THE DOMINION’S FUTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3806, 22 February 1927, Page 75

THE DOMINION’S FUTURE.

PRIME MINISTER OPTIMISTIC. WELLINGTON, February 16. A luncheon was accorded th e Right Hon. J. G. Coates by the New Zealand Association of British Manufacturers and Agepts to-day. The chairman of the association (Mr. G. H. Scott) presided. In proposing the toast of the Prime Minister the chairman said that Mr Coates had distinguished himself as an ambassador for New Zealand. The Dominion would be faced this year with problems, but the speaker was confident that Mr Coates and his colleagues possessed the qualities that the settlement of the difficulties would demand. He stressed the need for the better dissemination of New Zealand trade literature at Home, and with reference to the vexed question of the non-resident traders’ tax here he deprecated the principle that penalised the British manufacturer. The Prime Minister, who was warmly received on rising to respond, stated the conviction without prejudice that as far as comparisons went New Zealand was still the happiest country on God’s earth. No doubt, he said, there was over-capi-talisation in many of the industries, and it was nesessary to get those costs down in order that they could find markets with prices that would compete with those from other parts of the world. In the future the Dominion would want to carry a larger population, and although there were millions of acres of land which could carry additional people, at the moment it was not in a producing stage. It was essential, > therefore, that local industry should be gradually encouraged wherever possible, but a selection would have to be made as to which industries were likely to show a reasonable result. Again striking a hopeful note regarding the Dominion’s future, the Prime Minister said that steady progress and attention to duty would help to overcome the present depression. The Government would do what it could to ease the unemployment situation. Its advice was, “If you have a job, keep to it and give the best return.’’ Nobody wanted sweating. Providence had given us all that was necessary to make New Zealand the happy country it had been. Mr Coates said that the trade literature point raised by the chairman recalled his own statement that the British manufacturer should perfect his selling organisations. Some countries had perfected the system of selling their goods, and the British manufacturer was not in line in that’regard. Mr Coates paid a tribute to the people of Great Britain, who were working in the .cause of the Empire, performing by day and night a labour of love. They were encouraging people in the United Kingdom to buy Empire products, and it was for us to do what we could to help them. “If we can encourage that spirit of trade within our own family,” said Mr Coates, “we will not only keep the Empire together, but will bring prosperity to ourselves and other parts of the nation.”