FOOD DUTIES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8350, 10 February 1913, Page 8

FOOD DUTIES

UNIONIST POLICY PREFERENTIAL SYSTEM IF POSSIBLE WITHOUT FOOD TAXES. By Oteleeraph—Press Association— Oopyrleh* (Received February 9. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, February 9. The leader of the Opposition, Mr Bonar Law, at a Unionist dinner, said that the moment the Unionists were entrusted with power they would be able, without food duties, to give the Dominions precisely what they asked for m the Imperial conferences, namely, preference on existing duties. If it was found impossible, said Mr Law, to have a preferential' system which would keep in consolidating the Empire without food duties, then they would endeavour to carry the_ latter, but only after submitting the issue to the people and convincing them that the duties would be an advantage both to the Empire and to the United Kingdom. In his Albert Hall speech, in November last, Mr Bonar Law said :—■ • At this moment throughout the whole world there is not a single Government and—what is stranger—there is not a single Opposition which proposes to rethru to the’i(Preetrade) system which is still good enough for the United Kingdom. They have all abandoned it, and it is the working classes who are responsible for its abandonment, because they have realised the obvious truth that you cannot raise the standard of living, that you cannot protect labour, without also protecting the products of labour. Now, there is one other general observation I should like to make. I am, and I have been for many years, a Tariff Reformer. But lam a Conservative, not only as a party name, but conservative by nature and by instinct. And I can assure you of this—that any change for which we are responsible will not be a revolutionary change, and will cause the smallest possible dislocation of the ordinarx business arrangements compatible with making this hecessaiy change. As Lord Lanaaowne has pointed out, our object is to give to our own people a preference in the oversea markets of the British Empire. This is as necessary for them from a pure trade point of; view as security bn the Home market. Its value is admitted. At the Colonial Conference the present Prime Minister and the present Chancellor of the Exchequer both said that this preference was of enormous value to the trade of this country. Well, if it is of any value, enormous or not, is it not worth keeping? And was not the next step, the inevitable step, to find out what the value was, to consider what the advantage of it was, and to weigh afeainst that any possible disadvantage? They never dreamt of doing that. Why? Because they realised,, and they were right, that the dear loaf was a good party . oiy. : They seized.: it. It. has served them well, • , Ae Lord Lansdowne has told you, we shall not treat any revenue derived from so-called food taxes, whatever they are, which may be imposed for • preference, as ordinary revenue, Yfe shall use it to diminish the burdens which in other ways are falling upon the poorer classes of this country. It will not be an addition to taxation; it will be a readjustment of taxation. And owing to this . revenue, and owing to the expansion which I am certain will come with this change of system, I say that instead of adding to the cost of living the adjustment which we shall make will make the burden smaller and not larger that falls upon the working classes."