THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” MONDAY, MAY 6, 1944. OUR POST-WAR CUSTOMER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 53, Issue 32425, 1 May 1944, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” MONDAY, MAY 6, 1944. OUR POST-WAR CUSTOMER

An indication of the tremendous sacrifice of wealth and assets which Great Britain is making as part of her magnificent contribution to the world struggle has been given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Anderson) in his Budget speech. It is not the British way to make parade of difficulties, and there is no ring of complaint in the speech. The point on which principal emphasis was laid is that taxation revenue has exceeded expectations, in consequence of which it will not be necessary for. the Government to make additional calls on the British taxpayer. “My prescription for the patient,” said Sir John, “is the mixture as before.” ' That is satisfactory as far as it goes, and. a considerable achievement in itself, but onlookers should not forget that “mixture as before” means finding £llB4 million in income tax alone. Britain’s total revenue in the last year exceeded £3OOO million and, even at that, was £2760 million short of her expenditure in the same period.

But this, unfortunately, is only part of the picture. The other part, which the Chancellor displayed plainly, though without fuss, is concerned with Britain’s dwindling assets and mounting external debt. Sir John pointed out that to meet the cost of military operations overseas Brtain had. already parted wth £lOOO million worth of assets, and had incurred exactly twice that amount again in liabilities. “We are not at the end,” he added. “We have parted with £lOOO million worth our Allies. I make no complaint because we are in this war with all we have got.” No complaint —but the facts remain. And after the war has been won these facts must be faced not only by Britain, but by. those countries of the Empire—including this Dominion—-whose economic well-being is linked inseparably with hers. In the past New Zealand has depended almost entirely upon Britain as a customer for primary products, and there is no reliable indication that this position will alter other than temporarily. In the immediate post-war period there may be a wider demand for our foodstuffs, wool and hides for the rehabilitation of Europe, and our products may continue for a time to fetch good prices irrespective of the post-war normal of British . purchasing power. But that will be a passing phase, after which Britain’s prosperity level as a buyer is likely, as in the past, to determine our prosperity level as a seller.

It is essential therefore, in our own interests, to ponder the Chancellor’s warning. When the war is over, he said, Britain will have ceased to be a largescale creditor country. She will no longer be able to rely on financing any material part of her important needs from overseas investment income. He added: It will be indispensable to increase our exports ... It is vital to maintain confidence in the value of sterling. ... I am more concerned to see steady income from exports than the building up of a temporarily improved position from our foreign exchange. In other words, Britain in the future must sell in order to be able to buy. That, of course, has always been the case up to a point, but in future it is going to apply more strictly than ever before.

The trade policy put into effect by the present Government of New Zealand before the War —a policy which shows little sign of abatement (though doubt as to its wisdom is beginning to be displayed by individual members of the Government) is one which runs contra to Britain’s hopes and plans. The diminution of our imports of finished goods from Britain—goods which gave maximum employment to the British masses—became very marked in the years immediately preceding the war.

That trend is what Britain as a world trader must arrest if her economy is to survive the war —and in surviving support our economy. In formulating or adjusting its future trade policy, and domestic industrial policy, it is vital that this country should take Britain’s position into full and very careful consideration. Our co-operation with her in peace is likely to be hardly less vital to mutual economic security than is our wartime cooperation to security against Hitlerism. Though Britain’s export trade with New Zealand will be but a small part of the volume necessary for her economic revival, it will materially help. And, what is very to the point, Britain’s import trade from New Zealand is the main pillar of our own economic structure.