POST WAR TRADE

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7710, 20 April 1916, Page 3

POST WAR TRADE

PROFITING BY OUR MISTAKES. (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, Last night. Speaking at the annual luncheon of the Chamber of Commerce, the Prime Minister made special reference to post-war trade. “The chairman,” he said /‘has referred to the post-war trade, and I assert that this is a most important matter, that should engage the attention of commercial and thinking men, not only in New Zealand, but throughout every part of the Empire. Ido hope that whatever happens, we are going to profit by the mistakes that the British public have made during the last fifteen or twenty years. I trust these mistakes will never he repeated. I hope that we will aim at British trade with British people—at a self-contained Empire, and I do not know of any reason why the Empire cannot produce everything Required by its own population. I do not mean that we should stop trade with outside countries altogether, hut I am thinking more especially of present enemy countries, and I think wc should prevent them from again establishing the position they occupied prior to the war. I give every credit to the British people and the Imperial Parliament for not imposing duties against us, but I hope they will never again allow present enemy goods to be landed on equal terms with the dominions of the Empire. (Applause). We can look back now and think over the fact that the subsidised ships of present enemies were allowed to compete in British ports with ships belonging to people of our own country, placing them at an unfair advantage. Bounty-assisted goods manufactured in enemy countries were allowed to come into competition with goods of our own country. I trust that anything of the sort will never happen again.”