The Dominion. TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1916. BREAKING THE GERMAN TRADE GRIP

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2789, 6 June 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1916. BREAKING THE GERMAN TRADE GRIP

The enthusiasm which characterised the Empiro Day meetings organised by the All-for-Empire League is an unmistakable sign-'of the temper of the people of New Zealand. There 'has been a hardening of the determination of all classes to win this war at all _ costs. ' The speakers at Saturday night's meeting laid stress upon the coming trade campaign as well as on the fixed resolve of New Zealanders to supportjjy every means within their power the forces of tho Empire in thsir efforts to overthrow the enemy in battle. The two campaigns are really one and inseparable. Germany has deliberately set hersolf the .task of beating the British Empire both in war and commerce. A large part of the profits which the Germans have made out of their traclio with British communities has been devoted to the construction of a great fleet of warships by means of which they hoped to wrest from Britain the command of the seas.- Wc must)have no more "made-in-Germany" goods. Mr. 11. A. AVrlght, M.P., .emphasised this point' in a striking sentence, when he remarked that after the war when we sec the words ."Made in Germany" we must remember what Germany made 'in 1014; Our aim must be to make the British Empire as solf-supporting as possible. It is satisfactory/to have the Pkijib Minister's assurance that the Government is alive to the necessity for taking effective steps to prevent a repetition of the mistakes of tho past. We now seo that Germany's unscrupulous trade methods formed part of her audacious policy of world dominion. In .referring to this matter in the House of Lords recently, the Mabquis of Crewe asked : What was it Germany had done on the commercial side that had caused a great many people, both in Franco and England, todetermine that she should not have the power to continue in tho same line of action in years' to come'! The fact was, he said, that Germany' had combined commercial expansion with political intrigue with an audacity—and, one must add, with success—which, so far as lie knew, had no parallel whatever in the past. Loud Chewe went on to say that it was impossible to separate German enterprise from German militarism, ancl the charactor of tho German people from the ambitions' of the German General Staff. The military ambitions which had set the w.orld on fire could not be separated from the general aggressiveness of Germany all over the world. In the light of our present knowledge our blindness in the past is_ astonishing; but it is almostimpossible to believe that when tho war is over wc could be guilty of tho stupendous folly of allowing Germany to regain her economic grip upon us and again exploit our Empire in order to destroy it. In the House of Commons recently, Sir G. YoufraEE asked whether the Government was taking any steps to formulate a trade policy for the period after flic war. In reply, Mn. Asquith said that a Committee of the Cabinet had been appointed to deal generally with all questions of reconstruction, including those connected 1 with commercial and indue-

trial problems likely to arise at the close of the war. As regards the most important of these problems, he said, tho Government was in communication with tho Dominions. The Prime Minister of Australia (Me. Hughes) has spoken very strongly about the necessity for far-reaching changes in the Empire trade policy The idea of resuming our old commercial relations with Germany just as if the war had never taken place has met with his most outspoken denunciation.' The New Zealand Government and Parliament, backed up by publie sentiment, have already ' given proof of their determination to discourage trade with Germany, and are, no doubt, prepared to take more drastic action. But, up to the present, tho British Government has made no definite declaration of its plan of campaign for the coming trade war. Ministers have at various times stated that the essential industries of the Empire must be fostered and that changes will have to be made in Britain's economic policy; but they have shown a marked disinclination to commit themselves to a,ny clearly-defined line of action. Mr. Bonah Law lias frankly admitted that there are differences of opinion in the Cabinet as regards the best methods of reorganising the Empire's trade. The Empire's representatives at the Allied Trade Conference, to be held in Paris next week, will not have authority to propound any policy. The French Government suggested tiiat the Conferonce should consider the question of trade between Britain and France, and also tho question of securing the economic independence of the Allies in future, but Britain's reply merely expressed willingness to be represented. Lord Crewe has made it quite plain that Mr. Bonar Law, Mr, Runcihan, and Mr. Hughes, tho three representatives of the Empire, "will go with no instructions, except general instructions to keep their eyes and their minds opon, and to assist, so far as possible, in exploring the subjects which will bo brought bofore the Conference. They will go and they will return without committing His Majesty's Government to any course of action." It would be unreasonable to find fault with this non-commit-tal attitude, for the British Government, and the Governments of the Overseas Dominions, could not be expected to delegate to a conference, such as that to bo held at Paris, the power to frame their fiscal policies. The Conference should nevertheless prove valuable. It will provide an excellent opportunity for exchanging viows, and for clearing up misconceptions. It may point the way to some definite and workablo scheme for the establishment of closer trade relations between Britain and her Allies, and for preventing Germany from regaining her former place in the commercial world. The war has caused a great change of feeling in Britain in reference to trado policy. The energetic propaganda of the British Empire Union and other organisations in favour of a national and Imperial policy which will ensure the security, prosperity, and unity of tho Empire, is strongly influencing public opinion. Sir George Makgill voiced tho views of the majority of British citizens in all parts of the Empire when ho declared at a meeting tho Union held at Manchester in April that "we must cleanse our land of the German taint and break the grip which Germans have upon our nation."