TRADE OF THE DOMINION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 30

TRADE OF THE DOMINION.

INCREASED VOLUME RECORDED. REVIEW BY PRIME MINISTER. WELLINGTON, September 28. In an address at Kilbirnie last night the Prime Minister (Mr J. G. Coates), referring to the country’s trading position, said that in the eight months of the_ present year the Dominion was £7,500,000 ahead. of the corresponding period last year, and there had been records in every form of production. There was a definitely improved do mandin the labour market, he said. Unemployment insurance would not provide a solution of the unemployment problem. The Government had done a good deal to relieve unemployment, but it was not its responsibility to find work for all the unemployed. It was not the Government’s policy to encourage men to go on relief public works- A man could get a job on these works to tide him over a difficult period, but it was relief, not wages; that was the difference. Dealing with the country’s finance, he said the Dominion was borrowing money at a cheaper rate than other countries, and had the confidence of the financial world. There had been no decrease in the salaries of civil servants; rather had there been an increase. In conclusion he said there were two political parties—Reform and Labour—and if there was any other party it should state where it was—whether it supported Reform or Labour. There was no room for a third party.