COMMONWEALTH COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20091, 21 November 1930, Page 11

COMMONWEALTH COMMERCE.

HIT BY FALL IN PRICES. RESTRICTED INFLATION PLAN. (CSITEI) PRESS ASSOCIATION —B? ELECTRIC Tzr.j!OßAPH—coi'vniartT.} CANI3ER.RA. November 20. Asserting that tho present eatnclysmnl fall of prices in Australia is reacting disastrously on business, tho Commonwealth Ktatist>ian. Mr C. H. Wickons, spoke in favour of restricted inflation. "Any proposal to cut down interest rates,'' ho said, "would most likely bo called repudiation ; but what wo want is a regulation so that pr.»-es shall remain reasonably in accord with conditions which existed when the contract with the bond-holder was made." Mr Wickons suggested a certain measure of what might be called inflation, the extent of which wnr.ld he regulated by the Commonwealth Hnd other banks. UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF.

LABOUR CAUCUS DECISION. (Received November 21st, 1 a.m.) CANBERRA, November 20. The Federal Labour Caucus agreed to a motion demanding that Parliament shall not adjourn until practical measures have been instituted for the relief of unemployment. MR SCULLIN AS LEADER. GENERAL ADMIRATION.

LONDON, November 19

Striking evidence of the sympathy throughout Great Britain for the manlier in which Mr J. H. Scullin (Australian Prime Minister) is facing his problems has been manifest every- \\ here. During the Edinburgh functions, at the begininng of the seoond provincial tcur arranged by the British Empire League, tho Lord Provost, presenting the freedom of the city to Mr R. R. Bennett (Canada), Mr Scullin and Mr G. W. Forbes (New Zealand), expressed his trust that under Mr Seuliin'B firm leadership Australia would soon be restored to prosperity. \ Mr Scullin, paying a tribute to Scotsmen's part in building up tho Commonwealth, humorously mentioned that their instinctive knowledge of the value of pastures led many Soots to "squat" on large areas An outstanding characteristic of Australian Scots had been the determination to meet their obligations. "I would bo nnfaiT to my colleagues if I (Sid not any that Australia always has the will to meet her obligations,*' hj": <;aid.

MORE TAXATION IN VICTORIA. MELBOURNE, November 20. Increases in the stamp duty on wages, and an unemployment relief tax nre provided for in a Bill introduced in the Assembly. On wages of from £2 to £6 the duty rises from a penny to fourpence in the £. The relief tax starts on taxable incomes ol £52, at the rate of 10s in £IOO, rising to £4 10s Id on taxable incomes of over £3OOO.