THE HON. T. MACKENZIE

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 18

THE HON. T. MACKENZIE

SPEECH AT DARGAVILLE. FAVOURABLE COMMERCIAL OUTLOOK. DARGAVILLE, April 26. The Hon. T. Mackenzie (Minister of Commerce and Industries), who is visiting North Auckland in connection with the kauri gum industry, delivered an important speech here last night. In the course of his remarks the Minister said he had bee?i told in the south that the lands of the north were poor lands, and would be of very little use once the timber and kauri gum were removed. That day he had seen the upper land of the Kaihu Valley, and he was satisfied that a great future lay before that country. —(" Hear, hear.") If some of the settlers on the wind-swept and sterile plains of Central Otago could come up here they would think they were in Paradise. Referring to the kauri gum industry, he said that opinion appeared to be unanimously in favour of the grading of kauri gums, but beyond that the position was still indefinite. He could not see why grading should not be adopted. The diggers wanted frhe Government to take up the grading of gum. nationalise the industry, and make advances against consignments. He was persuaded that the diggers were not getting a full return for their output, but' he must point out that it was an immensely difficult thing to bring the producer and the consumer into direct contact. Was there a ring in London with methods enabling them to dominate the kauri gum market? He could not say at present, but if there was, it would require one of the very ablest men to combat such an evil.

Referring to the dairying industry, the Minister said it was now third in importance amongst the industries of the Dominion, and it promised to assume a still more prominent position. The importance of the industry from the point of view of national prosperity was shown by the great strides made by Denmark. In connection with his duties as Minister of Agriculture he intended to specialise in the estalishing of reliable d.airy herds of recognised milking strains.—(" Hear, hear.")

With regard to fruit, millions of acnes of poor land were capable of producing an amazing quality of fruit with no manure and no fertiliser. He would endeavour to have fruit farms prepared for people to take tip. —(Applause.) Twenty-five acres in fruit would support a family in affluence. The difficulty at present was that people had not the capital to wait for a fruit farm to become productive, and if the Government could prepare farms for selectors to take up it would be conferring a greater benefit upon the people and upon the Dominion itself. The fruit industry of Canada was developing. Out summer corresponded with their winter, and we should be able to follow them in the market.

What was required for the development of this country was men and money. We had a vast area here, and if the Government could borrow at' a reasonable rate of interest and induce the right class of people to come here it would be doing a great work. People were going from the Old Land to other countries, and we should bring them here. Very often it was supposed that this country was borrowing recklessly, and statements to that effect had found their way into the financial papers, which declared that we were on the verge of ' ruin and that in New Zealand living was ljigh and wages were poor. These reports had been circulated! to a pernicious extent, and had had the effect of keening people away from the Dominion and raising the rate of interest. The men who circulated such rumours were great enemies of the Dominion.

So far a.s borrowing was concerned, between 1891 and 1908 the total increase of our public debt was £32.000,000, but the interest-earning money invested during the same period was £36,791,000 —in other words, we were getting more' interest than we paid. Of that sum, £13,750.000 had been spent on railways, and £23,000,000 upon the repurchase of estates, advances to settlers, advances to local bodies, and so on. In this way we had been able to develop the country to a. great extent, and he said that, looking elver the past 17 or 18 years, we were now earning more interest than we paid. Last year it had been said that we had incurred a d.abfc of £4,000,000, but out of that £1,000,000 had been naid for the purchase of the Manawatu railway, which was the main route to the north. Borrowing was justified, for in the total it brought more than we paid for it, and it enabled us to carry out improvements and developments.

Referring to the occupation of the land, the Minister said that if we wished to do justice to ourselves we must go in for closer settlement. He did not wish to say a word against the early pioneers, but we had reached a stage now when the aggregation otf estates must be resisted. Great events were taking place in the Dominion, and we must be prepared to defend our soil against the Asiatic- peril. Chinese history reminded us how the Mongol hordes* had conquered China and Russia, and had massacred million souls. How did we stand in that respect? He was glad to read that one of the planks of the Commonwealth Labour party was a citizen army. Even now swarms of Asiatics were landing and settling in the Northern Territory of Australia. We must have population. Lord Kitchener had given us the minimum necessary Cor our defence. His advice could be accepted or rejected, but it must not bo tinkered with. Wo should welcome settlers of all nations on the same plane of civilisation as our own*

Referring to the marvellous expansion of this country, the Minister said that when he entered Parliament the annual exports totalled £6,000,000, while in the first three months and a-half of the present year they totalled £9,800,000. The future was full of hope. There had been a slump, but tliat had passed some time ago. like the Statist and the Economist had declared that the bottom had fallen out of the wool market. He had not held that view, because in the last few years the world's flocks had decreased by 44,000.000, whilst users of wool had increased by 88,000,000. It was easy, therefore, to foresee a rally, and he believed the position of wool was established beyond question. Then there was the frozen meat depression, which had been attributed to over-supply, although, a-, a matter of fact, the supply was less per head than it was 10 years ago. The real reason of the depression was the financial crisis in 1907, but the inordinate production of gold had reestablished the balance. The production of gold last year was £90,000,000, whilst that for the previous 30 years totalled £1,381,000,000 or mora than for the whole period between the discovery of America by Columbus, in 1492, and the year 1880.

Twelve months ago many were unemployed, but now th'' people who used meat, wool, butter, and cheese, were employed, and were able to pay us for them. It wfas the earnest desire of the Government to develop the industries and the country generally in the interests of the people. Fox a time they had been obliged to hold their hands, hut with the revival in the value of exports and in the Customs duties the coffers of the State were in a position to enable the Government to go on with its policy of development. It intended to do that to the utmost. We were at a critical time. Difficult problems confronted the AngloSaxon race, and confronted us. Powers which used to belong to one class had passed into the hands of another, and it was the duty of statesmen to guide a healthy public opinion, realising what was at stake, and safeguarding the interests of all. If Ministers did that faithfully they need have no fear for the future.— (Loud applause.)