BUY BRITISH GOODS.

Wairarapa Age, 24 May 1928, Page 4

BUY BRITISH GOODS.

Speaking as one who had travelled ‘ forty thousand miles, and visited fif- ' teen States of the British Empire, as 'well as some foreign countries, Mrs I Fletcher said that she hoped she was i now anchored in New Zealand, bc- ’ cause she believed it to be the best State of the best Empire the world had ever seen. Their duty was to make Masterton -the best little town, or best big town if they liked, in New Zealand. In saying Masterton, she in- t eluded the whole Wairarapa, wlTich, though neglected in some respects, was one of the finest districts in New Zealand. What could they do as men and women to put their town and district on the map as the best in New Zealand, and to put New Zealand on the map the best State in the Empire? The answer was to be found in the American word “boost.” Every op-' portunity should be taken of boosting the district, its products and the goods made within its border®. If they were to provide work for the children as they grew up, they must resolve firmly, first of all to buy Wairarapa goods as far as possible, secondly to buy New Zealand goods, and thirdly, when New Zealand goods wore not available, to insist upon obtaining British Empire products. MUTUAL BENEFITS. In dealing with the mutual interdependence of Empire countries, Mrs Fletcher said that in the Rhondda Valley, in Wales, there were some four hundred miners’ houses, some of them the dwelling place of two or three working miners. For a long time only eight or ten of these miners had been employed; the rest were starving on the dole. The coal that these men used to win was no longer wanted in Sheffield, where it was used formerly in making the best cutlery, because cheap cutlery from Germany and America was being sold in markets that Britain used to supply. “Let us say,” said Mrs Fletcher, “that if we cannot get British goods, we will send to Britain for what wo want, and that wo will not buy foreign goods.” If the Rhondda Valley miners had been working instead of subsisting on l the dole, they and their families would have bought large quantities of New Zealand meat, butter and cheese. Hero was a second reason for always buying Enipire goods. By doing so, we brought trade back to the Dominion and gave work to our own population. lAmcrica and other foreign countries did not take goods in return for what they sold to us, except in the case of commodities like wool they could could not possibly do without. On other goods from this country they imposed prohibitive duties. Mrs Fletcher strongly advocated a much stricter censorship of American cinoma films, with the adoption, of a quota system in favour of New Zealand and British films. She urged also that a very much higher duty should be imposed both on foreign films and on foreign made motor cars. Mrs Fletcher was warmly applauded on concluding her address. FILMS AND MOTOR CARS.

In proposing a vote of thanks to Mrs Fletcher for her interesting and informative address, Mr G. R. Sykes, M.P., said that the censorship of picture films was already very strict in New ealand, and it was at times very difficult to determine what; should, or should not, be allowed to pass. Every film in New Zealand, but these utilised in New Zealand, but these films were so few in number that the British Government had not until last year attempted to establish, a quota even in Great Britain. There was an extremely heavy duty on foreign motor cars to-day. When that duty wa- imposed, members of Parliament thought that it would be prohibitive. Unfortunately it had proved not to be so. There was, however, a preferential concession on all British cars and the British Trade Commissioner had expressed his pleasure at the treatment meted out to Great Britain under the New Zealand tariff, particularly with regard to motor cars. He hoped the time would come when people would wake up to the advantage of buying British cars. The motor car had a very important place in the economic life of this country and the Dominion would be in a much 4 better position to-day if it had not gone in for a wholesale importation of American cars. (Applause). Seconding the motion, which was carried heartily, Mr M. G. Mackay said that it was all very well to point the finger of scorn at the Americans, but in/his opinion it would be better to take a few leaves out of their book. He considered that America would have gone aheid as she had, irrespective of the war. A pleasant and interesting function concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

EMPIRE WEEK LUNCHEON AT THE Y.M.C.A. ADDRESS BY MRS. S. FLETCHER. An interesting address in furtherance of the Empire Week appeal on behalf of Dominion and Empire trade was delivered at the Optimist Club luncheon in the Y.M.C.A. rooms yesterday by Mrs Stanley Fletcher. Mr J. H. Handyside presided ever a moderate attendance. Of the total number of upwards of thirty persons present, a large proportion were ladies. Introducing the speaker of the day, the chairman said he would hatre liked to see a larger attendance, but he was glad that so many ladies had coia| along to support Mrs Fletcher. He had received apologies for non-attend-ance from the Rev. J. Cocker and Dr. Prior.