The Dominion. SATDEDAY, JUNE 19, 1909. THE OUTLOOK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 533, 19 June 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATDEDAY, JUNE 19, 1909. THE OUTLOOK.

■ Although tho address of the Chairman of the : Bank of New Zealand bristle? with points that deserve the careful consideration of thoughtful people, we can only give attention to one aspect of his remarks: We refer to his effective endorsement—it is by no rfleans his first tho attitude which has been steadily maintained'in these columns during; the prolonged period of financial stringency; tvom which tho country appears to be fciowly recovering. In passing, it is necessary, to note. ..thjvt in at. least one quarter , from ', which greater , knowledge or, greater, honesty might have> been , expected: there is a tendency/to misrepresent tho criticisms 'of those whii during thb.'past eighteen months;havo striven, to, preach pvudcacfl against tho reckless. Op- ' timism;: that, has* been: so : .fiercely, pre> scribed by the head of the Government; Theso criticisms aro,. referred to as ;;tlie. commonts -of '"the croakers," and v:Mn, Beauchamp's':po.libr-'•cautions are referred to., as, being antagonistic .'to thorn.. The bald dishonesty of that/kind of talk is i ra'tlicV;';sli6cking;;; BiiAUoiiAMiV' and:,indcqd y every business man who has public]v spoken of the need for prudence, has gone quite as far against ' the : foolish optimists - as. any responsible' person or newspaper: has donu. In tho very beginning of his ."general remarks, ""'indeed," the Chairman; of thoBank makes a richly suggestive statement the substanco of which is really, the gravamen pt' the offence of this journal and,of all who havo deemed it their duty to caption the country against the doctrino. of ( unbounded ■ optimism. Mr.' Beauchamp : sayß; : lt is j most disconcerting ' to - have > to admit, in view of the long period of prosperity— covering practically; fifteen a sudden 'idrop 'in -values • of" our- primary produce, for one season only, should cause' Buch a financial disturbance as we have been experiencing.'' Over and over again we have pointed out,\ in effect, that tho long period .of. prosperity, s and the, naturally rich resources of. New Zealand, should have made it, impossible<for anything short of a very; bitter and yery long to affect our comfort.' But the country has been living up to and beyond its means and its prospects.. The Prime Mikister, instead of allowing national: considerations to place him on the. side, of prudencc, allowed party considerations to move hir: into encouraging tho country in the habits that Mn. Beauohamp has Y ' again had to underline 'as' the sources . .of danger; "the inordinate prices paid for land, and genoral extravagance amongst all seotions of the community."

The country has still leeway to make up. Wo have pointed out in the past the real meaning of the excess of: imports over exports. The figures are brought up. to date by Mm Beauchamp. ; "To provide for ; payment of interest on public and private indebtedness: to 1 the . foreign moneylender, a sum of, approximately, £3,500,000 is required annually, and this amount must bo obtained' chicfly by the sale' of .produce—that is to say, the exports must exceed the imports by that amount." In-the bionnial period,ending Match 31 last, the.exports were a little less than'tho'imports;. What the'eountry' has been Buffering from, therefore,, ia the influence of that seven million pound vacuum. Health will come either from a greater productiveness or greater thrift, The Government, by its legislation and its general attitude towards tho producers, has handicapped production J by its repeated denunciations of the counsellors of prudence it has discouragod thrift. As to the future, Mr. Beaucuamp takes pretty much the same view as he held last year. .JJe is ns cotafidcnt as every sane person must bo of the. ultimate rocovery of this' naturally rich young land,' but he is not as hopeful as people of an' immediate glow of returned prosperity. ' Wool has happily risen, and wheat iB high, and likely to remain.so, But tho competition of other countries is a cloud upon the future of our meat and dairy products. Hemp and kauri gum aro unfortunately dull, without any signs I .of betterment* The outlook .is, therefore, not moro than fair. Thobest promise lies in the return ? of notivity to the great indußtria,l ; countries. It is a littlo amusing to think that Sir Joseph Ward, when ho returns from London, will not be able to confute his '•."croakers" by pointing to thoj revival-of American industry as ,a hopeful . sign without stultifying himself. For did lie not tell its ; that New Zealand was be- | yond the reach of trouble from foreign [ conunnrcizU riiKturhanowy thereby ■ dis-

qualifying himself front affirming that Now Zealand can obtain relief from' a foreign commercial revival? ' Since-thrift ,alone cannot restore the country's, comfort, greater productiveness ,'and : r bcttcr marketing against our competitors being also necessary, it would bo interesting to hear what the Government Imb Wen doing, or intends to do, >in the way of encouraging our producers. .