The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in SATURDAY, NOVEMBER l5th., 1924. EMPIRE POLITICS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 November 1924, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in SATURDAY, NOVEMBER lsth., 1924. EMPIRE POLITICS

JMPIiI'.IAI. prncrcucc whs mentioned by •Mr ]5:iI(1 uin in liis speech nL tin: (»(lihllnill. lull tin- rclcrcuco. :us the l.yttellnn •‘Times'’ remarked, ns so very vague I Inti no cxpci t:il ion need lie limit upon it. The ('miscrvatives tried one llirtntioii with tariff reform in .192:1 and the results were disastrous I loin the party joint of view, and it is searielx reasoiialde to suppose that they will .so soon attempt nin.‘thei‘. The Prime .Minister, uo ; doii'il Would lilie the Dominions to leel that they are being nursed ami etieoulaged by the .Mother Colllitty and it is always sale to say niee tilings ahoiit tile Kmpire, hut we are alraid that any real measure of Imperial prelerenee is out of the <|iiestion in these days. The (ittildhall speech, of course, is traditionally (tineeined rather with foreign policy than with I'.n ipi re affairs, and except in the matter of the Singapore proposition there was very little that Mr Baldwin < ould say to interest the ovetsea Dominions directly. If the Conservatives had been successful a year atm there might have heeil a different tale to tell, hut a ureal deal of water has run under the bridges since then and the problems that ate likely to occupy the attention of the flovernment now ate Kuropean or domestic rather than Imperial. However, Mr Baldwin has at least committed himself to the statement that ‘‘large i|itestions like preference and deleave,” affectin'; the Dominions, would have to he leviewed by the present flovernment,* so that perhaps we may yet see the rc-introduc-tion of the very modest proposals formulated last year. British preference dates front 191!), when Mr Chamberlain varied some of the existing duties in favour of the Dominions, tint admittedly the main issue was at the time, avoided. I’.ven in 192.1 the proposals advanced by Sir Philip ftracno, then President of the Board of Trade, wore very limited in their operation, affect ing only dried and preserved fruits, sugar and tobacco. This probably, would ho the extent of any new preference proposed during the lifetime of the present Parliament. for the flovernment certainly Juis no I mandates from the constituencies to enter upon any larger scheme. Preference as we understand it, however, would necessarily have to he far more extensive and could only he* adopted by the Mother Country if the eonstitucnices were emphatically favourable. Mr Brace put the issue with perfect frankness when lie stated it last year. The problem was. lie said, to provide a sure market for foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials from the Dominions, and the argument for it was not merely that preference would help the British growers overseas, but that- it would encourage production and would provide definite employment, in the Dominions for larger bodies of the surplus population of tile Mother Country. Britain already draws the bulk of her wool from British Dominions, but she receives of) per cent of her grain and flour from foreign countries, 71 per cent of her meat. .18 per cent of her butter and 70 per cent of her sugar. The Dominions virtually bold her market for tea and cheese. It is estimated that the Mother Country could divert up to £2d0.000.000 to the Dominions if they were able to supply her needs, but under present conditions the market would be uncertain. Preference would remove the uncertainty, and. although for a space its effect might lie to increase the cost of foodstuffs, the ultimate effect would bo to divert the trade to British countries without affecting the price to the consumer. The colonial student, of course, sees the problem from his own point of view and has no doubt concerning the wisdom of a policy of preference in

the general interest of the Empire, but so far the British elector has shown no disposition to lock lreyoml the possible increase of his cost of living.