OTTAWA AGREEMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21775, 14 October 1932, Page 9

OTTAWA AGREEMENT

ALTERATIONS IN TARIFF SUMMARY OF NEW DOTIES (Pen United Press Association.) , WELLINGTON. October 13. The following are the alterations, effective from to-morrow, in the Customs tariff consequent upon the Ottawa trade agreement made by the resolutions passed by Parliament to-night:— Goods, the produce or manufacture of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and any other part of the British do- v minions except Canada, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State, , Newfoundland, or India —Surtax re- .1 \ moved' and duties on ready-made apparel, hosiery, and confectionery re- ■ duced to 27J per cent, and silk piece, goods made free. The following duties are , now provided for under the. general tariff Ready-made clothing, hosiery, .and ' ’ confectionery, 50 per cent. Silk piece goods, 15 per cent. Cocoa beans, Jd per lb. Raw coffee, Id per lb. Rum, 44s per proof gallon. Printing and writing paper in larg* sheets, nnground spices (namely,, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg, pepper, and vanilla), and also asphalt and bitumen, ail 10 per cent. Cigars, now 14a British preferential and 16s per lb general tariff. , All the above are subject to section 143 of the Customs Act, 1913. The primage duty of 1 per cent, and 2 per cent, is abolished on Australian goods imported''after. October .13,. . ' , 1 ; MR COATES’S BIG TASK ' . ’ ’ ’• ; . - —T-;-COALITION PARTY’S APPRECIATION ’ II I WARM TRIBUTE BY MR FORBES .(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.)' WELLINGTON, October 13. The galleries were overflowing for the : , first time this session to hear Mr Coates disclose in the House of Representatives this evening details of the tariff concessions made by New Zealand to Britain in .return for l the preferences grapted - New Zealand products ehtering^Britain. .It was in every sense a notable occasion • ■ and Mr Coates was given close attention during the period: of almost an hour \ while he read his statement. As often happens, in such circumstances. members / were alert to trace any unconscious humour that might be. sandwiched be-■ tween the necessarily weighty passages in Mr Coates’s statement. Thus, when Mr Coates v waa dealing, with the in- ; creased preferences given, in the case, of 1 certain Commodities produced in non-self-governing colonies and protectorates he mentioned that the : margin had ,bton . extended by four shillings per proof ' gallon in the case of ruhL The laughter provoked by the reference to rum I ', prompted the, retort' from Mr Coates that returned soldier members* of the House seemed to be ■ interested in that commodity. A little • later -Mr- A.', M. Samuel * (Thames) who, incidentally, is very partial to cigars, was obviously interested in 1 the reference to that item. Mr Coates assured him that the conference had also been interested in that subject throughout its deliberations. The echo of a famous Auckland election meeting of years ago was heard when, after Mr Coatos had enumerated a list of items including cinnamon, 'cloves and nutmegs, Mr F. Langstone (Waimarino), inquired: “ What about carraway seeds?” Mr Coates was heartily applauded on resuming’hie seat.; . ‘ As might have been expected, the Labour Party was grudging in its comments on the results of Ottawa; and. Mr H. E. Holland made no reference to the work accomplished by the New Zealand delegates during that month of high pressure deliberations. Mr Holland’s . 7. view might be expressed in this one brief paragraph: “It is time we gave up tariff tinkering. If we cannot produce a commodity in New Zealand it should come in duty free. If we can produce it we should say we do not want the im-' ported article. We should tell Britain >.. . or any other country that, The Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) expressed disappointment that Mr Holland had expressed no gratitude for what had been accomplished. Mr Forbes paid a warm tribute to the work of Mr Coates and Mr Stewart and their advisers, and expressed the view that the results achieved marked a great / step forward in Empire co-operation. Appropriately, opportunity was • taken by members of the Coalition Party during thfe supper adjournment to entertain Mr Coatos at supper in celebration of the virtual completion of his work as the Dominion’s chief representative at , Ottawa. In a happy'speech, Mr, Forbes extended to Mr Coates the appreciation of his work for the Dominion’s benefit. ■ • . , Mr Coates was warmly congratulated on all sides and was given three cheers as he rose to make a brief reply; The gathering concluded with the singing, of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”