DOMINION TRADE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3199, 25 September 1917, Page 8

DOMINION TRADE

LAST YEAR'S CONDITIONS BRITISH COMMISSIONER'S REPORT "The general condition of New Zealand in the past year has continued to be one of great.' prosperity," says Hia Majesty's Trade Commissioner for New Zealand (Mr. K. AV. Dalton), in his annual report on this DominWtT. Jlcj- the year 1916. This prosperity has, however, been due solely to the high prices of produce. If prices of produce remain high, as they rhay, for some time after the war and until the country has had time to readjust itself'to more normal conditions there need fear for the future, but it is felt in some quarters that if, for any reason, there fchoidd be a Blump in pricee, present conditions are such as to give cause for anxiety. ""'This view is based on the consideration that if production has changed it has been in the direction of a decrease rather than an increase in important products; that by heavy slaughtering in previous years the possibilities of production inthe future nave been to some extent lessened; and that side by side with these facts such capitalisation as has been effected has been at very high cost owing to abnormal prices of land and stock based on the present high prices of produce. As showing (he extent to which prices of stock have ini creased, the following figures which I have.' obtained of tho result of a firm's sales An one month in "an important district are quoted—these figures are characteristic of sales throughout tho Dominion:— ceipte. Sheep. Cattle. Horses. £ Jfarch, 1916 ... 83,355 1406 2 64,522 March, 1917 ... 52,229 1185 11 83,053 "In addition to these facts there can be no doubt that, owing to unsettled conditions and the difficulty of securing labour, farming laud has been, remaining stationary, or , going back rather than forward, and that as the supply of labour continues to diminish,!this tendency , increases." "Travelling through the country one cannot but be struck forcibly by the ex* tont to whioh, with its limited population, New Zealand has been able to develop its production and to take such an important position amongst producing countries," says Mr. Dalton in the course of eome general remarks. "But, as a matter of fact, tho Dominion's resources are so little developed, relatively J.O possibilities, that they may almost be said to be undeveloped. Will a greater population, which it could readily absorb, improved methods of closer cultivation, the uso ot waste lands, the drainage of swamps, and the development of means cf communication to enable, producers to market their produce more cheaply and itioro. quickly than at present, the possibilities of New Zealand are incalculable. '1 bo war has given the Dominion a vast opportunity, and, while its effects are realised, there can bo iittlo doubt that, given a fair passage from abnormal lo normal times, Jho years immediately, following should see a very great development. ' Commercial . and manufacturing firms in tho "United Kingdom will tliorefore bo vriso if, in the readjustment of ideas which must follow the war, Uioy givo duo place lo the increased possibilities of. New Zealand as a producing and importing country. "In order to give a clear view i.f tho naturo of the market, and to throw some light on tho peculiar difficulties" which 6urround it, it Diay be pointed out lhat though tho ground to be covered in properly dealing with the two islands is littlo less than that to be covered in the United Kingdom, the total population ie no more than , that of a ',ood-sized London, suburb or a provincial town. The buying power per head of tho populatiou ie, of course, considerable, it being no less than about worth cf imported goods in 1918. "It is not intended lo convey the impression that tho market is unimporUnt. For a country of-its size and population the import trade at present is on a largo scale, but from \the point of lien- of Britiuli manufacturers the more important fact ie that in epito of the present size of its trade tho Dominion is eo littlo doveloped that it may relatively bo said to be almost undeveloped. Them are certain sections in which settlement has been carried, a good way, but it is vnlikely that anybody would dispute the fact that the Dominion could readily carry ten times its present population, and will probably carry far more than that. ■ Th» war has influenced the I'ominion in two ways—it has brought about unprecedented prosperity and it has temporarily stopped new settlement. When the war is over it is not unlikely that development work will -Vo actively, carried on. So that it is to tho New' Zealand of the future that manufacturers at Homo should look rather than, at the actual market of the present. It wiir bo somo time beforo New Zealand can becomo anything of an industrial country, so that for a great many years it will offer increased opportunities for the sale of imported goods."