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Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16493, 22 July 1919, Page 2

During the last week in May Mr. Massey addressed a meeting in London of the British Empire Producers’ Association on the question of Imperial preference, and in the course of his address lie expressed the belief that the Dominions were willing to go a great deal further in the direction of preference to British goods that they had done up to the present. Ho knew too Unit as far as Xew Zealand was concerned, enemy citizens would never bo allowed to take up again the positions

they had previously occupied commercially. socially, or in any other respect. If Britain did not take up the same attitude ho thought it would be felt that many lives had been sacrificed and blood shed in vain. There are difficulties, such as New Zealand does not experience, in the way of the Mother Country giving preference to Empire products as against foreign. But, ns Mr. Massey truly pointed out, Imperial preference need not stop at fiscal arrangements. There arc other ways in which Britain can show some preference for the Dominions. For instance, our highway was on the sea, and for some years, though he did not say it could bp avoided, our shipping communications had not been satisfactory. Wo required sea sendees, the very best that could ho obtained, between Britain and Australia, between Britain and Canada, between Britain and New Zealand, between all the parts of the Empire. Ho was not thinking altogether’ of State-owned sendees, because he was not altogether satisfied with them, hut there should he an organisation to control the sendees of the Empire, provided if necessary, by taxation, which ho believed people would agree u» Caesar understood 2000 yearn ago how important communications were to an Empire. He wanted to see British goods carried in British ships between British ports at the very lowest possible rates. That should be included in Imperial piTcronce. That was the son, of thing other countries did— America, France and Germany—and England ought to do the same. Then again, lie did not think Britain would remain a debtor country for long. The Dominions would have to come to England again for capital, paying the usual market rate "Mid giving the very best security. That was only a business arrangement with no compliment on either side, but he did think when the Dominions came here they should be charged the lowest possible, a lower rate of income tax than was charged for money borrowed for foreign countries.

Looking backward on the past five real's it. must bo admitted that the press of the Dominion has maintained the high traditions which have always marked it. AVith much depleted staffs and many difficulties as to supplies of material the newspapers have carried on and played a useful part in the home campaign. Every effort has been made to supply the public with news, and restrictions on the part of the censor, even when they seemed quite unreasonable, June been faithfully observed. Although few newspaper men can claim to bo military exports no one could spend several years in the study of information on the war from all sources without gaining some grasp of the subject, and therefore the public read with interest the articles v. I'itten describing the progress and the prospects of the campaigns. If editors were not always successful in their forecasts of the future they at any rate erred in good company, and even the so-called exports can throw few stones at them without effective reprisals. Tlio chief work of the press lias, however, been in tbo homo field, whore it has been able to do much in the way of checking unreasonable panic and keeping up the resolution of the people of the Dominion to sec the contest through to victory whatever the cost. Aluch was'also done to encourage and assist all the efforts on behalf of the patriotic funds, the lied Cross, the. Y.AI.C.A., and other organisations for the assistance of the soldiers and their families. 'The credit for anything that has been done vests of course with the people or the Dominion, who have never failed to give the wannest support to the efforts of the press in any good cause and especially m the great struggle which has occupied our thoughts for so lung. It is tb bo hoped that the same, spirit which helped the country through the long drawn-out contest against Germany will continue and enable the Dominion to meet equally successfully the new and difficult problems of peace.