HIGH EXPORTS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 125, 24 November 1930, Page 9

HIGH EXPORTS

AND GOOD STANDARDS

LABOUR'S ELECTION PROMISES

During the course of his speech in the House of Commons last July, when he replied to the censure motion of Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Snowden pointed out. that . the condition of the United States was much worse than that of Britain. It 1 was well known, he, said, that the sumtier of unemployed in America was twice and probably three times that of the Unemployed in Britain. Three, days before he had received a letter from the Notary Public of Los Angeles. In that city the .population was-about 1,200,000, and a third of the population was out of work, and business was practically at a standstill. Referring to safeguarding, reports the "Manchester Guardian," Mr.- Snowden said he had never denied the psychological effect of taxation on trade, but Mr. Baldwin and his Government must bear the main responsibility for increased taxation becoming inevitable. "The Protectionists are moved by their hearts, not by their heads," he remarked. Dealing with that part of the resolution referring'to the Government's policy !for the Imperial Conference, Mr. Snowden said that the Labour Party ■had been criticised for not carrying out its election pledges. The. Labour Party had stated that it was opposed to taxation and protective duties such as were included in the principle of safeguarding. "Does Mr. Baldwin expect us to abandon our election promises I will give him our answer. We shall do no such thing. (Labour cheers.) We shall be no party to the imposition of ±ood taxes or taxes»on raw materials. ALL CLEAR. They would enter the Imperial Conference barring no question from discussion, but it would, be made clear that they would approve of no final conclusion which would involve this country in a food taxation policy or a general Protectionist policy. Outside that there were plenty of questions of great importance such as bulk purchase Snd import "boards. (Ministerial cheers.) Referring to an amendment down m 'the name of a number of Ministerialists which said that neither Free Trade nor Protection -was a remedy for the restoration of industry, Mr. Snowden asked ■what was meant-by that. If Free Trade meant no regulation, no control, and no organisation in industry, then he was not a Freetrader, and he doubted if anyone was. He believed with the late John Morley that free competition was not a principle to which the regulation of industry could be safely entrusted. But it was not in that wide sense they were now discussing Free Trade. They were discussing it in the , sense of tariffs and whether they would, as suggested in the vote of censure, restore prosperity to "British industry. This country had built up, its enormous foreign trade and its industrial pro-eminence by a policy of Free Trade in the sense he had denned it. The export trade of their little country per "'head of the population was double that ib'f the three principal commercial counStjies of the world. During the last years they ,had an average of •?£ 700,000, 000 worth of exports from this country, and this was done on higher wages and better labour conditions than those of any of the protected ..countries on the Continent, and they had in addition social services costing something like £200,000,000 a year. SAFEGUARDING. The vote of censure said that the ■honife market could best be safeguarded '•by Protection. There seemed to be an impression that Britain had not got the home market now. According to the census of production, she had 90 per cent, of the home market for home production in engineering. In the matter of cotton there was a miserable im- ' port of about £10,000,000 a year of cotton goods largely of specialities which Britain had not thought of manufacturing. Of her production £40,000,000 worth was retained for the home consumer and £135,000.000 of cotton goods was sent abroad. Last year half the wool textile porduets were setn abroad, jwhile the total imports were about £13,P. 00,000. Therefore they not only kept . the vast part of the home market, but" supplied foreign markets with an aver- ' fige of £700,000,000 worth a year. The United States exported manufactures last year to the value of £562,----■jo'tiOjOOO. Britain exported manufactured 'articles to the value of £583,000,000 more than twice as much per head of the population as the U.S.A. The United States had the- highest protective tariff in the world. Had the tariff secured the home market for the United StatesJ Last year the United States imported more manufactured articles than was "brought into Britain. If imports threw British workmen out of employment what happened to the United States last year? They imported £373,000,000 of foreign manufactures. Sir F. Hall (C., Dulwieh): "With twice our population." Mr. Snowden: "We export twice as many goods of the manufactured class as we import, and therefore if there were anything depriving workmen at home of their employment we were taking work from two foreigners for every British workman who was displaced." (Ministerial cheers.) "If exports mean dumping, then we are the greatest dumpers in tho world." (Ministerial cheers.) "NO DEFENCE." If, as was claimed, Protection would secure the home market and prevent unernp'loyment, and if it had done it elsewnWc there could be no defence for the present fiscal policy of the country. But all the facts were against this. The two newest countries in the world, the United States and Australia, were suffering more to-day from trade depression and unemployment than any other country, and both of them were most highly protected countries. A Conservative member: "What about Trance?" Mr. Snowden: "There was the broad indisputable fact that they could aot

point to any marked effect which the Safeguarding duties had had in improving the conditions of trade. (Laughter, and Conservative member: '.Rubbish.') They had it on the authority of the employers themselves that in one section of the lace trade tho effect of the duties had been to send 25 per cent, of the manufacturers into liquidation, and to reduce the mftnber of machines 25 per cent." •