TRADE AILMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 29, 4 February 1928, Page 9

TRADE AILMENTS.

LIBERAL REMEDIES.

Britain's Industrial Future

Investigated.

ARBITRATION UNSUITABLE.

(By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.)

LONDON, February 3.

The second report of the Liberd party inquiry into Britain's industrial future, from which the Liberals hope much will result, is an exhaustive volume of 503 pages, which covers the entire economic field.

The authors are Liberal leaders, 'outness men and trades unionists, working under the auspices of the Summer School Committee in collaboration with Mr. Lloyd Georcv.

The report opposes direct trading by the State and favours the development of public boards of control of utilities, particularly electricity. It advocates that large-scale semi-monopolistic private concerns and public companies which control more than half the products within Britain should be registered and subjected to stringent inspection by the Board of Trade; that the national savings should be employed to develop transport facilities, public utilities, housing and agricultural equipment, a board of national investment to take over the functions of the national debt commissioner.

It is recommended that an economic general staff be established, associated with Cabinet and the economic departments, to study problems and co-ordinate information and plans for stabilisation measures. The feport suggests a measure to improve training and education, to develop marketing methods, to extend the profit-sharing principle, to avoid wage disparities, and to enforce a minimum wage in each industry.

It says that after careful study of the experiments in Australia and New Zealand, compulsory arbitration cannot be recommended for adoption in England, because it is a reversal of the voluntary policy of the Industrial Court; also, it is impossible to define principles governing wage levels and enforce unacceptable decisions on powerful organisations.

Ir dealing with preference, the report says that any large system of duties to meet the requirements of the Dominions would make the Empire a burdensome thing to the poor classes cf Britain, and would cause their impoverishment and prevent Britain from doing what she now can for Imperial development- Such a system would be mtitual only as regards the Dominions, and would not be applicable to India, and not enforceable in the Crown Colonies or Protectorates. For that reason it would be impracticable and would be likely to be more harmful than beneficial.—(Sydney "Sun.")