OUR PRODUCING INDUSTRIES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13337, 28 March 1911, Page 4

OUR PRODUCING INDUSTRIES.

Si’eakino at Waiau on Wednesday, the Hon. T. Mackenzie said .that the position of the meat industry had never been more assured, and the country was on the verge of great possibilities in trade developments, especially in Europe. A trial shipment of 23 tons of Argentine href had been sold in Vienna, and two other shipments of 800 tons each have been made from the Argentine. Switzerland was also about to adopt modification in order to admit frozen meat by way of Genoa. Portugal had withdrawn the prohibitive import duty charged on all meat. In France no change has taken place, but in Germany thev could look to the next election for some modifications. The tariff in Italy was Jd a pound, in Germany about 2d, and in France 2Jd for fresh meat. In Denmark meat was free,in Belgium the duty on mutton was ]Jd per pound. Germany could not hold out much longer, for the working people there could not submit much longer to the present conditions, under which the people were already fed on horses, donkeys, and dogs. Germany at the same time, was reducing her flocks, and within a very short time New Zealand meat would have access to Europe. The nrosneots for wool were good, the world s flocks having diminished, and the users increased’in 15 years by a hundred millions. In the industries in the Old Country there was such a trade revival that we

must maintain a good position, and a stage had now been reached when the hunter for wool was becoming clamant. There’y' was a noteworthy increase in the use of f wool substitutes, and the consumption of cotton,the most serious competitor of wool, would have teen greater but for its dearness. Statistics of the world's cotton supplies also showed that there was far from enough to go round. What the country specially required, however, was men and money: the spare spaces must be peopled, not only to ensure a reliable producing community to create the prosperity of town and country, but' to have people sufficient to defend and retain the country. Great Britain had a surplus of population and capital, and Now Zealand and Auslra lia shonldhave a much larger proportion of that surplus than they were receiving. The time was coming, also, when tie burden of the empire must rest more heavily on the Dominion’s shoulders.. They must realise that changes were occurring in the history of the world, and these changes must be anticipated.