MR. COATES IN LONDON

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1926, Page 13

MR. COATES IN LONDON

NEW ZEALAND’S EMPIR| POSITION. DOMINION’S UNSHAKABLE LOYALTY. London, Oct. 28. Mr. J. G. Coates, the New Zealand Prime Minister, has had an extremely busy time since his arrival in London. His day commences at 8.30 in the morning, and from that time, until the Conference begins its sittings at 10.45, interviewers see him in rapid succession. The majority of the interviews have to do with subjects of importance to New Zealand, including shipping and trade matters. Most of the sittings of the Conference have been prolonged until 6.30 in the evening, and every day, so far, Sir. Coates has alsc had to speak at evening functions of importance.From the enthusiastic receptions accorded to him, it is very evident that New Zealand’s popularity m London remains as great as ever. Mr. Coates has made a very fine impression indeed on his audiences as a public speaker, notwithstanding the little time that has been available to him for preparation. His speech at the Guildhall has been acclaimed by many as being of great practical value to the cause of Empire trade, owing to the concrete suggestions he there gave, that the housewives, in particular the wives of working men, could do their share in peopling the waste spaces of the Empire by buying Dominion produce. He urged on the women of England that they should all acquire the habit of asking for Empire products when purchasing their daily domestic requirements. By doing this .they were also providing their husbands with greater avenues of employment, because the Dominions bought so much more in proportion to what they sold here than they did in foreign countries. At the end Mr. Coates paid a warm tribute to Great Britain. “The Mother Country,” he said “had been suffering severely under the strain of the heavy burdens she had had to bear, but her fortitiude, patience, and resolution under trial were an inspiration to the younger members of the family. Her obligations were being honourably met, and her great traditions remained unimpared. Civilisation gained by her willingness to face the horrors of war in the cause ot great principles, and surely civilisation was the richer from her example under the terrible strain placed upon her by the war.” The keynote of Mr. Coates’ interpretation of New Zealand’s duty to the Empire is a deep and abiding sentiment of loyalty to the Mother Country, a sincere appreciation of the care she still bestows upon the Dominions, and a grateful remembrance of all that she had done for them in the past. NEW ZEALAND AND EMPIRE TRADE.

Mr. Coates was one of the principal speakers at an important dinner given in honour of the Dominion Prime Ministers last week by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce. He gave a clear and informative review of New Zealand’s trading position as it was at the present time. “Many statistics,” he said, "had been produced recently to show the great development of trade and commerce within the Empire in recent year. In the eleven years from 1914 to 1925, the trade of New Zealand grew in value from £48,00,000 to £108,000,000. Her per capita exports, in 1910, were of a value of £2l 6s 4d, whereas, in 1925, the figures had grown to £39 15s. In the same period her per capita imports had increased from £l6 7s 9d to £3B. These few figures were, perhaps, the most telling illustration of the progress of the country. The internal wealth of New Zealand had shown a proportionate increase. “New Zealand stood whole-heartedly for inter-trade with the Mother Country and with the other parts of the Empire. Besides giving a Customs preference, averaging about 15 per cent., about 76 per cent, of their total outside purchases were from British countries, while from Britain itself they purchased approximately 50 per cent, of their requirements. Their per capita purchases of British manufactures last year were over £lB in value. They were urging British manufacturers to push their trade still further on them. The Empire goal could not be achieved immediately. Readjustments and development, to be healthy and on ■ sure foundations, must have healthy growth; but they could measure the future by the past.” MR. COATES ADDRESSES MILLIONS. The New Zealand Prime Minister is fully alive to the vast possibilities of wireless, and within a few days of his arrival in London he took the opportunity of broadcasting an address on the economic problems of the Dominion he represents. The greatest problem for New Zealand, he said, was that of opening up the land. All the immense work this involved had been done in about 80 years. Railways which were in every respect up-to-date, covered the country, and road building and road improvement was constantly going on. New Zealand had also embarked on large hydro-electric power schemes. The supply of current available was only a little short of 400,000 kilowatts. Cheap electricity could be had in the country as well as in the towns. The Dominion had planned ahead of her present requirements in the confident, expectation of a greatly increased population. All these large enterprises which the Government had undertaken required much money, most of which had been obtained on loan. Half of the Government loan debt was owing in Great Britain, the other half being held in New Zealand. The National Debt, except for £76,000,000 of War Debt, was almost all on account of developmental works and loans to settlers. The greater part was in-terest-bearing, except, of course, the War Debt.

The state of the market for the Dominion’s products in this country had, Mr. Coates said, a vital bearing on the number of new settlers who eould be established in New Zealand. If the volume of trade were increased and prices remained good, there would be many more openings in the Dominion. Mr. Coates closed with a description Of the beauties of climate and scenery in his homeland and the amenities it offered. AT WORK IN THE CONFERENCE. Many of the discussions in the Conference during the last week have been confidential. Sir Austen Chamberlain gave the delegates last Wednesday a long report on the foreign situation, and on Monday and Tuesday Foreign Affairs and Defence were discussed in private. Perhaps the most important meetings of which reports have been issued were those of last Thursday and Friday, when the delegates discussed inier-Empire trade. Mr. Coates and Sir Francis Bell, Minister without portfolio, were present. In reply to long statements given by Sir Cunliffe Lister, President of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Amery, Secretary of State for the Dominions, Mr. Coates spoke of the opportunities New Zealand offered British manufacturers. The percentage of the Domin-

ion’s exports to foreign countries had increased from 8.3 pier cent, in 1914, to 13.9 per cent, in 1925, while the percentage of imports from foreign countries had increased from 25.3 per cent, in 1914, to 27.1 per cent, in 1925. They should check this decrease in the volume of inter-im-perial trade. “I cannot too strongly urge the desirability from every point of view, and not least from that of the personal gain to the manufacturers themselves, of careful and continued inquiry as to our actual requirements. I feel that any firm desiring to increase its business with the Dominions — and I speak particularly for New Zealand —would be well advised to set up a nucleus organisation is our country,, or, at' any rate, to appoint a representative there, in order to study and report on particular aspects in which our requirements differ from those of this country. I would urge, also, that wherever the value of the article warrants, and particularly in the case of motor-eara, arrangements should be made for the instalment of assembling plants overseas. This practice is already being adopted to a considerable extent by Great Britain’s principal competitors, and I feel that for success it will be essential to follow this example. “Though I have laid particular stress on motor-cars, I could enumerate a large list of articles in which there is a most promising field for remunerative business by British firms. We purchase, for example, from foreign sources machinery to the value of a million and a quarter sterling annually, piece goods (cotton, linen, silk, £1,060,000; apparel, £500,000; tires, £500,000; fancy goods, £300,000; hardware, £300,000; drapery, £230,000; manures, £200,000; dried and preserved' fruits, £200,000; cinema films, £180,000; tools, £150,000; musical instruments, £140,000; sawn and rough- timber, £120,000; asphalt, £120,000. "I should like to say. here a few words as to the actual value of the preference that we in New Zealand afford to British goods. I have noticed- at times some criticism of our system, in common with other Dominion -preference systems, to the effect that its benefits to the British manufacturer were more apparent than real and I wish to take this opportunity of controverting this criticism as forcibly as possible. “Of Empire imports in 1925 to the value of 38J millions sterling, goods to the value of 27 J million, or 71.1 per cent., were actually subject to a . preference in Customs duty, while goods to a value exceeding 8 million, or 21.2 per cent., were admitted free of duty. In other words,, onl; 7.7 per cent, of our imports from the Empire were subject to a luty at the same rate as foreign goods, and this class of imports consists for the most part of alcoholic spirits, wines,, and tobacco, which are subject to a heavy duty even in this country.”