HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 191, 9 May 1940, Page 5

HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING

Scandinavian Countries SJEW ZEALAND VISITOR’S IMPRESSIONS Tlie Scandinavian countries had much in common and were very democratic, almost to a fault, said Mr. C. W. Buruard. editor of “The New Zealand Dairy Exporter,” when giving impressions of a visit to Denmark. Sweden and Finland, at a luncheon yesterday of the Wellington Junior Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Buruard said he visited these countries principally witli a view to seeing something of farming conditions and wits given semi-official status by the New Zealand Government, in each country he was accompanied on his tours by an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, and in this way was able to learn much which would have been otherwise impossible because of language difficulties. Features which these countries had in common, said Mr. Buruard, were an absence of wind, the relative flatness of the land, the severity of the winters, st very democratic outlook, and a high degree of co-operation. But just as the distance separating the Dominion from Europe tended to make New Zealanders a little “one-eyed,” so did the physical conditions of life in Scandinavian countries affect the people there in one wiry or another. Denmark’s helplessness when invaded by Germany was easy to understand. Where Jutland joined Germany the country was almost Hat for miles, and the boundary was ;r fence running through paddocks and impossible to defend. Copenhagen, the capital, was within easy reach of Germany by air and could be destroyed in 24 hours. It was easy to imagine how helpless 3,000,000 people would be under such conditions. Denmark’s Exports, Unlike New Zealand, Denmark was a manufacturing country and in order to maintain her high export figures must import large quantities of concentrates and turn them into manufactured foodstuffs. Millions of pounds worth of linseed meal, cottonseed cake, and so on, were imported each year, also 300,000 tons of phosphates.. But. since the German invasion the British Navy’s blockade had seriously affected these imports and it wars difficult to see what advantages the Nazis would gain. With her imports refnoved, Denmark's production would decline by 20 to 30 per cent. The weakness of a country such as this lav in the realization that she could not‘fight and was always ready to give in, but she would suffer during the present war, Mr. Burnard added. The Finns impressed him as being verv friendly jieople, said Mr. Burnard. He*had always thought of Finland as a country of mountains, but actually it was a land of lakes and forests, mostly of Baltic pine. Tn all, there were 70,000 lakes and millions of acres of forest which were well managed. Though the annual output of timber was terrific, the amount of forest cut each year was replaced. Since gaining national independence the Finns had made remarkable progress. They were down for a time, but nothing could crush them permanently. In spite of being under the domination of Russia for more than 100 years previously they had retained their national customs. ' Sweden Pro-Gernian. Sweden was more diversified than Denmark and wealthier than other Scandinavian countries. She was very pro-German, principally because of her trade relations, but the workers were strongly anti-Nazi. A diversified economy and 100 years of peace bad contributed much toward her satisfactory financial position. Sweden believed in the principle of saving in good times and spending money during periods of economic depression. Heavy taxes were levied in prosperous times and the money was conserved and spent liberally when needed. The Swedes were a cross between Danes and Germans and were a very commercial people. They made money out of the last war and hoped to do it again. What happened in Norway, Mr. Burnard added, could happen in Sweden. He expressed the opinion that there must be a tremendous concentration of Nazi agents in the country. The Scandinavian countries, he added, had been able to maintain their high standard of living principally because the British Navy was on the seas.