DOMINION AFFAIRS

Evening Star, Issue 22683, 24 June 1937, Page 6

DOMINION AFFAIRS

REPLY TO STATEMENTS ARTICLE BY DR W. B. SUTCH (Special Correspondent".) LONDON, June 2. Statements on New Zealand made in an article, ‘ A Family Affair, ’ which appeared in the ‘ New Statesman and Nation ’ on May 16, have called forth a reply from Dr W. B. Sutch, a wellknown New Zealand economist attached to the staff of the Minister of Finance, Hon. Walter Nash. The article, to which Dr Sutch replies, was signed by Mr Donald Cowie. The following is Dr Sntch’s reply, which ia published in the latest issue of the 1 New Statesman and Nation ’: — “ Mr Cowie states that the New Zealand Government’s embargo on imports of Australian citrus fruits was an act of retaliation, rather than of protection, against the introduction of certain plant diseases into New Zealand. The facts are these. The United States Government had prohibited the importation of New Zealand apples and pears, not because of plant diseases in New Zealand, but because that dominion imported fruit from countries where Mediterranean fruit fly was prevalent, and by this roundabout means the fly might be introduced into the United States of America. The New Zealand Government thereupon prohibited the importation of fruit from countries infested by Mediterranean fly. Australia was one of these countries. One State, however'—South Australia—was free from the fly; so New Zealand has admitted South Australian citrus fruit, and this has not precluded the United States from taking New Zealand apples and pears. “ It will be noted that there is not, therefore, a complete embargo against Australian citrus fruits, and that this partial embargo exists for the protection of New Zealand’s trade with the United States. There is also the position of New Zealand’s own citrus production. Mr Cowie may not know, but there is already a substantial lemongrowing industry in New Zealand, and orange growing is developing. For this reason alone New Zealand needs protection from the Mediterranean fruit fly. In addition New Zealand has to give adequate opportunities for the marketing of Cook Island oranges. (The Cook Islands are included in New Zealand territory.) “ Mr Cowie infers that a subsidiary reason for the New Zealand Government’s action was to encourage the importation of Californian oranges from the United States. This was not a reason! Actually, it is the trade in Jamaican oranges which has developed recently, not the trade in Californian. “ New Zealand obtains its citrus fruits principally from local sources—from Australia, from California, from Jamaica, and from the Cook Islands. The restriction was placed on the importation of Australian fruit in December, 1932. The total imports _of oranges and lemons into the Dominion in amounted to 11,917.2821 b. The figure for 1936 was 15,170,3981 b. Taking int® consideration the increase in local production, it is_ clear that the partial restriction on imports of Australian fruit has not resulted in any diminution of supplies. “ Incidentally, Mr Cowie states that grapefruit became scarce in New Zealand because of the Australian embargo. The facts are that New Zealand does not import grapefruit from Australia. In fact, in the Australian Production Statistics, grapefruit does not appear as an Australian product. He states, too, that New Zealand grows more potatoes than Australia. The reverse is true. Australian production of potatoes is nearly three times that of New Zealand. “ Mr Cowie argues that because Australian currency is at approximate parity with New Zealand, it is cheaper for New Zealand to'import from Australia. This is absurd. It is not the value of the Australian pound as compared with the New Zealand pound that matters —the important thing is the value of Australian currency as compared with the values of currencies of countries which are competing with Australia in supplying the New Zealand market. “Mr Cowie speaks of * mutual tariff walls’ between Australia and New .Zealand. This is misleading. Australia and New Zealand extend to each other, with a few exceptions, the British preferential tariff. And the New Zealand tariff on British goods, which includes that on Australian goods, is probably the lowest in the world. “ Mr Cowie speaks of an inferiority complex existing in New Zealand. If that is true, New Zealand is in the same class as the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany, England, Poland, and Italy.”