DOMINION FREE TRADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19616, 21 October 1925, Page 5

DOMINION FREE TRADE.

DRASTIC PROPOSALS. APPEAL TO ALL PARTIES. CAPTAIN F. E. GUEST'S PLAN. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, September 8. Captain F. E. Guest, M.P., has the courage to invite a group of men of all political parties to risk their chance of party preferment and launch out in some definite and constructive scheme for dealing with unemployment. In an article in the Empire Review he advances some during proposals and calls on parties and men to burst the bonds of prejudice and doctrinaire training in an endeavour to

work out the remedy on Imperial lines. He maintains that the case is different from and deeper than any that has ever supervened in this country before; and that everything else has been tried and failed. His plan is founded on a real system of Imperial preference. His main policy would cornnrise a general tariff on all articles which the dominions would be helpful to themselves, but the tariff would only be enforced against foreign countries. With the dominions and the colonies there would be preference amounting to complete free trade.

“The unemploved to-day,” says the writer, “number 240,000 more than a year ago, and the total is in the neighbourhood of 1.260,000. These figures have been steady, or steadily growing, for the past four years. Yet there are roughly 200,000 more persons actually employed than in 1913. This is not the worst of the story, for over 300,000 fresh persons come into the labour market every year. The birthrate is beginning to decline, but, even supposing the fall continues, no substantial easement will result for 15 or 16 years. We cannot, therefore, look for an ultimate solution of the problem of natural causes. BRITISH CANNOT WORK.

“The British people have ceased to work —all classes of them, without exception. Everybody has heard of ca’ canny, but not sufficient people have appreciated the equal evil of the week-end habit. It is not pure coincidence that the motor trade is one of the few flourishing British industries. The British cannot only not w;ork, but they cannot even save. I attribute this partlv to the effects of the natural but foolish exploitation by the trad© unions of their mastery of the industrial situation during the boom years, and partly to the development of enormous limited liability companies—a peculiarly vicious form of Socialism disguised as Capitalism.” The main argument lor Freetvade —that it kept down food prices—has largely disappeared. “We have never had Freetrade for we have customs and excise duties omounting to £234,472,000 per annum. Of this figure, food taxes alone amount to £40,000,'000. Without in any way, therefore, changing the total charges;on food, we could transfer these duties to other articles cf even larger consumption, and with the effect of a very minute increase in price, possibly compensated by a drop in the price of tea and sugar. So far, to satisfy the timorous, but, really, the main policy should not depend upon juggling with trading accounts. It should coni; prise a general tariff upon all article? which the dominions suggest would be helpful to themselves. But the tariff would enforced against foreign countries, With the dominions themselves and the colonies there would be preference amounting to complete Freetrade. HOW 7 L FROM THE DOMINIONS. “In return for this really substantial benefit, the dominions should give reciprocal free entry to all British products. lam aware, of course, that there will be a howl from dominion producers of manufactured articles, but it is expedient that some should cry for the benefit of the people of the Empire. Moreover, the main objections from the dominion side to emigration would automatically be swept away, and there would at once be no difficulty in agreeing upon a large emigration programme. The only outstanding obstacle would be the procuring of agriculturally skilled emigrants. For the problem is not merely to persuade people to .settle on the land, but to see that they have the skill to work it and the perseverance to go on working it. For example, the single city of Sydney contains nearly one-fifth of tho whole population of the Australian continent. But, at least, a very powerful incentive to go back to the land would be created not only there, but at home, and the 140,000 juveniles who seek employment every year would have a career ready for them. I AN APPEAL. “The sand* are running out,” Captain Guest concluded, “the soul of enterprise is dying, hope is becoming extinguished, the spirit of thrift has disappeared. The narcotic of amusement has taken its place in all classes of the community. The rich •are extravagant. . The unemployed are becoming unemployable. The masses are leaderless, and losing faith. Is there no party or no man who will burst the bonds of pre-war parry prejudice and doctrainaire training, and try this solution on British Imperal lines? Or is there no group of men of all parties who will risk their chance of party preferment and act independently in pursuit of some such scheme as I have outlined? What does it matter if the first shock of these proposals loses them their seats? I believe others will carry on ’ the crusade, and in the end the army of the unemployed will form behind them and march together in the hope and conviction that it is only in the practical use and development of the great possessions of the Empire that their salvation lies.”