BUY BRITISH GOODS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 6 August 1931, Page 5

BUY BRITISH GOODS

(To the Editor)

Sir, —Tlie outcry we hear regarding Soviet butter makes an average man wonder if we are not living in a very narrow-minded age. In spite of the fuss we make and the questions raised in the House, Britain is not dependent on New Zealand for her butter supplies, but we here are very dependent on the British housewife taking our exports. It is only by the active work of a control board and thousands of pounds in advertising that New Zealand can hold her own on the Home market. We get frantic at the idea of the Soviet dumping system. The question of it being the result of slave methods and unhygienic conditions of production is only hearsay at present. The butter

has been analysed and found pure; it

certainly would not be on sale if it were not. At the same time as we in ft this country are moaning about the Russian butter being allowed admission • .at Home, we (some of us) are buying SAmerican cars, radio sets, etc., in many Hcases with the money given us by our 'ikinsmen at Home in return for our & primary products—surely a case of bitling the hand that feeds us. Even the ■ hats we wear (men’s at any rate) are ■ usually American or Italian, and many other instances can be brought to mind. The new taxes impose heavier duties than ever on British goods, but as foreign imports bear the same rates

of increase, we can still buy from Britain, our best customer. If we cannot get an article made in New Zealand let us practice what we preach and buy British goods. If we do not do this, at least we must drop this “dog

in the manger” attitude towards foreign produce entering Great Britain. The excuse that American cars, and radio, are cheaper than British does not hold water. It has an analogy in Soviet butter, which is cheaper than any that we can produce. We know that our produce is the better, but so is the Britishbuilt car, etc. It cuts both ways and it is our job to support the people who buy our products, which can be got equally as good from other countries, such as the Argentine, Denmark, Canada, etc., and cheaper, though perhaps not as good, in the case of Russian butter. By using cars and radio as examples I do not mean we should buy these luxuries in a wholesale manner whether we can afford it or not. New Zealand’s present position is largely caused by the indiscriminate buying of such luxuries on the instalment plan by people who apparently cannot pay cash for the ordinary necessities of life. The housewives at Home have taken a splendid attitude in refusing to buy the dumped butter and wo should take a corresponding viewpoint. Personally, if ever I am in a position to afford such things as a motor car, radio set or new hat, I afh going to buy British every time when it is not possible to get New Zealand-made articles. I'may say I am a Colonial and proud of my British descent and a hearty supporter of the attitude taken by “On Britain’s Side” in your columns recently. Would America help us if we were in distress? Or would we depend on the land of our fathers? I am, etc., BRITAIN FIRST.