"WE CANNOT CLOSE DOWN."

Taranaki Daily News, 21 March 1918, Page 3

"WE CANNOT CLOSE DOWN."

[."XTIL THE EXElll' IS BEATEX. THE PREMIER AT FEILDIXG. By Telegraph—Press Association. (Delayed.) Feildhig, March 10. A pr.L'lic congratulatory afternoon vc-i-eptioji was ;:iven to the lion. Cuthrie by the elector:; of Oroua to-day -in his promotion to the Xational Cabinet. Tito Mayor I Mr- Oiiylev) presided. Mr Massey, in referrin;.; to the war, said that with the British it was a case ot endurance. Britain had a lon<:' score to settle with (tonnany ami tiie Centra! Empire before the war finished. There Here submarine and other atrocities. people at the other end o; the world," he continued, "were saving it was lime we closed down with regard (o the war, ! say no; wo cannot, close down until the enemy is beaten'' This was a pnrtiaiiariy dangerous period of the war. \ve have to combat people of our own who are war-weary and king lor peace Reparation must be insisted upon. We must go 011 until we make it impossible for (icrmain to return to the IV.cilie. V. e cannot afford to let Samoa !jo, not to mention the'islands in which :Uis.ti'a!iu is interested. Speaking without any claim to special knowledge, lie said lie did not llihil: it would bo long before there would he something, in the nature of a peace conference. At tbe Imperial Conference lie would uphold the claims of tl:o islands, and, with regard to after the war, he would support a policy of preference to the British Empire for the British. Our enemies should never asain be allowed to dump their <joods in British countries on terms of equality with the British. The war should prove an unforgettable lesson to Britons. .Mr. Massey thought Britain's shipping controller had treated Xew Zealand well, and would continue to do so. Mr. Guthrie, replying to the address of congratulation, said he would not then L'O into matters of tenure, etc., but he would sav that the day of ranching in Xew Zealand was past. The day of closer settlement was coining. Secondly, we have only scratched the surface so far as producers are concerned, but in future we must work the land along scientific lines to get the production needed to meet the future needs of the Dominion's liabilities.