AN ANSWER WANTED

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 25 (Supplement)

AN ANSWER WANTED

Who Has Faith in Future of New Zealand? POSSIBILITIES IN CANTERBURY. (By E. J. HOWARD, M.P.) AS A FACT we live in a world of J " make-believe. When we are children we build castles in the air and we people them with all sorts of oeoole, but when we grow up we pretend that we have put aside all those childish things, but have we? What is thought? And who knows the other fellow ? If the four newspapers in Christchurch could agree on a line they could manufacture the

thoughts of the citizens and turn them almost into any line of reasoning. I know. I know Mr Anonymous is an independent thinker who thinks he thinks for himself. But does he? A perfect gentleman in this city became obsessed with' the idea that the Main Trunk railway should be completed and that it would be the saving of Canterbury, bring prosperity to the South Island and generally make things hum. Later he bought some shipping shares, and he is convinced now that that railway would be a dead loss to the State, and, in fact, would ruin the coastal service, put up the costs generally without giving any benefits in return. But there, there, aren’t we all? Signs of Revival. Kings, emperors, editors and writers of special articles always say “ we." And so we have said in this column dozens of times that the slump was man-made, and so soon as man decided he had had enough of it there would be a revival. The revival is here. Three picture palaces are being erected in Christchurch. There will be as many picture shows as petrol pumps presently. There is, we understand, a petrol pump for every thirteen cars. We have not counted them. We do not object to picture shows. Like freedom of speech, we believe in it, especially when we are speaking. But what is there to justify this wave of prosperity? The receivers are in, or on the point of being .put in, in our dairying industry. Wool and meat are not soaring sky high. We have, in effect, said to the dairy-farmer, “ Now, look here, old chap, you have made a mess of the job, but we have got three Heaven-born men up our sleeve whom we are going to put in to run this business, and that’s that.”

We have also warned the Meat Control Board, the Fruit, the Honey and the Poultry Boards, that if they don’t show more enterprise they, too, may be put under control by an Order-in-Council. So that taking things full and by, as a sailor would say, there does not seem to be much to write home about, and yet we know the little round discs are circulating more freely and the music of the tinkle of the cash register can be heard in the land more frequently than last year. So then we dare to repeat that the slump was 75 per cent psychological. And we whisper in a very low whisper that the revival is largely political. That we are getting ready for the elections next year and when the stage has been properly set the curtain will go up. Well, well, what does it matter who released the joy germs, so long as they were released? Doubling Production. Which reminds me: Last week 1 attended a meeting of young men who said the production of Canterbury could be doubled if irrigated. It was a joy to listen to the optimism of these young fellows: Irrigate and lift the mortgage off the farm. Irrigate and grow roses round the door. Irrigate and grow lucerne. Put more wool on the sheep’s back; feed Daisy on good fodder and watch her ooze butterfat. Altogether it was a night of possibilities. But dear old Grandfather Anonymous came out next day and proved that his father had advocated irrigation seventy years ago, and it was tried and, at anyrate, what would it cost, etc., etc. ? Shades of dear old dead and gone Brother Malthus! Although he is dead, yet he liveth. Tom Malthus was born at the Rookery in Dorking, Surrey, in 1766. He became a reverend gentleman, but will remain in history as the man who propounded the theory that humans would outstrip the supply of food. Now in this year of our Lord, 1934, these young engineers dare to come along and say: Here we can double production from the same amount of land if you will let us do the job. Shall we let them? Come on, gentle reader, this is a question for you to answer. The Question. Stand in front of the mirror and look the persen straight in the eye that you will see there. Ask him w f hat he is doing with his bit of eternity. Tell him he is only here for a few years and if he won’t lend a hand then he is letting his children and grandchildren down. Ask him if he believes in New Zealand? Ask him if he believes New Zealand could feed, clothe, house and educate its own population? Ask him if he has faith in New Zealand? It is as true to-day as it was in the days of Malthus that bad governments can make people miserable. In Malthus’s days democracy had no say in the government of the country. To-day the gentleman you shave every morning can, if he cares, have as much say as the other fellow, no matter who the other fellow is. Shall we starve in the midst of plenty ? “ Give us this day our daily bread,” we pray, and our prayer is so answered that we talk about restricting production. We live on grass and our young men say they can make two blades of grass grow where one is growing now. How, says the doubter? Water the plant when the plant wants water! So simple, say you. Go for a trip to some of our sheepcarrying country. A thousand sheep to a square mile. And these young men say the same number of sheep can be carried on 200 acres if watered. Denmark, about three times as large as Central Otago, by specialising in butter and pork, has become a kind of nightmare to New Zealand farmers. A small country where Daisy has to be housed -in the winter. We with our splendid climate. Say, Mr Reader, do you know that if all the readers of Saturday’s family journal, the " Star,” made up their minds that we can, we could? How about it?