TRADE PROPOSALS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 19 December 1924, Page 9

TRADE PROPOSALS.

THE £1,OOQ,0(H) SUBSIDY. PREFERENCE ISSUE. BY GABLE —PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPY EIGHT. LONDON, Dec. 18. In the House- of Commons. the Premier v (Mr. Stanley Baldwin) announced that .£1,000,000 ..would be allocated annually to- developing schemes for marketing Dominion produce. The speeches of the Liberal and Labour leaders suggest that the Opposition intends to make the most of the opportunity to launch the fiscalpolicy .anew. A number, of members of the Opposition, however, are evidently disposed to favourably consider the Empire subsidy plan, which the Daily Telegraph thus outlines:—“The Government will invite the Dominions to set up an Imperial Economic Committee, which will he purely advisory, but will be charged with the duty of inquiring as to the best means of marketing Dominion products. The Government will also carry Imperial preference, which will involve decreasing the existing . duties on British tax payers, but small duties on apples and tinned fish afe to be dropped , and a. subsidy of £1,000,000 per. annum instead expended by the Imperial Economic Committee in improving inter-imperial markets.” Even Mr. Lloyd George (Leader of the Liberal-Party) is not altogetheivunfriendly toward the Empire subsidy. He hoped the Government would not have regard merely for the carriage of goods from the Dominions, but the carriage of our goods to the Dominions. Personally he .had always regretted that the ideas mooted at the 1907 conference were not carried through, as it was impossible to carry a tariff involving a tax on bread.

Captain Wedgwood Benn, representing the other section of the Liberal Party, argued that even if preference did not involve the imposition of new and higher duties, it would give the Dominions a vested interest in the existing duties, and thus.be even more difficult to deal with than vested interests in Britain.

Sir Edward Grigg, speaking from the Liberal benches, however, welcomed the declaration of the Premier (Mr. Stanley Baldwin) regarding Imperial preference, and was glad he had kept faith with the Dominions.

Mr. Philip Snowden (Labour), in a caustic speech, sneered at the Government’s proposals as an effort to keep the Empire together by the subvention of £1,000,000. He attributed the new version of preference to Mr. Winston Churchill (Chancellor of the Exchequer), whom he described as the great political acrobat. Mr. Snowden said the Labour Party was not opposed to spending money in the promotion of Imperial trade, provided it was done the right wav, but the party objected to this subvention because it was going to increase the price of food from the Dominions.

Captain Haden. Guest said he was prepared'to believe that a boldly conceived Dominion policy would put a new complexion on the life of the people of Britain and the Dominions, hut this could not be achieved. by little patchwork bv means of preference. The pity -was that the people of Britain did not. know the Empire. It would pay the Government to make Empire travel excessively cheap. Mr. Churchill, replying to the debate, boldly claimed that the Government’s Empire trade proposals were practically those of the Liberal Government in 1907, and would give effect to the policy of Imperial preference without the imposition of food taxes (Ministerial cheers). The Government’s desire was to encourage Empire products at the expense of foreigners, not at the expense of domestic producers. The Morning Post and the Financial Times commend Mr. Baldwin’s proposals, especially preference. The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Exnress make no comment, but the Daily. Chronicle stresses-the danger of .protection.