"THANK YOU, NEW ZEALAND."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19148, 3 November 1927, Page 13

"THANK YOU, NEW ZEALAND."

FREE TRADE WITHIN THE EMPIRE.

REALISATION OF THE IDEAL

(FROM OCi OWH COKBEBPOKDZNT.) LONDON, September 21. Praige of the Dominion was a prominent feature of the "Morning Post" on Thursday. ' ' Thank you, New Zealand'' was the title of the leading article, as it was also the headline of a letter written by "J. B. Fleming" from Winchester. Mr Fleming wrote: It is always New Zealand —the most distant and, the most British of all our Dominions. Its consistent desire to help the Homeland is again strikingly shown in the dispatch you publish from Wellington headed "A Boon to Lancashire."

It is the one Colony (if the good old word may be pardoned) which says "Britain, right or wrong—we are with you." Again and again she has proved that blood is not thinned by the water that divides us. Cannot we, in some way, on some appropriate occasion, prove to her nationally that all New Zealand says and does for England is appreciated? Can we not make a British fete day of one of heif own celebrations? Expression of National Feeling. The leading article is based on information regarding the new Customs Tariff, introduced in the House of Representatives by the Minister for Finance and Customs.

"The hard-headed City of Manchester (says the writer), which is accustomed to say that sentiment has nothing to do with business, may be surprised to find these two alleged opposites united in the schedule of a Customs tariff. Yet the Dominions have shown over and Over again that they regard their fiscal policy as the economic expression of national feeling. In their desire for Imperial unity they have now for more than a generation given British goods a preference over foreign manufactures. The latest example is the new Customs Tariff of New Zealand.

"The preference already given by New Zealand on British goods is substantial; but under the new arrangement the advantage is increased, and in some cases the duty is removed. The most important of these total exemptions are cotton piece and Manchester goods which are now admitted free of duty, whereas foreign goods of the same kind are subject to a duty of 20 per cent. Lancashire, which has been bard hit of late years, will, we feel certain, be very grateful for this substantial assistance in a valuable and growing market."

The "Morning Post" claims frequently to hare shown that the preference now given by the British Dominions is already an important factor in guiding the direction of trade, especially in large contracts. In goods where competition is cut so fine as in cotton, we should expect the difference to be decisive. What it conies to is that New Zealand of her own volition is devoting and confining her market to British goods—in those commodities which slie does not manufacture herself. To a considerable extent, also, she has realised the ideal of Free Trade within the British Empire. Behind these practical arrangements is a great and historical tradition of Imperial statesmanship. "When the fiscal preferences of the British Empire were swept away by the school of Cobden and Bright, the British colonies protested. They were then poor, young, and struggling communities, which were looked up6n by both Cobden and Bright as a costly and useless encumbrance, and were expected to cast themselves adrift in the natural course of events. Their protests went unheeded, and one could not have blamed their, statesmen if they had turned away from the Mother Country and made arrangements of mutual benefit with foreign nations.

"What the colonies did was to raise duties for the protection' of industries of the*ir own—an unexpected and unwelcome reaction from the neglectful policy of the Mother Country. But when the first flush of resentment was past' the colonics all returned to the, old ideal,, and lowered their dutios to goods produced within the Empire. It was this policy which kindled the imagination and enthusiasm of Joseph Chamberlain, who sacrificed his office — and even his life—in the effort to bring the United Kingdom into line.

Appreciation and Gratitude. '' That crusade has to some extent succeeded. British policy has been so far modified as to give a small part of the produce of the Dominions a preference; but the principle of Free Trade in foodstuffs and raw materials prevents us from making that adequate response whicb might have secured our manufactures for all time in the most buoyant and promising markets of the world. Canada, South Africa, Australia, New are countries of such great possibilities that no one would venture to put term or limit to their development. It is no small.thing, then, that New Zealand is now doing, and we hope she will not fail to realise that there is appreciation and gratitude in the Mother Country."