AFTER THE WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16508, 7 October 1915, Page 5

AFTER THE WAR.

FIGHT FOR THE WORLD'S COMMERCE.

"MONEY OR PATRIOTISM?"

EMPIRE TRADE RESOLUTIONS CARRIED.

The Garrison Hall was fairly well filled last evening when a demonstration, arranged by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce in 'co-operation with the Otago Expansion League and tho Otago Trades and Labour Council, was held with tho object of advancing the claims of British commerce in preference to the goods manufactured in enemy countries. Mr G. W. Gibson (president' of the Dunedin Chamber of Commeroe) occupied the chair, and both on the platform, and in the body of the hall there was an assembly representative of all the various/ trade interests in the oity. The proceedings were opened with an inspiriting selection of National airs played by the 4th R'egimental Barid (under Lieutenant S. S. George), followed by the hearty singing of "God Save the King." At intervals Mrs Power and Mr A. G. Green contributed vocal items.

The Chairman briefly' explained tho purpose of the meeting, and showed how it had been rendered necessary, by a recognition of' the inroads which .German trade i bad mado upon British commerce, that .recognition having • been forced upon the nation even more emphatically after the commencement of the, war. Tho movement had been' initiated by the various Chambers of Commerce in the dominion, and similar meetings would bfe held in duii course throughout New Zealand.—(Applause.) The Mayor \eaid that in the gloom and darkness that surrounded their Empire at the present time, the one thing rising high and clear above everything else was the inflexible determination of the people of the British Empire to see the war through to_ a victorious 'end.—(Applause.) ' They might have been a disunited empire before August of last year, but when the.declaration of war was made by that despot who spught to be the War Lord of the world, like a magnet the whole of the British Empire became as one, and he took it that they wer j there that night to _ encourage and increase that patriotic feeling. He thought it was Mr Lloyd George who, in one of his brilliant speeches, had stated that the Germans had walked arm in arm with themhad shaken hands with them, and we thought they were_ friendly, but all the time they ,were plotting to murder them in thefr sleep. He believed that the curious spirit \ of the British nation had hc-lpcd that position—that they were relying too much on the traditions of; the past. They saw the German inroads' into their commeroe, doing away.' with the British' manufactures, and destroying their . local manufactories, and yet the spirit of patriotism was not sufficiently strong to refuse to have anything to do with German trade, and encourage their, own manufactures: If they were content onoe the war was over to sink back . into their old habits, and, to buy in t the "cheapest and sell in the. dearest, irrespective> of where the goods came from, then, he believed, that the war would-have been a useless sacrifice ; but he thought that , they had learnt so much' during the last few bitter months that no longer would they allow that nation to walk arm in arm with them and plot to murder them' in their sleep.—(Applause.) The Chairman then moved— That this meeting of Duaedin citizens resolves that, • with a view of diverting trade previouslycarried on with enemy countries, and with the object of developing trade,' both imports and exports, within the Empire and: with allied' nations, when peace is declared they will purchase goods, manufactured in the dominion (when' such goods are available), or manufactured in Great Britain or British dependencies, or .goods made by Britain's allies; and further resolves not to purchase goods which are the products of preeont enejny countries." In speaking to the reso lution, Mr Gibson prefaced his remarks by emphasising the fact that because two nations were at war there was.no reason why they should refuse to do business with' each other when it was over...: They had, however, to remember ' that ..this s war was not an ordinary wad*, and if they- allowed their minds to go back they .would remember that there was absolutely no reason why Germany should w have gone to war with i any one of the nations composing the Triple Entente. Sho was practically asked by Sir Edward Grey to state what steps could be taken, to avert war, but she had preferred the sword, and they had all seen the result of that* policy of ruthlessnesa whioh had characterised her conduct of the war. Germany as a nation was a criminal for she had broken every law of humanity,' and had .shown no fcgard either for the sufferings of others or for her own honour. —(Applause.) Now, there wero times when it. was neoessary to punis.h a criminal, and a nation that had behaved like a criminal would have-to be punished as well. By trading with Germany at the close of the war we would -be placing ourselves on the same level with the Germans, and no higher, and it would be no excuse that we could get. our goods slightly cheaper. • Continuing, the speaker stated that the fact of holding*such a meeting was something of a humiliation, a? it should be unthinkable to all that there,- was anyone in this community who would' wish again to resume trade relationships' with a nation that had brought. so much misery into the world. But there were' men' in this community who would tell them openly... that if, when, the war was over, "they'could'buy German articles one- shilling' "cheaper" than British they would buy the German goodsi .every time. —("No, no!") What they wanted to do was to rouse the conscience of the people and to bring pressure to bear on Parliament to make these things impossible. "We ask you," continued-Mr Gibson, "on these'high moral grounds, if on no other, to show your detestation of. German savagery f.nd frightfulness by buying ho more, of their products when the war is over." Proceeding, the chairman dealt with the economic aspect of the war in the effect it would have upon the ; participants at the close of hostilities. 'He stated that every one of the nations now engaged in the present struggle was going to be burdened with a great debt. In tho case of Britain, which ever way the war went— and we were all satisfied that she wa% going to be successful —(applause),—our nation was going to be saddled with a financial burden so great that if two, or three years ago. anyone had suggested that it would reach such a sum he would have been laughed at. It was no use to bemoan v this fact—it was only to be expected, —but what we had Vo consider was how to minimise the evil. Tho only thing to be done was to extend the resources of- the Empireas" much as possible, and if we as an Empire stood shoulder to shoulder we could do a great deal to help to win the.'present war, and also to win the commercial war that would follow in its steps. We had been told repeatedly that England wouldi halve to increase her exports; but Germany and France were going to be in the same position, atod where was England going to look for that increased outlet if not to her oolonies and overseas dominions! —(Applause.) That matter could not be lightly dismissed, and he made the statement with a full sense of its gravity and unpopularity, that after the war wo would not be prepared to meet the competition that would ensue. There was no doubt in his* mind that Germany would compete with us, and that would be th i ease, because Germany as a nation could organise her trade energies in a way that we in British countries could v not do. We were told that in Germany there were largo quantities of goods piled up pending the close of thb war, and also that. Germany saw that competition was coming and was preparing to meet it. At the present time every nation was - disorganised from a manufacturing point of view, and would be so whon the war was over, because so many of their factories were engaged in making munitions. However, Germany was already preparing to 'get a start of the other nations, and our own country, amongst them; and it was , felt, therefore, that England should be prepared for that competition from Germany whon it came. Germany would at- i tempt to flood tho market with produce, i at prices even lower thin those sho had put ; upon her goods before the war. She would find it necessary # to recover her over- , seas trade, and would endeavour to do so j by appealing to the selfishness of the in- , dividual. Sir Joseph Ward' had stated j from the floor of the House the other day j that the German, imports into New Zea- | land for eight months prior to the outbreak of war had been valued at £1,750,000. which meant that this country had been handing . over to Germany £4700 every day. He could assure them the bulk of this_ coun- | try's trade with Germany could bo diverted ( to England, and he jvaTited those present \ to realise that if thev insisted "on seeing i that this was dono a very great service j would be conferred on the whole of the - British Empire, on its colonies and de- ' pendencies, and also on its allies.—(Applause.) j Great Britain had in.the past freely thrown < open h,er ports to our trado, while tho < other nations ,'iad met u6 with high tariff i

walls, and it was our bour.den duty to support tho country that had done so much for us, —(Aoplauso.) It would be '.vcli for overyone to remember • what England had done for us and what Germany had done to us, and ho asked them it their patriotism was really sufficient to cause them to make, perhaps, some small sacrifice, and purchase their own people's goods in the future. —(Loud applause.) Mr K. Breen seconded the motion. Ho said the resolution which they were called upon to pass pledged them to purchase goods manufactuied in the dominion, when such goods were available. The organisaiton which he had tho honour to represent had consistently advocated the encouragement of local industry. Three years ago the Otago Trades and Labour Council had promoted an Industrial Exhibition for the purpose of demonstrating to tho people of Ounedin that many 01 the articles imported from Germany and other countries could be manufactured in New Zealand. In connectioj with that exhibition the council had tho support of local bodies, and the leading manuiucturers in Dunedin. In spite of the efforts that had been made in the past, however, very few of their industries ' had expanded, and in many cases some of the industries established were still languishing for want of support. In Dunedin to-day, any man and 'woman c6uld be clothed from.'he crown of their heads ■' to the soles of their feet, by articles manufactured by their brothers and sisters in their own town, and it was their duty when purchasing these articles to insist on being supplied with local manufactures.—(Applause.) ■ Mr Breen concluded with, an earnest appeal to those present not to be content with passing tho resolution, but to make a special point of giving practical expression to it by insisting on having goods manufactured in tho dominion where such goods were available.

Mr -J. Inglis Wright spoko in support of the motion. Ho asked if patriotism had a price, and answered that it had, and that they had paid it on tho battlefields of Galhpoli. Tho statement that patriotism 'had a Price, but that a shopkeeper could not afford to pay it—that business was business; that there was no sentiment in business, was filse—it. was a lie. There was such a thing as sentiment in business, and the fact of the people being- there that night was proof of it —(Applause.) Goodwill was a commercial term which bulked largely in commerce. Had they any for Germany—(Voices: "No.") —a country whose wish for the past year had been " God punish England." Germany would try to get .back her commerce at tho close of tho war, and offer her accumulated stocks of goods to our country. Were they _ going to accept them? It was on her industrial power that the strength of the German army had been, built, and a vigorous opposition to tho products of all onemy countries must be pushed.—(Applause.) Let every man and woman in Duncdm strive in helping to break down the strength of Germany's commerce.—(Applause.) The wealth of the Empire was their wealth, but tho wealth of Germany' was their injury.—(Applause.) Would the - cheapness" of German goods compensate tnem for the men, women, and children who had been murdered in the Lusitania last March? Could there be anything that Germany or Austria or Turkey .ccWld produce that would lead them to forget the heroism of, their'own brave,sons who have laid down their They mu»t not forget these things, when Germany came here hawking her trumpery trash and nn. I ®' buy/—(Loud applause.) The motion was put, and oarr'ied unanimously. Mr H. P. Desmoulins moved the following resolution:—" That this* 1 meeting* urges op the Government that from the termination of the war all imports from present 'enemy countries shall be subject to a surtax, and further, thai preferential trade shall obtain within tho Empire with - modified preference to our Allies/' The speaker said that it scorned an extraordinary thing that tney should come there that night and ask the Government to make them do something that they had already made up their minds to do. But they lived in extraordinary times, and they had to,take extraordinary methods. They could be sure of this: that if Germany once got goods in they would be surely sold, therefore it was far better to, ask the Government .to _ remove tho temptation altogether, and, in fact, make the Government do it. The war was not over when peace was declared: there was going to be a greater war for the commerce of the world, and Germany was going to strain every nerve to obtain it.

Mr Bedford, in seconding the motion, said that there were three questions to be asked: what would bo the effect of a policy of restrietion upon, first, our enemies; secondly, Great Britain; and, thirdly, our dominion? In assailing our enemy ithrough the medium of a tariff, obviously thev must avoid measures whiph would recSil with injury upon themselves. Provided, howeverj that, their, enemies were vulnerable to fiscal attack, and they could escape serious damage to their own trade, ho thought they need have no scruples about using whatever weapons were available to strike down the trade of such a country ■ as. Germany. It must not. be forgotten that this war was the culminating effort of Germany to wrest from the Mothor Country the sceptre of -commercial and colonial supremacy.; Every studeht'of the commercial history of Germany kfiew that. From the 'time List propounded his great echemo of aggrandising the 1 German race by a, national system of > tariffs and State -bounties to export trade, Germany had deliberately pursued a courso of equipping herself for the commercial mastery of tho world. With wonderful astuteness sho had distributed penalties to foreign goods and subsidies to domestic goods until, for a decade before the outbreak of this war, " mado Germany" had become quite a terror to the British imagination. The point he wished to stress was that Germany _ for a goneration had made-, her commercial policy subserve her military policy. The development of her marine had had. other jnotives than that of merely finding a. market for her products. This war had been a dramatic revelation of those motives. They now realised that German commercialism had simply been disguised militarism. Tho realisation was aocompaniod with poignancy of anguish as they remembered that they had in their trade relations, oontributed to tho strength of Germany in preparing for the execution of her aggressive and devilish purpose. When this war was over they must, as far as practicable, hinder Germany from regaining commercial strength to strike'another blow for militarism. This brought them to the crux of tho matter. Was it a practicable proposition to embarrass Germany's trade? When they analysed the position as business men they found that, if they prevented Germany from selling in New Zealand, they would also prevent her from buying in New Zealand. All foreign trade was an exchange of goods. If they were prepared to sacrifico-their export trade to Germany they could certainly kill their import trade from her; but they could not do oho without the other. Tho dominion, however, was so circumstanced that this need not occasion any loss, provided they could sell to\ Britain, on as favourable terms, the produce they formerly sold to Germany. Fortunately, their staple exports were goods for which there was practically an illimitable market in Britain. In exchango for this increased quantity of produce sent to Britain they would get an increased quantity of goods from Britain. These British goods thev would receive instead of German goods, and if they were equal for quality and cheapness they would lose nothing by shutting out German goods. If tho British goods were superior to tho German in quality and cheapness they would gain. If the British goods were dearer considering their quality they would lose. On the whole, the dominion stood to gain little, and she might lose a little by penalising German goods. Clearly, then, the policy advocated that night was_ not going to bo of. great economic benefit to New Zealand, aud might entail a small measure of sacrifice. But the effect upon this dominion's wealth was not tfce only consideration, and should not be tho governing one in determining them as to tho wisdom of carrying the motion. Ho supported it for the following reasons:—(l) National sentiment led him to discriminate against German goods, and the sentiment was worth encouraging whether it brought to him pecuniary gain or not. (2) The surtax upon German goods would embarrass Germany, and put an obstacle in the way of obtaining that world-wide commerce, upon the foundations of which she built her military designs. (3) Although New Zealand might not gain monetarily by preferring British goods to German, Great Britain would. Trade with Germany was a single blessing; trade with Britain was. like tho quality of; mercy, twice blessed, benefiting both New Zealand and Britain. Patriotism led him to buy from Britain rather', than Germany, as filial _ affection would lead lrim to buy from his father, wero he a merchant, rather than from a stranger. A man might get as good and as cheap a /pair of bobts from a stranger ns from his father. Buying from his father gave him no spocial gain, but it did give profit to his father. (4) Tho war, by annihilating the BritishGerman trade, had compelled tho starting of new industries in to malcd the things which 'were formerly imported from Germany. There had been a corresponding destruction of thoso British industries which sent exports to tho German market. Thus the -war had occasioned much transference of British labour and capital from one occupation to another. Now, whenever there wero vast shiftings of labour and capital, there was much loss and suffer-

ing, particularly on the working .claes.v: when the nar was over, the British Em-' pire. resumed the old trade -relation* vritfy~ Germany/ there would have to bo -re-^ 3 - transference of labour: and' capital,, with, further loss and suffering. If the various parts of the Empire after the war. bought# from the new industries in' Britain what A formerly was bought from Germany, there' would, to the extent of such, buying, _be< no need for re-shifting. (5) Their must permanently adjust - it commercial-/' system to the requirements of a state of war. Fifteen months ago many of tbeinrsis Believed that European nations had given up fighting ea-h other !as men had gnen lip duelling. Now they realised that the' age ot inteniational peace had. not yet' come, and might not come for generation 1 They must frame' their policies under ». recognition of the constant imminence fat . war. Britain's commercial 1 policy was almost ideal for times of peace; but -it. led her into making Germany thr» second ' biggest* customer, for her-goods. Wax cjme, and at once cut off a total trading or 1 £100,000,000 witii Germany. Not only was that vast volume of trade suddenly sus> ' pended, but, on the day of the Britain lost £80,000,000, being tho amount then due by Germany. Had more of • Britain's trade been with the colonies, much of this loss and dislocation, would « have _ been avoided. They should Britain to cultivate closer trade .relations -" with those countries with which she likely always to remain at ( peace. Such a were pre-eminently tho colonies- What'"they should do was to. cultivate a greater measure of _ freetrade within the, Empire. He was entirely ppposed to a policy whioh-r----would maintain the existing level of the fariff wall against Britain while imposinga surlax upon German floods. Thov must" 6 accompany the surtax with a Toductiop' of • duties on British goods. Let tnem begin to treat the British Empire as an < entity;' and its members as of one family.—(Loud *•- and continued applarse.Jr " The motion was then , carried unanimously.