King Country Chronicle. Tuesday, August 2, 1932. THE DOMINIONS AND RECIPROCITY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3401, 2 August 1932, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Tuesday, August 2, 1932. THE DOMINIONS AND RECIPROCITY.

k Mr. Stanley Baldwin has not the rhetoric powers of a Lloyd George; he does not deal in sensationalism like a Winston Churchill; nor does he profess to have the diplomatic instinct of a Ramsay MacDonald. "When it comes to dealing with trade and commerce, however, Mr. Baldwin knows his subject, and in a calm and dispassionate statement at Ottawa he reviewed the trade relations of Great Britain and the Dominions. He was not critical, but simply defined his country's attitude to reciprocal preference, and gave a calm and judicial reminder to the Dominions of what the Mother Country expected in any attempt to weld the Empire into one economic unit. At present the Dominions enjoy many privileges from the Mother Country. They have free markets for all their exports; the use of the London markets on the most advantageous terms; the protection of the British Navy by which they are enabled to- economise in defence; and 'not least is the fact that credit of the Dominions is enhanced by belonging to a Commonwealth of Empire of which Great Britain is the senior partner. Mr. Baldwin did not touch on these matters in his speech at Ottawa. He is : a firm believer in Empire unity, but 1 frankly stated that if the Dominions are to obtain reciprocal treatment from Great Britain, there must be an equitable adjustment both in regard to sacrifices and advantages. He stated under existing conditions the Dominions sell to Britain £100,000,000 in excess of what they purchase from her. If duties are to be levied on importations from other countries and the Dominions conceded a free market, some plan will have to be de- j vised to bring about a better balance . of trade between the Dominions and the Mother Country, for it cannot be doubted that if Britain makes the concessions asked for her present foreign trade will be adversely affected. The Dominion representatives have stated their case, and while they have asked the Mother Country to make concessions, they show no inclination to concede much from their own standpoint. They have stated what they want from Great Britain, but appear to have ignored the true meaning of reciprocity and all that it means. They fail to recognise the fact that Britain is an international trader. At present more than half Britain's exports go to foreign markets. With Empire preference it seems inevitable that British trade in these foreign market will suffer, and naturally Britain wants some guarantee that the Dominions will help to make up any such possible deficiency in her international trade. The Dominions' representatives have given no such guarantee, and this has prompted Mr. Baldwin to give a gentle though considered opinion of Britain's feeling on the question of Imperial trade. The head of the Australian delegation said it was unthinkable that the Conference should fail. Yet Australia is taking a line

of action which is most likely to bring about that failure. Mr. Bruce is asking the impossible of Britain, and the other delegates are not far behind them in their demands. The Dominions purchased goods to the value of £350,000,000 from foreign countries last year. They want a free entry of their exports to Britain, while at the same time retaining the right to themselves to set up a tariff against British goods. Unless the Dominions take a broader view of Empire reciprocity, the "unthinkable failure" of the Conference is likely to be a reality.