OTTAWA'S TASK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 149, 25 June 1932, Page 9

OTTAWA'S TASK.

TRADE AND CURRENCY. NEW ZEALAND'S HOPES. GREATER EMPIRE MARKETS. READY TO OFFER CONCESSIONS. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. The view of the New Zealand Government, said the Prime Minister in a statement to-night, is that the Ottawa Conference should be approached in a spirit of mutual co-operation, and not from a point of view of more bargaining or fine balancing of advantages that can be accorded by one unit of the Empire to another.

Very briefly, New Zealand's attitude is based on the belief that the constituent members of the British Commonwealth of Nations can make arrangements in trade and other economic affairs which will be to the material advantage of all. and that the severity of the present depression renders it a matter of lirst urgency that advantage be taken of these possibilities.

Since the Imperial Conference of 1030 adjourned with the understanding that it should resume in Ottawa, changes of great moment have taken place in the economic and financial situation. Britain has imposed duties 011 certain products of foreign countries, including butter, cheese, fruit, flax and tallow, and has withheld the imposition of these duties on Dominion products until November 15 of this year. This grant of tariff preference, temporary although it is, opens up new and valuable prospects for exporting countries within the Empire. Wide Range of Subjects. Since the 1930 conference, too, and by reason of the acute financial depression, currency questions have assumed outstanding importance. The agenda paper for the Ottawa Conference covers a wide range, although it is confined to economic and related problems, and includes trade and tariff policies, both within the Empire and between the constituent parts of the Empire and foreign countries, transport and communications, including shipping, postal, cable, wireless and broadcasting, monetary and financial questions with the restoration and stabilisation of a satisfactory general price level. From this summary it will be seen that the deliberations of the conference 1 are charged with the highest importance for New Zealand. It seems clear that the reason for the concession of the British Parliament in withholding the duties on Dominion products referred to was to afford an opportunity for discussing the matter with the Dominion Governments with a view to the further development of inter-Imperial trade. Therefore, the Ottawa Conference will be concerned with exploring methods for enabling increased quantities of Empire goods to be used to supply the British market, and, on the other hand, for further facilities being afforded British goods to enter the Dominion markets. For this purpose, the New Zealand Government has collected full information from exporting interests in New Zealand as to the various ways in which their present share of the British market can be conserved and extended.

There are, of course, several methods by which this can be done, if acceptable to Britain. Among these are the maintenance and extension of the preferences at present granted by Britain and the further opening of the United Kingdom market by the regulation of importation of foreign products into that country. Reciprocity Essential. Th.e export trade of New Zealand with other Dominions is likewise a very important matter for this country, .and the conference will afford an opportunity of reviewing and discussing our mutual commercial relations.

So far as Great Britain is concerned, it is clear that if the British Government is to grant further facilities lor the encouragement of New Zealand and other Dominion trade by way of tariff changes or other means, reciprocal advantages must be accorded by the Dominions to exports from the United Kingdom. New Zealand has already gone a very long way in that direction by granting tariff preferences to the United Kingdom and other parts of the Empire. The Government, however, is satisfied that there still remains a relatively large field for economic co-operation, and it thinks that the concessions it is able to offer will be sufficient to place New Zealand in a most favourable situation in discussing the matter with the Imperial authorities.

Raising the Price Level. With regard to currency matters, it is recognised that the problem of how to raise the price level to a point that will restore a reasonable measure of prosperity is one of acute urgency. Unless a practical solution of this problem can be found, it does not appear that any increase in trade facilities can by itself save the situation or put the farming industry on its feet. Therefore it is hoped that the expert knowledge that will be available at Ottawa will result in some practical means of stimulating purchasing power and raising the sterling price level, even although the wider international problem may have to be dealt with at a further conference, which has already been suggested by the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

There are also other important items on the agenda paper dealing with shipping regulations and other matters which members of the New Zealand delegation have discussed with their colleagues.

It is a matter of general agreement' that tariff barriers, rising higher as I they have since the war, are the cause of! trade dislocation and depression. Wo welcome any promise of lessening restrictions so as to permit of the freer exchange of goods in the normal course of trade. If by mutual agreement we now seek to move toward a greater freedom of commerce over one-fourth of the world, this is in no sense antagonistic or detrimental to the interests of other nations, but, on the contrary, it can well be a step toward the general end which we desire.