VIEWS OF PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF TRADE

Evening Star, Issue 20613, 13 October 1930, Page 8

VIEWS OF PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF TRADE

RUGBY, October 11. (Received October 13, at 11 a.m.) Empire trad© was tbe subject of several speeches by Ministers and others last night. (Pile President of the Board of Trade (Mr William Graham), in >a speech at Edinburgh, said the taxation of foodstuffs and raw materials would be disastrous for the British people, as consumers, and for important sections of their industry and commerce it would immediately raise the cost of production. It would throw Great Britain into the turmoil of tariff retaliation, the futility of which in the postwar Conditions had been abundantly demonstrated, #and it would involve for millions of people a reduction in real wages. In the Imperial Conference the Government U'ould do everything in its power' to secure agreement with the dominion representatives in various forms of commercial development. In that sphere there was much of a most valuable reciprocal character that could be undertaken without imposing tariffs on foodstuffs and raw materials imported into Great Britain. The best of the dominion opinions recognised that it was impossible to expect the United Kingdom to impose duties on its foodstuffs and raw materials.