N.Z. PRODUCE AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 46, 18 November 1920, Page 5

N.Z. PRODUCE AT HOME

SIR THOMAS MACKENZIE'S. VIEWS

SOME INTERESTING OPINIONS

PRICES AND PROSPECTS

Sir Thqma9 Mackenzie had a busy day in Wellington, yesterday. Ho was the . guest of tne city at a civic reception in the forenoon, and ho had an official interview with the Prinle Minister in the afternoon, when ho presented n report on trade. between New Zealand and the United States. Very many old friends wished to meet him and to welcome him back to Now Zealand after an eventful absence of about eight years. In conversation with n Dominion reporter, Sir Thomas Mackenzie expressed Keen pleasure at being back in New Zealand. His association with this country . had never been broken, 6ince his official duties as High Commissioner in London had kept him in close touch' with ttyi publio and commercial affairs of the Do- , minion, but it was pleasant to bo ablo ' to resume old acquaintances and sea for , himself the development that had taken '! place in the Dominion since his departure In 1912. Whatever his duties might be ill the future, he hoped to be able - to visit many parts of New Zealand during the next month or two, including tho districts with which .he had been connsot- . «d politically in past years. Replying to a question regarding th? ■wool market, Sir Thomas Mackenzie said that he had Veen reading with keen interest the newspapor reports of tho developments that had taken place sincn his departure from Loudon. lie was not . disposed to take a 1 pessimistic view of the situation. Statistics showed that the world's flocks, exclusive'of the uncertain Russian total, had declined by between 60,000,000 and 70,000,000 since tho commencement of tho war, and this fact could not be disregarded when llic futuro of tlio market was being "coiisidered. TJm present situation undoubtedly was difficult, owing to tho. lieavy .accumulations of wool in England, and elsewhere, but lie hesitated to attempt any generalisation. The question really was exceediiig]y complex, and ho was not. yet fully conversant with what had happened sinni> he left England. He had stated publicly there his opinion that the policy of the ,' Controller, m withholding wool from the market ami charging very "high prices fnr limited ijuantities, had created dilikulties. But. that was past history now, ifnd the important questions related to tho future. . Sir Thomas Maokenzio had little to Bay :regarding the handling of tlin wool market ot the present time, ile had not had an opportunity of examining the plans that wore being discussed in litis country. The proposal to put a Government guarantee bohind 'advances rondo by tho banks on wool held in the stores, for oxnmple, was a new one, and he would not care to express an opinion ahout it at that stage. As a general principle it was sound polioy for the prices of produce to meet tne. market, but he realised that exceptional conditions had arisen. One nf ■the points to be considered in connection with plans for limiting offers of wool on tliß_market was tho probable attitude of otfier countries. _It would be important to know if Argentina and South African wool was going to be gold in the normal way. He had no doubt that'all the aspects of the proli--1 em. were* 1 receiving consideration, When he loft England, added Sir Thomas Mackenzie, the, accumulated stocks of .New: Zealand mutton were getting on th<» market, but tho condition of much of it 'was not satisfactory, and the consumers were hot keen about buying it.. The"consumption of meat, moreover, seemed. to have been reduced in - consequence. of the restrictions imposed . during tile war. The initial mistake had been mado by the Food Controller in concluding -'that, there was going to be" a meat famine "in the late- years of the war. M The Controller was quito persuaded that such a famine was coming, and he repeatedly made statements .to that effect. New Zealand's High Commissioner was convinced that there was no real shortage of meat, and he mado statements in' reply to the food Controller. "t rpade three separate, attacks upon his policy," said. Sir Thomas yesterday, "and after each attack he reduced .the_ price of meat, until he had brought down the price of mutton by from b'd. to 9d. per pound. But in the meantime the meat had been held too long. The appearance of the cur carcasses was bad, but, that was unavoidable. The deterioration of meat through unnecessarily prolonged storago could have been avoided." The reputation of New Zealand meat on the British market undoubtedly flad suffered owing to the conditions during tne war and after the war. That was a, fact that had to bo faced, and it was important "EHat the producers here,should realise, at the same time, that the competition tn the British market was exceedingly keen. Other meat-producing countries were concentrating on this market. 1 He had heard the complaint that the British market was being asked to take the New JtenJond mutton while the 'New Zealand lamb wont to America. The mutton had been selling in EnnJand without tho Innib,- but peoplo certainly were disapiwiiiied at not getting the lamb. He believed that unless tho stores had been congtnited to overflowing the lamb that had been sent to the TJnitpd States could - havo been sold in England. The wholesale price ia -lingland under control had been Is.- Id. per lb. The Americans were keen about Retting New Zealand .lamb, and they would •pay a very good price for it. 1 They probably could absorb from 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 carcasses without difficulty. ' But ho thought it ought to be a, condition of •uch sales that the Americans took also a proportion of mutton. Tim difficulty In this respect was American consumers had nolTlieen'accustomed to "eating mutton to any extent. Their own mutton was not of firjt-class .quality. He thpught that a proportion of mutton, en.y 15 to 25 per cent., could 'be sold in the United States with ' lamb if the meat was effectively advertised. The outlook for dairy produce, 6aid Sir Thomas Mackenzie, appeared to him to be good. There was a world shortage of butter , and the markets demanded tho cominodicv Vcrjc litik.butter would be availablo from other sources if I lie New Zealand and Australian supplies were withdrawn from the British market. Siberia, used to be a butter-producing country, and it had great potentialities. But it was putting no butter into the market ah present, and the situation there was very doubtful. The output of butter from the Argentine was increasing-and had to be regarded ns a factor. The prices to be obtained for butter and. all otL«er com- ' modifies depended, it should be remembered, on the ability of the buyers to find the money, and anything that reduced severely the purchasing power of customers would affect tho prices paid to the producers. When Sir Thomps Mackenzie left England tho industrial situation was nut good. The threatened strike of coal miners was a very serious matter. But he said yesterday that he thought the sturdy common sense of Englishmen, Scotsmen, and Welshmen would not allow the security of the nation to bo imperilled. Tin: "Red" element was not beinj; permitted to take charge. He did not think that the Crown ever stood higher in the esteem of the nation than at tho present time, and he was satisfied tliht it deserved its status. He had many opportunities during the war of seeing the devoted work of members of the Royal Family, and ho knew that this quiet, unostentatious work had been appreciated by the nation. A CIVIC RECEPTION

CORDIAL WEI,COME TO EX-HIGH COMMISSIONER. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, ex-High Commissioner for New "enlanfl, who reached Wellington on Tuesday night, after an absence of about eight years, was welcomed at a civic reception in the Concert Chambor yesterday. Tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke, Ml'.) presided, and tho Primo Minister (Mr. Massey). members of tho Ministry, City Councillors, and represeiitatives of various organisations, woro on the platform. There was a good gathering citizens, and Sir Thomas MarijMliV -ee giren. a. very cordial reoep-

Tlio Mayor extended the-guest a welcome on behalf of the people of tho capital city. He said that Sir Thomas Mackenzie was respected bv tho peoplo nf the Dominion for his 'work as a pulilio man.' and-for his achievements, as representative of Now Zealand in London during tho critical war years. Hu had performed his arduous work in London with conspicuous success, and he had been a true friend to tens of thousands of New Zealand soldiors. llis work ftmoni; tho troops had beon a very great comfort to mothers and fathers in thi.i country.. Mr. Luke described Sir Thomas Mackenzie as a trained business man, who was peculiarly well Qualified to have 'tho handling of New Zealand produce. He paid a tributo also to the. work done among the soldiers by Lady' Mackenzie and ner daughters, and 'to the plucky efforts in the cause of the blinded eoldiors of Mr Clutha Mackenzie, who was present that day. (Applause.) The Primo Minister said it was a great pleasure to welcome Sir Thomas Mackenzie nnd Lady Mackenzie back to New Zealand. During eight strenuous years Sir Thomas Mackenzie had discharged tho duties of High Commissioner loyally and well. (Applause.) New Zealand had been very fortunate in the men that it had been nbfle .to. sen d to London as its High Commissioners. 'J'hey had beon men who had been respected by tho British Government, and who had won respect for New Zealand. Sir Thomas Mackenzie certainly had been no exception to that rule., He haft mado many friends in the United Kingdom, and ho would llnd that ho had not teen forgotten by his old friends in this country. Mr. Mn«sov slffS ho coufi endorse what the Mayor had said about the splendid work done by tho late High Commissioner nnd Lady Mackenzie among the New Zealnnd soldiers. They had .done for the New Zealand troops in London what Mr. and Mrs. Luke had done for them in Wellington. It would not be easy to pay a higher tribute than that. Mr. Mnssnty added that he appreciated very warmly tffe work that had been done by the New Zealand War Contingent Association, of which Sir Thomas Mackenzie had been a prominent member. He did. not know what plans their guest had for tho future. But lie was qutTo sure that Sir Thomas, whether he remained among his friends in New Zealand, or went to a sphere of work in some other land, would pi;tv the part of a.patriotic and useful ci-tizoii. •Mr. C. W. Batten, speaking for the Returned Soldiers' Association, made warmly appreciative references to tho work of Sir Thoihus Mackenzie among the soldiers. Ho said that the New Zoalanders had known always that they could count on the good offices and kindly aseietnnoe of their High Commissioner. Ho mentioned that after Sir Thomas Mackenzie- .yisitod the Main Body in Egypt, tho nativps addressed every -New Zealand soldier, as "Mr. Mackenzie," on the assumption, apparently, that he wae tho father of thorn all. . The assumption,.was not - without justification. -f&Dpl&use.) Sir Thomas Mackenzie, in reply, oxpressed very warm appreciation of the welcome that had been extended to him and of. tho kind references that had been made to his work." Ho had received messages of welcome from the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Wellington, he said, when his ship first came within wireless reach of New.Zealand, and this kindness had continued at every stage of his return. It was exceedingly pleasant ho find that after an absence of eight yoars he was not forgotten in his own country. He felt that too much personal credit had been given to him for work, done in the Old Country. Ho had been ably assisted in the war work by devoted men and women, and without that assistance he could not possibly . have ■ accomplished all that required to be done for the New Zealand soldiers. 'He was glad to see some of his assistants present that day. Mr, "L. 0. H. Tripp had visited London twico and hcid spent time ard money in order that he might assist theMled Cross and the War Contingent Association. Mr. James Con,tea had boon am mnfailing source of help for- unfortunate New Zealanders. His aid was never asked in vain. A name that' must never be forgotten in Now- Zealand Was that, of Mr. Nolan. Other men who had given great assistance were Mr. Tolhuist and Mr. Douglas M'Lean. The late Lord' Plunket had dovoted himself unsparingly to advancing the interests of the New Zealand soldiers. He was grateful for the references that had "been mado to the work of Lady Mackenzie, who unfortunately had not always been in the best of health. Ho felt justified in mentioning his own daughter, now Mrs; Mac Donald, who had given five years of her life to work ,on behalf of tho Now Zealand soldiers.

Turning to the future, Sir Thomas Mackenzie eaid that he had not formed' any definite plans. His desire was to give his services - to/ 6ome useful purpose. Whether that service was to bo given in. this country or in some other land remained to be seen. Some time ago farmers had expressed a desire > tliat he should represent them in Britain, but he did not know if that proposal had matured; He had received other offers, but he had made nc arrangements until he could learn what were the wishes of the peoplo here. He had had many opportunities and great responsibilities in the Old Country. He had beon brought into close touch with the men who had the control of tho Empire's affairs, and' he thought that he- had gathered much information that would he of value to tho people of the Dominion. Lately he had been in the United States and Canada, and lib was convinced that there wero great possibilities of develooment in the trade between Now Zealand a'nd tho North American countries. The ' Eng-lish-speaking peoples of the taorld ought to. be pulling together, and- lie hoiied that New 2-ealanders would never allow their estimate of great nnd noble nations to bo coloured by the words and actions of "bounders'' who had no real right to fipeak for Hritain'or the United States. ■ Ho hoped to see Canada assisting in jinking up the United States with the British Empire and so making possible a - reduction of armaments. Sir Thomas Mackenzie added 'that thore whs no decay in the Mother Country.' He believed that tlio people of -Britain were more virile how than they ever had' been. Fewer of tho idle rich were wasting their lives than over before. The people of Britain wero imbued with the idem that- a man had to justify his existence, and 'they were working • ami planning on that basi6. Britain commnnded vast, supplies of raw material, and tho quality of her mnnufne■tures was still unexcelled. If her people settled down to work in a commonsense way, with a fair understanding between employer and employed, thero couTd be no doubt about the future, of the Empire.