EMPIRE MARKETING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 14, 27 October 1938, Page 8

EMPIRE MARKETING.

STEADY DEVELOPMENT, CONFERENCE IN SYDNEY. All over the Empire there is a growing interest in the development of the policy initiated by the British Empire Producers’ Conference at Sydney. An* Australian paper, for instance, writes as follows: “The people of the town have been so busy building our modern civilisation that they have forgotten the people of the country—the primary producer—and in so doing have almost completely lost sight of the fact that without the farmers they could not have built any of the wonderful things which go to make our civilisation, including the machinery of distribution, which at present is the cause of so much trouble.

“It is to remind the people of the towns of these things and to protect farmers’ rights as that our Union (Primary Producers’ Union of New South Wales) and other similar organisations all over the world were formed, and by the extent to which they succeed in doing this effectively must their success, their justification, be measured. “In Australia, farmers have won hack much that they lost economically. The next step is to co-ordinate effort throughout the Empire.” Commenting on, the Government’s approval of the Sydney policy, the National Farmers’ Union headquarters states: Last month saw the policy for Empire agriculture, which was unanimously approved by the British Empire Producers’ Conference at Sydney, receive the endorsement of the Council of the Union as well as of the government. It is less than six months since the Union’s delegates sailed from Tilbury for Australia. Within that time the policy has been framed, approved by the accredited spokesman of Empire farmers and accepted by the Government of the Mother Country. It is an achievement without parallel.

The first basic* feature of the Sydney policy is that it recognises the right of farmers in each Empire country to be accorded the first place in their own “local” market. That means, in the case of the United Kingdom, that our brother-farmers in the Dominions do not question out right as a measure of economic security in peace time or for purposes of national defence.