FREETRADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9307, 6 August 1908, Page 2

FREETRADE.

— • — „ AMERICAN, FRENCH AND GEBm MAN CONGRATULATIONS. ■ SPEECH BY THE PREMIER. FREETRADE AN ECONOMIC NECESSITY. United Press Association— By Electri* Telegraph— Copyright. (Received August 6, 8.10 a.m.) LONDON, August 5. At the Freetrade Congress the Amer4» .can, French and German delegates in their speeches congratulated Great Bri* tain on her fidelity to freetrade, the keynote^ of all the speeches being th«intimate connection between freetrad* and peace. The Premier, the Right Hon H. H« Asquith, speaking at the Cobden Club banquet at the Hotel Cecil, insisted that freetrade was an economic neceS* sity for Great Britain, owing to the country's inability to produce at home, even under the shelter of the highest and most insuperable tariff' that proteo tion could design, either food for th« people or raw material for the nation*! industries. "We can only maintain our industries and find employment for our people by receiving the goods foreigners send in exchange for our own," he added. Mr Asquith emphasised the fact that absolute freetrade already prevailed over a large part of the industrial globe, citing the United States, where over three million square miles of internal protection was found to be an impossibility. Referring to Great Britain's enormous dependence on foreign sources for its food supply, the Premier stated that the net imports of raw wool had increased in fifty years from ninety million pounds avoirdupois to over 350 million: pounds. He admitted that the tariffs of protectionist countries inflicted a substantial injury on British trade, but eaid that*, the best weapon to fight such tariffs was free imports. He ridiculed the predictions of his political opponents regarding -the impending bankruptcy of freetrade finance, and said that personally; he saw no cause for such counsels of despair. On the contrary) he felt confix dent that freetrade finance was capable of bearing the strain of any reasonable programme of social reform. On the international side freetrade was bound up with peace and friendship among peoples. M. Yves Guyot, the French political writer, declared that Britain was teach-, ing nations a great lesson, and he was confident that Britain would resist the attractions of Mr Chamberlain's pro» gramme. ,