TRADE AND EMPIRE

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 13016, 2 July 1906, Page 6

TRADE AND EMPIRE

MR CHURCHILL ON TROPICAL COLONIES. PRIVATE EFFORT INVITED. A cordial invitation to business men to help the Government in developing the undeveloped portions of the British Empire was the keynote of Mr Winston Churchill's address as the guest of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on May sth. The Under-Secretary for the Colonies said that Liverpool's fortunes, more than those of .any city in the United Kingdom, 1 were interwoven with the oversea possessions of the 'British Empire. That phrase was often 1 mainly associated in their minds with the self-governing colonies, those young, democratic communities scattered about the world, which sometimes reproduced our own ideas and methods, and again, pushed forward as adventurous fpioneers upon the path'of 'social progress. s We contemplated with satisfaction the ever-strengthening bonds which united those Colonies with the' Mother Country, and which had now become so strong that they were not likely to be injured by political partisanship either on one side or the other. He desjred to direct special attention to the tropical possessions of the Crown which were governed directly from Downing Street, and -which were as vast and more densely populated than ever the self-governing colonies. - In the commercial of those 'territories the, Government and- business men ought to act hand in band. It was necessary that private enterprise should support Government enterprise, and in that way mutual assistance might be Tendered. That ideal could not always be maintained without some slight difficulty and occasional jar, because the two points of view were, of course, different. Each, therefore, must make allowance for the other, and he believed in that operation the presence of a politician called upon to occupy some official post, and who stood apart from the specialised- views department on the one hand * jJid the on the other, might tend t»i greatly harmonise the proceedings and to expedite business. ' There three spheres of activity ini which, the. Government should co-operate' with *priTO» enterprise. They wanted to put mapmacturers in -the country t into touch -wifii~the enormous patent, resources of raw material which the tropical colonies could., supply. They wanted to have new openmgs/|fpr trade and \new "materials? of naanufactires exploited and brought into the great; iarena of .commerce.and business A seebnd method 'was the extension of our knowledge .regarding tropical, diseases, and a- third plan was" to means of communication, both, by' land, _ and water-, and thus'take <the first step'-which led from, chaos" ( tb cosmos. The" interest of' the r wage-ferner J 'in ,"lhe great industrial centres England in these operations i was nor so immediately apparent, but iitVwas none the less'real. For instance; the banana, which a few years ;ago was the luxury of the rich, had now become a common article, of consumption for the 1 masses. 1 " fact ,v the' /greatestsjcrtedit upon Mr f #nd, those associated with him in popularising and'democratising the banana. ,<m, a ccjstermonger's . street.- That •was, of Mr., Chamberlain's, adit was not (the largest or ..the most expensive monument. v He took a .special interest in "the work of the British Cotton-growing Association, and was ,glad to s<iy that, the Colonial Office, both, in the Jate and, present Government, had endeavoured in* eveiy way to, assist its operations. • The results cf .this undertaking, were already beginning ,to be. significant and important. The gene,'ral volume of cotton grown more*or less under the auspices of the Association was shown by the fact that in 1902-3 there were 1900 bales grown, valued at £39,000; the estimate for the year 1905-6 wat 20.000 bales, worth nearly £330,000. . . If that rate of progress jwas nraiiitaineM, we should soon see the,entry of an entirely | new .factor into the cotton_ woild. The association ought specially- _to aim at pro-1 during abundant cotton. 1 No would pretend that the cotton capable of being grown within the British Emphe could supply the needs of Lancashire. ' >R& did no<r*believe that the economical po>l ion the world would ever be such th.' Lancashire',would be able to 'dispense \\Ah her right to.'.pnrchaFe her ..cotton iLe markets' of 'the world at the world's pi ice.

He sometimes wondered whethei some dayy there-* would be a greai development in our staple industry, in which there might be ,"roups of mill-owners biding themselves together to own different areas -of-cotton supply, so they rrisrht always derive their supply irrespective of the | market price. He would look forw.rd to 1 fcuch a development with" great sympathy. There wert great combinations which were 110$ ip the advantage of 'the productivity of the woild, and which were in restric-, 4aon of trade; but /there were, other rcopibmatrons which- greatly enhance the eoonomy of production. The Cotton Growing 'Association '.aimed at increasing the supply of cotton, and, above all, in multiplying the .sources of cotton supply, so that by averaging climatic risks they might-secure not merely" an abundant, but a - regular and staple rsupply of' the new material that would not prevent the normal fluctuations of price, but V: would tend to prevent those abnormal shortages which gave opportunity to speculators to farrange artificial corners. In proportion as they were able to guard against such disastrous contingencies, a real benefit would accrue not merely to the spinners and owners pi mills, but to thel great mass of working people wbo depended I for their daily "bread upon tie growth of the crop at one end of the world and the I state of the ■'.market at the other.

The difficulties of transport by the Niger were known to his hearers, and he was glad'to say Lord Elgin was taking a special intee?*- in this, matter, and Ind communicated, with-the-Governors of Northern

and Southern Nigeria, asking them whether, steamers would be able, in., iutvge, . tp^arry^all..gqpds^.psesepted by traders.' The replies were not absolutely satisfactory. We had incited the natives of Nigeria to ; grow cotton, and had guaranteed them a regular minimum price of a penny per pound on their products. A great crop was in prospect, and,unless we took precautions great. masses, of;/cotton would be. accumulated at the., wharves and landing stages without any . possibility of" transport, involving a disappointment to. the native.. growers who were embarkk;j on /their first experience of world-wide economics that might cause a serious setback to the work.

They on the river Niger a complete reorganisation of the transport service. It was absurd to 4 have on the river two separate services under one flag, neither of which could carry the cargo of the o;ther, and both directed from different centres, but a mere re-arrangement of time ; tables of steamens. would not be sufficient, and he was glad to state taat Sir Frederick Lugard was coming home shortly to confer with Lord Elgin upon these problems. . He hoped also to see some method devised whereby a larger proportion of the grant in aid by this country to Northern Nigeria might be devoted to the stimulation of commerce and less to punitive expeditions and other luxuries of that kind. Mr .Churchill instanced the railway enterprises which were being undertaken in the different Crown Colonies of the Empire as a proof that the problems which interested the commercial people of this coun-, try in the past were not being neglected in the present. The aspect of our Imperial administration would receive careful and sympathetic consideration on the part of the" Colonial Office. Governments come and Governments, go, but when the present Government bad exhausted their mandate, it was their cherished, ambition to hand over to their: successors in undiminished extent and splendour the great possessions which were' the pride ,of, the people of the United Kingdom.