THE TRADE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2750, 19 April 1916, Page 6

THE TRADE WAR

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED

SPEECHES BYMINISTERS

DOMINION'S HAPPY STATE

. -v ? 1 The : annual general meeting .of the Wel- .;■ lingtoa Commerce was held 'Vr yesterday- at 1 p.m., the 'business being -A•.•preceded by {the usual! 'luncheon. • The ;;7.'president'(Mr. James Macintosh) was in •,v;.: ; ;he chair, and there was.a good attendance of members. As invited guests were !;,. Dresent the .'Prime Minister (the Eight ■'~'■:■■ Hon.W. ,F. Masseykthe.Miaister of Cus- .;.':. ; idnis(Mr. A. M. Myers), and the Mayor ;;.-,- ;:ii WelUngton (Mr. 'J.' P. Luke).. ' • < ■ ; ( ;-':Vi: ; Address.. fr;;; Thelpresident■ moved 'the-.adoption of. '.': .the annual 'report. Mr.' Macintosh said '•, V'h# proposed to ask the "Chamber to allow '-.' {him. to omit the usual presidential ad•;"':;dress, so as to give an;oppdrtunity to the :'.■•meeting of hearing their visitors.-., ■ '"This, as,, you are aware," . said Mr. '■', >'!,. Macintosh,' "is , the fifty-second annual V-;mooting of. the. chamber. . '.Che'work done ■fy during theyear by the council and vari.o.'.ous. oomniittoes, of the .'chamber is most i oreditable, .particularly' in view of sur- :'. {'rounding; circumstances..' The outstanding :. ''.'feature-of this year,; to. my .mind;, was the j ; .Wculmination of-the. efforts -of 'the chamber ij.-t,for..,many,years past;in the;establishment of-.the 'Association of- 'New' Zealand C'ham-|-J.;,bera of'Commerce"!/This body, I venture |:i: : 'f;to:say,;. will grow in ..usefulness.'as", time! if-"{.goes on/ v,:;;^.j";>; ■'■' , i-j*: , i.H:' :^'-^"V, i ''■-;. : p J V''Ahbther.'gfeat matter 'tna't" Kascontinul:. ■; ously;occupied,-;.''and .still, ocoupies, {the f; : ;;',('attention' of;'not*only ihis, but -all other fc;.-Sohambers;vand;.through.' them'of' the'Ex-f-::.';ji'eoiitiye;'otvth»" Association.bf;C3iamber6, is KJlilie's'questionl'of ithie !V'-Pyii^M^^ [i >io!^inter-Imperial;' : itrade aid • trade'* with ■;ff'p,iir:JAllie6.':' A'tTth~6,.'monie'n't we! aivait :the ),*'. "result, of'-the. great" meeting iir;'Paris; on .toßilnittee was:referred : ;td '.by 'MrrAsquith %. an'.tW.House' of .Commons a ; few; days ago, lj;';a^'we. are.-also'booking forward- to'-the f' r of;representatives:of chamb'era of' »■;.' 'commerce'jtb bb 'held in "London-during. |-','i.th'e week';beginning June, 5. At that meetK.^.iDg,;;l; may; say' that' this'■ chamber; hopes E",....t0 : '.b'8. iepresen ted "by ; Mr'.'.James-H.-B. fc: Goates, a. ; 'director :'qf".the .National' Bank fir: of ..New Zealand,' and long a -member of K.;.;. this.chamber. •■'■" '•"': '.'.'; . ."'.-..■ s :,'.' ■ [..:;'; .."Inaow' moving: the adoption ' of the t',. : ; report and balance-sheet I. beg. to/express ■?.: yiny to the members, of. the 4,-;' council and to .the secretary.for.the assist;'Jauoe> and support . which, they tare aoI. corded me on all occasions." f;.;i ; " : : : - : -The t War and Trade. ' • .';- ;';■'■ ■'■: Mr. S. W, Waterhouse seconded tie {/■motion. He.apoko of a <ufficulty that has {ilbeen exercising Wellington merchants m :" with the Eailway Department— ■ '.that of goods which .were consigned to i!:;'flag stations,, going .a'strav. He realised, ;' ythat the Department could not take re- [.'■'■' .'sponsibility for goods sent to stations [{{■where, there was no' staff, but when the I :.: distinction was a, station at which there ,?'.;was a full staff the Department should :;. protect consignees and consignors. This i.''.''grievance, applied, to goods sent,to TrenN. .-.thani' Camp.. He spoke, also of the heed ,- -for coo'noiny."*. We were all going on ..as ;.;,'. •usual';, iyJtU our;' amusements and-other :, ; ;;. extravagances, and it seemed,to him that i ::~we: would : never; really economise until' ■,'IKXe wore forcd to do so.' Compulsion 'was i.;:,in;the: air. Some-people .held tho opinion \-:- >that, we could not. win'.the:.war' without I•: .;'compuls,ion. It -did seem at least that H'i compulsion .would,be necessary before tho i-.':, people would realise tho duty of economy. ?.'■.He referred'to ; the subject of post-war I frade. ■; "We m.ust, he said, protect our : tho future' against the ,repeti- ',-. tion-of .the.r present ■■ tragedy,. and there" ['•{was:only one way.of doing it—by making [ it difficult, or impossible,-or almost imi - possible, Ifor Germany to obtain from . these countries, : and from British coun- • .:: ; tries> generally, the means of carrying on ; war; as she had. done for the' last twenty '<:•:,mouths. _ .We.were told that.jthiswar ■had come' upon• us because.of our sins, '-...and-, he .thought, most of the .gentlemen' "■".present would 'agree'.that this'was so.; j , .VThe motion was adopted - without 'fur-' K'ther discussion, : !;; : '' >{{.■-", \'*'~'*"■'■'':'s. Officers! ' 1..'.- The following members were elected to f ' cho council, these being the only nominiv.atiohs:—Messrs. T. Ballinger, W. S. Benp' nett, W. J; Bridson, W. F. Cuthbertson, - T. C. Dawson, W: G. Dnthic; D. A. j Ewon, J. G. Harkness, James Macintosh, I'.;. KW. Manton, C. E, Eichardson, and E. I-.W., Waterhouse. : ;, f ."'.■•',' Mr. C. P.Powles ]?. W. Hay!..'!•..bittle were.re^elec'tpdra'uditors.■ .•■■'•. •• p>{ "■ .':'"; Party i Politics and, (■'- ;i Mr. Macihtjosh proposed the,toast of F; ''The Ministry," coupled with • the names ■ of the Prime Minister and the' Minister. :of '. Customs. ; "This chamber has .'no' politics," 'ho 6aid. . "This ,• ■',- counti-y,.; at any , rate sp' ; long ■as 'the war lasts, should bave • none,' > And,- '- Jeince the formation of our National Gov- ",; ernment, party ; politics in, New Zealand ■ Slave to a large extent; . disappeared. ; would ithat. they disappeared altogetler, .-'and that in Parliament and out of it, ■ throughout the length and breadth -i of the land, every mind and body arid soul should be-filled with but ono uesire—to liolp, and help to the very utmost, the ■'■ oarrying on of this war to a victorious f. /Conclusion. ,-But-party feeling,- ..-'though ' .disappearing,'-diesi slowly. Its {voice is i still too often heard under the guise of | .' criticism. .'.. Now, there are two kinds of i critics—tho Helpful, and the: destructive. The first.may, as often as ndt, ü bo 'wrong, [•"■ but .his aroVgood; but'-'-the.-latter f{ 5s -nearly always;evil,'for:his' objeci; is \. to. embarrass,- not to assistl ■•■'■ At' no;time, ' arid ; particularly at •' this time,'; can' ,¥ll' y, the facts bo known to' any'critic -While ; • I strongly deprecate criticism of. the acta [ of the.'Gpvern'ment.at this time,MCthink j . •it is ; the;- duty: of {anyone. whb;vthinls ho -,:•'■ : has ideas,'-or 1 suggestions,-'wnicli:may : ';'De ii'yof use, 'to pass'sucn' on Ho,tho''Go've'rn- {. j mont.'. . Now, in that spirit—tho desiro ! '~ to help—l venture to make two suggesi I tions. The first is that they should give ; ,;: an eye to the surplus moneys now in'tha j country, and growing daily, and;the sec- ;■-■;. ond is that all expenditure of publio :'-■ i- moneys, except for war.-; purposes—and " tliis, of course,', includes, pensions,*-and {absolutely essential' works, i.e., works .. wliich cannot be left over until after the ; war—should cease; this to apply.,., to ;• 2 looal- bodies-'as well-as'to tho .Govern;.i ment. ...... There very large amount '. ; of-..unused money lying at call in the ; -. banks and- other institutions, glowing ;•;.;.. larger as payments. for our . products '.;. come in. This is a danger. Mf I may ba allowed to paraphrase two lines of a ,f well-kiiown verse, I think my meaning -i.woud be clearer. The .words ; ;; For Satan finds some mischief still' ' •:' - . For idle funds to do. .;..►' I ffivo you, gentlemen, 'The . Minis ;. try,' may they continue unanimously, de- •- terminedly, and courageously to cariy ~ on the'work of government until the war is ended and victory is ours." ■' | ADDRESS BY PRIME MINISTER. \,": THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. i .-• The Kt. Hon. W. F. Massey said tha ', ':, thej; would all doubtless remember tha. ) -' the National Ministry was formed ' with- ! : » definite object. Party were ■•: to ba put on one side, and the' National ..:.'Government was formedi in order better i ':■ to enable New Zealand bo do its full duty ; 5 to the Empire in this war. "Let me : express my opinion," he said, "as to '■■- whether the National Ministry has been „ i successful. My opinion is that it has ; ' been a decided success. And I will go , : so far as to say that every member.-of ; t the • National Ministry has entered into i •/• his work with his whole heart and soul, r ',' and every member of it has worked loyalII •; ly for tho object in view—the object for v which the National Government was '•■• J formed. .(Applause.) I, don't,, suggest ! >; for a moment that we are above criticism. - " We expect" critioism, and, as a [matter. of fact,'we .welcome,criticism, but it:is ' the variety of criticism wheh your presi- ; dent has referred to as helpful criticism. v Misrepresentation is sometimes confounded with criticism, and we object to misrcDre'entation.. I think you will admit

that tho Defence Department has had more than its fair share of criticism since the war began, (Hear, hear.) The Defence Department is responsible to the country for certain well-defined duties, of which- the prinoipal duty is to select and train men, and to send them to assist the Imperial forces. .(Applause.) Of course, tho wholo Government Is responsible for the Defence Department. I want to ask you, is it not a fact that- the Defence Department has on every occasion delivered-the goods? Tbeyhave undoubtedly. delivered the, goods, of good quality, and within contract date. (Applause.) I don't mean to say the Defenco Department has been perfect. Very far ; from it. Nothing human is perfect. But-this is the first experience New Zealand'has had in taking part in | a-great war, and'l think on the whole New Zealand "has done very well indeed.

, .'"'The Cost of Living. Sl "Another point about which wo have ri been criticised is the cost of living. Why, n anyone would think, to read some of the (- papers, and to,hear some of. the speeches j made on the subject, that ihe Gorern- _ meiit.iras.altogether responsible for the u increase in the ; cost of living that has taken .place!. But, did anybody ever « hear of a war which did not increase the "1 cost of living ?. , It 6eoms to bo impossible £ to carry on a war without increasing the cost of living. The cost of living has gone'up, but the reasons are fairly ob- ' vious. The reasons are increased cost ; of production, increased shipping freights, ■ and increased insurance. The cost of liv- ' ing, has increased in, New Zealand, and J in other; parts of the Empire, but let me ° tell' you. this:' that th'o increase in the ( cost,', of living is less in New- Zealand to-day' than in any other part of the Em- 1 pire., As. a matter of, fact,.l don't want ] to make comparisons with other Domin- 1 ions,' but'l.am in a position to say this— c that' the increase in New Zealand has ' been less,- than half of that in some of t the other Dominions. Such being the t case, I don't think there is any reason t for complaint.; I don't, say there has been no exploitation—l know better than that—but it seems impossible to avoid ex- 1 ploit'ation in war,time, much as one would i uesire'to do it; whatever the cauße of it "■ may be." : '■ " ' ' \ ■;."' Our' Proud Position. { (", Mi\ Massey; went on to speak of the j very satisfactory-increase in our exports. < Our ,net exports last year, after deducting' the goods imported from the Pacific Is- ; lands, and elsewhere and Te-exported, ■ were in value. Even after i allowance, was made for the increased ; .prices ivhicli our prodiifcts wore bringing i in -Europe, .the'fact that we were able ■ to send away in one year '.£33,000,000 worth i of .exports spoke, .volumes tor the re- ~ sources of this country, and for the in- j dustryof its people. (Applause.) "Let me tell you what, the .trade of. this couu- , try means at this moment," said Mr. lias- } sey. "Taking the total trade of New Zea- , land for the year ended March 31,' 1916, it , amounts to, J219 6s. 9d. per head j population. . It is wonderful:. I don't think'any other country jhae ever equal- i led it.' I can't find any'other, country '. that has ever approached it. The total trade of Australia for last year amounted to ,£25 lis. 2d. per.head,- of Canada .£26 7s. 2d. per of the United Kingdom .£2B 19s. 3d. per head, and of South Africa —but South Africa is hardly a fair comparison because, of:the black population ■there—ißll •5s. j 4d.■. I say ours is a, wonderful result, and I think every member of the chamber miiot agree with that opinion. (Applause.) ' i ~ 1 After thß War. "The chairman has referred to post war-trade'. I presume that this te / «bout' the'most important .matter that can engage the' attention of commercial men, 'and, indeed' of all thinking men right through'the Empire. I do hope, JUr.' 'President" and gentlemen,-that whatever happens—and;nobody,can predict what is going to happen—we are going to profit by the mistakes the people of our race have made during the last .15 on 20 years. I trust'these mistakes.will never bo repeated. '1 trust we shall endeavour to aim at the ideal of British trade for British peoplfr-the ideal of a' self-contained Empire. And I know of no reason why the Empire 'should :not produce -enough for its population. I, do not mean that 1 hope the Empire -will not trade with, other nations. I was' referring to present enemy countries, and I hope that something will be done to prevent present onemy countries, from getting into a strong position again by their trade with 1 us. . .'.. I hope the British people will nover allow enemy goods to be lauded at British 'ports on equal terms .with similar goods, from other parts of the Empire. We -can look back.now.and think over 'the','fact, that ships of our present enemies, .subsidised ships, were allowed to 1 compete in ■ British ports with ships of. our own' country, giving the enemy ships ' an unfair, advantage.' Wo can look back and think' about the bounty assisted goods from an enemy country coming into competition \with the goods.of our own -•country.. I .trust that nothing of the sort will ever ■; happen again. . I don't: know i.ivhat is going to happen at'the very important conference shortly to be held, in Pnris. I think perhaps it will be ouly "the.forerunner of other more important, more representative ■ conferences to be held in the future.- I hope that when a more important conference 'comes along,' New Zealand will not bo unrepresented. (Applause.) \ . • "A Long Way to Go,". , "One word in conclusion with regard to ' 'the"'war:."l am''not. nearly, so optimistic as some of the prophets on this point,, but-we all like."to.think that the war is coming to ah end in "the very near future. I think the end of the war is still a considerable distance off. I think we have still, a long way to go, but there ,is this consolation about it, gentlemen, that, if we have a long way to go, victory is at the end." (Applause.) '~:':.! Unity,is Strength. The Hon: A. M. Myers endorsed what Mr. Massey had said about the National Ministry—that all the,members of it were ,pulling together, and every one of them doing his best, ■ working zealously to show .■ the' people'' of.' this country ■ that 'every effort: was- being strained . to help the • Mother -Country in this war. When the J . 'war came in, party politics went out,,and while • he.' w-ith others might not entirely agree with the president in : regard to the .'abolitions of .party politics in future, at ■ the-present moment there was only one I thing' to consider—how- to win - the war. There was no. doubt that this part of the Empire would rather suffer annihilation than become a subject of .any other sovereignty. -{Although -J probably ' Germany was defeated now,'victory was not yet in sight, and it behoved every citizen to use his best efforts and to sustain his efforts' for-the,object in view, for it was the last -- effort - that ■ was going to .produce the happy Tesult they all desired. (Applause.) There was this satisfaction, that the longer the war was prolonged the more united ' would the Empire become. There could be no doubt that all communities in' the ' Empire were united in agreement, with wlat Mr. Massey had said regarding post war problems. He ventured to say that ' at every meeting of- a chamber of commerce throughout the Empire the same thoughts were - uppermost in everybody's mind. He hoped and believed that the conference of chambers of commerce of the Empire to bo held shortly at Ottawa " 'would produce good lesults. The British had quito mado up their minds that in future enemy countries would never be allowed to exploit the resources of our Empire to make themselves strong enough to ohallenge our supremacy.. He agreed with what the Prime Minister had said about criticism, particularly about criticism of the Defence Department. He thought people often took the Defenco Department to task quite uuI fairly. • • ■ • Trade Facts. 3 He believed that the British and the 1 illies were determined now that the counf tries who had fought together would in r future trade together. Trade would follow 3 the flag. Very .few now urged the eon- > trary opinion, as was the case a few years i ago. We had learned a deal from the j war, and there would in the end be ?. 3 solution of the post-war problems that f would, prove worthy of our great a nation, and the destiny in store , for it. Last .year, it might interest-the - chamber to know, tho Customs revenue r for-New Zealand had exceeded the est)s mate by .£-i20,'568. - This increase was due t, partly, to _the increased value of tho .. goods imported, but also to increased r. taxation. The total value of our exs ports to British possessions in 1912 was - 20J millions; last year v the total rose to . 29 millions. This should show conclu- - gively that we were dealing with our own f- kith and kin. As far as possible, everyt thing was 'being done to prevent enemy

goods from reaching tliis Dominion. (Applause.) In this icgard it would be most helpful if members of the commercial community would draw tho attention of the authorities to the fact of any <eus»icious importation coming undei their notice. A good deal had been done quietly, by the authorities, and many goods had been prevented from landing here. These cases were not made public. He did not think there were many enemy goods percolating into New Zealand now, and the Legislature had already agreed to a tax of 50 per cent, on enemy goods coming here after the war.

Tribute to Mr. Matsey. In concluding, Mr. Myers paid a trib» ute to his chief, the Prime Minister: ''We liave in our worthy chief, the Itfc, Hon.. tho Prime Minister, a man who is doing everything possible to apply himself assiduously to the many important; matters that naturally come under th< review of the Prime Minister. ; There h no harder-worked man in this country than tlie Bt. Hon. the Prime Minister. Ho is working morning, noon; and night, and it is probably only those of the commercial community who can. appreciate the complex questions that do arise almost daily, in which he takes a prominent part, placing them before his colleagues in due time." (Applause.) The Rimutaka Incline. , Tho President proposed tho tonst of "The Visitors," coupling the names of Mr. J. P. Luke (Mayor), Mr. C. E. ' Daniell (Chairman of the Harbour Board), and Mr. C. M. Luke (President of the Central Chamber vf Commerco); . Mr. C. E. Daniell,; responding, said he had been rather surprised and disappointed to note that not a void had been.said at the meeting to support the efforts of the Wairarapa people to open "Wellington's back-door." He urged the extreme importance of • pressing for tho construction of-a better railway: to the district. ' A- voice: The : war. Mr.. Daniell: No! No!' It isn't that. The war is toohandy an excused Gentlemen, you are riot thinking about it. must think of-the development' of tho country' that must follow the war, and .I do ask you-as men of. affairs to follow up and back up what the people of Wairarapa have been doing. Mr. C M: Luke congratulated; tho President and tho chamber on good and useful work done, and said that the body to which ho belonged' lived in perfect amity with the Wellington. Chamber of Commerce, doing,' he claimed, useful work also. He joined in congratulating tho Prime Minister and the Dominon on having achieved such a splendid result in the magnitude of our exports.

I Mr. J. P.. Luke (Mayor, of .Wellington) proposed the toast of "The President," a mau who, "he said, had carried out his work with signal capacity and great energy. The toast was most enthusiastically received.

Mr. Macintosh , thanked' the company for the very warm manner 'in which they had responded to tho toast. He said he would never have been able to do anything that he had done but for the cordial co-operation of the council and the secretary. , Mr. Dan'ell had referred to the Himutakn deviation.. That matter had not been forgotten by the chamber, and when the right time came the chamber would help the Wairarapa people to obtain the relief they had so long asked for, and with such good cause. The meeting closed with tho singing of the National Anthem. . •