RESTORING PROSPERITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 956, 26 April 1930, Page 7

RESTORING PROSPERITY

INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION BY BUYING N.Z. GOODS

TTOR the financial year* ended 1 on March 31 last, the offii cial returns show that New Zea- ' land failed to export sufficient goods to pay for the goods we ' imported. There was an adverse i balance of trade against us this year, as compared with a favour, j able one of £12.000.000 in 1929, | and £10.500.000 in 1928. s The reason for this falling-off was ! a decline in the quantity of dairy j produce and wool exported, combined | with a drop in prices of these pro- ! ducts. That wiped eight mil- | lions sterling off the value of our j exports, and on top of that | imports of goods amounted to over j £4.000,000 more than the previous j year. So once again we find ourselves I living beyond our income, and that folly is just as dangerous for a country as for an individual or a firm. We i must also remember that, in addition to exporting sufficient to pay for goods imported. New Zealand has also to export many millions’ worth of products to pay interest on our pubfk. and private debts owing to creditors abroad, and our future credit overseas is in danger unless payments are maintained. THE CASE OF AUSTRALIA There is no need for anything approaching a panic or for indulgence in calamity howling. Nor is anything gained by making the situation an excuse for political recriminations against this or that Administration. The state of our national trade is not due to past Governments except where they have all failed to provide a scientific tariff suitable to fostering the industrial development of the. country. The unfavourable balance of trade is mostly the result of ex cessive importing by our people, and we can see in the case of Australia that over-importation of goods and heavy borrowing abroad brought the trade of the Commonwealth to such a state that Australia’s credit was no longer good in London, the banas having taken the drastic step of rationing the financing of its external trade, and restricted credits, j To meet this trade crisis, the Commonwealth authorities have been compelled absolutely to prohibit the further importation of luxuries from abroad, and goods which can be manufactured in Australia are now subject to a 50 per cent, super-tax on the increased new tariff adopted only at the end of last year. Credit restrictions are also being applied, now by the banks in New Zealand. That means Australia is now thrown almost entirely upon her own resources tc provide what tho people require, and the importing craze will be subject to - the most drastic cure possible by shutting out imports with an almost impassable tariff barrier That will mean a sudden anpl serious dislocation of business for a while, as those who have been living on the handling of imported goods will have to switch over, and buckle to, in producing the goods in Australia. But it will be a blessing in disguise by making a self-contained, selfdependent, and self-reliant nation, proving lhat it can live when it likes, or has to, on its own resources. Unless by voluntary and freewill effort, the people of New Zealand wake up to the root causes of depression and unemployment here, and remedy matters by manufacturing and buying our own products instead of importing, the Government here will be driven to similar action in order to maintain our national credit abroad. For years past our financial and business experts, economists and politicians, have been spurring us on to increased production by vehement exhortations and solemn warnings, but it is only recently, since The Sun started its campaign for the expansion of manufacturing production, that this advice from prominent people , has taken the practical form of strong ; urgings upon the people to buy more ; New Zealand-made goods. HOW TO INCREASE PRODUCTION , It has been pointed out from many angles in this page that increased production of manufactured wealth can only be secured by our people buying our own workers’ products. It is not only a patriotic duty for every New Zealander to help his fellow citizens and do his best to foster the growth and prosperity of his native or adopted land. But from the most selfish of motives he must see that it pays him best to spend his money here, keeping it circulating among our busy workers, rather than see it drafted abroad to pay the wages of outside w-orkers, while our own are unemployed and a burden on the community. Our local buyers can go into a store and spend their money as they choose. It’s a free country at present, no matter what Australia is. The shoppers may spend their money on foreign goods, and must know that it is going to keep foreigners busy, or they can buy our local-made products and keep the money in use here for the benefit of everyone’s business. It is no use our manufacturers and their skilled workers obeying the urgent call for increased production to pull the country out of the bog of business depression, and speeding up their output of added wealth, if our own products are to be pushed aside by purchasers with a peculiar preference for imported goods. The obvious and only means to an increased production of the nation's wealth is by increased buying of the products, and the responsibility for that rests with every individual citizen of the nation. If only every shopper, when making •a purchase, would pause and ask himj self the question: “Is this money going into the pay envelope of a fellow-New Zealander, or into the pocket of some worker abroad?” he would not hesitate to demand the products of New Zealand workers, and be satisfied with no other. We in New Zealand are just one big family, which prospers or suffers together, and the more wealth we produce, the better off and more contented everyone -is. We cannot afford to have i workers in our human hive forced into | idleness because of our foolish preju--1 dices or false ideas of “cheapness.” j Our manufacturers and their workers | are eager and willing to add more ; and more to our production of | wealth. HELP THEM LOYALLY BY BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS.