GRAVE DANGER

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1933, Page 8

GRAVE DANGER

JAPANESE COMPETITION A report on “the menace of Japanese competition,” issued by the Federation of British.lndustries, contains the following:—“lt seems impossible to doubt that the difference in wages, labour conditions and standard of living makes it impossible for the East and Vest to compete on equal terms in articles in whose costs wages form a substantial part . , . .It should he •fully appreciated by all concerned that, •while tlie balance of trade with any Eastern country may rest with the British Empire, in fact the 'balance of employment is against the British Empire. Vt is almost impossible to. translate currency figures into hours of ©mj'plbyment, but it must be obvious that [ where export and import values of goods balance, a country with the lowest conditions of employment has tlie greatest share in employment hours. The problems of equivalating by tariffs or other means the lower standard of employment in the ..East with the higher standards of the West, in respect both to foreign and Empire territories. is one of grave import t,o United Kingdom manufacturers. In plain Words, unless rice is made equivalent to beef, the beef standard will cease to exist so far as many industries are concerned. At the momnt, while it is true that the .Eastern countries taken as a whole have not advanced very far along the road to industrialisation, many of them. including even sane under tlie British flag, are contemplatiiig plans for manufacturing for export. The leader in this movement is Japan, and, unless .something can be done to control her activities, her example is likely to be. followed by others, with disastrous consequences to the sale of British manufactured goods all over the world.”