The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1935. THE MEAT QUOTA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 127, 11 March 1935, Page 4

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1935. THE MEAT QUOTA.

The reply which the New Zealand Government has sent to the British Administration on the subject of the meat problem will be endorsed by the people of the Dominion. While realising the duty that devolves upon the Home authorities to protect and foster their own agricultural industry, New Zealanders feel that the policy that has been formulated does not conform to the principle that Empire interests should be placed before those of foreign producers. Any proposal for restricting the export of produce to their chief market would naturally be distasteful to any of the Dominions, but the plan put forward in the present instance is open to objection on special grounds as affecting New Zealand. As the Government has pointed out in its reply, the position in regard to mutton and . lamb has been satisfactorily adjusted as a result of the Ottawa Agreement. The difficulties facing the United Kingdom are not directly influenced by supplies of mutton and lamb. The problem in the United Kingdom as stated in recent communications is primarily related .to beef for which the demand of the British consumer has been falling off, and it would appear that New Zealand’s share of the beet imports is not such as would substantially affect the situation. Producers in New Zealand would probably prefer a levy to a quota, especially as under the former system they would enjoy a preference over the foreign supplier, but the Government rightly requests that a formal conference be held to consider the problem. The_actingPrime Minister of Australia (Dr Earle Page) has taken up the attitude of no surrender. “If any restriction is practised,” he says, “it should first be practised against foreign countries. It is possible to be too meek and mild in this matter. There is no reason why the New Zealand Government should not proclaim what is just as much the Imperial argument as its own. The, more downright its attitude the greater the influence upon the British manufacturers. Sooner or later the manufacturing interests of Britain will realise the full inevitable consequences of the agricultural control policy. It is these interests that will eventually light the battle for Empire unity and co-op-eration. It will not prejudice New Zealand’s market that the Government has put its fears into words and demands, as it has every right to demand, that the foreigner take the hrst blow. The British manufacturer is a world trader at heart, but he is not blind to Empire opportunity or to trade trends which make his Empire market more important than ever before.