PARLIAMENT

Evening Star, Issue 21541, 13 October 1933, Page 12

PARLIAMENT

ATTACK OH QUOTA PROPOSALS 1 1 LONDON CONFERENCE DEBATE [Per United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, October 13. The House of Representatives met at 10.30 a.m. Mr Macmillan gave notice of his intention to introduce the Whakatane Harbour Board Vesting Bill. The Auckland Transport Board (conversion of loans) Empowering Bill (Mr Mason) was introduced and read a first time. Continuing the debate on the World Conference, Mr M'Leod said that with her present population, the dominion could not solve her own problems ir- '. respective of what was happening in the outside world. The country would require a population of.at least twenty millions before prices could be adjusted internally without regard to world i parity. At the present time, because she exported 40 per cent, of her pro- ; ducts, New Zealand had to fall' into line with world prices.. ' Mr M'Keen said it had not been the / fault of the delegates that the confer- ■' ence had failed. The whole situation had been in the hands of the international bankers, who were conferring at, the same time. The evils from which people were suffering were due to the policy of deflation. The deflationary policy had doubled the burden of fixed charges, and so long as the monetary system was in the hands of private individuals there would be slumps and booms. Mr Poison said he was not one of ; those who believed that quotas were inevitable. He thought Mr Baxter, on leaving New Zealand had begun to realise that this loyal dominion felt it was being very unfairly treated in the matter of the proposed quotas. Mr Poison expressed the opinion that quotas, once established, would cause ‘ a vicious spiral of higher prices and . reduced consumption, and the development of industry would be hampered. He thought the dominion should state her position to the people of Britain and rely on their common sense. He did not believe that quotas were the accepted policy of the British people. 1 New Zealand would have to continue developing her dairying industries to a greater extent, and should not agree, : under any conditions, to anything that would restrict that development. He considered that there was every possibility, with the assistance of better organisation in Britain, of increasing the 1 consumption of milk in ' the Old Country, and pointed out that while the average consumption there was 15 gallons per capita annually, it was between 50 apd 60 gallons in other conn- ■ tries. Forty per cent, of the cows in Britain were subject to tuberculosis, compared with a little over 4 per cent, in New Zealand. . If the British farmers were prepared to produce a purer article ho believed the consumption of milk would increase. After referring to Britain’s trade agreement with Denmark, Mr Poison said he believed New Zealand would be prepared to make similar arrangements with the Old Country, and grant Britain certain trade concessions in return for an agreement by the Old Country to take our primary produce without restriction. . Ho also believed that an arrangement of this rrtnre would be acceptable to the people of Britain. Mr Poison expressed the view that tho possibility of trade with the East no longer existed. It was too late now to endeavour to establish any substantial market in this quarter. _ Mr Sullivan said that, in ms opinion, Mr Baxter had been absolutely unyielding in regard to quotas, and if "Mr Poison thought otherwise he must be cxtrcmelv optimistic. He believed that Mr Baxter’s attitude had been that of the British farmer and the British Government. If Parliament desired to serve the interests of the people of the dominion it could only hope to accomplish that objective by facing the facts with which it was confronted. . Continuing, Mr Sullivan said that it New Zealand relied on international action to overcome the depression she would be relying on the weakest possible reed. He asserted that the remedy could only be found by internal measures, including increased wages and further protection for local industries. He urged the House to consider the feasibility of instituting a scheme something similar to the National Recovery Act in the United States. Mr Howard said there had been definite necessity for New_ Zealand to be represented at the World Conference. In spite of her small population tho dominion was an important unit in the world, but because of that small population other countries were not prone to recognise this. He was therefore glad that tho dominion had been represented, and that tho Prime Minister had been the delegate. Mr Howard expressed the opinion that the fact that discussion on war debts and wages and hours and conditions ot labour had been barred had militated against the success of the conference. "The House adjourned at 1 p.m.