IMPERIAL PURCHASES.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1918, Page 7

IMPERIAL PURCHASES.

mn, WHAT TUFA' HAVE MEANT TO FARMERS. MOW RUIN 'WAS AVERTED. 1 "Whereas /by reason of the exigencies I of the present, war it is necessary.that ! further supplies should be obtained (by His Majesty for the clothing, and equipment of llis Majesty's Forces and for other purposes of the war. . Thus it was that the Imperial .Supplies. Department was formed- There has now passed througli its hands and been paid for the following produce:— Wool £25,368,400 Meat 23,141,537 Cheese 7.582,014 Butter 2,398,943 Skins 776,127 Hides 022.745 Glaxo 200,200 Seheelite 98,fe7 Rabbits 37,955 ■Milk 31.400 Rabbits 15,792 Sundries ... 727,409 Total ' £01,067,439, At the Department's smoke ooncert in Wellington on Saturday night, reports the Post, Mr. W. S. Bennett, president of the Woolbrokers' Association, in proposing "The Department of Imperial Government Supplies," said: "God only knows what would have happened to this Dominion if the Imperial Government had not taken our produce.' 1 It practically saved the country from bankruptcy. It took over the burden of marketing the New Zealand produce, Riid the commercial community realised to the .full the benefits arising out of the Imperial purchases of produce. He ivas familiar with what had been done elsewhere with respect to the requisition of produce; but he could only say that in no other country "Vrljere tlig Imperial Government had take-over the staple products had things gorie so smoothly as in New Zealand. As political head of the Department of imperial Supplies, the Prime Minister (Mr. Massey) said that he had watched the Department very carefully indeed when it was established in March, 1915. He wondered liow on earth he was going to go about it, and then Mr. Triggs came along and ofTered to assist, and" naturally he jumped at the offer. It was most fortunate for himself and the country that Mr. Triggs (then having a little leisure) was available. First there was meat, then sclieeiite, used in steel manufacture—and lie looked forward to the time when New Zealand would produce its own iron and steel. He ventured to predict that New Zealand would become to the Pacific in the South what Britain was in the North. Wool was the most important of all New Zealand products. Fortunately, with respect to wool, Sir Joseph Ward and himself were able to negotiate with respect to that o n the spot when in London. With respect to 'butter, the Imperial Government was not particularly anxious to take it over; but they took it over at a verv fair price to the producer. If they had not taken it over, most of it would have had to be stored indefinitely. Mr. Bennett, was quite right; it would have been a very serious thing for the country had- not the Imperial Govern inent taken over the produce. He did not know what the position would be now, with the present scarcity of shipping, if the produce had not been taken. Then came the requisition of skins and hides and other produce, aggregating, as they knew, £61,000,000 since March, 1915. That was an enormous sum of money. It had passed to the producers, and, througli them, had filtered down to every section of tile community. It had enabled New Zealand to do its share of the war; but if the Imperial purchases had not been made it was impossible that that should have been done. The public hardly ever heard of the Imperial Supplies Department, becar.se it did its great; work qnietly and without ostentation of any sort, and it did so without any friction. People might not appreciate this work now, ibut they would <lo so later on. Would the Department come to an end after the war? Mr. Massey thought it would not.' "Great Britain will undoubtedly require all the wool for some times after the war comes to an end. There are ,i;o accumulations of wool in store at the present time. When soldiers, now wearing khaki, resumed civil life, they would require civil clothing—which wool entered largely. It will millions of them—of wool or fabrics into which wool entered largely. It wilf be necessary, then, for a long time to come for the Government concerned to see that some control i» exercised over wool supplies," Exactly, or nearly the same tiling, applied to the meat supply. New Zealand exported more meat than any country excepting the Argentine. Was that fact realised? And yet this country's resources as to production of meat were not half developed. He believed that control of meat would be continued. In the same way the control of shipping would have to be maintained. That was his opinion in common with that held by men In Great Britain at the present time. He did not say the State should take over the shipping, but if private enterprise failed, the State or the Empije would have to step in. The Prime Minister then referred to changes in commerce a3 a result of the war. There was evidently a change now in regard to preference. It was absurd to talk about Freetrade when one country had Freetrade ait to its imports but th« country to whfch it oxported its manufactures or products did not. That was too one-sided an arraßgement. That must not be He believed there was going to be a tremendous change so far as "the franchise was concerned. He foresaw a preferential tariff for Britain. The necessity for something of the kind— foresees and advocated by Mr. •Toseph Chamberlain—'has "been brought about iby the war. Within the British Empire could he produced all that the Fmpire needed. The future policy of the Fmpire must (as was that of the United States after the Civil War) be self-suiiporting. Concluding, Mr. Massey said the Imperial Supplies Department? Ini.Tht cense.' under that name, but : > would exist, he believed, under some other designation