EMPIRE TRADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 793, 14 October 1929, Page 11

EMPIRE TRADE

PLEA TO CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE ADDRESS BY MR. PAISH A plea for trade -within the Empire was made this morning by Mr. A. L. Paisli, 0.8. E., British Trade Commissioner, to the delegates attending the conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce.

He said he was surprised when he j arrived in New- Zealand to find that j some misconception existed as to what was happening in England- During the last few years ill the Old Country there had been a remarkable change. One of the factors contributing toward that change had been the operations of the Empire Marketing Boards, another w-as the gradual increase in the tariff barrier of foreign countries. The j safety and future of the Empire must j depend on trade within the Empire, j He noticed that one of the big London daily newspaper was advocating- Empire free trade with a strong tariff wall round it for foreign countries. Mr. Paish said that many difficulties surrounded Empire free trade, and lie was fully conscious of them. There was no likelihood at the moment of Empire free trade, though everyone realised more and more the increasingdevelopment of trade between England and the overseas Dominions. Pie pointed out that England had to meet increasing competition not only from the United States, but also from Japan, Germany and other countries. Without security of trade he did not see how it w-as posible to maintain our present standard of living. Utterances of leaders at Home such as Lord Melchette, Mr. Anrery and others showed the trend of thought and the trend of their statements showed that the future of the Empire depended on inter-Empire trading. He said that England was the greatest buyer of raw produce in the world. Her population was so great that she had to import large quantities of both foodstuffs and also the raw materials to supply her manufacturers. Site spent £I,OOO millions a year on these. Her exports were £150,000,000 over her imports, so that there w-as this sum for investment. It was proof, too, that the Old w-as not fading away. AMERICANS INVESTING A great deal of money was being invested in new- English businesses. Even Americans w-ere doing it. This showed that the people with money had faith in the future of British industry. Mr. Paish said he knew that England at present was- on a sticky ! wicket but she would pull through. He i compared New Zealand's imports ffrom the United Stales with those ! from England. New- Zealand sold the | Old Country £21,000,000 worth of goods, and yet England bought £40,000,000 worth from this Dominion. The position with the United States and New- Zealand w-as exactly opposite. ENGLISH MOTOR-CARS

Dealing'with the English motor-car in New Zealand, Mr. Paish said that he had heard a number of complaints, and had tried to find out what was wrong. As far as he could pudge the faults were that as far as the English car was concerned the clearance w-as too low-, tlie track was too narrow, the power was too small, the price was too high, and that purchasers got no service.

Tile complaint dealing with clearance was all nonsense! as that of the English car was greater than the clearance of the American car. Most of the English cars sold for overseas’ service had the standard track. It was impossible to give up manufacturing cars with a narrow track, as they were selling well in England and on the Continent. Power and price were probably the stumbling blocks, but English manufacturers were trying to meet the overseas Dominions in these. England had the finest workmen ami mechanics, and she held the speed records on-laud, sea and in the air. Mr. Paish said that the time had come when there should be an interimperial development body composed of representatives from all countries in the British Commonw-ealth, and that this body should go from one part of the Empire to the other carrying qn the national spirit and formulating a common Empire policy.