REDUCTION IN TARIFFS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 183, 6 July 1937, Page 7

REDUCTION IN TARIFFS

HASTINGS SUGGESTION. AN AID TOTXDUSTRY. Per Press Association. • HASTINGS, July 6. “The Prime Minister has emphatic-ally-stated that where an industry has been unduly affected by legislation to an extent that it could not be carried on, then steps to protect that industry will be taken. 1 want to say that of the great many industries that we have investigated we have found that in almost every instance the factories are working full capacity and cannot keep peace with the orders.” So said Hon. D. G. Sullivan (Minister of Industries and Commerce) when replying to a deputation from the Hastings Chamber of Commerce regarding the competition that New Zealand woollen manufacturers are being called upon to meet from Australia. Mr H. W. C. Baird, president of the Chamber, said that one important question was whether our manufacturers to-dav were putting their houses in order as regards efficiency. He considered that a tariff reduction up to lo per cent, spread over three vears would not only help the manufacturers to increase their efficiency, hut would help trade with Britain. The Minister expressed sympathy with the proposal and said that what had to be done was to get down costs without reducing wages, because by reducing wages there would be a reduction of the purchasing power.