OTTAWA CONFERENCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 119, 23 May 1932, Page 9

OTTAWA CONFERENCE

♦ i MANUFACTURER’S VIEWS i MORE BALANCE IN INDUSTRY. FUTURE POLICY OF DOMINION. The importance of the forthcoming | Ottawa Conference to New Zealand is 1 J stressed in a statement issued by the Wellington Manufacturers’ Association. The statement reads:— “The general public, much con j j corned at. present with salary ami wage ■ } cuts and taxation, may not have j j 1 spared much thought for the prosper | ] tive Imperia] Conference at Ottawa. ] Ln the past the results of such confer 1 j cnees have not entered very closely j | into the everyday life of average citi- 1 zens, and there may be an impression , that the next assembly will nut differ ; ( 1 much from its predecessors. , “It is well to remind average citi- , , zens that, in various quarters, a new 1 Imperial policy is expected to evolve , ; ■ from Ottawa, and for the protection of ' u 1 their own welfare they must give good ' ; heed to the economic and industrial , , ' matters which will be discussed by | , their representatives at Ottawa. ' ( “When the general election of la.-t | December was fought Ottawa was very ’ much in the background. Therefore, il , ' can bo stated definitely that the | ’ Coalition Government holds no mandate from the majority of the elect"/ ’ ■ in regard to the Ottawa Conference. ( The attitude of the Dominion’s representatives must bo determined by a i ’ very careful study of New Zealand’s I needs in a long view and proper I . balancing of the primary and second- i ary industries Policy of Self-reliance. ’ I i “Many years have gone since John | Ballance, the predecessor of Richard 1

Seddon, pressed for a policy of selfreliance, which meant a policy of balanced industry, without which no country can hope for enduring strength and prosperity. “An echo of the Ballance slogan came in the voice pf ‘The Thunderer’ (the Times), conveyed in a cable mes- ! sage from London on May 4: —‘Britain is still a great agricultural producing country,’ the Times declared. ‘The Dominions are rightly concerned in the development of manufacturing industries. The conference must take all interests into account and aim at balanced development all round.’ “It is well known that the Tinies is free from partisan interests. This great paper has a well-won reputation for broad vision and long view, and therefore when this leading journal urges that the conference should aim at 'balanced development all round’ its advice must command respect throughout the Empire. “Unfortunately, successive Governof New Zealand, during more than half a century, have concentrated so intensively and extensively on the settlement of land and the increasing of the export trade in farm products that it is difficult to get adequate attention for tho manufacturing side, which must be strongly encouraged if this country’s population is to ever pass the 2,000,000 mark. Leaders of political parties make passing gestures of goodwill to the manufacturers, but the conspicuous fact to-day is that tho ideal of balanced industry is still far away. ’ * 1 Other Dominions’ Example. In planning for future strength and prosperity with balanced industry, New Zealand is lagging behind Canada, Australia and South Africa, continued the statement. Tho Hon. W. Downie Stewart remarked in the House of Representatives on May 3 that Canada, a great farming country, was now “ the second most important manufacturing country in the British Empire and sent manufactured goods to practically every country in the world.” Canada was strongly set on a policy of selfreliance—an example which should commend itself to New Zealand. “When the Right Rev. Dr. Ingram, Bishop of London, visited New Zealand five years ago, he made the following statement at a meeting in Wellington: ‘You are living in a fool’s paradise if you think that with a million and a-quarter people you are going to pay all tho expenditure of railways, transport, etc., and also the tremendous debts from the war. If you have 10 millions you will become a greater power as a nation. Where are you going to get the 10 millions? Surely we can supply thorn.’ “If the present unbalance of primary ami secondary industries in New Zealand is making serious problems for a population of one and a-half millions, how can a continuation of tho lopsido- ■ odness prove satisfactory in the ; future? Persistence in such a course would compel Now Zealand to look for depopulation rather than increase of . population.”