THIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1159, 21 June 1911, Page 8

THIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE.

MINISTERIAL REPLY TO MR. BEAUCHAMP. HON. T. MACKENZIE'S VIEWS. (By Telegraph-Special Reporter.) Palmerston N., June 20. At tho opening of the National Dairy Show at Palmerston North to-dny the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie (who was on the platform when the Governor performed tho official opening, and delivered an address) made a reply to the speech of Mr. Harold Beaucliamp,' the chairman of directors of the Bank of New Zealand, delivered at the meeting of bank shareholders in Wellington last Friday. Mr. Mackenzie said that he would not have added one word after the able speech delivered by his Excellency the Governor were it not that he felt that a speech which had recently been inado must have a very far-reaching influence upon tho agricultural and pastoral prospects of this community. He alluded, he said, to the address delivered by tho chairman of the Bank of New Zealaud. in which the latter pointed out a deficiency of .£2,342,000 between the interest requirements and the surplus exports of the Dominion. Mr. Beauchamp had also stated the "coming year promises, to be one of low prices," supporting his conclusions upon a drop in values of 25 per cent, in the United States, and a downward tendency of the markets in England. The question that arose was, were the years Mr. Beauchamp quoted a normal "index and sufficiently wide in extent to form a basis of deduction, and, further, were his forecasts regarding a year of low prices borne out by prevailing conditions? . "In both instances," said thp Minister. "I think the reply must be, No. Four years is an insufficient indication to base a conclusion upon, inasmuch as theso years include two very serious ones in onr history, due to external conditions brought about by the Wall Street crisis in 1907; and a third year in the four quoted was one that was partly affected by serious droughts in our Dominion. Even if there were a difference against the country, that alone would not indicate that the country was of necessity going back, inasmuch as the country itself might be requiring and absorbing for its "own internal, development a share of its interest wealth, in order that still higher returns might be absorbing for its own internal developif it did not capitalise a portion of its interest. The Proper Basis. "You cannot, therefore, estimate entirely the position, of a young country by merely reviewing its imports and «x----nblts and balancing Hie difference. You have to work on the balance, and that balance must include, not only the export wealth of tho community in relation to its imports, but its accumulating internal wealth in comparison with its increased indebtedness. As illustrating the improved conditions of New Zealand in respect to surplus of imports over exports, and exports over imports, a most remarkable picture presents itsolf if we take the 1!) years from 187 C to 1888 inclusive. The excess of imports over exports was iC12,000,000. Tho picture is, however, entirely-reversed if we take tho period ISB9 to 1910 inclusive, which shows a surplus of exports over imports oj over .£61,500,000, A .more recital of these figures alone indicates to the outside world the enormous chango that has taken place in the. wealth production of our Dominion changing as it /.ocs the position so entirely'in our favour- from a considerable excess of exports over, imports. A Borrowing Country's Life Blood, "Of course, I need not emphasiso the fact that in a borrowing country like ours our vory life's blood depends upon, our having an excess of exports over imports, and that, the reverso-means retrogression;'but, m a rntihey-lending"c6un-try like the United Kingdom, which has over ,£3,000,000,000 out on interest, there must be a huge excess of imports over oxports. Alluding now to the accumulations within the Dominion, I would point out that the increased wealth since 1889, after deducting the increased debt, comes to the vory large amount of X 211.000.000. This shows clearly that, although our export values may be depressed by reason of external influences, the enormous increased wealth within the Dominion far outweighs such temporary differences. With reference to the Bank chairman's forecast of low prices, this is not borne out by my reading, investigations, or study if the situation. Indeed, in the event of certain contingencies arising, such as tho freer admission of our meats into Continental markets, and the completion of the reciprocity tariff between the United States and Canada, I am of opinion that not only will we not have low prices, but an improvement will occur on present rates. Now, what are the articles in connection witK agriculture upon which our success depends? Sheep and meat are responsible for over il-1.000.000, and butter ,£3,000,000, out of .£22,000,000 exports this year; and the position of wool was never more assured in the history of tho world. The total flocks are lower than they were years ago, whilst the woolusing people havo increased by a hundred million." ' . Regarding meat, the Minister said: It s/ily needed to bo pointed out that tho necessities of the workers on the Continent of Europe were such that the Agrarian party could not much longer delay .the admission of wholesome food into their countries. Mr. Mackenzie considered on the whole that "in tho absence of any political uplyavals or international complications we may look forward with reasonable aESiiranco to tho future."