BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17634, 11 December 1922, Page 9

BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

i SUPPLIES. trf*** *** DOMINIONS ' %, E* WfP® t*»uee lam opposed PrVUp* 3 «* x regard t0 Ir/di Exhibition, a policy W> i I a out of harmony with P'CU *>«. Exhibition, and IT rotations held out to Krtßfcnti of tb6 Dominions ** m " If" u'l letter recalls that Major iPTidf the mission to the »*" Jpbasised in his report of making it a WSa restaurant contract ■KI tat Impe"* l P roduce Wn* im ' -lied in any restaurant, P 1 * *.« practicable, and in representations from R£?sdtfi.t the wishes of the K*Sffto folded «'m;f«;« ■gf in a memorandum defending »^j 0r Belcher wrote:■&'wfooeis and Governments K£ Exhibition as the- pivot of H* M<7campaign for' all sorts »?Vtffitish Exhibition ■Suits tuing foreign products ■KLled tLtoughout the whole ■K Ku £ the ultimate effect on KUun *® witho , ut 9 ue9tl< ?S KLfie and although thu will M&'tte Exhibition to any serious K „,,» have far-reaching conof Imperial pre■Fti «ffl certsinly give the best Ktneibk to the growing secKDtfon "P™ 1 ? 11 who fßVol i r ■gycommercial agreements HsheM»tioJi» and consider that Ha-tatof any commercial agreeB§o financial advantage it may ■to ike' parity 01 , . th ««* , WBLv' ijatements-wmoh induced ■gH'to'pfotest against, dismissreport at the Com■ieiing on September 21st, with empowering the general the wishes of the jKfrfo'iiMiay■';-.; and to carry Bg&'ii far"as possible.'' Hlfopt 'meeting, Mr Donald Kg ill articles of food and KgHeei to, the, restaurants HaStfnced within the British exception of excisable ■SajtAs^ckarettes,-.-nod hors Hppsin &o case of these aron- these terms. before'the reaolu- - attacked the and declared 1 on these Xwsb handed in Trade to supat I^P*b,r.fe"^^il' v cneese ' eggs ' pregoing outside the ' every .article it waa con-> not produce own wheat ;He ■Kg|*iy ( :With regard 'to the hut was flatly feeling tb&t an obhas been of South New Zealand, dismissed without trading with which they B^H^^^faai, advertisement; ! monopoly in Briia'not to not been exfi»o ; caterer sources, but customa, as the is taken should be !.beDohiinioha the cater-: tho case for if difficulties teyie-^ of producte from. the great ipnsh. ■H^^^aMowephai no fprffl^H^^^^^^^^staufants

of the Exhibition, he obtained supnort —lncluchng a grant of PVWtmy, Tf P Australia, °£60,000 Irom Sv'Zoi& and £48,000 from South AttcaZS'Si assumption or in the expeotatbr? that only Empire and Dominion rirJ would be used. oluiri i°ii produce Question of Timber. "The general manager stated that it was Tmpossible to get suitable timber for the Exhibition within the Empire and passed round a sample of what he described as very inferior Canadian spruce. He said that the Empire did not contain suitable timer for erecting fences at Wembley. Yet in the handbook issued by the Exhibition it is stated, with reference to the Empire Timber Exhibition held in London in 1920, that "the Exhibition fully demonstrated the capacity oi the Emipre to supply all its timber requirements from its own resources. Over 450 specimens of timber from all parts of the Empire were shown, together with an extensive range of exhibits of all kinds showing the purposes for which the various woods aro specially suited. The Exhibition was a striking revelation of the extent to which we have been dependent on foreign countries for the supply of an essential raw material, our whole requirements of which, with a little forethought and organisation, could have been obtained from our own Dominions and Colonies.' " Question of Organisation. "The Times" is not in the least surprised that there is a strong feeling in the Dominions that the of tho Empire should have preference in the arrangements made for catering for the millions of visitors who are expected to attend the Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. We do not think that any patriotio citizen would wish it otherwise. The Exhibition will afford a unique opportunity of advertising to the whole world, but particularly to the British inhabitants of it, the capacity of the Empire to produce almost all commodities that enter into commerce of a quality and at a price that should make them attractive to consumers everywhere. "Yes," says the leader writer, "the question is not solely one of sentiment, but of practicability. Is the ideal possible of accomplishment ? There is evidence of a difference of opinion on this score. Excluding such products as choioe cigars and wines—though even in these there is a wide range of excellent- British brands—the probflem reduces itself to one of organisation. The products exist j is it possible to'ensure regular supplies of a quality and at a price •ftiat will satisfy the consumers ? That any caterer who undertook the contract on the underannding that only British produce was to be supplied would find his task complicated, there is little doubt. The question ariseß, however, whether the advantage to be-gained is not sufficiently great to justify a special arrangement to enable this to be done without incurring; undue risk of loss. Nobody Would-insist that he should be unreasonably restricted. If it can be shown that some delectable,' adjunct to the i dinner table which is not obtainable from British sources is really necessary, few would desire* too rigid an interpretation of the principle. Yet in view of the strong feeling in the Dominions on this subject, we hope that the Exhibition authorities will take counsel with the Dominions and carefully inTestigate the. possibilities of meeting their- wishes before coming to any definite decision. At any rate, it is most important that they should satisfy the Dominions that they have made every effort to. give practical effect to the preferential principle on this occasion. It is not as though this were an ordinary it will not accomplish all that we hope it may achieve unless in every phase it becomes a manifestafaori of the spirit of unity that animates the British' race. His Majesty's direct and personal interest m the undertaking is an. inspiration to all. to leave no stone unturned to ensure triumphant success ii» everv re spect."' v.. .; ;■■■■■■■ .-■'■■. .;■■/■.,-■■ -• The Official statement. ■. .To; "The Times" to-day Sir-A. H. McMahon writes: "The Management Committee of the British Empire Exhibition have' learnt with much surprise, that Mr E. Donald should have thought it necessary to resign his membership of the committee owing to his I views on the question of giving preference to Empire produce in the restaurants ;bf the Exhibition. The whole committee are fully in agreement with Mr Donald as regards the desirability of this policy' in principle. The only difference between us and.Mr Donald is;the question as to' the maimer in which the wishes of the Dominions in this matter can best be carried out. We'haye neen warned by our expert advisors of the difllculty of enforcing the conditions which we desire to imposfV The problems which caterers will, have ,to face in making provision for,the fluctuating clientele of so great an Exhibition; are already formidable, and-the committee have not yet succeeded: in finding! any firm of caterers willing _to undertake thebusiness with restrictions' of so rigid a character as those suggested fcy Mr. Donald. 1 \ general manager has, been instructed when negotiating with prospective caterers, to use every en'deayourjio meet 1 the wishes of the Do- : minions, and ,the following extract from, a letter written by him to an impor-. taint :firm of caterers on October 2nd shows that there are no real grounds' for Mr Donald's protest: 'My committee'further iiattach the utmost importance to'the'inclusion in the contract ; of--.' a provision that, as far as possible, the r wholei of the supplies used.-in N >tlie ■restaurants of the Exhibition should be produced within the Empire! There would necessarily be certain exceptions to. this 1 rule,: such," for instance, as iHavaha; c'igafsV and French wines,- but ■the iprecise manner in which effect would best be given to the wishes of the Dominions in this respect is a°matier "which I Should like to discuss with you. furtheh' y;-fif;With regard to the question of the use. of Empire timber in the Exhibition/Mr Donald appears to have coinpletely misunderstood the report loado to us'.by the, general mannger. Vhe latterdid not,, of suggest tliat the Empire did not contain" suitable itimber'for the fencing rounirfd al ■ Wembley Park, but merely referred to the difllculty. of obtaining suitable • material for urgent requirements from the rocks at present available in 1 his country.*' Unthinkable! , ' : Sir Joseph Cook> writing of this '' unfortunate commencement," to the projected enterprise, says he was astounded, to read Mr Donald's letter. . Heeontinues: ''To assert that it is 'im-. practicable 'if or, r the Dominions to supply foodstuffs and other necessaries for

the restaurant is pure nonsense. The whole of the quotations made by Mr Ronald, including those references to the fence and the Canadian spruce, will cause surprise and consternation in the dominions. Let it be said at once that the Dominions can provide everything that is needful, from the foundation stone, if nee( i bCj of the Exhibition buildings right through the whole range of its construction and equipm^ at ."~ not forgetting the fence. After all, the main object of the '■ Uom " u °aa participating in the British Empire Exhibition is to show the People of this country the foodstuffs a ? u . Products of the Empire. There is, obviously, no better way of illustrat-! ingthe variety and the quality of our I foodstuffs than by giving the public! tne opportunity of eating them. Australia most certainly exnects that Aus- | Kalian and other VK^ rVed in the restaurants at the Ex+l V? n < and it seems inconceivable that' j "»e British Empire Exhibition authori- i ties are not willing to insist on this condition. We must remember that it is a British Empire and not an international exhibition. For the restaurants of the Exhibition, Australia can supply meat, flour, butter, fresh, dried, j and canned fruits, jams and wines, and , many other requirements of the very i highest quality. The other Dominions! can do the same. There is no better I opportunity of bringing home to the public of this country the importance of the Dominions in regard to the break- | tast, dinner and tea tables. To make huge contributions for the purpose of advertising that we cannot supply these things, and thnt foreign nations canwell, it is unthinkable 1" Sir James Allen's Opinion. bir James Allen is naturally deeply interested in this question, but he defers an expression of opinion until he naa had all the facts placed before him. With this object he has given instructions' to the member of his staff who has matters pertaining to the Exhibition in hand, to explore the whole question and get to the bottom of it. There may be a danger, he feels, of doing a great deal of unnecessary harm .if too much publicity is given to what may merely be a misunderstanding. "On the other hand," the High Commissioner remarked, "we shall •'not be brow-beaten by the caterers. If they take up an uncompromising attitude, the Dominions will take the matter into their own hands and do their own catering." Enquiry Into Business Organisation. Mr Donald has supplied me with a copy of a letter which he is forwarding to the London papers, and which will probably be published to-morrow morning. This is in reply "to Sir A. H. McMahon's letter in "The Times." Mr Donald writes: "Sir Henry McMahon in his official reply to me oh the question of using Empire products at the Empire Exhibition evades the issues which I raised. These are: 1. The assistant general manager of the Exhibition ' obtained the financial support for it from the Dominions on certain conditions and expectations which are not being fulfilled; they have been declared to be "impracticable" or "impossible" without consultation with the Dominions concerned, 2. The stipulation quoted,from a letter by the general manager to a firm of caterers was inserted after I had proposed my resolution, and it obviously leaves an elastic loop-hole for the use of foreign products. 8. The delay in finding, a caterer is fine entirely to the dilatory methods of the management, as it is twenty months since negotiations began, and during that time the restriction now discussed was not suggested as a condition.

4. With regard to the use of British timbe* for "urgent requirements," .requirements were known oyer two years ago, when the organisation of the Exhibition began, and there was plenty of time to get suitable Empiregrown timber here; Did the general manager, instead of consulting the Dominions on. this question, ask the advice of an importer of foreign timber? Will he state the quantity of foreign timber which has been used or bought? 5. The "important stipulation" introduced into a contract granted to Messrs Montague L. Meyer, Ltd.—the only tender submitted to the committee —refers to emergency supplies required by concessionaires on the spot, and not by the Exhibition authorities. If it is expected that such "urgent requirements" can be met from British sources for this purpose, why could not the requirements of the Exhibition have been provided for, as according to the offloial pamphlet circulated here and overseas, our whole requirements of timber, with a little forethought and organisation, can be obtained from our own Dominions and Colonies? "What is wanted is, an enquiry into the whole business organisation of the Exhibition.?' ■ "