FAIR TRADE AT HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15821, 19 January 1915, Page 6

FAIR TRADE AT HOME.

As was to have been expected the war is having a potential influence upon the economic thought of the United Kingdom, in the direction of compelling a reconsideration of the fundamental difference between '" free trade" and "fair trade." A vivid illustration of this is to be seen in the resolution of the London Chamber of Commerce urging adequate tariff protection for the home-manufacture of aniline dyes during a period of at least ten years after the termination of the war. In tho past, though aniline dyes owe their origin to British invention, they have become practically a German monopoly, German manufacturers having a protected market in their own country and a " dumping" ground in the free trade United Kingdom, whero production has been made impossible by this unfair competition. Since the war commenced and trade with the enemy ceased, the absence of local aniline dye factories has been seriously felt by the British trades. The moment steps were being taken to establish these factories the promoters were confrouU 1 by the difficulty that, with peace, the nascent industry would be promptly exposed to industrial bombardment by German importers, whose principals— secure from British competition in their own protected market—would be able to "dump" their surplus products in the United Kingdom at a price ruinous to British makers. The obvious remedy is to give countervailing fiscal protection to home-made aniline dyes, and it is evidence of the keener national spirit evoked by the " struggle for existence" that representative British free-traders do not hesitate to accept the remedy. There has been no more prominent free-trader in British commercial circles than Sir Albert Spicer, who visited the Dominions with the parliamentary deputation, was chairman of the " Marconi committee" and is a noted exponent of the "nonconformist conscience-" Sir Albert Spicer seconded the resolution referred to above, thus subordinating his traditional theories to the practical and visible needs of the national situation. The time has gone by when British free-traders could regard with indifference unfair German competition in their home markets. The effect upon Britain's industrial future of a broader and wiser conception of national interests and international rivalries must be lasting and profound.