From Depression to Prosperity

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 40, 15 April 1932, Page 1

From Depression to Prosperity

What recent broadcasters say about the depression and the way out

WR. A. W. HAWLEY, from 2ZW, on "An Open Letter from John Bull to his Nephews Wallaby and iwi’ Make a careful note of

of ‘the fact, that the fact that the the world’s free dumpine-ground, the

United Kingdom, is to be permanentlv. closed for at last I understand

what King George meant when, many vears aso as Duke of York, on returning

from a trip round the world, he rather uzzled me, with the brief greeting, "Wake-up, John Bull."

While the War was on, we all did our Avitmost, disregarded the expense and borrowed to the limit. We grudged nothing, but, surely, lads, when peace came each of us was in honour haund tna meet the ohlications he had incurred.

wwweoeewssel-lCcC cl rT Oe OO eT That was certainly the principle which guided me "You've lade: in settling for my own borrowings, but ideas of a diff- Plimsol-ma erent kind have, I fear, been brought to bear whenever 1 have ye appeared in the role of lender. I confess I felt now just retur’ a little sore over these transactions. Notwithstanding dis- being appointments and losses and the deplorable financial world crisis, I find myself not unduly depressed in looking forward to the future, because I forsee that you and I, and the others "7 in the Empire, will have now to close our ranks, and, advancing under our new banner, inscribed "All-Round British Fair Play," will finally carry everything before us. I realise how mistaken I have been in clinging so obstinately to "Free Trade on One Side" in a practical age, and I recognise that to that infatuation is in great measure due the low level to which my affairs have fallen of late.

ue part I have been playing for so long , may be aptly compared with that of San Claus, the "General Gift-Bearer," while the other players humoured and played-up to me by hanging up around me rows of suggestively empty stockings. But that little comedy’s long run is over, and our Company, instead of Burlesque, will now take up "the legiti-

mate," beginning with Shakespeare’s ‘"‘Measure for Measure." Now, Kiwi, in 1929 I bought seventy-three and . one-half per cent. of your xports, and in the same year foreign countries bought fourteen and onehalf per cent. In 1931 I was more generous, and bought 88 per cent. of your produce, and your

foreign friends only bought : ‘seven per cent. in that year.

It is up to you, Kiwi, to make it your business to see that your Government representatives at the forthcoming Imperial Conference to be held at Ottawa in July next, are armed with a proposition to put to me

that will be fair and reasonable, and that it will show me that in return for this

great concession 1 have offered you by UNS ten per cent. tariff preference, you will offer’ me concessions in your market. It is.not fair to expect your old Uncle

to make your a present of concessions amounting to something like one and three-quarter millions a year on butter and cheese, alone, unless you offer me some reasonably equivalent concession

in return, and unless this quid pro quo proposition is put forward by your representatives at Ottawa, and accepted by me by November.15 next at the very latest, as much as I would hate it, I am afraid that I would have to charge you ten per cent. duty on all the goods you send ne-then you would have yourselves to blame.

Tet is only fair, lads, isn’t it? in| other words, it is reciprocity-and reciprocity in trade, as between your old Uncle and his beloved | nephews; is something that we must definitely arrange at Ottawa. | Don’t worry about this, "old man," boys. I had a hard struggle and am facing the future full of vigour and optimism, and, believe me, with co-operative assistance of you sturdy nephews, we will forge ahead to prosperity before long. My orders are, full-steam ahead, and no looking back.-Your affectionate Uncle, JOHN BULL. Mr. Roland Hill, speaking from 2ZW on the flax industry: This n’"?

is not the first-depression experienced in New Zealand, tor there were several others, one earlier being of a major character, and yet economie good resulted from it. { In the early eighties of the last century an acute depression existed | in New Zealand. In those days, our principal exports were wool, | wheat (when the harvest was bountiful), hides, skins, tallow and some

nemp (pnormitm tenax }. The population was small (about 400,000), gold mining had practically petered out, and New Zealand was forced to depend upon the export of those commodi| ties to pay its way. | In those days, refrigera- ; tion had just been invented, and it had been tried in the: Argentine, from where (Continued on page 4), it

From Depression to Prosperity

(Continued from Page 1.) frozen: mutton had been successfully shipped to London, You may imagine how this fired the enthusiasm of the sheep farmers of New Zealand. The leading. business men of Dunedin combined, together with some of the big sheep farmers, to give the new freezing process a practical trial on a commercial basis. Sufficient sheep were forthcoming from the big stations to fill a ship’s hold. The sheep had to be taken to the waterside, and killed and frozen on the ship. One cargo of frozen mutton was destroyed by fire while the ship was yet in harbour, and apother cargo was lost at sea, when the ship Dunedin was lost. However, New Zealand mutton reached the English market and found purebasers. Now let me describe how Wellington secured, through the courage and enter. prise of the pioneers of that time, a railway service which has been a boon and a blessing to the city of Wellington. The Government of the day intended to build a railway line from Wellington to Palmerston North, and a certain amount of formation work had been. done, but it closed down on the job, This was a big blow to Wellington, but, nothing daunted, the business men of Wellington discussed the matter, plan ned and schemed, and eventually secured the consent of the Government to build the railway, and the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, Lim. ited, blossomed forth. A marked degree of the responsibility of citizenship was shown by numerous wage earners. many of whom subscribed for _ fire shares and, some eyen subscribed for a £1 share, but this all helped to develop this progressive undertaking. It was many years before the shareholders saw the colour of a dividend, and, truth to tell, most of them did not expect any such return,

The railway from Wellington to Longburn is a lasting monument to the courage and enterprise of the business men of Wellington of the eighties, . According to and the experience of the world, history has a habit of repeating itself, and we may thus well wonder what new industries or services are likely to emerge from the present depression. The question involved in this I do not presume to answer, but it seems to me that at least two industries with export potentialities may be the outcome. : The first, and immediately profitable industry, is that of gold mining. This industry is not a new industry lo New Zealand, but it has remained stagnant for a number of years, for other lines of industry have offered greater scope with a surer development. There is still plenty of gold to be won in New Zealand, especially in the South Island, and prospecting is being eneouraged by the Government. The gréat progress made in the science of metal lurgy, which enables low-grade ore *%o be worked profitably, combined with the advance in the price of the yellow metal, have had 2 wonderfully stimulating effect in the gold mining industry. New mining companies are coming into existence frequently, and the results being obtained are shown by the export figures of gold. Another industry, offering great export possibilities and one likely to emerge from the present depression, -is the industrx of producing New Zealand flax (phormium tenax) fibre. The staff of Massey College, Palmerston North, have been doing valuable research work ‘in connection with the growing of flax, Let us look to the bright side of the depression, Jet us find now avenues of placing our unemployed people in permanent and profitable employment.. Let us build a new secondary industry which will revive, un a stabilised basis, one of our most valuable, yet at. present languishing primary iudustries. Courage, optimism, and determination, combined with patriotism, are the great essentials of to-day. [Further excerpts from broadcast talks of this nature will be given next week. ]