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DOMINION'S POSITION

great; increase in trade

SPEECH BY HON. D. H. GUTHRIE

By Telegraph—Special Correspondent.' Palmers'ton North, May 25. Replying to the toast of Parliament at the social gathering at which.tho Pending branch of tho Parraers' Union entertained delegates in tho evening, the Hon. D. H. Guthrio said that never before had such great responsibilities been thrust on Parliament as was tho case at tho ■present time, for wo were passing through a period of groat stress, following on tho late war. In spite of this the Dominion had come out of it in a better position than she was in when she went into it, and ho felt confident that the present members of tho House would do the best they could to re-establish the country. Tho declaration of war had done away with partyship, and' both sides had joined hands and had stood side by side during that trying time which had followed. • He was glad to find no pessimistic note in any of tho speeches, and he felt that if they were careful and economic they would soon recover from the heavy financial burden which hnd.been thrust • upon them, and would come out on top. 'There must, however, bo increased pro- \ duction and closer settlements. A few • years ago they were talking about .£IOO ; grants. Now the Government was asked for thousands. During the watt everything possible was put on one side. Now things were changed, and tho demands on tie Government were mcifcnsmg, and Millions wero asked for for developing the country. When tho Homo money market was found to be tight, money was raised in New Zealand to the extent of for war and ,the development of the country. There, was raised in England at the same time_26 million pounds, making m all 105 million ■pounds. But it was most satisfactory to know that the bulk of tho money was foundiin New Zealand. In 1914 New Zealand had in fixed; deposits which in 1920 had grown to £50,665,071.

Increased Trade. ' The Dominion had arrived at this position: Wool in 1910 was worth 8| million pounds, and in 19W nearly 20 millions. Frozen meat in 1910 was worth .£3,850,777, and in 1919 .£9.628,292. Butter in 1910 was worth 31,881,075, and in 1919 .£3.080.128. Cheese in 1910 was worth .VE1.195,373. and in 1519 ,£7,790,990. The total trade in 1910 wasi .£39,281,793, and that in 1919 .£83,306,109, an increase of £44,047,137. He thought _ the result would surprise them. During the year 1918 alone there had" been an increase of ,£30,598,668. The excess of exports over imports in 1918 had been .£21.963,252. He had quoted these figures a 9 he felt they would be encouraging. Settling Returned Soldiers. Now that he had been appointed Minister of Lands he intended to give to that branch the very best that wis in him. He had immediately- called together all the Commissioners of Crown Lands end pointed out to them the importance of settling returned soldiers on the land. He quoted figures which were published in The Dominion last Monday to show what had been done in the settlement of returned soldiers on the. land. It had been a most difficult matter to put the different classes of men on suitable lands. He regretted that so few applications had beon received for bush lands, and he felt sure that many of the men were making a mistake in deolining to go on this class of land, in which thoro was a. good living to bo made. After watohine the,soldiers' settlements carefully, the' commissioners' had reported that the failures would not reach 10 per cent. He had been criticised for not reserving' large estates, but the procedure under which they could be compulsorily acquired was so unsatisfactory' that it would not mean solid settlements. In response to circulars he had received replies from 73 land holders who were willing to sell to the Government for (soldiers' settlement. It had been a pleasure to him to_ have a hand in the work of the Repatriation Department, which he felt was, doing good work. They had < practically'repatriated some 35,000 men, outside of those who had been placed on the land, and with putting men on the land had spent close' upon 20 million pounds. The producers of the Dominion had practically Ifound *£he money to enable tho Government to do this. The Meat Question.

' Keferring to the meat question and the unfortunate position owing to the glut in the cool stores, the Minister said that everything would be done to get ships to take the produce away. At the present time six ships were loading and 24 more were in sight, and this would do much to relieve the position. He believed that arrangements would be made with the Imptrial Government by which some of our own meat would bo got away at the. same time as that of the Imperial Government.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200526.2.31

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 206, 26 May 1920, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
817

DOMINION'S POSITION Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 206, 26 May 1920, Page 7

DOMINION'S POSITION Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 206, 26 May 1920, Page 7

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