ECONOMIC CRISIS

Feilding Star, Volume 9, Issue 3755, 25 June 1932, Page 6

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Britain’s Position SURVEYED UY MR BALDWIN TRADE RESTRICTIONS WOE LDWIDE EE EEC'TS LAUSANNE AND OTTAWA LMPORTNCE OF CONFERENCES and N.Z. Cabfo' llugby, June 23. Mr Stanley Baldwin, surveying Britain’s economic position, during a debate oai a unit ion of censure in the House? of Commons, .said that the tariff system adopted to correct the adverse balance trade was on its trial. It would be two or three year before they knew whether it bad fulfilled hopes or not. BIG FIGURES Although the Agues for April and Alay had not yet been completely worked out, there was an indication tliat the neduetiUu in. the unfavourable balance was both in the increase in the volume of exports a the decrease in imports, particularly the latter. In five month s the statistics ‘representing raw material were practically stationary, whereas the value of imported manufactured articles was down £32,000,000. TRADE RESTRICTIONS Air Baldwin deplored the world wide restrictions on trade which. ha.u Ikvil imposed by countries solely owing to their domestic conditions. They were not retaliatory. No fewer than thirty foreign, countries bud some kind of exchange restriction, ;md these restrictions were telling probably more againt the recovery of trade oven than tariffs, which throughout the world had been i° r oi caged Belgium, Roland the Netherlands, Portugal, France and some of the British Dominions tariffs had been raised until they had reached a height ifo w on linos t- impossible to climb. It was extremely difficult to see how this position was to I** broken. DEBTS AND REPARATION’S The Lausanne Conference naturally afforded seme hopes, and ho was certain that the cancellation of an reparations and v at* debts in Eurey e was an essential step towards giving the countries more confidence a»n.a helping them to get on with their business. It was sonic encouragement to Bii_ tain that through the difficult pevied she wa§ holding on to her export trade. As to her home trade, the actual volume of piuduetou bad slightly increased, yet there had been an ineroose in the unemployment figures, probably due to the apjfilling condition off the export coal trade and to the fact that many industries were getting greater production with fewer men at work. Britain, however, was facing the blizzard better than any other country. With regard to uncmploy incut, while not wishing to minimise their hardships, relatively speaking the British people were bettor <-'ff than the people of any other country. The Governmceit would d( what it could and enter into con. fere.nce to consider anything that might be arranged between the various countries, but in the meantime the world, bad to carry on. One oi the great objects of the Ottawa Conference was to help break down trade barriers. W hen they returned from Ottawa, they would see wliat could be done in that direction wtli other countries. These barrier'' had to he broken down and removed.