LEND-LEASE ACT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24773, 25 November 1941, Page 8

LEND-LEASE ACT

AMERICA'S GESTURE AN ACT OF GENEROSITY BRITAIN'S IMPROVED POSITION (Rec. 9 p.m.) RUGBY, Nov. 23. The Secretary to the Department of Overseas Traije, Mr Harcburt Johnstone, speaking in Bristol, said: "In March of this year our financial prospects in the conduct of'the war were remarkably bettered by an outstanding act of generosity on the part of the United States. It-was not merely an outstanding act of generosity, it was in the whole history of the- world. I refer to the passing of the Lend-Lease Act. This magnificent gesture bettered our financial prospects enormously because we could never have earned by our export trade or 'by the sale of our investments in the United States sufficient dollars to enable us to purchase the armaments witn which the United States intends to provide us and which' we must have for victory.■ " But this; does not mean that we can afford to slacken our own efforts, nor, indeed, have we done nor shall we do so. We must look upon the help given us by the United States as an encouragement and incentive to use our own production of armaments to the fullest possible extent. In the field of export trade, too, we must maintain on a selective basis the fullest volume of export trade consistent with our munitions drive. There are still many requirements for which we must look to America and which we cannot obtain under the provisions of the Lend-Lease Act. For these requirements, therefore, we have to pay, and to be able to pay we must earn dollars. The Government of the United States quite naturally has taken the view that 'the material they supply us with to help us 'win the war should not be used by us for the purpose of export trade in competition with the United States, where supplies are being restricted for our benefit. The British Government recently gave an undertaking to the United States Government on this subject, and it is' being applied with fairness and common sense on both sides. But there are still a number of traditional lines r,t export manufacture in which we can and must' continue to conduct a large volume of export trade—woollen ami worsted cloth, cotton and linen apparel of various kinds, pottery and rubber products, and antiques. Our export trade has already played an important part in this war, and it still has an important part to play, and when the war is won, again as in the past, we shall have to look to export trade not only, to provide us with our daily bread, hut to enable us to maintain our accustomed standard of living. It will mean hard work by everyone engaged in the export trade, for it would be lunacy to imagine that exporters of other, countries are going to sit back and do nothing., Competition will have increased in many directions owing to the war. Great manufacturing and engineering plants will have sprung up in America, the dominions, and South America, where the manufacture of textiles is going ahead by leaps and bounds. Even France and Germany will be coming back into the export market not long after the war. One of the Government's first concerns after the war will be to see that an abundant flow of food and raw materials at the lowest available prices is assured in order to enable us to manufacture and sell at competitive prices on the export market."

TANKS AND PLANES SUPPLIES FOR MIDDLE EAST (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 23. President Roosevelt's special envoy on the question of the ' supply of American aid to Britain, Mr W. A. Harriman, broadcasting from the Middle East, said: "When the first American tanks were unloaded, I inspected them with General Sir Claude Auchinleck, and an American sergeant drove the general in one tank to demonstrate it. General Auchinleck on his return said: ' It is a fine weapon, manoeuvrable and sturdy. How many can you send?' Many have arrived in the intervening months. Your pilots also have confidence in the Marylands and Tomahawks. The hearts of all Americans are with your troops in the desert fighting, and we hope and pray that our tanks and planes are serving them well, allowing us to claim a share in the critical battle. American air officers who are instructing Russian pilots told me that they adapted themselves quickly to American planes."