NEW FISCAL PROGRAMME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21601, 23 March 1932, Page 4

NEW FISCAL PROGRAMME

VIEWS AND COMMENTS A WEAPON FOR FOREIGNERS. (Fkom Oue Own Cokbespondent.) LONDON, February 11The News-Chronicle and a few Liber il newspapers in the provinces are t.. only journals in England which deplo> the passing of the old order of free imports. “The plunge to Protection,” the !Ncw--Chronicle dutifully describes the chan; of policy, and the writer maintains t.u the only good which is likely to com from it is accidental. “It may be that the closing of t a British market will have results so sc: ous in the present state of Europe lii: it will lead to the general collapse < the whole tariff system. That is t best thing that could happen. It in: 1 , be, on the other hand, that Mr Cham berlain’s lukewarm reference to the p" sibility of agreements with low-tar. countries may bear fruit. In that cus-c also some good at any rate will h<>. l come out of what is in itself an almost unmixed evil.” A WORKMANLIKE ATTEMPT. “It will not please the academic theorists who foresee ruin for the conn try in any departure from the old ortho dox practice of free imports,” says The Times, commenting on the new tariff policy, “nor satisfy those equally impracticable theorists who would seek the country’s salvation by recklessly destroying its foreign trade. But the great mass of the public pay no attention to the theorists of either school, and they will welcome the scheme as a workmanlike attempt to help the country out of its present difficulties, and to set it on the way to renewed prosperity. “Much in the working of the plan will depend on the composition of the Advisory Committee and on the view which it takes of its duties. Even more will depend on the use which British producers, in industry as well -as m agriculture, make of the great opportunity which is now at their disposal. In a country like Great Britain, dependent on her export trade to purchase her necessary supplies of food and raw material the success of a tariff policy is to be measured by the extent to which it increases the efficiency and thereby lowers the cost of production and strengthens the competitive power of the export industries. There is much leeway to be recovered, and a great effort is required. The certainty of a fan measure of protection against competitors less heavily handicapped should give our producers the stimulus and the confidence which they need. It rests with them to justify the great experiment which the Government are making, and to make it the beginning of a real revival of British prosperity. NEW HEART AND NEW HOPE. “If the scheme commands a general willingness to give it a fair trial, that is a merit and not a fault, says the Daily Telegraph. “For it has been well said that in a sensitive commercial community like our own alarm is almost as destructive as danger, and the task of statesmen is to provide not only safety, but a sense that safety exists. This scheme satisfies the test. It will spread a sense of security from its very moderation. It gives hope to the taxpayer that the revenue obtained from the general 10 per cent, import duty will provide the wherewithal to relieve him of at least part of his stupendous burden. It will also infuse ‘new heart and new hope’ throughout the whole range of British industry, and lastly, ample provision is made for the protection of the general community against misuse or selfish use of either the lower or the higher duties. Especially effectual safeguards are taken to prevent any rise in the cost of living.” EMPIRE OVERSEAS.

“No one needs to be reminded,” the Telegraph goes on to say, “ that the tariff reform movement, of which tins scheme is the late fruition, began with colonial preference, or that Mr Joseph Chamberlain was the first Colonial Secretary to press the claims of the Empire's ‘ neglected estates.' These are to be neglected no longer. The Government propose that produce from all colonies, protectorates, and mandated tei i itories shall be completely exempt from either the general or the additional duties. As for the dominion side of the scheme, that will be settled, as has been said, at Ottawa. But there will be universal approval of the Government’s bold stroke in deciding that pending that conference dominion products shall be exempt from the 10 per cent. duty. That is more than a mere good stroke of business—it is the sort of statesmanship which does not miss its reward.” The Financial Times points out that an independent Advisory Committee will be charged with the responsibility of studying the operation of the tariffs and make recommendations. That will free Parliament from the unpleasant features of log-rolling and lobbying which have developed under tariff systems elsewhere, and is again apart from the moot point whether such methods would flourish in the soil of Britain. THE MIRACLE.

Naturally, the Daily Express rejoices: l “We have seen the birth of Empire Freetradc. It is here now. Its full growth has yet to be attained, but the miracle has come to pass. “At last this country has recognised the claims and advantages of kinship. The products of the dominions and the colonies are to come to this market free, while those from foreign countries must pay the revenue tax. “Belated as it is, Great Britain has at last responded to the unforgettable gesture of her children in the fateful days of 1914. “The battle of agriculture has still to be fought, and the edifice of Empire Freetrade brought to its full majesty. “In Mr Chamberlain we have the strongest insurance that these great causes will be pressed forward without halt until final victory is attained. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 4, 1932. “History dates itself from events. Yesterday begins the most momentous chapter in the history of the Empire. “To all those who laboured when others scoffed, and who climbed the weary uphill road when faint hearts fell away, there is no honour needed but the knowledge that they dared to dream, that they held to their dream, and they have seen the dream come true.” THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Among many business men who hava publicly expressed an opinion on the subject is Mr H. E. Davis (London manager, New Zealand Dairy Produce Board). “The tariff plan ought to create a very real sense of satisfaction throughout the dairying countries of the Empire,” he says. “ A 10 per cent, tariff on butter, for example, represents only a little more than one penny per pound on current values. It should mean practically no rise in price to the consumer, since butter and cheese values are at a lower level than at any time since 1914.”