BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17742, 19 April 1923, Page 13

B RITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

pO IJCY OF CO-OPERATION,

#> MONEY, AND MARKETS,

„<* OCE CW* COHRMPOKDZNT

LONDON', -March 8. -, 17 4 Belcher, Assistant *** of the British Empire Exdelivered a lecture yesterday Cd*^ oo a,,d coio,,ia , l Se fr 4 Exhibition. Ho spoke at the ■' . c«rietv of Arts, and Colonel L. o , of a in the chair. Mr J. Ueent-General for Victoria), ** «n of the lecture, doubtf**ffSTosno«Kot the other 3V I epresentatives present, ' r «id that ho ieit that die Uo >r"e« obtaining out of these the first diviuends from the ev had voted lor the Exhibi- &•'. .!pv Mr AlcWhae said it did ?.Ksi*to see that things were ib Tionvard with such vigour. W Uelfher began by emphasising /ilnt to which the Dominions frjTto participate. Tlio overseas Sns of the Empire -ill occupy ■ fiSS sjuare feet of space. If on, Si the whole, of the overseas exgf concentrated into one building, Kuilding would occupy a space sul- ££ l.rfe to drop Trafalgar Square ff times over, then to drop 01vi»*S and there would be a balance & sufficiently large to accommodate the Army and Navy stores ;„„c floor. It wanted something Leer than sentiment, Major Bel- . Maintained, to induce a Dominion "'Swill a quarter of a million sterling :i: «fc of its pocket, and to spend it on and equipment of a Itfding 12,000 miles away. He stigfrfed that Imperial sentiment per■iy e( l Dominion Governments to lend ear to tlie conce I J tion of a -:British Empire Exhibition, but that •y-heatled business persuaded them (lutifit was worth doing at all it was ;mrth doing well. In the lay-out of they had arranged that Pertain sections should be ringed in as ? Dominion territory. "Within these sections each Dominion would have comp) autonomy and would endeavour '■ fe present so vivid a picture of its j: uned resources and activities that for I ik'nonce, at all events, the visitor ['■■flht'pet a'real picturo of Dominion |& and fancy himself on a voyatro of |&»Tery to the Western continent, fodthe'Southern Seas or the Far East.

Parallel Problems. Tlrefe were three things that tho Dottiniona required—population, capital, .ai'-markets. The United Kingdom, L an ai'ea of a little over IUU,(X)O [ UBro miles, had more than 40,000,000 New Zealand, aptoiiiinately about the same size, had Iff; a little over 1,000,000 people, iifilj Western Australia, ten times as Sjphad only about one-quarter as tar inhabitants as the city of i3ir'ngfaahi. It was no use trying to relist by artificial means the populathe Empire, unless at the same ■■» capital ; and markets were also refiqasted. If they sent their surplus jfteion to Australia, their surplus jijitiu.to the Argentine, and bought pdr surplus butter from Europe, they wonder if some of their ''Wws hung fire economically. . %*!once you admit as a truth," said "that problems of migij|>Pji,- production, and markets are pastel problems, you can annroach npr/fecoitomic theory from a different K-by imposing or removing a »t% on.snltanaa, you can find a home pforptnorismds of young Englishmen ,i«sg the valley of the Murray River, Wi are' no longer a red-hot tariff mimr "or a rigid Manchester freeindor, but yon are a level-headed busiles mon: who is weighing the advanW and disadvantages of a certain -tfeiri the light of the ultimate ad»ag«s or disadvantages which may fWe'-'to'thn Empire. Triis is an asp.of'.the British Empire Exhibition tjWuch the public must not lose sight. IRB'a great publicity campaign in ;j|di there are three -partners—tho !||> J| '! ) ns-sind Colonies, tho promoters. #e Exhibition, and the Bi flash publico and Colonies haveSpurns to offer. It is their busifttp present those attractions in the Pqonvinoing form. It is the duty |w public to give all a fair run for «r ; monoy. They must give a fair f|tb.the Dominions and Colonies, beSW; the amount of Empire produce M : can be consumed within the Exfflnon.- is- negligible compaied with p.might be consumed outside. Tli3 m.Mo visits the Exhibition and cats •s]? Zealand i am h CuOP) h a if an oun: e butter, a buncli of South WJE .grapes, a Canadian applo, and |ms it down with a bottk of QuollPf» cup of East African coffee then takes a present JJ£ to his wife of an Indian carpet W Paying the g.ime if lie thinks he «s fulfilled his duty to tho Empire, 'common'decency he must give these fogs a run for their monev outside. Penally, I am convinced that if he r'so, he will continue to purchase because of their ijwy. and price. No intelligent perg ""wanes that this mewns the ees■S*"f all trade relations with the ff° f the world. If every Dominion 3?. e ™?7 ounce of its exportable butf» this country there will still be ai •smarietfor all the English fanner K- ■" ' flnd anoth *r big market for ID i\ from foreign sources. A|<wt the Dominions ask is that they ,j I 1 Bet m on ,tho ground-floor, and j*» long as their supplies last—and, J?l™ consumer's point of view, they u °e an article that is worth its k! J™ 6 British consumer shall supm «* family-shop." Three World's Records, to the Stadium, Major L that it had broken three agS- 1 It was the largest n ™ e world ! it was the cheapmT^ g in the world: and it had Jjg 1 instructed in the quicl.cst time. !£. J-'arge buildings with a floor tfti« acres each . for the display >£W products, were scheduled to bo SftkL 7 the Exhibition opened, Public support us," he conl&n!,. e Bna lf achieve our ultiBf which is that the Exhibimm: be so successful financially %S ean hand over Wembley Park ■ buildings ns nave been 1 " 1 C! Ua wiitors' money, 'is nation, an abiding memoItitea -™ 6 British Empire means IS S^ r ' ffhafc has achieved in of peace, and what it may w ! adopfc and ada P* the HSih ;ii of c °-«>peration and loyalty as made the British EmiE;' 1 the principal factors in the tfgVUee i.of civilisation.'* •?§KL, - her th °n had thrown on mS'P'cturos of the buildings '4s&(>n er ®cted bv the various '/^hrftv."' 1 ,le 'mentioned the intar'•!b&li W ■ the youngest Dominion, ''M?-*««.State, had just arranged -#*»? """Ming on the left of tho opposite the South vpsPavihon. : MBi inclusion of the lecture, -^B- 17 said the Exhibition ; ipg! a record of what the Empire V-SBtfYl! 1 ? cou ld do, in the way of He believed it W8& : t J 9p-operation that a way out of the difficulties f^m^ war had, left behind it. Co-

fe|Hj§£* ** 'w* of next column.)

operation implied three things—men, money, .and market*. The UnitVd Kingdom could supply the Just, and London was still the cheapest ;iud best place to gel the second, while so far as the third was concerned, the United Kingdom was the best consuming market in the world. There was. "therefore, a clear line of policy narked ou*. It was not a policy of exclusion. They did not want to cease trading with other countries, but they wanted to develop trade within the Einnire—what he would call a policy of Imperial preferen««\.