THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1935. AN INSTRUCTIVE ADDRESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22716, 31 October 1935, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1935. AN INSTRUCTIVE ADDRESS

The address given at Napier by Mr A. H. Allen, of this city, in his presidential capacity at the opening of the annual conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, will repay very careful study. Mr Allen's remarks covered an enormous field of inquiry and touch, embracing, either directly or indirectly, almost every problem that confronts the Government of to-day. What is particularly impressive about the address is the breadth of vision it disclosed. Mr Allen presented with conspicuous clarity the case for wise and constructive political leadership, not only in New Zealand, but in every country where the structure of government is still based on democratic principles. He condemned dictatorships out of hand as abhorrent to the ideal of full citizenship, and argued that they contain in themselves the seeds of their own destruction, since it is logical to assume that mass reaction will follow the abuse of power by individuals. He recognised, also, how the problems of Government are interrelated. He noted the difficulty of deciding that any particular problem is purely domestic as regards either its origin or its effects, and, while pleading that the long view should always be taken in the framing of political policies, reminded us that the view must be panoramic as well as penetrative. The world, insofar as the intercourse of peoples is concerned, is a shrunken place. No country can pretend indifference any longer to the mode of living of its neighbour, and a policy of isolation is heading for exposure as a grotesque fallacy. Mr Allen's major premise, in his consideration of domestic politics, was that "unless adequate account is taken of the international aspect, and of the urgent need for international co-opera-tion in the solving of problems such as are involved in the marketing and monetary systems, much of the work done on a national basis will ultimately tend to defeat itself." There is perhaps more than • the colour of truth in his somewhat naive assertion that economic nationalism seems to spring from a determination to suffer hardship rather than do business with anyone else. Experience, however, may be relied on to teach nations in the same way as it is commonly supposed to teach individuals. Signs are fortunately not lacking that the great trading nations of the world are beginning to arrive at a new and moi'e thorough appreciation of their interdependence. They can discern the fundamental causes of economic instability, and trace them back to the condition of unbalance which was the legacy of the Great War. There is to-day a realisation of root evils which are threatening collapse to the entire structure of international trade. There is a disposition to remove those evils, but the world seems like a patient whose case has been diagnosed and who awaits the intervention of the surgeon, yet is unduly fearful of the pain and cost of the operation. What is needed, as Mr Allen insisted, is national action supplemented by international action. Protectionist barriers which are obstructing the free flow of commerce between one country and another must be lowered or removed altogether. Such action may be regarded as one essential to recovery on a world scale. Currency stabilisation is another essential, for it is certain that no other manifestation of the slump has done more than fluctuating currencies to slow down the momentum of recovery. These matters, cursorily touched on here, were comprehensively dealt with by Mr Allen, whose arguments, as might be anticipated, revealed lucid thinking. His address will serve to emphasise the very valuable attention which the Chambers of Commerce are giving to the interests of traders and all other classes in the Dominion. The Chambers continue to exercise a watch- j

ing brief in respect of the Government's legislative proposals, and in that connection their invariably helpful and constructive attitude emphasises a wholly commendable desire to be of assistance in the final shaping of policies.