EMPIRE MARKETING BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21647, 18 May 1932, Page 4

EMPIRE MARKETING BOARD

EXPENSIVE METHODS SELECT COMMITTEE’S FINDINGS. (From Our Own Correspondent.), LONDON. April 7. The Select Committee on Estimates makes reference to the Empire Marketing Board in its first report. It took evidence from Sir Stephen G. Tallents, Mr W. P. Hildred, and Mr E. M. H. Lloyd. In examining the Estimates, the committee has been impressed by the extent to which Parliament has been asked in recent year's to make provision for the assistance of substantially the same purpose, or the same institution, through several channels. This is often not ap- \ parent in the Estimates presented to Parliament; indeed, careful study of the annual reports of the various bodies concerned is necessary before its full extent is revealed. Thus the committee find at the present time that grants are being given by the Empire Marketing Board for many purposes which are also aided by the Development Fund, or the Ministry of Agriculture, or the Forestry’ Commission, or the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; often fay more than one of these. The whole arrangements for economic ? co-operation within the Empire will be reviewed at Ottawa. . The Empire Marketing Board, which is at present financed wholly by the United Kingdom, was constituted in 1926 as a contribution towards the development of ' Empire trade in lieu of the proposed tariff preferences on certain goods which had been rejected at the general election of 1923. With the definite adoption by this country of a general tariff coupled with Empire preferences, the raison d’etre of the .board, as at present constituted, disappears, and the question of its replacement by some organisation on a co-operative basis naturally" arises. . . . Any future Imperial economic organisation would presumably limit itself to schemes of Imperial as opposed to purely national concerns, and its expenditure would be met by contributions on an equitable basis from all parts of the Empire. In so far as these schemes might involve expenditure in this country on any object similar to those being pursued by a Government department, it would seem desirable, in order to avoid possible duplication of effort, that it should use that department as its agent. Such work would presumably be mainly of a research character. Much of the work of a trade publicity character which the Empire Marketing Board have been performing hitherto will, your committee anticipate, be deemed on a reorganisation more appropriate_ to the relevant trade intelligence service; publicity in respect of British trade in the dominions being carried out by the Department of Overseas Trade*and its trade commissioners while the development of the trade of the (Jpminions in this country will be the concern of their representatives over here. . Your committee have refrained purposely from criticising in detail some minor matters of administration which came to their notice. They are disposed to think, for instance, that the existing methods of advertisement employed by the Empire Marketing Board are unnecessarily expensive. They feel, however, that it issessential that their recommendations should be kept on broad lines, and they believe that if these are adopted the ground for most of their minor criticisms will disappear.