NEW ZEALAND'S TRADE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21746, 31 March 1936, Page 16

NEW ZEALAND'S TRADE

TO THB BDITOB 07 THB PRBSS. Sir,—Mrs P. Fraser, the wife of the Hon. P. Eraser, has been, according to the newspapers, expressing her views on buying New Zealand-made goods. I think it would benefit Mrs Fraser to study the history of slumps and periods of prosperity in New Zealand. If she did she would find that every depression, whether severe or slight, has been caused by a check in the flow of wealth coming into New Zealand. A check in the flow of imports. Lord Bledisloe stated the case correctly when he said, "Price and value being equal, buy New Zea-land-made goods in preference to imported goods." Price and value cannot be equal when there has to be a 25 per cent, adverse exchange rate plus 20 per cent, tariff, making a real tax of more than 9s in the £ on the people's needs. That is not even the worst of this wretched affair. To refuse to buy imports is to refuse to accept payment for the goods we export. There are thousands of workers making a living by preparing and transporting the goods we export: quite a large share of railwaymen's wages come out of our exports. Would Mrs Fraser put all these people out of jobs? The tariff-protected industries have never found employment for quite 4 per cent, of the workers. They have kept many more out of jobs by the high prices they have charged for their goods. These high prices have reduced the purchasing power of the people and increased unemployment. Mrs Fraser is reported to have said that the New Zealand market is the best market for the farmer. That is merely an empty phrase. It does not make much difference to the farmer where his market is so long as he has a profitable one. It would make a great difference to New Zealand if we had no goods to export in exchange ior the many things -we need and cannot produce, or can only produce at exhorbitant prices. Our taxprotected industries have been too long molly-coddled by means of taxes placed on the people's needs. They have come to rely on these taxes instead of buying to make their industries efficient. The Prime Minister is reported to have said that we must think about importing only from thoje countries that buy our exports. That is an impossibility. Would he start with Ceylon? We get a lot from Ceylon, and Ceylon takes nothing from us. How are we going to get on for tea if we refuse to take it from Ceylon? All that talk about buying from those who buy from us is claptrap. Everything we import is paid for by the product of the labour of workers in New Zealand. We never send any money out of the country to pay for anything. Other countries do not want our money; it would ndt pass as currency. Nor would other countries' money pass as currency here. We export most of our goods to Britain, but there is no proof that it all stays in Britain. If British merchants find markets for our exports in other countries, are we going to prevent them doing so? If we refuse to accept imports from cither countries we shall be, punishing only ourselves. International trade is a very complex affair, much too comnlkated for

Solitlcians to understand. The Prime tinister should' think about how we can get that £44,000,000 or thereabout of New Zealand credits that is at present being invested in Britain, brought to New- Zealand. It can come only in the form of goods. If he is going to refuse to let it come by means of high and still higher tariffs, which will have the effect of increasing prices, and reducing the value of people's money, a thing his .party pledged itself not to do, he will make the condition of the people much worse than it is, and the people will have good cause to regret having put their trust in the Labour party.— Yours, etc., READER. March 30, 1936.