The Hokitika Guradian Wednesday july 19th, 1922. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ZEALAND

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guradian Wednesday july 19th, 1922. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ZEALAND

Commenting on tip? contribution by a correspondent of the “Manchester Guffffjiiui” on the need for the do, yelppTTlpnt' of New J3ofll a ffdi sha Lyttelton Times pays writer bus rfttfw the position wfien ]■* «»»g>

gests that we have reached the practical limits of land settlement. The settlement of the land and the In'st utilisation of its resources are causes which have languished from inattention ever since tho poitical paity which calls itself to-day a “fanners’ government” secured possession of the reins of office. To argue from present conditions that land settlement has no further possibilities to offer is very much akin to urging a return to provincial methods of government, liecause tile party in power notoriously favours one province at the expense of all the rest. But such comments are inevitable in the circumstances, and we suppose that ephemeral circumstances must he allowed to have their value, even in the consideration of matters which, in the best interests of humanity. ought to lie judged on a broader basis. Tile “.Manchester Guardian’s”, correspondent seems to think that New Zealand’s future as a useful member of the community of nations lies in this country’s ability to manufacture its raw materials. Economically the point is (|i'ite immaterial, so long as out present small population can support itself on the price which it can demand for its efforts from the rest of the world. New Zealand can either produce ran materials or finished goods, and the price which can be obtained I'm- the product will determine the choice of policy. But if we wish to increase our population, then we must take another standpoint. AVe must consider whether the resources of this country are of such a character that we can continue profitably to employ an increasingly large working population in the production of raw materials. Of course our isolation from the world's great manufacturing centres has long ago convinced us that we cannot forever stand a double freight on our productions. We cannot forever send our wool sixteen thousand miles to Bradford and have it shipped hack sixteen thousand mies in the form of manufactured clothing materials. That is a matter of. pure economic waste, and the whole doctrine of modern industrial economy is against it. Tf, as the “Manchester Guardian’s” correspondent suggests, we have got to the end of our tether as an effective producer of raw materials, and if. as tlip banks would have us believe, our prosperity must lie gauged bv the balance of our exports over our imports, then our manifest destiny is to devise a means of cutting down imports. And if, as Colonel Ainery seems to think, the salvation of the Motherland lies in a hotter distribution of population throughout the Empire, then we must find a place for the skilled artisans who have been trained by the Motherland in the arts of manufacture. It is a commonplace of the conditions of international trade that if we could liny nothing from Britain she could buy nothing from us. hut Britain at present seems to ho eating up her capital in heavy taxation which is to some extent necessitated by doles to the unemployed. We have a domestic market for manufactured l-.o,:Js and a transfer of capital and of I'oj illation from the Motherland to New Ztalaii,t is in accord with most of the economic requirements of the situation. That lieing the ease, we may overlook ally shortcomings in an article which, after all. emphasised what every goul New Zealander, ought to be saying. It may be urged by the cautious that New Zealand, if it indulges in manufacture to an extent beyond domestic requirement, may find itself handicapped by its isolation from the lest of the markets of tlie world. But that argument, after all. rests upon a condition of affairs under which the British Isles contain the bulk of tile Empire's white population. Transport ■becomes continually cheaper and cheaper as man’s mastery of the forces of Nature becomes more complete. Geographically New Zealand, with its wealth of natural resources, lias

no absolutely disqualifying handicaps against a future role as a manufacturing country. The Asiatic nations, with their prolific birth rates, have merely proved that a huge and ignorant population is not a good industrial asset. China liae produced Confucius, hut America has produced Edison. Japan can turn out manufactured goods very cheaply, but- she lias not yet succeeded in capturing even those markets which should he her heritage as n matter of proximity. Australia vast in area, hut largely arid of -soil, lacks the initial advantages that are possessed by New Zealand—an island nation sufficiently small to have a single purpose and sufficiently rich in resources to make the purpose well worth exploitation. Sir George Grey visualise,! New Zealand ns the “Britain of the South.” The dream is one that may come true. But it will not he realised by a policy of haphazard immigration and haphazard borrowing. Statesmanship is called for.