lb, and the beet quality is nothing to writo home about. In some ol the northI ern cities —Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Nottingham—l recently purchased what was supposed to bo New Zealand mutton. I am afraid that sheep never tasted a Wade ot Now Zealand grass; judging by its texture it must have dined off the iron sands and hardware material of the Argentine. But there it was, foreign' meat, as it is called, at the highest price and of the worst quality. "SOMETHING RADICALLY WRONG." "There is something radically wrong at Home, and some of your food experts should be instructed to investigate, and where breaches of the Act are discovered, prosecute and press for the highest possible penalty. 1 am satisfied that taking lamb, mutton, prime heef, butter and cheese, no countrv in the world can give a lead to Nevv Zealand, but strange to say that is not the general impression at Home. Meat importers, and those who deal in New Zealand produce understand and fully appreciate the position, but the general public—who, after all are the principal people to be considered, . because they are the consumers and have eventually to pay tor it all—certainly require to be educated on this point. "In my humble opinion, ' the informant "continued, "there is not the close relationship between the High Commissioner's department and the British public that I think is essential if the Dominion is to come into its own, and stand with the British public where it deserves to stand. As a general inforniiition bureau, it has done splendid work, but in the matter of commercial propaganda it has been behind the times. Australia, on the other hand, has shown much more progressiveness, and as ,a result its position and reputation will gradually improve.

THE WEAK LINK. NEW ZEALAND REPRESENT A-, TION AT HOME. '■There is a loose link somewhere, of that I am satisfied. I have not been in New Zealand long enough to find out the weak spot (if it exists on this side), and! I am becoming more and more convinced that so far as New Zealand is concerned, you are doing all that is possible at this end. Of course the commandeer has put New Zealand's commercial progress 1 out of ita stride, but tho prices paid have been on the whole satisfactory, and if any mismanagement has taken place the war and the commandeer have been blamed. Poor' warj 'lt has been' held responsible for quite 'a lot of failures due to neglect and incompetency. But New Zealand is young and vigorous, and it would take a. lot to make her stagger. All tho same I think a, shaking up at Home would not do anv harm, and hope that soma day tho representation of'the Dominion in England will be, looked upon as an invaluable adjunct to your commercial progress; that a more up-to-date and vigorous policy will ■ he inaugurated: that nioro attention will be paid to commercial matters vitally affecting Now Zealand; that there will bo a much closer connection than there is at present between the producers . in New Zealand and the millions of consumers in England; and last, but not least, that the representation of this Dominion in London —the business centre of the world, where in small matters, as in international affairs, zest, enthusiasm, capacity, and up-to-dateness are essential—-will not bo confined to those who have ended their political life in New Zealand, and who look upon the important position of High Commissioner as a sort of State superannuation."