EMPIRE CONGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 39, 15 August 1939, Page 12

EMPIRE CONGRESS

TRADE DISCUSSIONS

VIEWS OF THE CHAMBERS

BRITAIN AND OTTAWA

(By Air Mail From "The Post's" London Representative.)

LONDON, July 20

The Ottawa Agreements have been the subject of varying comment at the. Fifteenth Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire. Sir Thomas Inskip, Dominions Secretary, in declaring the congress open, said that the Agreements had been an undoubted stimulus to both the United Kingdom and Dominion trade. If they had not solved every problem this country had nothing but gratitude for the advantages enjoyed under the Agreements. The diminishing trade with foreign countries under economicnationalism had been to some extent compensated for by increased trade within the Empire. The Agreements represented a balance of equal advantages to all parties and not the exploitation of the Dominions by an Imperial Power. That illustrated the difference between the British Empire and other empires. Mr. Malcolm Mac Donald, Colonial Secretary, declared ■ that, while recent expansions in Dominion purchases from the United Kingdom had been partly due to the Agreements, "a much more fundamental cause was that the countries of the Empire were not looking at each other with suspicious eyes." BRADFORD NOT SATISFIED. Mr. Douglas Hamilton, past president of the Bradford Chamber, said that in Bradford they maintained that many of the so-called preferential duties under the Ottawa Agreements had been virtually prohibitive. In Bradford they had completely lost their export trade to Australia through this cause, and it now seemed that New Zealand was also intent on setting up a textile industry at whatever cost. On the other hand, South Africa was buying far more goods from Britain than she was selling to Britain. Canada, too, had been a reliable customer, and carried out her engagements under the Ottawa Agreements much better than some other Dominions. - The Bradford Chamber had tabled a motion asking for a revision and modification of the Ottawa Agreements in the light of six years' experience of their working and with the object stated. Mr. Hamilton said that generally the object of stimulating Imperial trade had been achieved, but increased British imports had been won at the expense of non-Empire countries, and there were reactions. To help Australia, South Africa, and the African Colonies Britain reduced imports from Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans, and from then on she encountered blocked currencies, quotas, defaults in payment, constipated clearing arrangements—all on account of having upset the natural course of trade. MATTER OF WAR OR PEACE. No one could possibly maintain that on balance the change had benefited England, he said. The inevitable result of self-sufficiency policies was war, and the only possible way of achieving and maintaining peace was by freeing the movement of individuals and goods. Germany and Italy could only keep alive by foreign trade, but where were they to get it? With emigration and profitable export barred, they had relatively little to lose, and were all the more likely to stake their existence on a war. The chambers pressing for increased preference (British Guiana and Canada) had three or four thousand miles of ocean between them and the nearest enemy, but Britain was in the front line, and had to bear the terrific cost of armaments. Such slogans as j "Buy British had created a strong anti-British feeling throughout the world. Britain had followed the fashion in tariffs, but the closing of the Em-j pire to reasonably free access had been a contributory cause of Facism and Hitlerism. An amended resolution was carried in the following form:—"This congress, reaffirming the federation's advocacy of the extension of trade within the Empire, desires to pledge support to all efforts to maintain and increase the exchange of goods between the various units of the Empire." ASPECTS OF MIGRATION. The congress carried without dissent, but after considerable amendment of its original form, a motion calling upon the Home and Empire Governments to consult as early as possible on the provision of ways and means, financial and other, for the development of schemes designed to secure a "balanced distribution of population within the borders of the Empire." The motion further suggested that the proposed consultations should aim at ensuring "that all migrants who leave the shores of Great Britain should settle in the Empire." Sir Granville Gibson and Sir Montague Burton (both delegates from the Leeds chamber) took part in the discussion. Sir Montague supported a Sydney proposal that, after provision had been made in the Empire to absorb all suitable applicants from the United Kingdom, "steps should be taken to encourage migrants of suitable types from selected European countries." Sir Montague Burton called attention to the scarcity of labour which was now developing in many parts of Great Britain—a scarcity so acute that some industrial establishments had been compelled to move to areas where more workpeople were available. While this position existed, was it probable that Great Britain alone could adequately supply all the people necessary to populate such countries as Australia? The Sydney proposel received little support, and was withdrawn. On the general question Sir Granville Gibson warmly advocated increased Empire migration. He felt that the congress should support the principle of Imperial migration, which would do more than anything else to bring about security and prosperity throughout the Empire. EMPIRE IN EDUCATION. After debating the importance of. Imperial education to the future prosperity of the Empire the congress carried a resolution urging that every opportunity should be taken to broaden the basis of historical and geographical education so that children should appreciate that they are citizens of a united commonwealth which includes a quarter of the world's population. Sir Arthur Aiton (Derby), deputy chairman of the council, said that teachers and education authorities did not realise the value of the Empire. Mr. I. C. Silberbauer (Cape Town), seconding, said that annual visits of South African schoolboys to Britain were of immense value, and they appreciated the hospitality shown them in the country homes of England. Mr. A. L. Wall (Wellington) said that education in New Zealand on Empire matters compared more than favourably with that in England, where the children still thought of the self- j

governing Dominions as colonies. In New Zealand the children were taught to regard England as the Homeland. It was the ambition of every New Zealand schoolboy to take a trip "Home," and many took menial jobs in ships to work their passages. Sir Granville Gibson said: "It is no secret that to a great extent the political outlook of the teaching profession is not in the direction of any particular keenness with regard to the i British Empire. I know that will call for a great deal of criticism, but the fact is there, and we may as well say lit if we think it,"