NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 15090, 12 December 1919, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION.

*—^ *^__ __ » B;L\K CHAI'itAfAN'S 'REVIEW AND, WARNING. j j {Special to the Horald.) | f WELLINGTON, this. day. ; "The condit'ons of industry and trade 'throughout tlie Dominion remain' for Xhe most part satisfactory! All tho primary industries a{re< thriving, and prices for products are good." Tliis, briefly, was the summary of. the actingchairman of th* Bank of Now Zealand m his speech at the meeting to-day. Sneaking .generally, he said, evidences oi' prosperity are to be found everywhere. The people apparently -have plenty of money to spend, ;and are .spending it, freely. Wholesale and retail traders adnrt that they are doing exceptionally -well and making good profits. One cannot but be struck -by the contrast, between the conditions prevailing hero, and those m a lar<>e part of, Lhe civilised world which has been devastated by the greatest war of history, aiid where tho populations of .those stricken lands are absolutely destitute aud on the verge of starvation; and the thought not unnaturally 'arises .to ask whether our happy' cond'.tioii can bo regarded a.s .sound and likely, to be lasting. Sound ifc certainly is, and wijl be, so long as tho country continues to produce _to her- 'Utmost .capacity; and lasting it will be. if our resources of every; kind are developed with energy and into l.genee, so as adequately to be prepared to meet whatever ..contingencies niay arise. One unfortunate result of our prosperity is an accentuated upward movement m the price of land. In .sonic districts land is changing hands at prices that, immediately before tho war, would have been regarded as reckless. A note of warning was sounded m the last address from this chair ; and wo feel it our duty to repeat and emphasise it. Clearly, some agriculturists and pastoralists are basing their calculaions on a continuance of the present high prices for produce, or a possible furtlier improvement therein. We .cannut but regard this as too optimistic. Operators should not close their eyes .to tho possibility, or even tho probability, of a iall, and should so restrict their liabilities that they will not be 'seriously hampered should a fall m prices', and ■a corresponding ehrinkago ill land values , take place. What the coarse of prices will be after the cessation of Government purchase is largely a matter of conjecture. Some lines, owing to. scarcity of supplies, may temporarily, advance, and others recede.' But, "whatever the immediate result may be, producers will do well to keep iii view tho probability of an ultimate recession m prices, and base- their business calcula-l tions accordingly. ' I