OVERSEA CRITICISM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 758, 5 March 1910, Page 12

OVERSEA CRITICISM.

0 RESENTED BY HON T. MACKENZIE. REFERENCES TO DEBT AND DOLES. (By Telesraph.—Press Associations Christchurch, March 4. Speaking at the Cheviot show to-day, tho Hon. T. Mackenzie referred to misrepresentations of New Zealand affairs appearing in English newspapers, and said that tho statement made by butter factories' delegates, telegraphed from Sydney, to the effect that the system of butter-grading in Australia and New Zealand was a failure, was entirely incorrect, and ho took the present first opportunity to givo it an emphatic contradiction. It had been a success in New Zealand since its inception in 1594, and tho number of complaints received against it-was almost infinitesimal. Leading men engaged in dairying throughout tho Dominion candidly admitted that it had been the means of raising the standard oi quality. Producers and merchants were evidently well satisfied with the method. The dairy farmer considered grading a I protection alike to him and to the I merchant.

Continuing, the Minister said: The system of discrediting our country abroad is reaching a serious point, and it is time that something was said. Yesterday my correspondence brought copies of newspapers published in London and Washington, each of which contained misleading articles rcfiocting oil the Dominion. The article in the London journal begins:—"A friend in the colony has obliged us," and then follows an account written and devised to mislead people regarding the position of Nov; Zealand. Eeierring to the increased debt of .£32,000,000 since 1891, it sneers at the

interest yielding results from our invest-' rncnts which more than repays thoi whole interest we require to remit to tho British money-lenders. This article goes on to say it is impossible to be sure of the true vitality of anything in a country "whose entire. industry is stimulated •, and sustained by means of doles out of loans." When ono remembers that you farmers here to-day are representatives of those who by their enterprise, . industry, and energy are helping to export from our country nearly 4520,000,000 worth of pro-ducts-a year, and when it is remembered that this year shows the greatest credit balance between imports . and exports that has ever occurred in the history of the Dominion—the difference over last year in our favour being .60,000,000—can all this be said to be the result of doles? Again, this same article quotes a journal published in New Zealand in support of some of its contentions, and remarks, "as we have more than one© indicated the land is eaten up by officialdom as by locusts, and every branch of the Publio Service is redundantly staffed for corruption purposes." Is this not sufficient to make any Now Zealander indignant? If this is true, what a reflection it is upon the people of the Dominion. If it is not true, then it is a slander which should bo. repudiated by every lover of his homeland. I have under my charge three leading Departments of State, viz., Agriculture, Tourists, and Health Be- ■ sorts, and Commerce. Will any man dare to state to me that I would tolerate for a moment' tho appointment of an officer for corruption purposes. If this sort of business goes on you will find that good men will refrain from taking part in public life altogether as they now do in America. Members of the Ministry, in the face of the greatest pressure for extravagant expenditure, are doing their utmost to carry on the work in this country on sound . oconomio lines. We are making enemies daily because wo ar© doing right, and the country should support us in these efforts, and it is not encouraging to have to contend with and combat such reflections as I am alluding to. Honourable public men will not always put up with such reflections, and if the public get what a section persistently says they now have, they are going tho very best way to bring that about. '.

Tho article in the Washington newspapers is probably by the same "Friend in the colony." It bears the following headings in large black type: "Now Zealand Plunged Headlong Into Debt; Is Being Steadily Abandoned for Bottor Fields by All Who Can Get Away. "Work Scarce, Wages Poor, Living High." As in the London journal, so in the Washington paper exactly similar illustrations are given without giving crcdit for the results obtained. We have a magnificent country here requiring a population of tho right class, and money at low rates of interest to develop it. These misleading reports alarm the very peoplo we require, and prevent them coming hero, and also increase interest charges on the money, you and the' State require for the country's development. In publio as in private matters borrowing is good or bad in proportion to tho ability that is shown and the nature of the investments dealt with. Our public debt is considerable, but we have six times its value in assets. Why, in the Old Country, they havo ono railway coinpanj which alone has a total in round figures of ,£125,000,000, of which i£-12,587,000 only is in ordinary shares, tho balance being composed of liabilities on debentures, proforonco shares, guarantee stock to the extent of X 82,000,000, whilst its assets avo not a third ot what we in New Zealand havo as against onr indebtedness, and will it bo said that tho company is rollon, or that England is affected?