19

A.—6a

and I think I am right in saying that very little inducement was given to those migrants to settle in countries under the British flag. The consequence has been that a majority—l believe, a very large' majority of them—have settled in countries outside the Empire. Consequently they have been lost to the Empire. I eio not envy the Governments of the countries where; they have settled, but they have be-e'ii a decided gain to those countries. It is not too late now to stop what has been going em, and I believe that what has already been done by the British Government, backed up by the; Dominions overseas, has Lie;en to a certain extent effective;, but a great deal more requires to be clone. You, Mr. President, referred to new areas for development —I know that is not, quite' the term you used. If a considerable number of those migrants that we have lost had been settled in the new countries of the; Empire that await development they would have been customers to-day for the goods manufactured in Britain, anel they would also have been able long before this to have supplied part, at all events, of the raw materials required in these Islands, and part of the foodstuffs necessary for the population of this country. That is the position that we have to look back upon anel endeavour to do very much better for the future. Now, so far as the oversea countries are concerned, there they are, many of them, with a very sparse population, anel I am thinking not only of the; Dominions, but of the colonies, with a very sparse European population, and producing vi'ry little indeed compared with what they ought to produce, and carrying only a very small population compared with what I believe they will carry in the years to come. Possibilities of Increased Production in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We have had an interesting speech from the; Prime Minister of Canada. Take- flic export in which his country is particularly concerned. 1 take it that the principal export from Canada is wheat. At all events, i know enough of Canada to know that very large areas of wheat are grown there, and that they have millions of acres untouched which will grow wheat in the future, and already the. export from Canada to other countries, and particularly to Britain, is very large. Now, Canada can make a tremendous increase in her wheat-production —I know that from observation. There is no question about that. They can also go on improving and increasing their exports in connection with other products. Take Australia —I am dealing with the larger overseas Dominions in turn —for instance : Australia's principal export is probably wool. She exports meat very largely. She also exports elairyproeluce and. minerals. Now, in connection with all these things—l am not quite certain as to the; minerals—but I know perfectly well that the; export of meat, dairy-produce, and wool from Australia can be very greatly increased. There is no question about that. Food has to be found for stock, but even if it means cultivation it is labour that will pay for doing. Once we get a reasonable; margin between the cost of production and the amount which the products will realize in the markets of the world, particularly Britain, then production will go ahead. Take my own country, which is small and young compared with Australia and Canada, but still, on the whole, making very satisfactory progress. I know there are people—some of our own friends, for instance —who say we are not making sufficient progress, but we; have to remember that we came through a war which practically lasted five' or six years, longer than that if we take the aftermath of the war, and I want to call your attention to what was the case, say, ten years ago, when my friend on the right was a member of the Government. At that time the exports from New Zealand amounted to approximately £23,000,000. In spite; of the; difficulties arising out of the war and matters connected therewith our exports for the last producing year, ended the; 30th June, amounted to over £47,000,000 ; that is to say, that they have more; than doubled in ten years. Our imports for the last producing year amounted to £41,000,000. By calculation per head we are probably one of Britain's best customers ; but during the war period, it must be admitted —and I think it is well known to all the representatives of the different British countries who are here to-day —that during the war Britain was not able to supply us with many of our requirements, which consequently had to be obtained in other markets, and once we go to other markets for what we nee;d it takes a little time to get trade back. That is the process we are going through in New Zealand. Speaking from memory, I believe our imports from Britain last year amounted approximately to £20,000,000 ; that is to say, as our exports go up our 'imports go up accorelingly. I want also to call your attention to the fact that most of our imports came from Britain ; probably Canada had a good share, and I think the United States to a certain extent; but New Zealand gives preference not only to Britain itself, but to other British countries as well, and Canada having a frontage to the; Pacific, if I may use the term, is looked upon as one of our neighbours. Canada sends us some of her products, whilst we send Canads some of our products, and the arrangement is a mutually satisfactory one. I give that as an instance of what can be done. lam not boasting of it. lam simply stating what has been done in New Zealand can be done in the other countries of the Empire. New Zealand is rapidly becoming the elairy farm of the Empire. Increased Export of Dairy-produce from New Zealand. The development in connection with elairy products, butter and cheese, sine-e the war has amazed me, and I have been watching it very closely, as all those; present here will understand. Last year we exported from New Zealand nearly £17,000,000 worth of dairy-produce. I believe no other country in the world exported so much, certainly no other country exported so much to Britain, and we can go on increasing. The climate of the Dominion is particularly suitable for dairy-farming, particularly in the North Islanei, and even in the-South Island, where the climate is more like Scotland and England, dairy-farming is developing, and to-day dairy-produce is out principal export. Until just recently wool was our principal export. If the development in the dairy industry goes on we; shall be able to export a great deal more in the future than we have exported up to the present. We cannot expect every season to be particularly good, and the last two have been exceptionally good.