DOMINIONS' MARKETS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21577, 23 August 1933, Page 8

DOMINIONS' MARKETS

London correspondence published to-day shows that Poland, at the Economic Conference, endeavoured to put the cart before the horse in the matter of the control and marketing of dairy produce. However, the results in this sphere of conference activities are negligible. A committee submitted a draft resolution that the International Institute of Agriculture, the International Committee, the International Dairy Federation and the Economic Committee of the League of Nations should make a preliminary study of the question. A score of other interested bodies, both national and international, might have been made parties to this preliminary inquiry without bringing practical achievement one whit nearer. The resolution is the essence of futility, almost a classic example of the adroitness of conferences in shelving matters they cannot face or are beyond their capacity. It is easy to imagine the ironical cheers that might arise in consequence from the Waikato. The only thing that really matters to the New Zealand dairy farmer is what is likely to happen in the British market or any other market that may open up. Everyone is engaged in reading the signs. To do so with any certainty it is perhaps now necessary for the New Zealand mind to rid itself of the influence of the Imperialistic sentiment, to realise that the claims of the outer Empire are now subordinated to those of the British producer, to acknowledge that within the Empire nationalistic tendencies are at work. Three factors are clashing. The British Government is being swept forward on a protectionist wave toward the extreme measure of quotas. The British farmer having had experience of quotas is eager for more. Forgotten for the moment is the fact that the British Isles would

starve in a few weekj} if imports of food ceased. The second factor is that whereby, in the interests of British manufacturing industry, agreements have been made with foreign countries which guarantee a definite quantity of the products upon which the solvency of the Dominions depend. Here is in evidence the kind of compromise that the Board of Trade makes with the Ministry of Agriculture. Finally, there are. the restraints, some in force, more foreshadowed, upon the main industries of the Dominions. How to reconcile the three? The Board of Trade may know. The Ministry of Agriculture may know. New Zealand can only hope that in the final decisions the claims and obligations of Empire will not be submerged.