BRITAIN’S NEEDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 36, 22 November 1940, Page 2

BRITAIN’S NEEDS

MUNITIONS AND DOLLARS.

RELATION TO EMPIRE TRADE.

(Special to the “ Guardian ”) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day.

“I am sure you will understand that Empire trade, if I must put it bluntly, must take second place to foreign trade at present,” said Sir Harry Batterbee (British High Commissioner in New Zealand) in a luncheon address to the Canterbuiy Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

The President of the Board of Trade had warned the people of Great Britain that they would be asked to tighten their belts even more than before, lie said. Exporters had also been warned that they could not expect much sympathy for efforts to extend exports to the Empire. “Great IJritain hates asking you to make sacrifices, hut when you think of the sacrifices being made at Home I know I am not appealing in vain when I ask you to help by restricting imports from Britain. This will be of the greatest assistance to the common war effort. It is a life and death struggle, and as it goes on I am convinced that we shall have to give up more, and more.

“First,,the people of Britain have to do without imported goods, because it is necessary to save all the foreign exchange w r e can, especially dollar exchange,” he said. “We tvant every dollar we can possibly get to buy munitions and other war supplies in the United States and elsewhere. Sacrifices in Britain. “Second, the,people of Britain have not been able to get many of the ordinary comforts of life which are made at Home, because all the men, factories, and materials are needed for making export goods or the guns and ammunition that are needed in increasing quantities. They have to go short of all sorts of things that are regarded .elsewhere as the ordinary comforts and conveniences of life. “Normally, Britain wants to extend her export trade in every w r ay possible, both to New Zealand and to other parts of the world,” said Sir Harry. “She is still anxious to trade with New Zealand, and, subject .to the needs of the war effort, to supply all that is absolutely essential to keep the economic life of New Zealand going. There are some goods in which native raw materials are employed, and where men and materials cannot easily be diverted to war -purposes, and in such cases Britain is anxious to supply you. “But as the war goes on, two needs become more and more paramount. One is the need to trade with foreign countries to obtain dollar exchange for purchases from the United States. The loss of material at Dunkirk lias entailed larger orders than were ever contemplated. All this is eating up our dollars.

The other need becoming more urgent every day was the employment of every man and factory, and all materials, for the war effort. “That means,” said Sir Harry, “that anxious as we are to continue trade with New Zealand, and to-seo that our trade is rebuilt on the old foundations after the war, Empire trade must take second place.”. Lord Stamp, the economist, had said that people must rid themselves of the notion that it was necessary or fine to live as usual in war-time. New food, new clothing, recreations, all had to be subordinated to Britain’s requirements from the United States. The Empire was one in this respect, and it was not much use restricting consumption of non-essentials in Britain while employing workers to make the same unnecessary goods for the rest of the Empire.