Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1918. THE FUTURE OF THE PACIFIC.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1872, 3 September 1918, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1918. THE FUTURE OF THE PACIFIC.

THE High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir Tho>. Mackenzie, deliverecl a stirring' address before the Edinburgh and Leith Chambers of Commeree, in which lie made no secret of the attitude of the people of New Zealand towards the return of the captured German possessions in the Paeilie. In the course of his address Sir Thomas .Mackenzie spoke of the vast possessions which Lite British - Empire holds, not only in Ihe Paeilie but in the other parts of the world. He condemned (he lack of statesmanship that existed in Britain in the past with regard to her colonial possessions. The main reason why colonial problems ■were not understood, he declared, was because the Home Ministers hud not the advantage of personally seeing the Dominions.- He considered that none should sit in the British Cabinet unless he knew something Horn personal travel of the overseas dominions. Sir Thomas next referred to the wealth and resources of the Empire, pointing out the enormous asset which Britain had in her colonial possessions, and reminding his hearers that the total trade of the Empire in 1913 —the year before the war broke out — amounted to £2,108,686,000, while the last published figures of the German Empire showed that her trade amounted to £1,062,815,000. The point which he emphasised was that Germany had displaced us in markets which might have been regarded as essentially our own. Manufacturers, too, in Germany had received assistance from the State, who realised that it was the State's duty to assist trade by every means in its power. Finally he urged that

the Imperial authorities endeavour to organise the trade of the Empire on mure modern lines, so that they would be enabled to stand as an Empire strong for peaee, Christianity and civilisation.