THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 113, 6 February 1919, Page 5

THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

QUESTION OF CONTROL.

(By Telegraph-Special Correspondent.) Feilding, February 5. Speaking at the Feilding Show to-day the Minister of. Agriculture referred to the Peace Conference and said that people had to accept with caution the cable news which was being received. The Conference was a'secret' one. Heior one felt confident that Britain would insiet that the' interests of the islands of the Pacific would he fully conserved. Prior to the war Britain had nino or ten ships patrolling the Pacific in Australian waters, and he was quite confident that the prior claims'of. the overseas Dominions would bs carefully guarded in the future as they had been in the past. The routes must be kept open and free, and he felt satisfied that Britain would see. that they were. Referring to what New Zealand had done he paid a great tribute to the. farmers, who, he said, had not only met the requirements,of the country .in the matter of foodstuffs, but had produced an exportable surplus representing £64,000,000 during a broken, period. No country had come out of the war in such a sound position. After meeting liabilities there was a. surplus of to form the ( nucleus of a. fund which he hoped would be devoted to 'the relief of taxation. The Minister strongly .condemned the criticism of the National Government, which had worked unitedly and whole-heartadly in the proseoution of the war-'until victory had been achieved. However, the t .country, he hoped, would be given an opportunity before the end of the year to elect a new Government/