THE GREY RIVER ARGUS THURSDAY, JUNE IS, 1925. BRITISH LABOUR AND TARIFF PREFERENCE.

Grey River Argus, 18 June 1925, Page 4

THE GREY RIVER ARGUS THURSDAY, JUNE IS, 1925. BRITISH LABOUR AND TARIFF PREFERENCE.

A while ago the Clydesiders in the House of Commons were neing anathematised by the Tories as political ' madmen—to.day they arc hailed as among the prospective saviours of the Empire. What has so suddenly and completely changed them? Simply the fact that they have candidly acknowledged that they are ready for a small dose of tariff preference in an endeavour to cheek the trade depression in the Old Country. They could not have been so black as they were painted, th refore, when they condemned the terrible slumdom existing in their part of the United Kingdom, if a par- ■ tial conversion to the preference policy of the Tory Party, honestly avow. I ed, serves to raise their status so greatly in 'Lory esteem. It goes with- ! out saying that, if the present minority in the Labour Party who are prepared to give the preference pol- ■ icy a trial grows to any extent in the ' near future, it will mean at least a turning point in the taxation system of the Old Country, but it remains to be seen if Labour will stand for any measure making food dearer. They have, of course, the assurance, whatever it is worth, of Mr Churchill, ’ himself a Tory convert, that there is no danger of preference ever leading to a tax on what he terms “basic” food necessaries, but give Mr Churchill an inch of scope to vary the interpro. ; fat-ion of his terms, and it is safe to say he will, exclude from their meaning whatever imports the capitalists think j fit for taxation in order to secure | them special concessions in the mar- ' Lets of the countries exporting such . commodities. The Tory press say the intrinsic importance of a growing, if still small minority in the Labour .Party in favour of taxing foreign im_ ’ ports to a modified extent is far ’ greater than the importance of the resolutions recently passed by the Tory mojarity in the House of Com. • inons, the preference in which is of immediate value chiefly to Australia, and applies only to some of the Commonwealth secondary products. It can of course, be conceded, that, provided staple food imports arc not rendered , relatively or absolutely dearer by a i rence policy, and Dominion see--1 j ondary industries on the other hand Ido not suffer, the Labourites in Britain may become as favourable to | tariff imports as the Australian Labi; ourites. But the latter interpret the . practice as a benefit primarily for their own industries, and not those of any other port of the Empire. The same applies to both Labourites and most other Parliamentarians and in- • forests in Canada. Now Zealand has so few secondary industries yet that . • the weight of economic influence will doubtless continue to be thrown into the scale for any fiscal system that would promise, even remotely, a greater or lesser degree of monopoly for Dominion food products in the Br 1 - jtish market. There is a certain element of fear about the tariff agitation in Britain, due to the trade ' slump and the conjecture that* an arti- ? fical remedy is the only one in pros. I poet. The facts supporting this con- | tention are overwhelming. In the calendar year 1925, Britain exported manufactures valued at just over 618 millions sterling, and imported manufactures valued at very nearly 300 | millions. This entering- flood of for.

J oign manufactures is still increasing. ; In the quarter which ended in March i last, it was greater by a value of close ■ on 15 millions than in the correspondquarter of the previous year. The ; policy will reveal its full effects only ! in actual practice. It is calculated to ■make the Dominions, Ly granting a i monopoly of their markets to British secondary industries, help the Old Country to reduce its unemployment, under condition assuring the employers profits equal to what they would got for capital they would otherwise invest abroad. At present vast quantities of British capital are invested abroad, rather than at home, because it is really whistling down the wind to wait for the profiteers to practice the patriotism they preach for the pursuit of others. As showing, however, what the Clydesiders seek from a preference policy, Mr David Kirkwood said in Parliament that he wanted to go the length of selling the Dominion produce in Britain at cost price; and he nowise favoured free trade for the products cf sweated labour; for tlie* prefcrrel Australian fruit produced under fair wage .and

hygienic cinditions to Near East producetl under appalling labour conditions. If indeed it can b.* shown, in the final analysis that j ri-ference is going to better Hie workers’ lot as a genera’ rule, the exn.n: le of the <'lvde_ siders in advocating a trial for it will be copied by Labour fa* ami wide. But we shall wait and first what the British e-q italists :Ei.l; jf sidling Empire products at ce .- price?