NOT RELATED

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 72, 27 March 1933, Page 8

NOT RELATED

EXCHANGE AND QUOTAS

MR. COATES'S STATEMENT

A denial that the endeavour of the British Government to restrict the quantity of New Zealand butter imported into Britain was a form of reprisal for the Dominion Government's action in forcing up the exchange rato on London was made by tho Minister of Finance (the Kt. Hon. J. G. Coates) in a letter addressed to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

"I must take exception to your statement that this alleged resentment in England against the New Zealand exchange adjustment is apparently evidenced also by the overtures from the British Government in connection with butter imports into Britain," said Mr. Coates. "There is no evidence whatever to support this suggestion, and, if I may say so, it is unworthy of a responsible chamber of commerce. One expects partisan and even baseless statements to be made .in the heat of controversy, and this particular allegation has been advanced before. " For the purpose of settling any rcasonabls doubts that might have been entertained on the matter,' the Government cabled to the High Commissioner an inquiry as to whether, in his opinion, or in the. opinion expressed in any quarter, there were grounds for the suggestion that tho proposed restriction of butter imports into the United Kingdom had been influenced by the recent adjustment in the London-New Zealand exchange rate.

The High Commissioner's reply was as follows: 'I am confident the increase in the rate of exchange has nothing whatever to do with the suggested restriction. J' I trust that this definite statement will suffice to show you that the suggestion in your letter, to which I have taken'exception, is without foundation. ...

"I am in complete agreement with your chamber in recognising the desirability of removing obstacles to trade and of reducing uncertainty to a minimum. The Government is losing no time in putting in hand a review of the protective tariff in accordance with our undertaking at Ottawa, and wo are already in communication with the •British Government in this matter. It is because I recognise tho need for removing uncertainty that I have' felt obliged to take exception to the continued reiteration of misleading statements in regard to the exchange rate — statements that can only have the effect of unsettling the public mind and disturbing trade.".