'ALL FOR EMPIRE-LIMITED"

Evening Star, Issue 16079, 3 April 1916, Page 2

'ALL FOR EMPIRE-LIMITED"

A CBITICAL APPRECIATION. [By Simon Mtjib.] The above title has suggested itself fts_a fitting heading to a briof critical consideration of the meeting held in Dunedin lately with the object of forming an All-for-Empiro League, and of the speeches delivered thereat. With the objects of theLeague every patriotic New Zealander will be in hearty' accord, as he will be with most of the arguments adduced. It is when one begins to consider the means suggested to attain those objects that' lines of cleavage and dissension become apparent ; and here, ah essay is made to present the views of one who, tthile fervently anxious to attain the end desired, is somewhat critical as to the means, and somewhat dubious of the •success," of the movement, unless it be begun and propagated with much more of the open mind and far less df fanatic devotion to teaditional political nostrums than were evident at this particular tneeting. One.personal word may be permitted. I have been a freetrader all my life. My journalistic and political friends in. Britain 'have beeh nearly all 'Freetraders, and if iiow of stern necessity I abjure Freetrade 'as a doctrine quite unfitted for the grim realities of to-day, I do so-with regret. "But for the wad: our old dreams might nave "been realised under Freetrade. Un- j der Freetrade as we knew it, they can- j not ever te realised without ensuring Ger- j .many the same grip of our home markets as she acquired and held in pre-war davs. I .And it is quite unthinkable that that can be tolerated. It is equally unthinkable . that the daughter States of the Empire will toss their fiscal systems, which on the whole work so well, on the scrap heap to make room for Freetrade, arid so ensure Freetrade within the Empire. Generations must pass before such a proposal becomes a matter of practical politics, and in the meantime we must adapt our systems to suit -existing drcumstanees, and to render the blustering Teuton, for lack of markets and money., ,as innocuous as a. tabby cat. —■Freetrade or Patriotism: Which ? Jn proceeding to review some of the •speeches, .let me declare that nothing written here is meant to be personally offensive to Any man. Personal trivialities should have no place in the discussion of 6Uch .great issues. The Mayor's Speech was an admirable opening, but the promoters of the meeting cannot be so heartily complimented on their choice of the nest speaker (Mr \Y. C. MacGregor), whose . speech was rather a plea for Freetrade, or for an All-for-Empire League that would be a mere appanage of the great Free- - trade propaganda. To one of an earlier generation whose Biblical lore, acquired by a compulsory diliger.re in older fashioned years, i& probably deeper than that of the young people of to-day, Mr MacGregor's appearance recalled the story of the prophet Balaam—somewhat inverted. Balaam was called in to curse Israel. Mi* MacGregor was brought forward 'to bless' the All-for-Empire League, and delivered a speech which, if translated into action, Would most certainly damn- if by -binding it hand and foot to a political theory which has become obsolete by the miracle of war, but which will' yet bs fought for bitterly and tenaciously by good people who exalt a political shibboleth to the rank of a sacred tenet of belief "We must form a Zoliverein, almost certainly with Freetrade witMn the Empire," declared Mr MacGregor. "Were our manufacturers in New inland prepared to submit to Freetrade to compete on terms with all other parts of the Empire?" These words deserve examinaEion and critical comment. Why in the name of common sense should Freetrade within the Empire be made a first Condition towards the formatjon of such a Zoliverein? Is it not quite as reasonable and possible to form such a Zoliverein with a scientific Tariff, adjusted and allocated to fall fairly and equ'tab,y on all the contracting parties? Mr MacGregor's attitude appears to be one ot c< thusmsm for the AU-fof-Ettipire propaganda only So long aa it can be advocated without impinging on this cherished po'itical formula. Let it but threaten that, and the All-for-Empire cause will promptly bo jettisoned. This does not aopear to be a proper spirit at all in which to approach fio great a subject. To come lr it with an open mind, holding the one great end clearly in view, and prepared at any cost to attain that end, is surely a more creditable attitude for the patriot hj. these grim and strenuous days. —A pTegnant Quest'on.— "Are our manufacturers in Now Zealand prepared to submit to Freetrade, to compete on equal terms with all parts of bhe Empire?" asked Mr MacGiegor. The answer is an emphatic negative, vhich, if If did not come from the manufacturers, would come with a determined unanimity from New Zealand workers, once they realised the_ issues invc-'ved. Let my readers consider briefly what Mr MacGregor's plea, if adopted, would involve. If, after the war, Freetrade bo still adhered to in Britain, industrial conditions will remain on pretty much the sr me level as before the war. There, vith longer hours, far lower wages, a poorer standard of living, the workers Will return to the thousands of factories and continue to pour forth cheap goods. This cheapness is only p-s.-ible witii such abominable conditions as hem round the Home worker. If the New Zealand manufacturer is going to consent to Freetrade, as Mr MacGregor suggests, only two alternatives remain to him : He must close down his factory, or ho must introduce the wages and conditions of the Old Land. Would New Zealand tolerate the latter, and would she not suffer by the former? Let me cite from my personal knowledge. In the Scottish tweed manufacturing area in the South of Scotland two years age the wage of the average male millworke: was from 22s to 24s a week. Women, on the whole, earned more, and in a busj week a woman weaver might have ever 50s. The working week was one of bt hours. How would Now Zealanders lilw to work for such wages? Yet under Freetrade within the Empire such wages anc conditions would have to bo introduces to give 'Nevr Zealand tweeds a cha-ncs against the Scottish variety. Again, ir the same district a man could have a sui( tailored to order, with all necessary trim mings, etc., for 225. Would New Zealanc tailors work for such a poor return' Would it be well for them or for New Zealand that they shoidd be asked to dt it, or consent to do it? And so the tak might bo continued throughout the whole list of manufactures and trades. Unles; Mr MacGregor can show how under Free trade Britafn can attain something of tin prosperity of her colonial States—a prob lem which no statesman has ever beei able to solve—his proposition is one tha in effect would drag New Zealand dowt to the level of industrial Britain rathei than raise Britain to the comfort and pros perity of New Zealand. —The Call of the Blood.— Still, again, the newly discovered realit; of the inalienable, imperishable brother hood of all the States of the British Em pire must in the reconstructed Imperia system find place and sanction; Blood i thicker than water, a fact which mus be given practical expression in our Im perial politics. And, thus, it must fal out that in _ the future Britain will giv first place in her markets to her owi daughter States, allotting favored place to her Allies, and barring our presen enemies out by an insurmountable tarii wall. But how can she give preferentia treatment to the Dominions without abo] ishing Freetrade? A tariff system is ab Bolutely necessary to give any such pre ference. The partial Freetrade withi the Empire which Mr MacGregor suggest is neither fish, fowl, nor good red herring It is a confusing and indeterminate mix ture of both—like Scots haggis, "a fin lot of confused feeding." It would strilc a deadly blow at all the Dominions, an New Zealand in particular by Veducin the workers to the level of their Horn brothers, • while it would not benefit th Home Country or the Home workers i any way. They would be much as before New Zealand would unquestionably b much worse. Or suppose for a mom6nt the dream j realised and Freetrade within the Empir

happen then ? New Zealand manufactur» •ers'will go down, and their factories will be closed just as the free -irruption of foreign goods, duty free, has closed bo ma-ny hundreds or thousands of mills in Britain of recent years. There will remain, of course, our rich agricultural and pastoral industry, we may be told. But would it not bo well to remember how the introduction of Freetrade operated in England 7C years ago? There it was agriculture thai was hit, as infant industries would be hit here. But England consoled herseli by turning to manufactures and becoming the workshop of the world, a position filie held for years until challenged by Protectionist Germany and America, and gradually forced .down from her high estate. So might it be in New Zealand. At first' her great agricultural and pastoral productivity might give her an unchallenged supremacy, but three days across the water lies another huge British continent which might conceivably force her gradually 'down and back to a position of relative unimportance and comparative poverty. The All-fox-Empire League sounds a call of the blood. Let the response come from a people prepared to sacrifice their prejudices and adjust their difficulties,, intent only upon the one great end—to live together as one great family, and to attain that object by raising the people to the highest level of comfort and decency known within the Empire's bounds, rather than by depre* dating those already prosperous to the jovcl of the most miserable. And if you adopt the reasons that have created those miserable conditions you will have the miserable conditions too. That is not prophecy, it is common sense. —How Not to Do It.— Mr MacGregor is indeed " sa-ir handdeh doon. by the bubbly-jock " of Freetrade. As a lawyer and a man of the world, lie warned his audience not to put too much faith in legislation—in statutes or even in tariffs. Thrift, hard, holiest work and up-to-date business methods were in the long run the only ways in which nations could hope to attain either riches or contentment, he declared. Surely Mr MacGregor will not contend that all there qualities are incompatible with a tariff ?y st f m . » n <l will he explain 'how under its tariff system Germany attained so supreme a pla«e in a military and commercial sense that she came within ah ace of conquering the world in both respects' bo much attention has been given to Mr MacGregor that only a'passing glance can be given to the other speakers, who, however, whatever their fiscal theories be, showed the greater merit, of approaching the question with a detached and dispassionate mind. Ihe Hon. Mr Paul, sticking to essentials, was content with sising the necessity of enforcing a commercial boycott of German goods. The supreme question is not whether that can be done or not without the sacrifice of some preconceived notions. The great thing 1S to have it done. Professor Bedford spoke with the assurance and authority of a recognised political economist. Me had no doubts whatever as to the efficacy of • legislation for dealing with the situation. "Mr MacGregor said that legislation was of little avail," he decided, '-but only by legislative barriers against German goods in the shape of a tariff could German trade with New Zealand be effectually dealt with." Most people will prefer Professor Bedford's authority to Mr MacGregorV in tois matter. The professor, indeed, looks forward to a future which will see Freetrade within the Empire an accomplished ideal. If the ideal can be realised by raising the status of the Home worker to that of his colonial brother, without ih any way impairing the prosperity of colonial trade and colonial workers, we shall all Welcome it and help to hast-en it along. In the meantime a wise maxim to remember is " Sufficient unto the day is the wisdom thereof." 'The All-for-Empire programme! outlines a policy which all patriotic Britons will homologate, but much of Mr MacGregor's contribution towards the discussion is„ if valuable at all, valuable chiefly as outlining the policy of "how not to do it."