PROPOSED DELEGATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21763, 31 March 1934, Page 12

PROPOSED DELEGATION

POSITION INDEFINITE NO INVITATION received MATTER TO BE DISCUSSED [by telegraph:—own correspondent] CHBIST.CHURCH. Friday That the investigation of the dairy produce business in Great Britain was New Zealand's own affair, to be inquired into in whatsoever manner thought fit, was emphasised by the Prime Minister, Mr. Forbes, this evening. Mr. Forbes was commenting on a report current in both Auckland and Wellington that the British authorities had requested New Zealand not to send a delegation representing the dairy industry to Great Britain at present, as the British authorities would be thus embarrassed in their consideration of the question of import restriction. No such message had been received by the Government, said Mr. Forbes, and it was highly improbable that any such suggestion would ever come from any official quarter in England. If New Zealand wished to inquire into its own business in whatsoever manner it decided was fitting, after full consideration, that was its own affair. In any case, such a suggestion would be premature, as it had not been decided to send a delegation to England representing the dairy industry. All that had happened was that the recent dairy conference had passed a resolution requesting that something of this nature should be done, and this proposal had been further discussed by the Dairy Board.

The question would be again discussed at a meeting of the board on April 12, but in the present state of affairs, with nothing decided, it was not likely that the Government would receive any such request from England. If anything was done in the direction of sending a delegation, it was expected that the dairy industry would co-operate with the Government so that the representative sent abroad would have some authority. The Government would certainly want any such delegation to be accompanied by an efficient representative or adviser.

It also had to be remembered that the scope of any inquiry in England would not be limited to the quantity of New Zealand dairy produce that could be absorbed there. Marketing methods were reasons for differences in prices obtained for New Zealand and Danish butter, and the difference in quality also would have to be investigated. "NO GOOD PURPOSE SERVED » HIGH COMMISSIONER'S ADVICE Advice has been received in Auckland that the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, Sir James Parr, has expressed the opinion that no good purpose could be served by sending a delegation to Britain in connection with the present difficulties of the dairying industry. The suggestion of a delegation arose from recent conversations between the Government and the Dairy Produce Board. The possibility has been mentioned that the delegation should comprise a Cabinet Minister and two members of the board.

PETTY BARGAINING DANGER REPRESENTATIVE ENVOYS [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Friday "It is no use a dairy delegation going to England unless it has very definite and concrete proposals to place before the British Government," said Dr. A. J. Harrop, journalist, and representative in England of the University of New Zealand, who arrived in Wellington' to-day by the Akaroa from Southampton. "I am of the opinion that representatives of the Dairy Board should give place on the delegation to persons more representative of the whole country," said Dr. Harrop. "I would suggest a Minister of the Crown, who would have with him a national representative with business knowledge and one quite independent of farming interests." There was a danger in sending farmers home to bargain with English farmers, Dr. Harrop continued. Bargaining engendered a spirit of petty shopkeeping and undermined the broader Imperial sentiment. It was very dangerous to get into trade squabbles which inevitably resulted from a policy of bargaining. "General agreements as between the nations concerned are, in my opinion, the most satisfactory basis of trade," he added.