The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1964. Sharing World’s Wealth Through Trade

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30396, 21 March 1964, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1964. Sharing World’s Wealth Through Trade

Bv sending seven officials and the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) to the United Nations Trade and Development Conference in Geneva, New Zealand has shown the importance it attaches to the meeting. The objects of this conference of 123 nations, which begins on Monday, are to improve the terms of trade between the poor and rich nations and to increase the opportunities for developing countries to export industrial goods and to sell primary produce at higher prices. That would improve their position as importers from industrial countries, and make them less dependent on aid from the rich nations. The meeting may not go far towards achieving its objects; many doubts have been expressed about the possibility of resolving the many conflicts of interest. But the question of a more even share of the world s wealth is one of the foremost of our times. In a lecture at Columbia University in January, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (U Thant) said: “ The real challenge faced by the developed “ countries is how to promote economic growth and “ public welfare without the stimulus of arms production, and then to ensure the proper use of that “ growth and expansion to ease the contrast between “their abundance and the poverty of the rest of “ mankind ”. Dr. Paul Prebisch, an Argentinian economist who is secretary-general of the conference, has prepared, as a basis of discussion, a report aimed at convincing the rich, industrial nations of this duty. When he issued his report a month ago he added the comment that it is also up to the developing countries to increase their resources, because “international “ effort is only a small part of the whole ”. The implications of Dr. Prebisch’s plan are not likely to be readily accepted. His proposal for general preferences granted by major industrial countries on goods from less-developed nations would mean the end of regional preferences such as apply in the Commonwealth or between the Common Market and the African countries associated with it. The objective of stable but higher prices for agricultural produce is bound to result in a conflict over the level at which prices should be fixed. Countries such as Britain, which import large quantities of food, are not likely to tolerate the high level supported by France.

Dr. Prebisch has found fault with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. He hopes that a more comprehensive United Nations international trade organisation will be designed to serve better the interests of less-developed countries, to attack trade problems as part of the general question of development, and to deal with that large part of trade, arranged between governments, which is outside the scope of the G.A.T.T. New Zealand has interests on both sides. On the one hand, it is a rich country; on the other, as an exporter of primary produce, it seeks greater access to the markets of industrial countries. In this sense it is placed among the developing countries. What is important to New Zealand, and to the conference as a whole, is that better arrangements to enable developing countries to export more will allow them to increase their resources and to import more, to the benefit of everyone. Town Hall Finance The Heathcote County Council’s decision not to contribute to the Town Hall is disappointing, but, we hope, not final. No good reason for the decision was put forward at the council’s meeting this week. If each of the other local bodies interested in the project were to give up because it did not have the cash this would be a poor reward for the enthusiasts who have worked for years on the project. The amount sought from each local body has not been publicly disclosed; but unless Heathcote’s share was more than 3 per cent of the total it would not be unreasonable. The population of Heathcote (according to the Local Authority Statistics for 1961-62) is 3.1 per cent of the combined populations of Christchurch City, Riccarton Borough, and Waimairi and Heathcote Counties. Heathcote residents live in a comparatively wealthy area. The capital value of the county is 3.5 per cent of the total of the four local bodies, and the unimproved value is 3.7 per cent of the total, compared with the city’s 72.2 per cent and 71.3 per cent respectively. If the Heathcote County cannot “afford” its share of a town hall, the City of Christchurch, with 73.0 per cent of the population, certainly could not afford its share. Reading Ability The report that more than one boy in five at Nelson College has poor reading ability should not surprise education authorities. Tests made at Shirley Boys’ High School showed that some 60 per cent of new entrants were not able to read as well as they should, and that 6 or 7 per cent were “ seriously retarded ”, Reading ability is perhaps the most important tool in a child’s education; failure to acquire it will disqualify a child from virtually any skilled occupation and will rob him of most of the pleasures of cultured living. The most regrettable feature of the high rate of semi-illiteracy is that very few in this category are incapable of achieving-normal reading ability. School teachers have blamed the large classes in primary schools or the svstem of “ social “ promotion ”, The Commission on Education, which was set up in 1960 and reported in 1962, made several recommendations which are relevant to the problem. Probably the most important recommendation was for progressive reduction of the maximum size of classes in primary schools—general classes to 35, infant classes to 30, and sole-charge schools to 25. The commission also urged some modification of the social promotion system. More attention is now being given to poor readers, for whom special classes or coaching is available in many secondary schools. The problem will not be overcome, however, until it is tackled in the primary schools. The reduction of class numbers is the best insurance against a disability which robs many children of the enjoyment of learning and prevents talents froin making 1116 use of natural