IMPORT CONTROL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26748, 17 April 1948, Page 9

IMPORT CONTROL

Sir,-I attended the " Citizen’s Forum" on Tuesday evening and was impressed with the speakers’ inadequate way of dealing with shell an important subject They dealt with effects but did not attempt to o-o further in order to decide the causes. Before we demand import restrictions be lifted, I think it is necessary to make ourselves conversant with the reasons for theseTestrictions. I would suggest that one reason is that a large amount of our exnorts at the present time are paying our war debt, which means that we are exnorting a tremendous amount of primary which does not give us credits for imports, which means that our actual creditsV Imports are very low. I remember after the First Woild v that England was indebted to Belgium for the use of 'her railroads to the tune of millions of pounds. I suggest that we should all be demanding that war debts be abolished which would fiee many countries, not only New Zealand, from the overpowering position they are m to-day. It is useless to waste our energy dealing with results, when the cause is so deeprooted. I should like to quote Piesident Wilson, 1916: "A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. The Growth of the nation, therefore, and all activities are in the hands of a few men who chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom." . ... The life-blood of our industrial civilisation is regulated in its flow in the interests of a system, by men who regard goods and services as a means to acquiring money. In 1924, Mr McKenna declared that, it is only by wise action on tlie part of the Bank of England that the restriction on trade can be moved. Not, be it observed, by industry and application of the artisan nor by the labours of our legislators, but only by the condescension of the credit controllers, to desist from their present policy. I also attended Lord Beveridge’s meeting and here again effects were dealt with, but the underlying causes were noticeably omitted, which I do not hesitate to say is being deliberately done to side-track and muddle the possibility of any clear-cut thinking on the part of the man in the street.—l am, etc., Elector.