IMPERIAL UNITY

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 February 1917, Page 5

IMPERIAL UNITY

DEVELOPMENT OF RE* SUUHUES.

SPEECH BY MR, MASSEY

LONDON, February 22',

Marquia Graham, presiding at tho Empire-'-Progress Organisation lunch... con to Mr. Maasey, said that- Lord Balfour of Burleigh's committee's report was the first- milestone on the road of Empire reorganisation. The tsecoLid, now in view, was the union of Capital and Labor. It was no uss having preference, unless Capital and Labor benefited. We must dispel tlie" idea-that tariff meant that the em-, plover would get richer and the work•er would get poorer. Mr. Mas'iey said that we were beginning to see that it was better to develop our own resources and to pro. vide our own requirementa than to purchase from countries which might >v,me time use our money against usi. Lord Balfour of Burleigh's report was a vindication of the late Joseph Chamberlain's policy. We were all agreed that it would be a. mistake to return to the pye-war policy. No doubt Germany would enter upon an economic conte :t after the war. Therefore be heped that tho Paris Conferemce deci lion-.', would nut be lost sight of. The Empire could produce everything requu'te for o-.ir sustenance as long as we kept the supremacy of the sea.' After reading Sir Edward Carson's s'tati-iiKiu, lie was sati.Mfied that Germany would nc-Ver wrent the control ; f th.' f.r»n from \j'. There must be a complete reorganisation of industrial and economic mcihods and we would have to that men entrusted with Imperial affairs' understood them and knew something more r.f the Empire tham the v could learn in the United Kingdom alone. New Zealand could greatly increase her output of dairy produce and .large, area,-', of the Empire had. remained unproductive. He believed that the forthcoming conference would effectively deal with preference. Continuing, Mr. Massey pleaded for the immediate establishment of commercial preferdo.ee in order to build up the Empire. New Zealand would bo tho Empire's dairy farm, Canada its l granary, and Australia its wool and meat producer. '*