OTTAWA HONOURED

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1934, Page 14 (Supplement)

OTTAWA HONOURED

MR. COATES UNDER FIRE. LIVELY EXCHANGES. An emphatic denial that the Government had been approached by representatives of the manufacturers with a request not to interfere with. - the protective tariffs was given by the Minis- ; ter of Finance (the Rt. Hon. J. G. • Coates) in addressing a large meeting ; at Morrinsville on Tuesday evening. < “Not one representative of manufac- . turers’ interests has come to me regarding the quota restrictions, or, indeed, anything concerning the dairy industry, said Mr. Coates. . Mr. W. Boyd: They wouldn't do it in the open. Mr. Coates: You suggest it has been done privately. Again I say no. Captain Colbeck; You really mean that? . . Mr. Coates: I do. They made all their representations to the Tariff Commission. • .. . •. “Indirectly you must admit that it tne duties are kept on there will be a quota for sure,” said Captain Colbeck. , A FLIGHT OF IMAGINATION, j “I admit nothing of the kind; that is purely a flight of imagination,” replied the Minister. It was untrue that the Government was involved with the manufacturing industries of the country. It had been asserted that the Government had not kept to its Ottawa Agreement. Captain Colbeck: Nearly two years have gone and you have done nothing. (Applause). . , , Mr. Coates: Rubbish. That has been : explained time and again. We have carried out the agreement according to the letter and spirit. We will go a J_ ong way to try and bring about a satisfactory exchange of goods with Britain. . The Minister claimed that no one m the Dominion knew better what the Ottawa Agreement meant than he did, and he stated emphatically that it did not mean the removal of all duties against British goods. He described Captain Colbeck s suggestion that the removal of tariffs would eliminate unemployment as “too ridiculous for words.” Captain Colbeck: You went the wrong way about it by reducing wages before costr. . After a babel of interjections and jeering had died down Captain Colbeck maintained that costs had been further raised by the high exchange rate “I know the argument,” Mr. Coates responded. “It has been said that the higher exchange was equal to a primage duty on goods. Do you know that the all-group cost of living has decreased since the exchange was raised. Captain Colbeck: Yes, because world prices have fallen. Mr. Coates added that it nad been found that the high exchange had created the gap required between costs and prices.