A FANCY PICTURE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 780, 1 April 1910, Page 6

A FANCY PICTURE.

"NEW ZEALAND AS IT IS." ARTICLE' BY SIR J. G. WARD. In the "North American Review" for February there appear two articles on New Zealand, 'one by Sir Robert Stout and the other by .Sir J. G. Ward. Sir Robert Stout's article is of a general character; that signed by.the Prime Minister is political. As the Prime Minister's article te a sort' of literary and political curiosity, we give it in full:— "In a world where, for social and political reasons, false issues are continually being presented to the public for acceptance, it may be well at times' to give authoritative statements even of a general, character to those.who wish to have some solid ground on which to base their opinions. ' This is particularly the case in regard .to New Zealand. Its isolated position in a geographical sense, and its almost unique, position in regard .to social economics, make it, desirable that strangers should be able to select from the cloudy mass of assertion and coun-ter-assertion statements bearing the signet of those who are in a position to be responsible for their utterances. "New Zealand has, lately- felt distress from two distinct forces bearing upon her from long distances. She has been affected financially (though in comparatively slight degree) by the depression waves which the Wall Street panic sent outward in wide circles far beyond the United States. She has also been disturbed by the vague but serious unrest which agitates the ranks of the workers in all' civilised countries, and which, is felt. even where : the lot' of the workers has been ameliorated in a hundred considerate and sympathetic .ways. In spite, however, of these temporary vibrations (having their origin beyond seas) the Dominion of New Zealand was never in a more prosperous condition than now, and never gave more solid ground for the certain hope in. her future which those who love her cherish. "It is said by. enemies (within and without bur island boundaries) that we borrow .too largely,- and that our National Debt is increasing. They ful, however, to conceal the fact that a very large proportion of our loan money Lis accepted for ..reproductive purposes— that is to say, for purposes which benefit both the lender and the borrower. Since the 'Progressive Ministry' * came into power until recently, from 1891 to 1908, we have borrowed .£27,000,000. Out of that sum, however, ,£18,200,000. is invested iu interest-bearing securities or interest-bearing activities, the cost of which does not fall upon the general taxpayer. Therefore, it is idle to talk of this ' amount as if through it the ordinary citizen..'is bending under a burden of taxation; the loan moneys when expended have been disbursed 'in such directions that the citizen df New Zealand walks cheerfully and alertly, knowing that his light load is like that of some farmer carrying the small sack of corn that will enable him and his children to reap the harvest of the future. Four million.' one hundred, thousand pounds have been paid to provide struggling settlers and. fanners with cheap money, money raised at low rates on the. national security, and loaned to farmers to, allow, them to .throw off strangling mortgages and to improve their properties. They pay their small interest gladly, very gladly, and no part falls on the general taxpayer. So, too,,under the Lands for Settlement, big private estates have beenbought by the Government out of money expressly loaned for this purpose, and. on the security-of .such lands themselves. The. interest on these loans is paid from the lease rent of small farmers now settled, on-what-were once the princely. .-properties of single .individuals. Five million nine''hundred •thousand pounds have been'. thus expended. Not only does'the whole country benefit indirectly by the , settlement and growth'of thousands of such families, but no part "of the interest is paid by the general citizen. I could.,, extend . this 'statement-in rdetail' till the 'whole of the ■£18,200,000 spoken of :is,accounted-.for; but it must, be acknowledged that, whdn New. Zealand is' called -a borrowing country, sufficient credit is, not generally given'' to' the. fact: that much • of the 1 interest is self-supporting,' arid, will.' in i short.'time automatically disappear by means, of sinking; funds. ''.' "In the: years' iri- which our progressive Ministry has held power, ' the . exports rose from .£9,400,094 in 1891 to in 1906; 'the imports from .£6,503,849' in 1891, to .£15,211,403 in 1906. That fact alone would show the great' energy and prosperity of: a people that only in 1907 for the first time raised its number to a million inhabitants. ■ The general welfare of the people cannot be thoroughly gauged by any show of figures, because much of it arises from indirect influences ■guided by State impulses. Thus;. as soon as the _ railways and other State-owned properties pay above.a certain.interest on their construction, instead of such gains being handed over to private persons' aa dividends, the general public benefits by greatly reduced fares and freights. Thus the railway journey (second class) of 250 miles, which, in 1900 cost 255., in 1908 cost only 145... 6d.. A bale of wool was carried 100 miles in 1890 for 7s. 5d., but in 1908 for ss. 7d.; and there are special concessions as to the transport of artificial manures, etc., for farmers. Such is the case also with the.post office, telegraphs, telephones,, and other-: means of communication. A letter weighing half an ounce sent from New Zealand to Great Britain inlß9o cost'6d. ; in 1908 a full ounce letter could be sent to any Englishspeaking country, for w . y etj a] thongh this colony was the first to try the darinc experiment of a penny postage. all over JlVfiuLf ollr P" 5 , 4 off-handed over £130,614 last year to the Treasury, and during '.. the;-last ten years Welded of profits. We have bank d e posits as follow:—. - .

1 1897. 1902. 1907 £■£ l £ ; Total .£25,108,614,636,342,174 "I am aware that much of the interest taken, in. regard, to New Zealand by our cousms in the United States centres round our advanced Labour Laws, and particularly round the principle known as compulsory, arbitration.'. The 'past session of Parliament has had probably its most severe.task in endeavouring to .hit the law of industrial arbitration to a higher level than it had previously ocS°l led ,V W f found,that it was with great miheulty .that legislative pronouncement could fix with lasting effect, any svstem applying fairly to so flexible and liquid a subject as modern industry. The Act passed in 1894 had for about twelve years a strong influence for good. It so modified the conditions of employer and worker that great benefits were received by both parties. As time went on, it was found that there was too great rigidity in the legal process.. Dissatisfaction was widely expressed, and the long-banished strike began to rear its unwholesome head once more. Too much stress had gradually been laid on the compulsory portion of the Act, and too little attention to conciliation: Tho new status endeavours to 'get back- to conciliation.' J?or this purpose, official conciliators are being appointed to settle trade disputes in their earliest stages if possible, or with the aid of- a council of conciliation appointed by the contending parties. This' council has no judicial powers; it is

purely conciliatory, and only on its failure does the case proceed to the Arbitration Court. Strikes and lock-outs involving industrial unions registewd under the. Act are made punishable by fine and by attachment of part of wages, but :strikes' of .persons not working under award of industrial agreement are without penalty. We' trust that by means of these amendments of the Act tho primal intention, of its promoters may be restored, viz.,' to make compulsion a last resource, and one only to be invoked under rare and extreme circumstances. "The progress of many of our Stategcveriied institutions has been - remark able. Government railways, telegraphs, telephones, coal-mihfs, life insurance, accident insurance, .fire insurance, public trusteeship,' old. age pensions, savings banks, State pensions for all Government employees, etc., have all been successful and flourishing ventures, not only from . the financial point of view, but from their effect on the comfort and happiness of -the people. We hope still to find many ways of perfecting these, and of finding out new paths of usefulness, feeling as untrammelled in the-adoption of the best ideas of other countries as wo are ready to try new lines of action of our own, if they; appear to lead in the *■ direction, of the star we eteer by,"