ALL BUSILY ENGAGED

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 494, 1 July 1932, Page 1

ALL BUSILY ENGAGED

Ottawa Delegates Hard at Work on Ship. MR COATES INTERVIEWED. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received July 1. 10.40 a.m.) SUVA. July 1. j The Australian and New Zealand j delegations are taking advantage of j their opportunities on board ship for a j series of consultations with a view to ! developing uniformity of attitude at I Ottawa. Representatives of the vari- ! ous industries are discussing details of j their respective aims and will achieve a united programme before the con- j ference opens. The exchange of views 1 with the industrial leaders of the Do- | minions has reached an advanced stage, j The Australian delegation is armed I with voluminous reports of the prim- i ary industries, giving evidence that Mr ! Lyons did not exaggerate when he said I that no previous delegation from Australia had been better equipped. The feeling of optimism among Australian and New Zealand delegates has not diminished and there is determination to achieve more than mere formulas, but it is admitted that tl*2 quesi tion of Empire currency presents a problem of the first magniturj.«e, whi~h j will probably be tackled during the earliest stages of the conferrmce. ! Mr Bruce, Mr Gullett and y /he experts I have been in daily' session, since the : boat left Auckland. i Mr Coates has a dual r »sponsibility, | whereas Mr Bruce and Mr Gullett are liking only ahead and a ;e reading the I wireless reports of the ’premiers’ Conference with detached interest. Mr Coates’s \ lews. Mr Coates interviewed said: “The unemployed, numberirjg 54,000 male adults, realise that th n Government is doing its utmost on t/ieir behr’* to the absolute limit of th £ funds available.

: Although a few agitators, mostly not i native-born, are co r.stantly seeking to stir up trouble, th t great majority of the unemployed h<ave taken the sane view that the Government is not to be blamed for the d*>tress.” Mr Coates stated that when it was first suggested t'a-at single unemployed men should for ten shillings a week, plus rations, the proposal was I greeted with derision, but latterly the i men concerned had realised the true j facts and the day he left Auckland 150 . young men e titered a working camp on | these terrr£. Already many other | camps we ct i working satisfactorily. | This was a particularly encouraging i i feature, indicating that the men were ; showing the right spirit. In fact relief workers were shovelling an equal yardage o f . material on road-making and drain/ng works to ordinary conditions, i Five, thousand men, under the supervision of experienced miners, were en- . gs £ed in alluvial and quartz goldrr/.ning in Central Otago and on the i <Vest Coast and at Thames, two thouI sand of whom were subsidised by the , i Government. T I Exceptionally promising reports of ; 1 finds of gold in the Reefton district l : had been made. The Government was i financing many of these platoons of , | eager miners, a large proportion of ! whom were already self-supporting, , ; having paid the Government's relief at I ! the rate of 10 per cent of their gold s returns. s Many men had been assisted to e settle on ten-acre farming sections, with i the option of purchasing adjoining 3 ! blocks of fifty and sixty acres, and c were already doing well. Unemployed Women. e Unemployed women were not directly under the Government’s super- • vision, but private organisations, with Government assistance, were helping b women to find suitable work. Former wages and working conditions would be necessarily modified until the Do- -- minion returned to normal conditions, 2- but everywhere there was a spirit of n willingness to share sacrifices. This j- single-mindedness throughout the couns try was the happiest augury for its n rehabilitation, which it was hoped d Ottawa would facilitate with iinportir ant trade measures. He earnestly „ hoped that the day would not be far a distant when Government relief no longer would be necessary. Mr W. Downie Stewart, whose health is benefiting by the restfulness of the S voyage, is now appearing on deck in - e a wheeled chair, watching the games c ' and enjoying the increasing sunshine. c Commonwealth Meat Industry, x- The Commonwealth proposals for o Ottawa to assist the meat industry will be based upon a schedule of duties drawn up by the London representan tives of the Australian industry, together with the recommendation that \ the British Government should re- ‘ strict foreign imports with the object f of adjusting them to provide for the ’ seasonal requirements of the British markets, thus avoiding gluts and shortages and assuring steady average 1_ ; prices." The tariff proposals are that 1 beef, mutton, lamb, pork and veal, Q I which now carry a preferential Enpire }- I tariff, should all be free. II The proposed full foreign tariff is:—ej Perpound. :S I d. | Beef li l , Mutton Is Lamb * Pork 1J Veal li Preferential foreign tariff: Per pound. s ! d. l! i Beef \ ' i Lamb 1 11 ; Pork f 3 Veal $ The Australian industry’s original pros posals have now been abandoned. They t ’ were for absolute preference of lid a 11 pound on frozen and chilled mutton, e lamb, beef, veal and frozen sundries d and an absolute preference of 2d a It pound for preserved canned, smoked > and salted meats. r- The leaders of the Australian indus- -- try on reconsideration yielded to a strong London representations that the :- j latter high protection was impractical able. .