N.Z. NEEDS THREE MILLION MORE PEOPLE SAYS U.S. VISITOR

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 56, 16 June 1948, Page 7

N.Z. NEEDS THREE MILLION MORE PEOPLE SAYS U.S. VISITOR

Some impressions of New Zealand through the eyes of an American have been published in the business publication, The Houghton Line, which enjoys a selected circulation in the Dominion. The author, Mr Frank Ross, recently flew out to New Zealand on a business trip. He comments:— “In New Zealand we found a beautiful scenic country, physically untouched by war and inhabited by 1,800,000 industrious and happy people . . . “The Labour Government, which has been in power 12 years, controls about everything . . . Taxation on the New Zealand working man is considerably higher than in the United States. “The Labour Government is rapidly becoming the landlord of the country . . .” Mr Ross concludes: “After a rapid inspection,” that New Zealand’s future in world trade in dependent upon two major factors:—• First, immigration of at least 3,000,000 more people. “This increase,” he says, “is needed to create new markets, new industry to stimulate exports, and to overcome labour shortages.” Secondly, labour and price legislation must me tempered to stimulate competition and restore enterprise. His comment: “Control by the Opposition (Conservatives) may not be the entire answer, but our observation may have swung too far to the , left for encouragement of initiative necessary to progress.”