WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 31 May 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. ! (Special to “ Guardian.”) WELLINGTON, -May 28. In the course of his address to farmers and others at Ilawera on Tuesday of last week. Mr W. .f. Poison. President of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, repeated his statement that on the trade balance of the last seven years we were to the had to the extent of £80,01)0,000. He. stated that during the past seven years the experts totalled 1:327,000.000, hut imports and interest combined amounted to tills,ooo,fiOO. which left a debit of £80,000,000, and yet during that period the Government had borrowed £38,000.000 The .Minister for Finance when replying to a similar statement previously made by Mr Poison, contended that loans raised abroad came into the Dominion largely in the form of imports and these he called imports, and ttrget that if it were correct that our export' must in each year pay for our import; whether such imports represent lorn moneys or not, then it would mean, tr take an extreme case, that if in an; year we borrowed £100,0011.000 our ex ports would have to he suflicient no merely to pay our interest hill fill also to repay the u hole of the loin moneys in the same year as they wen borrowed. Moth the Minister for Fin unco and Mr Polmiii do not appear t< have stated the position correctly, ir a.s Mr Poison contends we overrun tin constable to the extent of £80.000.001

iii seven vein's the Dominion's credit would luive reached vanishing point Ion:.; because it we failed to pay our wav our criditors would have promptly stopped all ciedit. Far from that being tin- case, our creditors show a wonderful eagerness to continue to lend us money, as witness the last loan of C 0.07.0.000 Honied in London hy New Zealand. This was over-sub-scribed in a very short time, and the terms were hotter than those obtained for the Commonwealth loan. The Minister for Finance's presentation of the ease was also wrong, fur lie overlooked one item—an important item of export. According to the latest official figures the exports from Xew Zealand for the two years ended March Id, 1027. totalled C!)4,8(i1,709, and the imports for the period amounted Co C 101,010.070. the imports exceeding the exports by CO,I-18,307. Wo were unable to pay for our imports hy the amount named, lit addition we had approximately 013,000.000 to pay as interest on public debt owing abroad, and this increases the debit balance to C10,148,307. Hut in the two years the Government borrowed in London and Australia about C 17.000.000. and there were the borrowings of local bodies which in the two years amounted to about Ci,000,000, making in nil about C 10,000,000. which practically covers the deficit. It must not he over-looked that when Ihe Government borrows abroad while goods come into the country as contended 'ny the .Minister for Finance there is also an export. I'nr instance those who lent Xew Zealand C 0,000.000 early in the mouth received stock or bonds, that is marketable securities, and these stocks or bonds were therefore in the nature of an export. Of course there are numerous other items that must he taken into consideration when endeavouring to arrive, at. the Dominion’s balance in

foreign commitments. 'I here are the credits brought in by tourists, and the amounts taken by New Zealanders travelling abroad ; remittances to rein - tives abroad and remittances received,

pensions and a variety of minor debits and credits. In the figures given above the matter is clonic with in its broadest aspect. New Zealand is paying its way hut is doing so with loan money. " A I’OI.SI! EVI K PROPOSAL. A Mr W. lumber, of Masterlou, writing to a Wellington paper formulates a first-class Bolshevik scheme for settling all our difficulties and pulling neu heart- into the producers. He

says that as a primary producing country our products are worth just the best price obtainable on the best market we can find; we lannot inflate that market so must try to deflate our primary costs. Why not hasten that deflation by legislation and save so many good farmers from leaving the land. ll' a simple Act was put through Parliament immediately on re-assem-bling to automatically write down all mortgages created from the inflation period by one-third and all interests to 5 per cent, we should soon see the wheels of industry' going round. And Mr Butcher is so optimistic ns to regard his proposal as “ thoroughly practical and sound.' 1 He does not give a thought to the rights of the mortgagee who has entered into a private contract with the mortgagor. This is confiscation and Bolshevism run mad. This proposal indicates the trend of thought at the present time amongst a section of the community. It is that the interests of everyone must be sacrificed for the poor farmers. Unfortunately the realities of the situation cannot so easily he dealt with. The farmers who are working land secured at fancy prices must put up with the consequences, and if the community is left alone it will work out, its own solution.