WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1932, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE OTTAWA CONFERENCE.

ITS FRUITS.

(From a Correfeponuent).

WELLINGTON, August 24

While both the Wellington daily papers pay appropriate compliments to the promoters of the Ottawa Conference, and to the delegates who brought it to fruition, they do not suggest that the whole of the purposes of the Conference fiavfe yet been ' accomplished or' that the whole credit for what has been achieved rests with the delegates. “While the preienerices granted to'the New Zealand producer will advantage him in competition with foreign suppliers of the British market,” the '“Dominion” says this morning, “he owes a bigger debt to the British consumer. Preferences could not have saved prices frojn utter collapse during the increasing weight of production had the consumer not played a big part. The British consumer has -been our true economic salvation.” Truly it may he said that more important than tariffs and quotas iis the goodwill of the Mother Country and her people.

WAITING INFORMATION

“The “Post” is even less satisfied than is the morning paper with the information supplied from Ottawa. “At present,” it says, -“we have not even a roughly approximate idea, of the extent to which our Government is committed, or provisionally committed. But it iseems perfectly clear that the comfortable theory under which the Dominions expected to get substantial preferences for their produce from Great Britain without offering anything more in return than the kind of preferences they have previously been giving to British goods, but on a slightly increased scale, has not survived the Ottawa Conference. There is isuch a thing as a prohibitory preference, as New Zealand discovered to her cost when Canada gave her butter a preference over the foreign article Hit at the same time excluded Tooth.” The Prime Minister in reviewing the situation, very properly observed that a, broad Empire view must be taken of the situation.

LABOUR’S VIEW

Mr H. E. Holland’s view of the situation as it is reported in the morning paper is remarkable for a reproach directed towards the Governor-General, “Whatever demands Britain on her side is making for the freer admission of her factory products in this country,” His Excellency is credited with saying, “it is to be hoped that when known they will be considered sympathetically by the loyal inhabitants of the Dominion and endofjsed-by their Parliamentary . representatives-’.’ Out; of this sane and patriotic observation, which would be endorsed by at least nine-tenths of the people of the Dominion, Mr Holland constructed an impeachment of the representative of royalty which implied disregard for the rights and privileges of the public, the liberty of independent thinking and the application of justice and freedom. Apparently the leaded of the Party would have the King’s representatives but a soulless nonentity.

THE WHEAT PROBLEM

While waiting for further information oncoming the tangible results of tlie Ottawa Conference tht| Prime Minister well might give further attention to the wheat problem which must have been the subject of some, conversation between Mr Bruce and Mr Coates during their sojourn abroad together. The Hon. C. E. Macmillan who succeeded to the portfolio of Agriculture on the defeat of the Hon David Jones at the general election, stated only yesterday to a representative of the “Waikato Times” that he was “in favour of taking off the wheat duties,” and hiS “favour” surely cannot be disregarded by his colleagues, none of whom can speak with the same piactical knowledge of this subject as he does. There is good reason in these times why special assistance should be given to overburdened farmers, but there is no remaining excuse for subsidising wheat growers on the s c ale they enjoy at the present time.