NEW ZEALAND'S RESOURCES.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1920, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND'S RESOURCES.

A GREAT FUTURE. After an absence from Palmerston North of nearly 12 years Mr. Gordooi E. S. McMimi, son of the late Mr. Alex McMinn, the wcll-knowh journalist, re- ■> turned 011 a brief visit to his natiVfr town recently. In his capacity as a journalist he has been connected with the Australian Press during the major •♦* portion of the years he has been away, ... and is at present a member of the editorial staff of the Bendigo Advertiser, Victoria. "Compared with other of tlio world," he stated to a Standard representative, "New Zealand is moat favorably circumstanced. Indeed, to B»y way of thinking, especially af« , ■ter seeing what other States have to contend with, this Dominioa has | vast advantages and magnificent opportunities that are lacking elsewhere. Sometimes when I hear N4w Ze&landera complaining ol ! their lot—and I have hoard complaints and grumblings—-I compare Maoriland with, eay, Queens-' land, inland New South Wales, erKorth-i em Victoria. There are plaoea ill Queensland that have had no nrin for three yeaTa; just prior to leaving Victoria, a destructive drought hadther«< wrought havoc amongst stock and crops f in N.S.W. only recently drought hroajjhtf ruin to hundreds of people. In Aw* land last week nearly three indie* : <ofr rain fell in caie 24 hours. What a gOd J send that wquld have been to the <fry areas in Australia! New Zealand has everything in its favor—rainfall, rirera, and fertile lands and in addition am energetic and go-ahead people, but „itf , often strikes me that the latter do not) realise what a wonderful country this ife From what I have seen the cost of livijig in New Zealand is slightly higher tUM in Australia. Statistics may ehow otherwise, but actual purchasing is the tyb Boots and shoes than can be bought irt Australia for from 30s to 40s are Oil' sale here at from 40s to 555. Meat it dearer here than in Victoria, but possibly a threatened drought accounted fori the lowering of the price in Victoria* When I left Bendigo sides of prime mutton could be purchased at the shops for from 3s to 6s each, and joints were correspondingly low." Bread is, or ni iill recently, .lower in Victoria than in New Zealand, as also was clothing. But you. have not the' same industrial unrest an we have in Australia. Strikes have recently played havoo with industrial ac* tivity over there. Workers are demands ing increased wages and less hours an 4 therefore production is decreased and! more costly. Notwithstanding that, the cost of living, though rising rapidly, is lower in Victoria at least. It Is delightful to me to see mile upon mile oil green luxuriant grass paddocks and hills. I can only compare it to the Victorian] irrigation settlements in the height of the season. We in Australia have not • the splendid rivers you have here toi water your lands and to provide light! and power, and therefore our problems aro peculiarly our own and totally different to 1 New Zealand's. My acquaintance with other lands has convinced mo that above all things, New Zealand is a country one can be eminently proud of., Providence has blessed it with an abundance of good things that are seldom met: with elsewhere, and it only remains for the application of energy and science to utilise those gifts for the enrichment of the people of the Dominion. There is no need to doubt the future providing economy and production are the keynote of ftll activity. Like Australia, New Zealand is hiftvily indebted and that indebtedness mu9t be met. It can only be nill by the creation of new wealth—by increased production—and by public and- private economy and increased efficiency. Those are the present-day essentials. Travelling through the country I have seen evidences of prosperity on every hand and with it evidence of extravagance. The latter phase is not pleasant to see. There must come a settling day, which will by no means go well with those who to-day are extravagantly inclined."