FREE STATE TRADE PACT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22356, 29 February 1936, Page 12

FREE STATE TRADE PACT

While Mr. de Valera remains obdurate on the question of the Free State iand annuities, admitting no right by Britain to collect charges on money lent to Ireland, he has gone a long way down the path of concession in subscribing to the pact under which tariffs on either side are reduced. "To that extent," he says, "our flag has come down but we still hope that right will triumph." In that hope Britain and all who wish the Free State well will fervently join. The unfortunate thing is that Mr. de Valera's idea of "right" is not that of those who oppose him, including the Dail Opposition, the spokesman for which, General Mulcahy, describes the President's attitude as futile, and emphasises the undeniable point that a better settlement can be obtained from Britain than from any international body. The plain truth of the matter is that although Mr. de Valera Sfclings to the fiction of national oppression he has become sufficiently alive to the bread and butter interests of his country to obey the dictates of common sense business. It is not to be denied that the Free State has faced the economic stresses of the tariff war with remarkable endurance and patience. There has been great privation though it has not always been in evidence on the surface. National indebtedness in the gross has risen in four years from £29,000,000 to £49,000,000, the net figures being £16,000,000 and £24,000,000, and the cost of living on capital in many ways has been very heavy. The visible adverse trade balance has been partly offset by the invisible exports of about in the shape of remittances representing pensions and interest on outside investments. It was, however, a losing struggle and the new pact gives heartening promise.