LORD NUFFIELD'S VISIT

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21414, 5 March 1935, Page 11

LORD NUFFIELD'S VISIT

AN ADMIRER OF NEW ZEALAND DESIRE TO BUY BRITISH WARNING TO AUSTRALIA LFrcm Our Own Reporter.J WELLINGTON, March 4. "The very real pleasure which I feel in paying a second visit to the most British of our Dominions after an interval of seven years is marred by only one regret, the unavoidable necessity of my stay being short," Lord Nuffield said to-day on arrival in the Monowai from Sydney on a short visit to New Zealand. "My

admiration and affection for New Zealand do not arise from any fleeting impressions gained from my previous short visit, although those impressions very considerably strengthened the convictions which I already held. "At Home," he said, "New Zealand people are often described as being more British than ourselves, and they show the truth of this description not. only in their character and their ways, but also by reason of their ever-ready and genuine desire to buy as much as they can of all the products pf their best cus-. lomer, the Old Country. Comparisons with Australia "While I am well aware that it is often advisable to avoid comparisons, I cannot refrain from referring to the great differences between New Zealand and Australia in this connexion. As customers we at Home are just as valuable to the one country as we arc to the other, but 1 have noted with surprise, amounting to almost alarm, that Australia seems unwilling to extend to us a measure of reciprocity which 1 feel we might expect. To quote the motor industry as an example, New Zealand in proportion to her population imports a far greater number of British motor vehicles than Australia. I feel compelled to fore-

cast a far-reaching and perhaps tragic trade ( disruption between Australia and the mother country at some future time, failing an immediate move to overcome the grave and increasing lack of reciprocity which is gradually undermining the very foundations of the trade relationships between us. A possible solution appears to be provided by one of my earliest ideals, which I still cherish. I should like to see our great Empire welded into a vast commercial commonwealth, every unit of which would freely open its markets to every other, and all would unite in raising tariff barriers against imported foreign produce. • New Zealand's Purchases of Motors "Turning again to New Zealand and to her motor industry in particular, it is most encouraging to observe that during the year ending December 31, 1934, registrations totalled 9699 compared with 3635 for the previous 12 months. These are creditable figures indeea. and they are additionally impressive if it be borne in mind that New Zealand's total population of a million and a quarter is about the same as that of the city of Sydney, and the total registrations in 1934 for the whole Commonwealth of Ausralia were approximately 28,000 for a population of six and a half millions. An even happier circumstance is that during 1934 nearly 50 per cent, of the 9699 registrations were British (the comparative figure for Australia being 22 per cent.), while New Zealand figures for January, 1935, show British automobiles to have captured more than 50 per cent, of the market. "Second to None" "To conclude, I should like to assure the people of New Zealand that the quality and reputation of their products in our Home markets are deservedly second to none. For many years I have done all 1 can to urge that they be bought in preference to the foreign products with which they are in competition, and my endeavours in this connexion will be intensified when T reach Home."

Again accompanying Lord Nuffield are Mr Wilfred Hobbs, his pri : vate and confidential secretary, and Mr G. A. Lloyd, resident representative for New Zealand and Australia. INTEREST IN LAND SETTLEMENT REPORT THAT HE MAY BUY AREA [From Our Own Reporter!

WELLINGTON. March 4. There is a possibility that Lord Nuffield, who arrived in New Zealand by the Monowai to-day, will purchase a tract of land in the district of the Galatea Estate, near Rotorua, with the object of developing it along model farming lines. The report lacks official confirmation, but Lord Nuffield's coming visit to the Government's land development schemes in the north is believed to have this significance. A dinner given in Lord Nuffield's honour this evening was attended by the Minister for Finance (the Rt. 'don. J. G. Coates) and the Mayor of Wellington (Mr T. C. A. Hislop;. Mr C. J. B. Norwood presided.- Tomorrow the visitor will be. the guest of Cabinet at morning tea. Accompanied by the Minister for Lands (the Hon. A. E. Ransom) Lord Nuffield will leave for the north to-morrow afternoon, and will spend Wednesday and Thursday inspecting Government land schemes in the Rotorua area. It was explained to-day as a reason for the visit that Lord Nuffield is keenly interested in land settlement as a means of alleviating unemployment. Mr Ransom has long been a keen advocate of the potentialities of the pumice country in the Rotorua area,