THE AN AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1923. THE' INDUSTRIAL FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18455, 19 July 1923, Page 8

THE AN AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1923. THE' INDUSTRIAL FUTURE.

[t is not clear with what degree of s ' luthority Sir Basil Thomson speaks n n sketching possible developments *. ifter the Ruhr impasse ends. He s not optimistic in his forecast. If, tl is he declares, Continental factories p ire steadily at work manufacturing d tor stock, the consequences when n ;he floodgates are opened may be rery serious. i. rush of manufac- P tured goods, in sufficient volume to q spread over the world's markets, j and offered at artificially low prices c would react prejudicially upon t British industry, already encom- a passed with sufficient difficulties. Even if this possibility has to be j discounted, the constantly repeated s reports of industrial operations u being planned on the Continent t show that when Europe is tran- c quilised, and opportunities for trade improve, Britain will face fierce n competition. British opinion in regard to the future is divided. One section, commanding an increasing "hearing, demands that attention should be given to cultiva- * tag markets within the Empire, 11 rather than in foreign countries, t That is well attuned to the general a hope and desire in the Dominions. c The Economic Conference to be held r at the end of this year is dedicated "* to that purpose. Yet there is not * unanimity on the subject. . British C business men and economists, in J considerable numbers, deny that the * Empire can supply the markets '<■ which Britain needs. They depict < the Dominions as developing into 1 trade rivals rather than customers, i They advocate careful recurvation ] of European , markets, and appar- J ently look forward to their re- ( establishment in the same form and degree as before the war. It has 1 to be admitted, however, that diffi- ' culties exist. With the creation i of new States, new tariff walls have ' been raised, and high ambitions are ] cherished. If this threatened flood of goods does appear, just at, ] the time when competition is re- 1 newed with fresh intensity, British ] trade may receive a check likely to - last long. Markets are more easily - lost than recaptured, and a cutting i of prices at the outset may have a ; decisive effect. 1 In the main, Britain is a seller J of manufactures and a purchaser of ' raw material and foodstuffs. Be- i fore the war, Europe took a great 1 volume of her goods, and sold her ' much food. There are few Con- * tinental countries now showing the . same surplus of food as prior to ] 1914. In most of them there is a ( definite effort to foster manufac- ' fcures. The' Dominions, broadly ] speaking, seek overseas markets for ] food and raw materials. This is 1 qualified by the industrial ambitions '• of some of them, but is generally applicable notwithstanding. . If : European rivals to Britain appear in the Dominions as sellers, they will also compete as buyers. That is necessarily the case, since the exchange of goods is the basis of the trade process. Britain may be clearing-house and carrier for both these manufactures and materials. The commerce and carrying tirade will benefit her, but the industries upon which so large a proportion of her population depends will not be helped. Before the war, re-exports and what were known as invisible exports were valuable, but were regarded as less significant of the industrial—as distinct from commercial—prosperity of the country than the original exports necessarily so, as hardly requires demonstration. These considerations seem to have been too little regarded by the advocates of attention to Continental markets. They quote British supremacy! in them before the war and compare the proportion of all overseas trade done with the Dominions. They gloss over the fact that Britain was then in an assured position, and had penetrated these markets ahead of her principal competitors' who had long leeway to make up. In a general scramble, following a revival, that priority will not exist. Nominally terms will be equal, actually, if Sir Basil Thomson is right, the scales will be weighted against Britain. If goods are ready and waiting in the quantities he suggests, there will be an equal attack on Empire markets, but it is just at this statre that there, enter certain arguments from the armoury of those who advocate systematic efforts to encourage trade within the Empire. Economists and free trade advocates do not always accept the widest meaning of the word preference. It has a personal as well as an economic application. The ultimate factor, the consumer, has his likes and dislikes. To take New Zealand as an example, it cannot be I doubted that many people do hones% ; prefer British-nuide goods k; V ,; , •■.■...*:-" : ■■.'■' '<-■-■ : « ' v ■ ; • I

to those with a foreign country ,of drigin. Confidence in quality and workmanship, familiarity in use, and some degree of sentiment combine to produce this feeling. All considerations of price cannot be thus outweighed, but some can. The Dominions, even where they impose tariffs on imported goods, give customs preference to those of British manufacture. With , this the situation within the Empire, with a menace such as that indicated by Sir Basil Thomson overshadowing foreign markets, with the. commercial future certain to show a fiercer rivalry than the past, the case for general Imperial preference certainly stands stronger to-day than, say, when Mr. Joseph Chamberlain first cast it into the maelstrom of controversial politics. This question is coming more and more to be regarded as one of general develop' ment rather than merely of tariffs. It is a mistake to dismiss it by saying that the erection of an Imperial ring-fence, excluding all rivals, is the beginning and the end. If the markets are to be in some degree preserved— the game law sense for Britain, their development should be a work in which she might engage with profit. Schemes for systematic migration of population fit in well with the other details. It has been demonstrated to the point of monotony that the Empire could, with comprehensive development, be self-supporting almost to the last necessity and even luxury of modern life. Up to the present systematic efforts have not been concentrated on making it so. Opinion is moving in that direction. It takes time to establish a general conviction that a united front in times of presented without aggressiveness— have some benefits as it has in war. If a menace is developing such as that depicved by Sir Basil Thomson, it surely is another reason why the units of the Empire should meet it together, instead of, possibly, succumbing to it separately.

THE MOTOK VEHICLES BILL.

The intention of the Government to introduce the Motor Vehicles Bill again this session, a,nd to drop it again, was announced yesterday by the Minister for Internal Affairs in answering a question relating to one of the subjects within that unfortunate measure. It may be asked why, if it considers the Bill cannot be dealt with this session, the Government should reintroduce it But more pertinent is the question why the Government does not make an opportunity for . Parliament to deal intelligently with the matter by mustering up sufficient courage to formulate proposals that it can press to statutory enactment. The Motor Vehicles Bill of 1921 is a consolidation of the existing law, with new provisions dealing with the licensing of vehicles essential to the success of the main highways scheme. In 1921, Mr. Downie Stewart presented the Bill as "the necessary preliminary" to the Main Highways Bill, to provide "a reasonable amount of revenue" for the scheme embodied in the latter. That is still its importance. Mr. Coates proposed to equip the Highways Board .with an annual revenue of £535,000, comprising £235,000 of moneys previously expended from the Consolidated and Public Works Funds and £150,000 each from the tyre tax and motor license fees, or some other source of revenue. The Highways Board has begun its labours, but with the grave handicap of inadequate

finance. There is a new principle in roading administration, but the only additional money is the yield from the tyre tax. Half the special revenue of the scheme has not materialised. Two years have been wasted in futile argument

about the method of special taxation to be levied upon users of the roads. Instead of permitting the waste of another year, the Government should proclaim its determination, since the prospective taxpayers cannot agree, to fix the method and scale of taxation itself and to place the Bill on the Statute Book this session.