BRITISH FREE TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 47, 23 August 1930, Page 13

BRITISH FREE TRADE

(To the Editor.) Sir, —In the report of the annual meeting of the Wellington Woollen Company tho chairman (Mr. W. H. P. Barber) is stated to have- said "that Free Trade had been tried by Great Britain for eighty years and it had failed absolutely." I presume that

Mr. Barber has good grounds for making a statement such as that, but I do wish that ho or some other expert woulfi enlighten my ignorance by answering the following questions: In what country in Europe is tho standard of living for tho working man higher than that of Great Britain? What amount has Great Britain on loan to her colonies, Dominions, and foreign nations? What is the amount of her export trade each year? What amount of tho goods imported arc re-exported nnd in British-owned ships? Is it true that those firms who advertise so largely "Buy New Zealand Goods" are the biggest importers? Is it fair to compare an ancient, small, over-popu-lated country like Great Britain with a vast country such as the United States with her boundless resources? Is not tho chief trouble at Homo duo to the fact that she was fighting for her very existence whilst others were stealing her trade? If protection is so beneficial surely we shall soon see Australia in a flourishing position again. If Mr. Barber will kindly reply to my few questions I will tell him where this Government will go when it wants to borrow more money. —I am, CtC '' , NOTTS.