THE 1923 EXHIBITION

Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1920, Page 4

THE 1923 EXHIBITION

GREAT POSSIBILITIES FOR EMPIRE TRADE 1 .

LONDON, November 4

The question of British trade arose afresh on the second leading of the I British' Empire Exhibition (Guarantee Bill, under which the Government guarantees £IOO,OOO if. a guarantee of £500,000 is forthcoming from other sources, in connexion with a trade exhibition to be held in 1923. Such a display, it seems, was in the mind of Lord Strathcona, and thus it may. he credited with a pre-w.y (origin.. Mr Kell a way (Secretary, the. Overseas Trade Department) spoke earnestly in favour of the grant, which ho said would l>e in the best.interests of British trade. He informed the House, that at a conference held in 1919, attended ! by Ministers of the Crown, and representatives of the great Dominions, it was decided. that the proposal should ■he pushed ahead, not only with the objects originally conceived, but as a memorial of the great part played by the Empire during the war. It was a form of Imperial preference which raised no controversy. Before ■ the " ar there was a steady diminution in the amount of our trade with other parts of the Empire, hut since the armistice there had been a steady improvement. The Exhibition would enable much more more to be done without raising any acute fiscal controversy. There was some opposition, hut the Bill was read by 205 votes to 30. For instance, Sir F. Banbury, on the plea for economy, overlooked' the fact that the Government only guarantee the £IOO,OOO, and do not propose to spend it. He did not think this was the proper time to spend £IOO,OOO upon any object, however good it might he. (Hear, hear.) The Government never seined' to realise that they must cut their coat according to their cloth, an

that, however good- the object might he, at the present moment they could not afford to spend money on it. Although nearly every Chamber of Commerce in the country, nearly all the newspapers, and many associations, both Liberal and Conservative, had urged economy on the Government, it had no effect of any kind whatever. What the Government really must do, unless they wished to see financial chaos in the country was at once to begin cutting down expenditure. Lieutenant-Commander Kenworthy did not think the country could afford to stipend £IOO,OOO, and, in his view, if there were to be an exhibition at all, it should be international in character, and at least should include those who were our Allies in the late war. He

asked whether the mandated) territories were to 'he invited to send pro-

ducts. Mr Clynes expressed the opinion that at this moment any such ambitious scheme as an international, or even something less than a world-wide, exhibition could not possibly succeed. The Bill dealt only with a British Empire exhibition, and they ought to consider it on its merits, and not adopt the line of refusing to have anything because they could not get everything. (Hear, hear.) This; proposal offered; Parliament a little opportunity to do a great amount of good to internal Empire trade. It. was a step which would result in diminishing unemployment and ought •to have the support of every Labour member of the House.

Mr Kiley (AVhiteclinpel) understood that the Dominions were not putting up a single penny, and why should the Mother Country put up money to push the trade of the Dominions? Major E. Hayward (Seaham) said that in the past

we had done far too little to encourage inter-imperial trade (Ministerial, cheers) and he welcomed the Bill as a step in the right direction. Mr Kellaway said that, underlying all the criticisms of the Bill seemed to be the idea that all expenditure in connexion with an advertising exhibition was bad. Anyone who proceeded on that assumption in business was likely to end in the Bankruptcy Court. Common sense would agree that the scheme was in the best interests of Blritish trade, and was one of the practical ways by which they might broaden the foundations of the employment available for a great body of our children. The exhibition was intended to convey to different parts of the Empire and to the people at Home lw»w great were our resources and our possibilities. It was a form of Imperial Preference which raised no controversy. The possibilities for British trade done with our oversea Empire was limited but there had been an improvement since the Armistice The possibilities of Empire trade were enormous. The exhibition would enable much more to be done in increasing that trade. The Committee of Management was very representative and strong, and the Guarantee Committee, which was going to secure the guarantee of £500,000 from private sources, contained some of the bestknown men in the City. Under the Bill, the Government proposed to guarantee the sum of £IOO,OOO, subject to private guarantees amounting to £500,000 being forthcoming. As a condition of tiio guarantee, the Board of Trade

was to approve the manager of the exhibition, the executive committee, and the general conditions under which tho exhibition would be run, so that the Government would he in a position to secure that the exhibition was conducted with propqr regard to economy and on lines which would ensure a success worthy of the great object in view.