TRADE OF EMPIRE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 30 November 1927, Page 7

TRADE OF EMPIRE.

NEED FOR. CO-OPERATION. MR AMERY’S PLEA. (by telegraph—press association.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 29. The Rt. Hon, L. C. M. S. Amery, attended a reception to-day given by the Navy League and the Victoria League. He stressed the importance of the Navy and the necessity for having a force to keep all routes open at all times. New Zealand he considered to be doing its fair shaie in naval contributions and to the Singapore base Although the Navy had been reduced in actual numbers of men and ships, it was never more efficient than to-day in every essential direction. The Empire, said Mr Amery, had no definite form of Government and no written constitution like the United States, but was working uniformly on a basis of co-operation which helped to bind them closer together. A reception to Mr. Amery held today by the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen’s Association, the chief guest being described as “the chief ( commercial traveller for Joh.ll Bull aiiu I Co.” . ~ | “We value the status we have, said Mr. Coates, “and we take full opportunity of expressing our views, but if Britain, in her judgment, deems it advisable to take a line of action, then Mr Amery can convey his message to the people at home: New Zealand will be found standing beside tlio Mother (Land'. “My (remarks// (he continued, “refer to the higher side of our national life and to the thoughts that run through the minds of every citizen in our country to allow and to foster trade within the Empire.” Mr. Amery stressed the urgent necessity for the development of interEmpire trade and each country’s resources. He expressed his conviction that they were only at the beginning of the development of the British Empire. He thought the United States could show us a good example of what could he done with the resources of a great and varied territory. There they had more railways than the rest of the world put together, a greater use of mechanical power, whether electric or steam driven, than the rest ol the world, a greater production and consumption of steel and iron, and many other essential commodities upon which modern industry was based, than the rest of the world- put together. and they had done it on a territory about a quarter of the size of the* British Empire. The people j who had done it were mainly our own stock and the capital had largely been drawn from Great Britain. Tnere was nothing the United States had done that the Empire could not do if only we ceased thinking in a watertight compartment and realised the advantage of pooling our resources. There was no reason why we should not exceed anything the United States had done to date. The resources and ability were there. He appealed to commercial travellers to ' foster Empire trade in New Zealand, • not only on the grounds of sentiment, > but also of business. The prosperity • of New Zealand he said, was depend--1 ent upon the prosperity of Great Britain. After his address, Mr Amery was presented with the honorary membership badge of the association.