ADJUSTMENT IN PROCESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1932, Page 6

ADJUSTMENT IN PROCESS.

Although it would be foolish to say New Zealand was well on the way to recovery, there are some indications that the resources of the Dominion are by no means exhausted. In Taranaki the process of adjustment of expenditure to a reduced income has been proceeding quietly, and it is not exaggeration to say that conditions in the province are as sound as anywhere in the Dominion. Attendance at public functions such as the jubilee celebrations at Hawera and Manaia, Winter Shows and other forms of entertainment and recreation lias been sufficient to indicate that a good many people have still a margin between income and expenditure. Nor is that confined to Taranaki. A recent report from Dunedin showed that attendance at the Winter Show there had been larger this year than last, and that other public functions had shown better results also. Support for all such undertakings depends at least as much upon the goodwill and capacity of the farming community as upon those of tne citizens of the town, and in some centres where similar improvement has becu noted the dependence upon rural support has been undoubted. ‘ The reason is not hard to seek.. The settlers have applied-the old virtues of thrift and hard work. Production has increased, thereby to some extent counteracting the terrible drop in prices, and general expenditure has been cut down. Nor must it be overlooked that the example of the farmer is being followed by the merchant, and wageearner in the towns. On all sides there is undoubtedly a desire to readjust values and to find a way out of the economic slough of despond. The road is not yet clear; nevertheless there arc indications that it is being sought in the right spirit and that success is ahead. The struggle is by no means over, but there are signs that the country is strong enough to grapple with it. To be assured of this is a tremendous aid to victory in the end.