The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1930. A DIFFICULT SITUATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19117, 9 July 1930, Page 8

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1930. A DIFFICULT SITUATION.

Gloucester Street and Cathedral Square CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND. London Representatives t R. B. BRETT & SON 34, NEW BRIDGE ST., LONDON, E.C.4.

66 TNTERESTING rather than ■*- important ” is a fair judgment to pass on the resolution adopted by a group of London bankers and industrialists regarding inter-imperial trade. In so far as it contemplates a fuller degree of Imperial reciprocity it is commendable, but the problem at Home is one of Imperial free trade, which is not acceptable to the great mass of the people in the Old Country, and is certainly not acceptable to the Dominions. The industries of one country have now to meet the competition of industries in other countries, and so long as there is change there must be competition, just as as electricity has challenged coal, and artificial silk has challenged wool. Open competition may lead to combination—and in that respect Empire trade is a rational economic development—or it may lead to rationalisation on a national or international basis. But Britain’s chief difficulty to-day is to find new markets and, for reasons which need not be entered into here, these markets must be external markets. Empire free trade, however, is bristling with political controversy, and the greatest argument against it is the argument that it will increase food prices for the masses. Logically, too, it would make of the Dominions mere suppliers of primary produce and raw material for the Old Country, and the whole conception is so fraught with economic disaster that even Mr Baldwin dare not adopt it. A DOUBTFUL EXPEDIENT. A CORNER IN SEATS for the remaining Rugby tests may appeal to some people as a ready means of raising money for the unemployed, but the well-meaning organisers of such a coup ought to ask themselves whether their cause will not be damaged by such methods. The sporting public are generous when claims are made on their charity, and it is to be feared that enough resentment would be aroused by a wholesale exploitation of the Rugby tests to make such an expedient of doubtful value. The prices are high enough already, and if anybody is to be squeezed it ought to be the Rugby Union. However, there is this to be said from the Rugby Union’s point of view, that its funds have always been carefully administered not for the benefit of individuals but for the purchase of grounds, the exchange of international visits and the good of the game generally. The fact that this Rugby harvest happens to come at a time of depression is not a reason for any special tax on the Rugby public or the Rugby Union, although a generous vote towards unemployment relief might be expected at the close of the tour. STUDENTS AT HOME. \ N INTERNATIONAL CENTRE V for overseas students in London, for which the Prince of Wales is appealing, is certainly much needed there, and the possibilities of such an establishment will grow with the years. For the yearly exodus of young people from New Zealand to the scats of learning in the Old World is typical of the growing appreciation of the value of foreign contacts that is felt, and actively expressed, in all the new countries. The increasing number of scholarships for this purpose, cheaper travel and more spending power have brought about the change, and study abroad is now regarded as almost essential in all the higher branches of learning. It is essential to the maintenance of educational standards, especially in New Zealand, where our geographical isolation would otherwise develop parochialism and pedantry. Such an institution would help many students through those first lonely months before they begin to understand the reserve natural to English people, and before they have adapted themselves to the conventions of the country.