RAW MATERIALS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23224, 23 June 1937, Page 11

RAW MATERIALS

A PROBLEM OF WORLD PEACE / —■ — COLONIAL QUESTION REVIEWED An address entitled "Raw Materials as a Problem of World Peace," was delivered in the Theosophical Hall last night by Dr G. C. Billing. The address was a continuation of one delivered by the lecturer last month, and was sponsored by the Otago branch of the League of Nations' Union. " Raw materials constitute a problem of world peace," Dr Billing said, "in that if the people of a certain country feel not so well off as their neighbours they entertain a sense of envy, and this feeling amounts to jealousy if one country possesses colonies and the envious one does not. This problem can be solved if the resources of the world are distributed so as to give an equal opportunity to all." Dr Billing showed how certain countries led the world in the output of the basic raw materials, and how it would be possible for national States to make it' easier for others less fortunate to gain access to them. The restrictions imposed at the present day included monopolies on the exploitation of colonial territories, discriminatory duties on exports, and prohibitive tariff barriers.

"If there were no such restrictions," Dr Billing said, " there would be no such problem of access to raw materials." To reduce his lecture to manageable proportions, Dr Billing approached the problem from the German point of view, as Germany was now the only great Power not possessing colonies. He approached the question from four angles—the present source of the supplies of raw materials, the actual value of colonies, the German problem in relation to her lost colonies, and the steps now being taken by the League of Nations. He quoted cases where the national control of colonies did not give exclusive advantages to the industrialists of that country, and where raw materials were available to all on equal terms -—to have access need not necessarily be to have control. He also outlined cases where limited access prevailed, citing the fact that twothirds of the capital of all companies operating in French territory had to be of French origin. Dr Billing then dealt with the questions of mandates and exchange, pointing out Germany as the country mczt hard hit by the recent developments in both these spheres. A solution to the problem would be the pursuit of a policy of the " open door" whereby equal duties would be levied on all goods, irrespective of their source or destination.

When Germany lost her colonies she lost considerable sources of raw materials, as judged by the present production of the mandated territories, and the greater proportion of her trade to these territories passed to the mandatory Power. German industrialists did not have equality of access to raw materials, and this was largely due to her lack of colonics. The colonial conditions should be changed so that distribution did not matter. An equal chance of access to supplies of raw materials should be given to all —the colonial door should be opened and held open.