Mr Jordan Makes Forceful Rejoinder To B.I. Fedaration

Northern Advocate, 17 December 1938, Page 9

Mr Jordan Makes Forceful Rejoinder To 8.1. Fedaration

(Received 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, December 16. W. J. JORDAN, NEW ZEALAND HIGH COMMISSIONER, IN A STATEMENT IN THE “NEWS CHRONICLE,” REPLIES TO MR MOIR MACKENZIE, DIRECTOR OF THE BRITISH INDUSTRIES FEDERATION, WHO SAID THAT IF NEW ZEALAND CARRIED OUT ITS IMPORT RESTRICTION BRITAIN MUST GO BALD-HEADED FOR DENUNCIATION OF THE OTTAWA PACT. The High Commissioner characterised the statement as mischievous, misleading and of the kind that was likely to antagonise buyers of British goods, as well as an affront to political feeling in New Zealand. The import licenses system was not designed primarily to curtail British goods in order to bolster up New Zealand’s industries, but to enable New Zealand to buy the maximum from Britain in order to pay loan charges. “We refuse to be stampeded by Mr Mackenzie into a position in which we would spend so much in England that there would be insufficient balance to meet our obligations,” said Mr Jordan. “We appreciate Mr Mackenzie’s plea that New Zealand should be allowed to carry out her Socialist experiment, and he may be assured it will be carried out to the advantage of the people of New Zealand and the satisfaction of the London investor and also to the satisfaction of the Federation of British Industries, unless he prevents it by his own action.”