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DOMINION’S TASK

Problem of Debt Charges MARKET FOR PRODUCE Speech by Mr. David Jones Soiye of New Zealand’s problems, and just how much English problems were affected by them, were discussed by Mr, David Jones, the chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, in the course of his address at a luncheon of the Royal Empire Society held at the Cannon street Hotel, London. Mr. Jones mentioned that the Royal Empire Society formed a valuable medium by which British and overseas representatives might meet and discuss their common problems. Colonel Sir A. Weston Jarvis, former chairman of council of the society, presided. In common with every agricultural country in the world, said Mr. Jones, New Zealand had been passing through a difficult period—almost all her exports were products of the soil —and these had felt most acutely the heavy reduction in values. New Zealand had borrowed heavily in its development as a new country on the British market when commodity values were high, and now had to pay interest and principal when its produce returns were greatly reduced. Both the British Government and the Governments of the Dominions had made more or less compulsory reductions in their internal interest rates, but the money borrowed by New Zealand from British bondholders for fixed loans still remained. New Zealand was now paying interest on 72} million pounds sterling at 5 per cent, to 6 per cent.—-a severe handicap to a country with a population of only a million and a half. The market value of this money to-day was 3 per cent., and when in addition butter was sold in England at from Sd. to 9d. per lb., which cost at least 1/- per lb. to produce, bow serious this problem was could be appreciated. “In the early days of New Zealand’s development Britain had two very serious and pressing problems—firstly, to find countries that would absorb her surplus population, and then to find markets that would purchase her everincreased output of manufactured goods. To the utmost limit we assisted you with both,” said Mr. Jones. Helping to Solve Problems. New Zealand borrowed from England some £180,000,000, and this was all taken out to New Zealand in goods manufactured in Britain. This enabled New Zealand to develop its resourced rapidly and to furnish the British market, mainly by the aid of refrigeration, with the cheap food that was so essential to British workers when Britain was the main workshop of the world. New Zealand was thus useful in helping Britain to solve some of her problems, Mr. Jones continued. Ono of Britain’s chief interests was shipping. New Zealand contracted for : the whole of the freight of its meat, ■ dairy produce and fruit, totalling about £4,000,000 per annum, and with ■ wool and other outward cargo added 1 to the freight on inward cargo its total : freights amounted to oyer £7,000,000 a 1 year. This contract had always been let to British shipping lines. This again assisted with one of England’s most serious problems of to-day—the unemployment in shipbuilding. The world depression had caused serious problems for the Empire. Many great countries who were Englund's best customers had now virtually put up a notice, “One way traffic only.” Finance and exchange difficulties had made it extremely difficult to trade with them. Fortunately Britain had the capacity to pay, and in many cases was virtually the only purchaser of agricultural products in the world. This and her open door policy had made her the World’s dumping ground. At one time New Zealand looked upon the British market as being always open, and her problem to-day was that through the development of a new country, with its consequent heavy liabilities, it was difficult to frame a policy for the future. 'Die Question At Ottawa. The joint problem was what propor-; tion of the trade were the Dominions entitled to and what trade could the Dominions give to Great Britain, said Mr Jones. The reduction in foreign trade arid the increasing importance Of the Dominion trade made the Ottawa Conference possible, and Britain and her Dominions met to frame a policy having for its objective an everincreasing vffiuine and flow of trade within the Empire. In the agreements made the definite understanding was reached that an expanding share of the trade was to be kept definitely within the Empire so that with the population, trade and wealth its countries should become increasingly powerful and more essential to one another. One of the major mutual problems was the question of defence. It wasstill true that an army marched on its stomach, and food was just as important as battleships, also planes and munitions. Therefore, in any system of defence the importance of the origin of such supplies must be recognised. In the Great War, Britain asked the Dominions'to sell to her at moderate prices their produce for the period of the war. New Zealand, among others, agreed to do so at a price that bore no relation to world values at the time. When quotas and restrictions were being discussed to-day, surely the above facts should throw the balance heavily on the Dominion side of the scales, particularly when its produce costs you no more? A policy of sound defence was materially strengthened if it succeeded in building up the Empire’s population in sparsely-populated countries and increasing their production and wealth. For these reasons, surely the best system of national defence was to cultivate Empire interests and Empire trade. Empire Conscience. Au awakened Empire conscience that apart from tariffs and legislation would secure an increased demand and consumption Of Empire goods in Britain and every part of tho Empire was needed to-day. That spirit existed in a striking degree in New Zealand. “Our tariff is now, I believe, the lowest in the world against Britain, while that of our chief foreign competitor in meat is One of the highest,” Mr. Jones stated. England had its problem of British agriculture, and the claim made at Ottawa was that British agriculture had the right to first place in its own market, that the Dominions had the right to the second place, and the foreigner the third. With this policy the Dominions agreed, but the Dominions

were far from being placed in this position in connection with meat. Of all meat, including bacon, imported into Britain during the year 1983, 70 per cent, was foreign and only 30 per cent, from Empire countries. So that in meat the foreign imports come a very good second and the Dominions a very bad third.

In the Argentine agreement which was made after the Ottawa agreement, it was provided if the chilled beef from the Argentine was to be reduced below 90 per cent., then the Dominions must reduce not only their beef, but their mutton and lamb to an equal percentage, although New Zealand had now considerably less than one-third of the total importations of all meat. The foreigner to-day was largely going back to tho days of the walled cities, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to do business with him or even to get payment for the business that was done.

This proved the importance of establishing and extending Empire trade, and it was not too mjieh to ask that, if New Zealand did half of the trade with Britain, it should have at least an equal basis in connection with meat supplies.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19350123.2.111

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 101, 23 January 1935, Page 11

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,233

DOMINION’S TASK Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 101, 23 January 1935, Page 11

DOMINION’S TASK Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 101, 23 January 1935, Page 11

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