The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1933. AFTER THE WORLD CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 16, 13 October 1933, Page 8

The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1933. AFTER THE WORLD CONFERENCE

Mr. Forbes’s account in the House of d“r * ten a country with an economy limited by a small population and £®°g a P. isolation 7 New Zealand’s policy should, be actively aimed at keeping 7°r Na S Self-Sufficiency” as his subject and applied it particularly to P r ° bler ” in the Irish Free State. Her economic organisation is’ New Zealand’s so that Mr. Keynes’s conclusions should apply as we here as there. He said the question was whether Ireland was sufficiently large for more than a very modest measure of self-sufficiency to be y feasible without a disastrous reduction in a standard of life which was already none too high. ... <• His argument showed, that he did not consider the policy f easibl without the consequences he envisaged. He recommended Ire a to work for reciprocal trade with Britain each supplying the others deficiencies. His conclusion may seem an obvious one in New Zealand, vet the trend of British policy toward regulation of imports reinforces the Dominion’s established interest in keeping the Home market open Mr. Forbes found opinion in favour of the quota system at the World Conference stronger than he had expected. \X ith Australia, New Zealand raised the only dissentient voice. Other of the primary producing countries may have had their doubts but most of them desired to regulate the production or export of one or another commodity in which they were particularly interested. Of large importers, Britain was prominent in associating herself with restrictive proposals. Not much came of the discussions except a limited agreement on silver. The negotiations on wheat took place outside the Conference. .Even so the consensus of opinion was ominous for new and developing countries with expanding outputs. How is this restrictive tendency born of national self-sufficiency to be countered? Since the nations of the world cannot agree to co-operate, the narrowness of the resultant outlook may be averted by the nations of the Empire working together. . For New Zealand that was the most important outcome of the World Conference. It afforded an opportunity for the Empire delegates to meet informally, to discuss and to comprehend better their mutual difficulties. The result was the Empire Declaration, particularly important on monetary problems, and the basis if worked upon of a reasonable escape from the extreme implications of economic nationalism.