IMPERIAL PREFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18703, 8 May 1924, Page 11

IMPERIAL PREFERENCE.

BRITAIN'S , NARROW POLICY. ■ PRIME MINISTER' REGRET - ■ ' —^ i ( POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES. , / /■ [BY TELEGRAPH. — • ASSOCIATION.} . : ;! WELLINGTON, Wednesday. : Referring - to V; the /, subject ;of .', Imperial preference to-day, Mr. ; Massey said he could not : j help • thinking " the course \of action which was being -.followed in the British Parliament would be .very, disappointing to British ; citzens in the overseas countries of the , Empire, and would, certainly, not be viewed by tneih as in the . best interests of, the. Empire as a whole. : : "I do not suggest for one, moment, said Mr. Massey, "that the Dominions have ever .done' more than their .duty, but for all . that I cannot help thinking that the treatment which is now being meted out to them is not what they expected or deserved.' Take the case of this Vcountry. New Zealand' gives preference in? her customs tariff on 425 articles imported , from Great ' Britain; Great Britain ' gives preference to nothing imported from , New■ Zealand, and apparently refuses, to consider any proposal in that direction. According to my way of thinking this is not in accordance with true Empire spirit. It is * not giving encouragement either to British citizens at Home or in the Dominions in any movement toward . the attainment of a self-supporting Empire. Unfortunately the lessons .of the war have been partly forgotten. - ■ t v * !V Need for Self-reliance. "What was agreed to at the . last economic i conference and. recommended to . the British Government was, . but a very small instalment of what many , people •who • recollect the situation at; the outbreak of the Great War would like to see. At that time it was brought home to us very forcibly that we had been relying far too; much upon foreign countries for many of the commodities essen"tial to our everyday life,_ which should have been produced within the Empire itself. To us in the overseas countries .it seems inimical to the Empire s interests that large sums of British money should so to foreign countries for the purchase of commodities which, with proper encouragement, can •be produced m abundance by British citizens on unoccupied land, available in our oversea countries. : : " There is much unemployment m Great Britain at present. Steps ishould be taken to bring about an improvement, but I feel convinced that ' our unoccupied territories will not be peopled, nor the empire's industrial supremacy restored or maintained by a policy which encourages the . purchase of a large portion of our requirements in foreign countries. 5 i Keeping t the Empire Together. [■' My. strongest reason for ( assisting to promote Empire preference," said Mr. Massey, "has been that every item.so arranged for is another tie!• to : assist in keeping the .Empire together. What is happening now will not affect our loyalty to the Empire in the very v slightest. British we are: British we > intend to remain. ' I hope that some day our fellow citizens in Britain will come round to » ; better way of ' thinking and learn to look at such matters with ;an ! Empire > spirit rather than from the narrower outlook of •what will suit some particular section of the community. : *- \ • ".I cheerfully admit that the British Government ■ has never attempted to impose taxation upon any of our products which were being.placed on their markets. On the whole Britain has been our best market, and I believe will continue to be our .: best market, but - what; is »happening now is encouraging people to think about the?! possibility of free trade - within the Empire. That may not be possible just yet, but I think the .time haa come when we should seriously consider ' whether something might not be done to have free trade within the Empire in foodstuffs and raw material. It is possible to have a certain amount • of preference •without in- ' creasing prices, because anything in the way. of a reliable market -will? greatly increase production in the Dominions and so' bring the supply up to the demand, at the same time providing more cash for Britain's best customers to purchase goods required from there. I admit that the British Parliament has a' perfect riarht to treat the recommendations of the ' Imperial Conferences as they think proper,, but I do think that the recommendations of the last conference " were worthy of more ■ favourable consideration than that which seems to be the fate in store for them." " < ;