The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1924. IMPERIAL TRADE

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12017, 20 December 1924, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1924. IMPERIAL TRADE

Mr Stanley /Baldwin’ s Government has lost no time, in announcing its Imperial policy. And Parliament adopted that policy without waiting to hear anything of either its principles or details. This is the consequence of the Liberal amendment to- the ■ Address, which was a direct challenge, none the less because it was anticipatory. The fact is quite unique in Parliamentary historf, which records'no instance of a policy accepted in advance by the House of Commons. All the precedents are of policies heard and explained before’ being dealt with, either with rejection or acceptance. The " episode : denotes the overwhelming strength of the GoVernhtent in the House. It is not only that’ the liberal amendment; which had considerable Labour support, was defeated by a huge majority—-339 to 167. But the Opposition, attenuated as it is, is divided in both sections. Mr Lloyd George opposed in one of his characteristic, fiery, - sjveeping speeches, and Mr Philip Snowden fought with ridicule and sarcasm, but neither, as the debate, reports and the, lobby gossip show, Has behind him the’ solid support of his people. Many members- of their parties favour the. Government Imperial policy, and even Mr Lloyd, George himself confessed to ■ .agreement with much in the polioy, | This'moans so much as embodies the,j conclusion of the, imperial Conference of 1907. But some of the friends of the Government declare that the 1907 conclusions are the essence of the policy now professed by the Government-. In face of these conditions, the only explanation of.'the Opposition’s daring tp challenge at all is that they hope that the complete showing of the Ministerial policy may cause general resentment enough, to force another, general election. .That, however, is a forlorn hope, for the Government can say, without;' much fear of contradiction, that they! ‘have, a mandate for an Imperial polipy* ' provided 'such does not contain provi-, sion for a protective tariff. The Opposition’s position is a divided minority i against a solid majority. of more ‘ than two to one. Nothing can prevent-the-new polioy from reaching the statute - book. What may happen after -trial of 1 - the policy no man can say to-day. At ■; [fill events, trial is to he made. Words about Imperial preference, Imperial* strength, Imperial unity, have ceased. Action is about to begin at once. The , situation is deeply, interesting to the; i oversea dominions. I There is to be no tariff. On thath pdint Mr Baldwin has’ kept his Word to j i the electors. Hie opponents, recognis- j" iug this, charge, him ojnly that he is doing things whidh will inevitably lead to • a tariff. In suppolt, they point to the ; preference policy, very small in details, ! but capable of expansion, and to the announcement of a Safety of Industries i Act, Whiob iB practically; a tariff; 3Jhe reply made is that, whatever tendency , preference may have towards tariff expansion, it will he checked by the other trade encouragements of the policy ’ oh ' which a million a year will be spent. This is acceptable to many of the Oppofion evidently. The safety of industries proposal is defended as necessary to prevent the unfair competition of foreign dumping, which is likely to be worse immediately than it was; when all parties cheerfully united to pate the old Safety Act which the Labour Government got Parliament to repeal. The ' defence will probably placate, the whole , Labour Party to a man, for the worst fear that party—in Parliament and out —has is of unemployment, because all know that unfair competition, as, - for instance, dumping, is the most fertile ' cause of unemployment. The support thus won' must open the way eventually i to a tariff, for the employment provided I in consequence of the new Act, must supply a body of fact against the free i trade .theories that have ruled for ' years. Mr Lloyd George said, during , the debate, that the new policy is the , most momentous ever proposed by a ' British Minister. To he historically | correct, he should have said, “Sjifice the', repeal of the Cosh Laws.” If the facts h as above fellow in the wake pf the ' policy, Mr Lloyd George can still ! characterise the policy as momentous. , But if he does say that, he will say ' It as a supporter of the momentous policy., The world, in that case, will say that Mr Lloyd George, is still true to type. After all, he did say some- ' thing in favour of the polioy. He re- \ ferred to the agreement of 1907. hut if ' all goes well the 1907 agreement will he declared the foundation of’the momen- . tons ooliev of 1004. as. in'ftied. it is so I declared now < What is the polioy precisely P That [

it is, so far as we can see, impossible ,to say, .except in generalities which are coin debarred , from 7 the currency of useful political debate. This is not condemnation, for obviously a blank cannot be condemned, even when covered with generalities. We have to bear in mind that the essence pf the policy is not, like so many policies of our time, a promise to secure the millennium immediately, if not sooner. It is a statement of Honest intention to have certain ideas of policy determined, considered, thought out, and applied by a collection of experts and interested people, l with an allocation of money to give I practical application. Improvement of I marketing, aided transport, better comI munications, help to migration, are among the lines to be pursued by men of capacity, towards the solution of the problem, of benefiting the dominions, not only without injury to the people of the Homeland, hut to “their advantage also. This, of course, is the real problem. Hitherto its solution Has been-nobody’s business, except so far as talking was concerned, the futile thing which is everybody’s business. Now it is the business of an established body of practical men who understand the whole vast problem, and are provided with means for carrying out their ideas. Of course, they ' must get the sanction of Parliament. But as they will be sure guides, , their ideas and recommendations will not he obstructed. We have now at the head of the Empire a Government which not only really cares for the Empire, but makes the Empire its first consideration. This is an improved situation. Moreover, it is even better than it looks, for strong men in each of the three parties in the Commons share the interest and enlightened goodwill of the “Government which has brought about the new situation. To enable us to realise that, there is much in the Commons debate just closed. Of that evidence, the strongest, perhaps, is Mr Baldwin’s hearty eulogy of the Imperial attitude of Mr Thomas. A new era has dawned. We hope' that the increasing light that always", follows the dawn will shine in the development of the Empire heading peacefully for the splendid “noon of Imperial stability.