WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1933. THE QUOTA QUESTION

Northern Advocate, 19 July 1933, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1933. THE QUOTA QUESTION

The question of whether New i Zealand should voluntarily sub-j mil to restriction being placed i upon the quantity of dairy pro-; duce sent by her to Britain continues to agitate the public mind. There is little doubt that a crisis is approaching, and the evidence at the moment j)oinlsto approval ; being forthcoming, though it must be confessed that the issue is being clouded in, a most bewildering manner as a result of the activities of sectional interests. Today there is published a cablegram which is evidently inspired, and which, on that account; may be regarded as suggestive of the direction in which the opinions of New Zealand's Ministers in Britain at the present time are tending. The Ministers are doing their utmost, we are told, to secure a continuation of open markets, but, says the telegram, "it is surprising how'sTroiig has become the feeling generally in favour of the quota system as a means of raising the price levels of primary products. The subject was recently discussed by the International Conference, and in the main the discussion was favourable to the principle." A committee was set. up, representative of the countries which are producing and exporting and those which are producing but not exporting. Mr Masters., the New Zealand Minister . of Industries 'and Commerce, was appointed to represent the Dominion on the committee, which Avas to have met yesterday. The people of New Zealand will await with the keenest interest the result of this meeting. The discussion seems to have moved from the consideration of a "saturated market." to one of raising price levels. This, in conjunction with the attitude adopted by the New Zealand Farmers' Union on the one. hand, and by the Manufacturers' Association on the other hand, as well as the policy of the importers in the Dominion, makes the -whole problem extremely complicated, and is apt to obscure the essential facts.