A GREAT ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 89, 12 October 1923, Page 7

A GREAT ATTACK

THE FREE TRADE SYSTEM

COMMENTS ON MR. BRUCE'S SPEECH.

T. -vr OND°N > "th October, h ,^ .-^ rmUg,Jg, Post'" in an editorial headed 'The Walls of Jericho," says: A great part of the British Press maintains -what might almost be called a pained silence concerning the great issues raised by the Conference, but in this silence, which can be felt, Mr Bruce s great speech rings out all the more clearly. We might' compare it with the blast from the trumpets which brought down the walls of Jericho. Mr Brace's is the biggest attack on the Free Trade system since the passing of Mr Chamberlain." The article proceeds to summarise Mr. Bruce's proposals, and concludes: "It is on broad grounds such as these that Mr. Bruce's speech will appeal to the workers in Britain. Its effect on the Conference has been immediate. The Committee will no doubt report to the present Conference. Thus inside and outside Whitehall reverberations have been started which wp hope

will result in a total transformation of the economic scene."

The Central News Agency's political correspondent says Mr. Bruce's speech excited both admiration and wonder. It is criticised, however, on the ground that it does not guarantee the ability of Australia to maintain the existence of preference to British goods.

"OUT FOR A WHOLE-HOG TARIFF" The "Westminster Gazette" says; "Mr. Bruce is quite frank about his tariff policy, for which we may be grateful to him. There i s no pretence of being satisfied with the duties on peaches, apples, and plums, which our Government offers as a sop to colonial wishes. Mr. Bruce is out for a wholehog tariff, and scarcely veils his threat that if he does not get what he seeks from us ho will carry his goods elsewhere. Yet his whole scheme is one of shifting troubles from the shoulders of the Dominions' producer to those of the British consumer, already carrying a weight ol taxation unequalled in the world."

The "Daily Telegraph" says: "The Government proposals take no account of the increasingly important wine trado with Australia and South Africa. There is a general hope that this matter will be given further consideration. The decision to appoint a committee of inquiry into Mr. Bruce's proposals will be generally approved. This old, well-settled country, with its high prestige, can cooperate with the younger nations to their advantage as well as our own."