CLAIM TO MARKETS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 132, 2 December 1930, Page 6

CLAIM TO MARKETS

DOMINION AND BRITAIN

MR. FORBES PUTS HIS CASE

(From! "The Post's"-Representative.) LONDON, 17th'October. Mr. Forbes and other Dominion Pfiiuc Ministers replied to the toast oi' "His Majcsty-'s-Governments'' at the banquet given, by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire at the Savoy Hotel. Lord Iveagh, the pre- j sident, was in the chair. New Zcalanders present beside tho Prime Minister were Sir Thomas Sidey, Sir Tromas Wilford, Sir James Parr, Sir Alfred Bankart, Dr. 33. Marsdcu, Dr. G. Craig, Mr. K. Eallantync, Mr. C. A. Borendsen, Mr. K. Ellison, and Mr. F. D. Thomson. Sir Arthur Shirley Benn, chairman of the council, in proposing the- toast of "His Majesty's Governments,' said that chambers of commerce had .no party politics, because they were concerned with something much move elemental, which was common to all humanity— the imperative need of gaming a living Such chambers wanted strong Governments, capable not only of carry; ing out their ordinary work, but with a broad vision, enabling them to see what changes might be necessary to meet the altered conditions of the world of today At the twelfth triennial congress of the federation, held in May of this •vtiar, there was a general feeling that tlte time had come when something must done to enable the trade of rtho Empire to be used first of all for the inhabitants of the Empire. rJ hey all waited the Empire pulling together. They wanted the standard of living to keep up and improve, and they wanted the children well educated. Mr. J. H. Thomas, Secretary ot btate for the Dominions, replied at great iongth and with impressive.eloquence,, but his statement was general and guarded. He said ho hoped that the day would be long distant when any Dominion would be called upon to respond to -.the toast other than as one of ilis Msiesty's Governments. When he looked at the unemployment figures he telt that it was not alone the cost of the balance-sheet, but the cost of demoralisation that they had to consider. There were legitimate differences as to the remedy, but so long as they kept in mind the central fact that tho object ami' ideal was tf> substitute work for unemployment pay, it was the only thing that mattered. : MUST PACE ACTUALITIES. !Mr. E. B. Bennett, .Prime Minister of Canada, is one.of the best speakers among-overseas Premiers that have appearpd^t Imperial':Conferences for many years/,"He-said.they must face, facts as they, .existed, and not as they formerly were.' There was no likelihood that the great colonies and Dominions overseas; w.ould ever again be content to have' their raw materials shipped to these islands to be fabricated and sent back to them in, manufactured goods. The frank, recognition of that fact was desirable. Jr. ..was one of the essential facts that-must bo looked a,t'iu any estimate they might make of the present conditions on which they based their future policy. As partners in the Empire they had come together to endeavour to pool their resources for the common good, and not only the resources of their countries, but the.resources of their intelligence and wisdom. They must always remember (.hat faith without work was dead, and that they should be. judged by what.they did and not by .what, thoy^awl they waflted todo.: They had reached'a teal crisis in the: life- of; the Empire, and uuiess they were prepared to face actualities and go forward "to achieve their wnimon end then they would have failed. The .question was what were they going tb. do about, it. Did they as commercial men realise' how great their responsibility was; in answering; that question? '- ■•. ■•' '.' Mr. J. H. Sculliii said that Australia for twenty years had given .preference j to British industry, and business iiitor-| ests in this eouiitry, but business men and manufacturers in-this country had not taken 100 per cent, advantage of it. The great hope of the civilisation of the world depended upon,the unity of this great Commonwealth of Nations, a,nd this unity~ would be strengthened by common ties. The ties of kinship would remain, but, they must see to it that the- material'".'ties also,- remained;. 'It was said 'tliat Australian tariffs were to restrict British trade. Australia was passing through a difficult position, and on the first gleam ■of sunshine through tho chinks.the emergency measures would be removed. NEW ZEALAND'S PLACE. Mr. Forbes, in replying, said he was ■not so confident as the previous speakers. He was. not there to give advice or to lecture bis audience. '"You are carrying out your work iv.'ii way that is very satisfactory. New Zealandcrs feel. thai, tho enterprise aud energy of the ; British manufacturers anff merchants stand on the very highest plane." Mr. Forbes went on to speak of the interest New Zealand took in the Imperial Conference. . "We take second place to no part of the Empire." he said, "in our devotion and loyalty to His Majesty the King. We have had the advantage of having from your country some of the most distinguished men as our Governors-General. They have 'well upheld the dignity and traditions of the Crown. In Lord Bledisloe ive have one who is keenly interesting hiinsolf in the agricultural and pastoral industries, arid is.taking a live part in. the scientific application of agriculture." The Prime Minister went on to speak of \pref-erenees. New Zealand had done its level best, he said, to promote trade with the Motherland. Prefer*jpaes were given to British manufactures varying from 20 to 25 per cent. It was the most. liberal preference of ;a-ny part of .the Empire. The. prefer-

ences tliis year would be worth over 51 million sterling. They had not done this because they thought it might be a lever in some direction for their advantage.. They did it because they recognised their obligations to the Mother Country. Mr. Forbes dwelt on the importance of New Zealand's, food supplies. Moro than half the mutton and lamb Britain imported .was produced in New Zealand, more than half the cheese, almost a quarter of the butter, and, in normal years, a third of: the honey. Last year the Dominion was the second largest supplier of wool to the Mother Country, and New Zealand ranked as the second most important frozen and chilled meat exporting country in the world, with an international position the same in regard to the -exportation of butter. "Mr. Bennett .might'have heard, that term butter before," interpolated Mr. Forbes. "'He has the warmest corner in his heart for New. Zealand butter." New Zealand headed the list of all countries in the world in the per capita amount of her total trade (exports and imports), i She was also, per capita, Britain's best customer, the individual purchase.. figure last .year being £14 Us Id. The-, value of her total trade last year was £104,377,070, by far the greater part of which was with the Empire. . ' DANISH BUTTER. "In -respect of inter-Imperial trade, there must, in my opinion, be greater Empire goodwill, sympathy, and con-, sideration- en the part of those, who direct the channels of trade and those -who handle Empire, goods. Let me givt' a concrete instance. New Zea-land-.butter has. been declared by the British. Medical Research Council to be superior to any in its all-the-ycar-rouud food value, or vitamin content, due largely, in the first instance to the green pastures the cows feed on the year round. Yet to-day, and for some time past, this country lias been paying considerably over 20.-S a cwt more for Danish butter. The difference in price cannot bo due to quality. To what, is it due? "It is a!) to your advantage to buy our produce as againsfr-the foreign. The greater proportion of the money 'spent comes .back-. here for manufactures. Does it come back from Denmark or from other foreign countries? Last year you speut 19J millions with Denmark on butter alone, and Den mark's total purchases from Britain amounted only to £10,671,000. New Zealand, on the other hand (with' Only 1-1 mil-1 lion people) spent on. your manufac-'

turcs over £22,000,000. Denmark'b per capita purchase from Britain is only £,;! 0s Sd, as against New /i i land's £1-1 Us Id. This year NewZealand has been hard hit with the low prices on this market for certain of her produce lines, and the result is a con sidcrably reduced capacity to bu\ ■s oiu manufactures. I quote tho .foregoing example to show that in this instance the low price is not entireh i matter of capacity of this country to pay a reasonable figure for an Empire product, nor would it be entuch id justed under a tariff arrangement. "At- Newcastle, at present, there i» a large floating dock being built for New Zealand, involving large expenditure, but all the men working on that dock buy Danish butter. (Laughter.) These aro anomalies we want your help in overcoming. The position of oui butter market here is a matter oi qic it concern to me (and that is why I refer to this matter) because over 50,000 of our farmers engaged in the industry are at present producing at virtually below cost." ENGLAND'S PROSPERITY.' The question that concerned New Zealand most was that Great Britain should put her own house in order, and look after her own people and her industries, and get her workers employed. Whatever benefited England would benefit New Zealand. Markets meant more to the Dominion than anything else. But it seemed to him that something should be done to protect the markets against the competition that was causing the unemployment. "We are anxiously looking for a revival of our produce markets in Britain," Mr. Forbes cunctuded, "and when that comes we shall-be in smooth water again, aud once more be purchasing from' you again at full capacity. And when I say full capacity, do not view our purchasing power by ; the size of our population, but from the comparison that, to-day, every New Zealander individually buys from you .€l4 Us. worth of goods, as against tlie .Russian's 6d, !he German's 31s 6d, the Dutchman's £2 16s 3d, the Frenchman's lus 3d, tho Brazilian's lis 10d, and the Argentine's £2 12s lOd. The New Zealander is the highest individual buyer in the world, and his custom is surely worth having." Two interesting speeches were made by Sir John Simon, M.P., and by Sir Muhammad Shafi, on the subject of India. When the ■ health of the president had been proposed by Sir Herbert Austin it was near midnight.