SAFEGUARDING DUTIES

Taranaki Daily News, 14 August 1930, Page 7

SAFEGUARDING DUTIES

the British position (CONDITIONS ON THE CONTINENT. • AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS. U . (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, August 11. Britain is allegedly a free trade country; it is at all events the freest trading country in the world. Its markets are open to all the world, and so it is & convenient country in which to dump foreign goods. The standard of living in Britain is higher than in any other Continental country, consequently foreigners are able to best the British in export markets. It was the Baldwin Government that first introduced safeguarding or. protection for certain industries, motor-cars and lace being two of them. The Socialist Government now in power rescinded these duties, or rather allowed them to die oil by effluxion of time.

On June 28 a monster meeting to protest against the removal of the safeguarding duties was held in Hyde [Park, and addresses were delivered by leading men. Sir Henry Page Croft, MJ?., who was one of the principal speakers, said that every minute, day and night, £5OO worth of foreign 'manufactures were pouring into Britain, and these £5OO worth of goods meant the employment of two foreigners all the year round. Each minute two British workers were being driven to the Labour Exchange by foreign manufactured goods. Lord Lloyd said that he had seen the great Lancashire cotton trade (knocked outjof the Eastern markets by Japan, America and Italy.' These markets could be regained .if they -could produce sufficient goods to reduce the costs of production. Mr. L. B.' Amery, M.P., said that wherever industry had been safeguarded there had been pro-, g'ress and increase of output. It had (been the means, of -bringing new capital to industry and finding • greater' employment. • ■ Mr. A. C.. -Radford, president of the [Federation /of Lace.'and Embroidery Employers’ Associations, stated that under the safeguarding -duties the lace trade had done splendidly and had set an example of.determination and unity to all the other trades. They had lost the fight for the time being, but next time there must be no equal terms with the foreigner. The advantage must be oh the side of the Englishman, and the duty must be sufficient to ensure-that the foreigner could not take bread and butter from them. ’.

" The Economic Advisory Council set up by the British Government recently eent a delegate to the Continent to inquire into the iron and eteel industriee of European countvies. The report of tho delegation was issued as a White Paper. The delegation made a survey of the condition- of the iron and steel industries in France, Belgium, ‘Luxeniberg, Germany and Czechoslovakia, arid the findings are thus summarised: , 'Wages in each country are considerably lower, than in Britain, and hours of work are longer. ■Plant has been modernised, resulting in the minimum of manning of each unit.

Workers were everywhere hard at work,' and there is a general atmosphere of keenness and good, relationships with managements. France, Belgium and Luxemberg have no unemployment, Czechoslovakia little, and Germany about 14 per cent., with 16 per cent, on short time. In none of the countries visited, except Germany, is there any effective organisation of the workers comparable with Great Britain.

In France and Belgium the iron and steel industry has considerably increased its ' capacity and plant has been modernised, mainly with the aid of Reparations. In France development was so great that over 200,000 foreign workers had to be imported, and this continues. Luxemberg, too, has had to import 40 per cent, foreign labour. Germany is suffering from unemployment; tho high rate of interest charged for borrowed money is proving a serious handicap. Average weekly earnings were: France 87s. Id., Belgium 355. 6d., Luxemberg 375. 6d.,' Germany 50s. lid., and Czechoslovakia 30s. sd. In Britain tho average is 635. id. for pig-iron workers and 61s. sd. for steel melting and rolling workers. Expressed in another way, for every 100 s. paid in Britain,' Germany pays’67s., France 505., Luxemberg 405., Belgium 475., and Cxechoslovakia 425.