IMPERIAL PREFERENCE.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15871, 10 April 1917, Page 5

IMPERIAL PREFERENCE.

MR MASSEY ON EMPIRE POLICY. TO BE SELF-CONTAINED AND SELF-SUPPORTING. (from our own correspondent.) LONDON, February 27. The British Empire Producers' Organisation, of which Sir George Makgill is the general secretary, held their first fortnightly luncheon at the Savoy Hotel a few days ago, when the Right Hon. "W. F. Mas6ey was the speaker. The Marquis of Graham presided over a large company, representative of the commercial and business interests of the City of London. The Prime Minister of New Zealand who met with a hearty reception, said that tlieir objects were the development of Empire resources and the protection of Empire industry. The war had been responsible for a remarkable change in public opinion towards what had been ' called Tariff Reform, but what he preferred to call Imperial Preference. He did not like the term Tariff Reform. It conveyed a wrong impression, and provided a slogan for the opponents of Imperial Preference winch 'they were not slow to make use of. Many of those people had now seen the error of their ways, and had come round to our way of "thinking. Surely it was better, argued Mr Massey, for the Empire to produce her own raw material and foodstuffs rather than rely on those countries with which, at one day, we might be at war. THE PRINCIPLE OF PREFERENCE. The most important topic of the 1 moment was the report of - Lord Balfour of Burleigh's Committee on the commercial and industrial policy to be adopted by the United Kingdom after the war. He wished to . call particujarly their intention to the second resolution of the report, which read: "We therefore recommend that his Majesty's Government should now declare their adherence to the principle that preference should l>e accorded to the products and manufactures of the British Overseas Dominions in repect of any Custom duties now or hereafter to be imposed on imports into the United Kingdom." What a vindication this was of the policy advocated for so many years by the late Mr Joseph Chamberlain—an Imperial statesman if ever there was one. (Applause). Mr Chamberlain understood to possibilities of the .Empire to which we all belonged, and, further, he realised the duty of the present generation towards it. It would, be a mistake now to allow the British Empire to get back into the condition that it was before the outbreak of war sofar as her industry and commerco were concerned. There was not a citizen to-day who suggested that the products of enemy countries should bo placed in a position equal, tothatof the products of Allied countries Nobody suggested that Germany should be allowed to resume her former commercial relationships with the Bntish I Empire. „ , _ I AN ECONOMIC AVAR. I - Mr Massey said he was convinced that I whon the present war came to an end, | Germany would engage us in an econo--mio contest with the object of gaining 1 back the trade which she had lost. Fortunately. they had had a conference m Paris, whereby Britain and her Allies had-resolved to become mdependent ot I the Central Empires for all foodstuffs ! and raw material. One regrettable fact about'the policy of the past was that Germany had, partly financed her side of tho war out of the profits made from British countries. If the _ majoritv of people thought as he did this never be allowed to happen again Tne war had caused them all to think Imperially, and they had discovered that i t was* possible to produce within the Empire all that was necessary for the sustenance and comfort of her peopleThe methods, of course, would have to T)e business-liko and well thought out. They must, however, rise to their opljortunities and take advantage, of the possibilities provided by the war. llieir industrial methods must be reorganised and capital and labour must come to terms. Moreover, they must see to it that the men charged with the management of Imperial affairs must be men who were able to understand Imperial affairs, who knew more about the Empire than they could see in the United Kingdom itself.. (Applause.) He believed that the party that was going to govern the Empire in future would be an Imperial partvin the truest sense of the word. The Oversea Dominions would be represented on that body. It would bo an Imperial Party with an Imperial policy—a policv. to make the Empire self-contained and self-supporting, to keep it_ ready from the military and naval points of view, for any emergency, that might arise. That, he thought, would be the policy, of tho future, and he believed that most of those present would live to see tiis prophecy correct. THE EMPIRE'S DAIRY-FARM. Mr Massey then briefly pointed out the possibilities of the oversea portions of the Empire. He admitted that a very great deal be done in New Zealand in the production of dairy produce and frozen meat. New Zealand, in the future, would be the dairy - farm'of the Empire. Canada would be the. yfranary, and Australia would provide more wool and frozen bee£—especi-

ally beef. From Africa, tHey would get tropical products and cotton. India, too, liad immense possibilities. The Empire to-day was calling for reorganisation and reform, and it was necessary to introduce Imperial preference at the earliest possible moment. New Zealand already gave preference to goods coming from the United Kingdom and would give still more if required. Ho found that in the years previous to the war. New Zealand had been buying from Germany goods to the value of about one million pounds sterling per annum. In his opinion, each and eveiy one of those articles could be produced in the.United Kingdom. He promised them, on behalf of _ New Zealand, that never in the lifetime of the present generation would they go back and buy those goods from Germany if it was possible to get similar goods from England, Or the countries of the"Allies- Imperial Preference was wanted to build up the Empire, to consolidate the Empire, to make it selfcontained and self-supporting, and he hoped they would not have long to wait to see this policy adopted. He believed we should come through i the war successfully, and that we should have a Britain stronger, brighter, and better, with its people wiser citizens, than ever they had been before. (Applause.) / CLEAR COURSE OF ACTION. "I am confident of this," said Mr Massey, "if John Stuart Mill had the opportunity of revising his writings on political economy, or Adam Smith, his 'Wealth of Nations,' we should have in each case a very much revised version as applied to the position and potentialities of our Empire tp-day. If a farmer allowed part of his land to lie fallow, and his family to look for other employment while he purchased part of his requirements from another farmer *Vho utilised his land to the best advantage, there would be no doubt as to which of the two would make the greater success. Yet, that is exactly what we have been doing; we/have allowed vast areas to lie idle year after year, and we have allowed our people to leave us and make homes in other countries with scarcely an effort being made to keep them under our own flag. This sort of thing must come to an end. (Applause.) We cannot expect other naions that may be cramped for room to stand by quietly \ and 6ee the British. owning but not occupying the great territories they possess, holding on to them, but not making use of them as . the Creator intended, in our own interests. Our course of action should be perfectly clear. With a view to encouraging development within the Empire, there should be commercial preference as between its different parts. That is to say, the Customs duties charged by one part of the Empire should be lower than charged on goods coming from outside the Empire. The effect of this would undoubtedly be to encourage production in our own countries. ~ It would provide employment for our own people, and, in the event of migration, it would keep them within the Empire. It would very soon make the Empire independent of outside countries for its food supplies and raw materials. It would make such an incident as that of the sugar fiasco impossible, and I believe it would be for the benefit of British citizens benerally, in whatever part of the world they may happen to locate." (Applause.)