EMPIRE THOUGHTS

Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1932, Page 12

EMPIRE THOUGHTS

FOR EMPIRE DAY

AN OPEN LETTER EROM UNCLE .TOHN BULL (LONDON) TO HIS NEPHEW “KIWI” (OTHERWISE NEW ZEALAND.

My Dear Kiwi, This will reach you. on Empire Day when I dare to hope tiiat I may find a place in your thoughts, as will the future of our country of which we arc both ho proud. For the long, long period of eighty-five years, I have by word and deed upheld the doctrine-—Free Trade Between All Nations—but I have made no converts, for the world will have none of it. Accordingly, like Mahomet, who decided to o-o to the mountain when he found ho could not induce it to come to him, 1 have at last to admit that I can no longer maintain a position of complete isolation, but must adopt the Protective Trade doctrines, which have been believed in, and have guided the actions of all my neighbours. This I shall now do, not half-heart-edly, but with all my might. No doubt, reports of my change of mind have already reached you, but it seems right that I should now write directly 0 to you to advise you of ray new outlook. This I now do, and ask you to make a careful note of the fact, that the world’s free dumping ground—the United Kingdom—is to be permanently closed, for at last I understand what His Majesty, King George, meant when, many years ago, as Duke of York, on returning from a trip round the world, he rather°puzzled inc, with the brief greeting “Wake up, John Bull!” The right-about-turn in my ideas that I now acquaint yon with, is the sequel to many recent disagreeable experiences, chiefly of a financial nature, but too long to enumerate in the letter, so I intend to mention only one or two of them as briefly as possible.

CRIPPLED BY WAR DEBTS. The war debts crippled me rather effectively in the financial sense. It seems likely that but for them I might now be living on “ihasty Street instead of “Queer Street.” My settlements were, of course, as a debtor and also as a creditor. On looking back, what I now think about these deals is this: While the war was on, we all did our utmost, disregarded the expense and borrowed to the limit. We grudged nothing, nor would we act otherwise now, if we were faced with a similar critical situation. But, surely, lad, when peace came, each of us was in honour bound to meet the obligations he had incurred, and especially, to the very best of his ability, in the case of those run up betwen ourselves, the victorious Allies. That was certainly the principle which guided me in settling for my own borrowings, but ideas of a different kind have, I fear, been brought to bear whenever I appeared in the role of lender.

I confess I feel now just a little sore over these transactions, in which my agents were treated to so many pathetic, J rd-luck tales, and. empty pockets were so convincingly turned inside-out, that they were completely bamboozled, and in my name, consented to the reduction of my admitted claim by amounts aggregating many hundreds of millions of pounds. Notwithstanding the many disappointments and staggering losses that I have experienced of late years, and the deplorable, financial world crisis that surrounds us, I find myself not unduly depressed, in looking forward to the future. I forsee that you and I, and the others in the Empire, will have now to close our ranks, and, advancing under our new banner inscribed “All-Round British Fair-Play,” will finally carry everythinrr before ue. I realise how mistaken I have been in clinging so obstinately to “Free-Trade-on-one-Side” in a practical age, and I recognise that to that infatuation, is in great measure due the low level to which my affairs have fallen of late.

PLAYING PART OF SANTA CLAUS.

It makes me emile—almost —to recognise that the part I have been playin<r for so long, may aptly be compared with that of Santa Claus—the general gift-bearer, while the other players humoured and played-up to me, by hanging up around me rows of suggestively empty stockings. But, as I intimated in commencing my letter, that little comedy’s long run is over, and our company, instead of burlesque, will now take up -“the legitimate,” beginning with Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.” Before reading over together the new play, and deciding what our several parts are to be, I think I may here usefully bring to your notice some impressions of the past, to give background and atmosphere to what will follow. I wonder sometimes whether you, my lad, have ever fully realised what a “soft-snap” you have enjoyed during your seventy years or so of youthful past? During all that time you have never been restricted in shipping to my Homestead here, anything and everything that you could produce; butter and cheese, wool, hides, frozen meat, fruit, and all the rest of it; or in landing it, or them, absolutely free of duty—while you have thought lit, at the same time, to impose import duties —often high ones—on many articles that I manufacture and send to you. I have been glad to make a note of the fact that this grossly onesided arrangement caused you some twinges of conscience, which you attempted to allay by granting me some tariff preferences on certain articles purchased from my workshops and factories; but seriously, Kiwi, I imagine that you can sec now, that we are in real earnest, that these concessions of yours have been, in the main, of a trifling nature, and from now on, cau only prove useful as pointers to the directions in which adjustments may most quickly be made, to conform with future conditions. BUT WHY NOT BRITISH? Some friends of mine, just returned from visiting New Zealand, tell me that lots of motor-cars, trucks and buses and parts—tyres, radio sets, films, farm implements, tools, hardware, patent medicines and druggists’ sundries, imported by you, young man, are from foreign countries.

I-must admit that that surprised me somewhat for 1 had just been reading in your leading papers, statements, evidently announced with satisfaction, that your population has been found to be ninety-eight per cent. British. , My travelled friends’ gossip tends to spoil my pleasure in reading that newspaper article, and leaves me wondering why such bred-in-the-bone /British community should persist in buying foreign goods, knowing all the time that I am your best customer, and am ready to furnish you with similar merchandise of a quality just as good, and at just as good a price—to put it modestly. I greatly fear that you —young scapegrace—have been making a habit of humbugging your credulous old Uncle for a long time, but I tell these friends that we are all quietly turning over a new leaf, and that after their next visit

they’ll probably tell a different tale. We shall see! It strikes me as a pity that radio yas not developed earlier, so that I might have listened-in to the speeches and enthusiastic shouts of praise of our British Empire, that I so often read of in your papers. Until I actually hear them, and become convinced by the ring or sincerity in them—l fear I shall occasionally find myself in a bit of a quandary as to what’s what. . Many instances of a questionable nature' finally led me io form the opinion that too much reliance cannot be placed on the idea of Empire solidarity, as the guiding star of all your peop e, for, in free lands differences in the way of thinking are a natural growth. That need not depress us over much, however, so long as self-interest and common sense, aro our allies, and they ° J point to the direction in which your, and my, safety and prosperity lie, namely, in jointly devising the means ana method', whereby we may emerge into the warm sunshine of prosperity once more.

IN INVITATION.

Coming to practical suggestions regarding these ways and means, 1 now usk you to join me in organising a Butish Empire Economic Alliance, sucn that we can pledge loyal support to as a source of mutual help and protection —including in the latter term, retaliation where necessary. After constituting such an alliance, or league, the next step will, of course, be tho° preparation of elaborate tariff schedules, involving the calling of many conferences, at which you will rank as an experienced expert, and I as a giccnhorn. As to the results to be obtained, it would be impossible to offer any details now, but to the end to be finally attained we can give an outline of, as between you and myself. Thus: when the new tariff become effective, you will v : able, as at present, to send me your products, but I must remind you that although my British Imports Duties Act imposes a duty of ten per cent, on all produce, meat and wool excepted, imported into the United Kingdom, the Act provides that this ten per cent, duty shall not apply to the produce you send me before November 15, 1932, but will apply after that date in the absence of a definite resolution passed in my House of Commons. That is the actual position, lad, so that you can never say you did not clearly understand the real Some of you may think that I would not, or could not, impose a ten per cent, tariff on your produce, but really I will just have to, unless you come up to scratch and say “Here, Uncle John Bull, this is what we propose to do for you in return for this wonderful concession that you have offered us, and we now ask you to make this concession permanent.”

LEANING ON UNCLE JOHN BULL.

I hate to have to remind you of the extent to which you have used me in

the past, but perhaps it would not be out of place in this letter. Now, Kiwi, in 1929 I bought seventy* three-and-one-half per cent, of your exports, and in the same year foreign countries bought fourteen-and-onc-hali per cent. Now then, listen to this. In 1931 I was more generous, and bought eighty-eight per cent, of your produce, and your foreign friends only bought seven per cent, in that year. These figures show that your dependence on me, great as it is in normal times, is even Greater in times of price depression, and that foreign markets which take only about one-seventh of your produce in good times, have taken only about one-half as much during the past year. . . It is definitely up to you, Kiwij to make it your business to see that your Government representatives at the forthcoming Imperial Conference to be held at Ottawa in July next, are armed ' with a proposition to put to me that will be fair and reasonable, and that it will show me that in return for this great concession I have offered you by this ten per cent, tariff preference, you will offer me concessions in your market for some of my products. Now, my boy, you are old enough to know that it is not fair to expect your old uncle to make you a present of concessions amounting to something like one-and-three-quartcr millions a year on butter and cheese alone, unless you offer some reasonably equivalent concessions in return. Unless this quid pro quo proposition is put forward by your representatives at Ottawa, and accepted by me by November 15 next at the very latest, as much as I would hate it, I am afraid that I will have to charge you ten percent. duty on all the goods you send me—then you would have only yourself to blame.

AS FRIENDLY AS EVER. Don’t think that your old Uncle is not just as friendly as ever he was, because he is more anxious than ever to assist you, but at the same time is determined to make a sound business deal, and cannot afford to allow you, or anybody else, to ‘’sponge” on him any longer. You must not think that I am trying to pull your leg, as you have pulled mine for so" long. Ever since you, lusty young chap, were in your teens, you have been claiming the right to act, and I was glad of it. Beyond e, doubt you are now .quite able to look out for yourself, and it is rather late in the day to pose as a toddler and reach up to the hand of Uncle John.

OCEAN IS OUR LIFE AND STRENGTH

Now, now, for a few words about shipping. Let us clearly realise that our merchant service—vessels and men —is in very truth what holds the British Empire together. Wipe it out and the Empire will crumble into an assortment of damaged and almost defenceless fragments.

Speaking at the Guildhall on July 29, 1919*, King George, a sailor himself who spent o, dozen of the best years of his life at sea, said: “The splendid service of the officers and men of the British mercantile marine, have been vital to the successful issue of the war. From day to day those men have been facing death no less than the soldiers in the fighting line, and even when the submarine menace was at its height no British crew ever refused to sail.”

Yet it pains nic greatly to see so many of my splendid merchant ships leaving my ports bound for New Zealand in ballast —loaded with sand or water, or some sort of junk, to keep them upright, and returning to me loaded to the plimsol with your primary products. I understand that of twentyseven of my largo ships which went to New Zealand to load during February, March and April, ten of these left me in ballast, carrying no cargo at all—in other words, one-way traffic. Many of my fine ships are laid up indefinitely as a result, and naturally everybody who is exporting from New Zealand has got to pay in the freight rate to England the cost of sending out empty ships from England. Now, Kiwi, that sort of thing is no good to you and it is no good to me, and the remedy lies with you.

THIS CUSTOMS PREFERENCE. Probably some of you think that you grant me liberal customs preferences now, which may be true in certain instances, but take for example the motor-car—to send one of my ears to you, Kiwi, I have to pay at least twenty-six per cent, duty, and I think this rate is much too high. You may not know that I do not have to pay nearly es high a rate as that to send my motor ears into Denmark, for example, and quite naturally Denmark expects me to continue to buy her butter and to put them on the same tariff basis as you and other countries who supply me and also buy from me. Incidentally, Denmark was recently good enough to assist me by holding a very intensive “Buy British” campaign throughout the country, and I must be fair and square with Denmark in return, and with all other countries with whom I trade.

You will see the reason in this if you look at it from all points of view, but all the same I am willing, and sincerely anxious, to give you preferential treatment if you will only be wise enough to reciprocate and take full advantage of this offer I am making you. In other words, providing you yourself earn it. Speaking of motor-cars —I am delighted to see that you, Kiwi, are “sitting up and taking notice.” It is pleasing indeed to learn that during the first quarter of this year sixty-five per cent, of all cars registered in New Zealand were products of my factories and motor-car imports were eighty-seven per cent, from Great Britain. That is a real step in the right direction—let’s keep it up and increase it. We still hold all world’s speed records on land, sea and in the air; my engineers and designers are still supreme, and, considering all things, my cars and trucks represent the greatest value for money.NOT UNREASONABLE. You might wonder what would become of your secondary industries if you do as I urge and buy all you can from me—but 1 suggest that you do not concern yourself about that overmuch. I do not expect your selective preference should be permitted to oust from your own local markets the products of any legitimate, well conducted and properly rationalised local manufacturing industry, so long as the products are of recognised quality and utility. Such secondary industries will, I am sure, always continue to exist and prosper, and there is ample room in this new scheme of things for us both. Remember, Kiwi, that it is the thir-, teen million pounds that you spend in r oreign goods every year, in normal years, practically all of which I, or your Empire cousins, can supply, that I have got my eye on; I must have this if you ere reasonably to expect me to give you permanent shelter in my market for your primary products, in the form of a preferential tariff. That is only fair, old chap, isn’t it? In other words, it is reciprocity—and reciprocity in trade, as between your old uncle and his beloved nephew, is something that we must definitely arrange at Ottawa. You hold the key to the situation in your own hands, and you should, and must, fix the situation yourself at once, without waiting for me—remember, delay is dangerous. May I hear soon through your Commissioner in London that you are busy carrying out the foregoing suggestions that I have made to you? I think you are unlikely to get sound advice from any other source, for we are relatives, our interests coincide, and we face the same' problems and dangers. I rely firmly upon your co-opera-tion in preparing that tariff to safeguard the varying interests of all members of the Empire League. Do not worry about this “old man,” my boy. I have had a hard struggle and am facing the future full of vigour and optimism, and believe me, with the co-operative assistance of my sturdy nephew, we will forge ahead to prosperity before long. My orders are—full speed ahead, and no looking back. With every good wish, Your affectionate Uncle, JOHN BULL.