ATTITUDE TO JAPAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 92, 20 April 1938, Page 10

ATTITUDE TO JAPAN

dominion Workers

NO FURTHER MEASURES

Expressing satisfaction with the embargo placed on the export of scrap metal to Japan and the principle of a personal boycott of Japanese goods, the annual conference of the Federation of Labour decided not to press for any further measures, as there was no telling whether the results might be what was desired or the opposite (reports "The Standard").

After the report of the national council had been presented, the president (Mr. A. McLagan) said that the council had further discussed the Sino-Japan-ese position. It was realised that, by pressing the point, the federation could seriously embarrass the Government, especially in connection with wool, which was the Dominion's chief export to Japan.

New Zealand's trade with Japan, continued Mr. McLagan, was not a decisive factor. Japan could get her principal war materials—minerals, coal, and oil—elsewhere. Nevertheless, any action taken by New Zealand had a valuable propaganda effect in other countries. The embargo on scrap metal and the personal boycott was as far as New Zealand could go. If further action were taken, the result might be very different from what was intended and might not be helpful to the Chinese people.

An appeal to New Zealanders to take the boycott more seriously was made by Mr. John Roberts (Clothing Trades Union). The workers, he said, were very apathetic. Stores were full of Japanese goods, and cessation of buying was not general enough to be effective.

The conference endorsed the report of the national council.