THE MENACE OF JAPAN

Southland Times, Issue 22187, 1 December 1933, Page 6

THE MENACE OF JAPAN

During the debate on the Financial Statement, Mr Hargest drew attention to the trade menace of Japan, and. he pleaded that everything possible should be done to protect New Zealand industries, and to encourage people to take British goods in preference to the cheaper Japanese. Absolute prohibitions and special duties will be regarded, as Mr Hargest said, as hostile acts; but the most effective method of dealing with this competition is to convince the public that these cheap Japanese goods are really expensive. This should be realized without difficulty. Japan is turning out goods in imitation of British-made articles, and she is able to sell these cheap because the wages in Japan are so low, and because her currency is depreciated. There have been statements that sweated labour conditions exist in New Zealand, but the worst that can be conjured by the imagination of the Government s critics could not compare with the working conditions in Japan, and if these goods compete with New Zealand manufactures successfully the effect must be to depress conditions in the Dominion. That is the position as it affects New Zealand directly; but Japans cheap labour is attacking British trade, and the results of this must be to diminish the power of Britain to purchase foodstuffs. It follows that New Zealand is vitally interested in assisting to maintain the strength of the principal market, and when a New Zealander buys Japanese goods in preference to British he is weakening t)ie capacity of the British consumer to purchase the foodstuffs on the sale of which this country depends for its prosperity. In the circumstances can it be said that the low-priced Japanese goods are really cheap? That is the question every New Zealander should ask himself when he is tempted by low prices to buy foreign goods in preference to those from Britain. Imperial preference means that the home industries should be helped first, with British goods as second choice, and this involves a spirited defence of the British manufacturer on every possible occasion. This preference should be observed wherever foreign competition enters; but the Japanese competition is particularly pernicious because it is carried on with such low prices, and because it is attacking British industry in some of its best markets. Tariffs cannot do it all. The most effective means of combating the Japanese menace is a public recognition of the advantages of buying British goods, and of the fact that low-priced Japanese articles are not cheap.