IMPERIAL PREFERENCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19050, 1 July 1924, Page 5

IMPERIAL PREFERENCE

AUSTRALIAN RETALIATION SYDNEY, June 30. Mr. Pratten, Minister of Trade and Customs, speaking on preferences,, said that in view of the British Government having itself scrapped its own Industries Preservation Act, it was open to doubt whether Australia whouid continue her policy to the’ same extent as heretofore. The narrow majority by which the preference proposal was defeated, however, showed that the minority represents an immense body of public opinion in the Motherland in favour of accepting the principle of preference to the Dominions. He proposed to review the position whereby goods from the Motherland containing only twentyfive per cent, of British material or workinnnshin receive full preference. He believed that if action’ is taken in this direction it will help to some extent to relieve unemployment in the Homeland. The present system was unfair to our own manufacturers, who were pfirtly deprived of protection against foreign goods provided by her own Parliament through the tariff. MR THEODORE PHILOSOPHICAL Received June 30, 7.15 p.m. ADELAIDE, June 30. Mr Theodore, the Queensland Premier, interviewed, said he was sure the majority of the people of the United Kingdom considered that adoption of Dominion Preference involved complete sacrifice of their cherished ideals, without sufficiently compensating advantages. He supposed the dominions must accept the inevitable. It would be unnwise for the dominions to attempt to convert Britishers to a doctrine repugnant to them. It appeared, therefore, that the dominions must abandon hopes of complete reciprocal trade preference, and accommodate themselves to the necessity of competing with the world’s markets without receiving favoured treatment in any particular one. Apart from certain manufacturers, people in England placed little importance on the preference Australia gave to certain goods.