IN DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 97, 21 October 1932, Page 8

IN DEFENCE

OTTAWA PACT

MR. COATES SPEAKS

LABOUR'S LAST THROW

A defence of the Ottawa agreements was made by the leader of the New Zealand delegation to the Ottawa Conference (the Eight Hon. J. G. Goates) in the House of Eeprcsentatives this morning. He aritieised the attitude which had been adopted, by the Labour^ Party and claimed that Labour was making the last throw of the dice. Mr. Coates said that some of the arguments which had been adduced were passed on political considerations rather than the welfare of the Empire. He could understand ' that on account of the difficulty which members of the Opposition had experienced in criticising the agreement. The amendment which had been moved by Mr. Holland correctly interpreted the -policy of: the Labour Party that nothing-should come into New Zealand that could be produced in the Dominion. The real essence of the amendment was that New Zealand should become self-contained, but there could-be nothing more fallacious than that proposal. The resolution before the House was satisfactory in every respect. There was no industry which had gone through such an investigation as the primary industry, but the secondary industries had gone through no such investigation. Surely it was only right that investigation should be made. The Leader of the Opposition had asked why was the Labour Party not represented at the conference. It was obvious that if they had been, their attitude would have made any arrangement increasingly difficult. New Zealand had adopted the attitude that the cost of the delegation should be cut down to the minimum. Personally he would have been delighted to have had Mr. Holland with him, but they could not afford to have differences of ppinio'n at Ottawa. The effect of the agreements at Ottawa was to lower tariff barriers, certainly not to raise them; that must be an accepted fact. There could be no doubt that Mr. Holland was exaggerating when he said that the London riots were the outcome of the Ottawa Conference. 'RECIPROCITY THE KEYNOTE. Reciprocity was the essence of the Ottawa discussions. Although annoyance might be felt at pressure being applied in some cases, if the negotiations were carried, out in the ■ right spirit, unfriendly acts would be avoided, by the countries of "the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Labour Party at Home complained-that the agreement would result in an increase in the cost of living, but in New Zealand the opposite view was being taken. In New Zealand the Labour Party was complaining that the cost of the manufactured articles would be reduced. He was somewhat surprised that the Labour amendment had been- moved; he would have preferred the Labour Party to havo voted against the agreement. The amendment was a sly way of getting over voting against the agreement. • Mr. Holland: There are portions of the agreement we accept. . Mr. Coates: The agreement has given the Labour Party a difficult problem. It makes the political position outside increasingly difficult' for;* them. They have been wondering just how they are going to get past the agreement. I suggest they are making the last throw of the dice. There was no over-production to-day. If low prices continued, the inevitable result would be a reduction in production. Ottawa was the first step to orderly marketing. THE MONETARY SYSTEM. It had been suggested that a readjustment of the monetary, system could put the world right,.but he wanted to say at once that such a suggestion was impossible. No monetary system could put the world right. There was more than^ one factor involved. He believed that the Labour PaTty, in their heart of hearts, believed that more good than harm had come out of Ottawa. Trade with the East had been discussed. Japan wanted New Zealand wool and hides, arid lie did not think that that trade should be shut out. But it was not with Japan alone that it was desirable to trade; there were British possessions in the East. From, a political point of view, at least, the field was ripe- for commercial interests to carry out negotiations for trade- with the Easti It was essential that New Zealand should endeavour to find new markets and too much attention should not be paid to .trade balances. Mr. Coates said the inference might be drawn that monetary questions were not discussed at Ottawa, but that was due no doubt to the nature of the Press communiques. The Press reports that came to New Zealand were most misleading, as New Zealand had no Press representative of her own there. The currency question had been fully discussed at Ottawa. For a. whole fortnight the leaders of the delegations were discussing the question. Mr. W. Nash (Labour, Hutt): And you got nothing out of it. "There were enough heavy guns there in the way of experts ..." said Mr. Coates. Mr. H. G. E. Mason (Labour, Auckland Suburbs): To kill anything. Delegates from all parts of the Empire had met at Ottawa for the one definite purpose of seeing if it were possible for the Empire to take a lead toward world recovery, said Mr. Coates. Mr. B. McKeen (Labour, Wellington South): Don't you think it would have been better if "Parliament-had discussed the problems before the Conference? Mr. Coates replied that members of Parliament had had ample opportunities of discussing the Conference before the delegation left. Beferring to the meat agreement, Mr. Coates said that New Zealand had to keep within its estimate, and Australia and Canada had to do the same. That was why it was essential that New Zealand should look for fresh' markets. Other countries were endeavouring to fix up trade agreements with Britain, said Mr. Coates. Tariff barriers had been responsible for some trouble. New Zealand would depend for many years on the farmers", an dtho country had to look first to the agriculturist for a return to prosperity. The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party had said that his party would guarantee a price to' the farmers, and he would not allow anything to come into New Zealand if it could be manufactured here. Mr. Coates said that it would be impracticable, and therefore impossible, to guarantee a price. New Zealand would do its utmost to meet its obligations overseas. It was not so much the gold in a country's vaults that counted, as a country's history and reputation. Mr. Coates referred to matters raised by the member for Invercargill re--garding the accumulated Irish produce and unfair trading by Bussia. He said he hoped the Irish trouble would soon be ended.