PROFSTEERING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 299, 12 August 1932, Page 5

PROFSTEERING

(Press A ssn. —

AUSTRALIAN ALLEGES BRITISH PUBLIC EXPLOITED

•By Teleg'-aph — Copyright)

OTTAWA, Thursday. Mr. E. J. Hogan, former Premier of Victoria, interviewed, said his investigations in London had convinced him that profiteering was one of the principal causes of the British people's present inability to buy Australian goods. Illustrating this contention, he pointed out that British distributors and traders are malting larger profits now than ever. The cost of living in Britain was 43 per cent. higher than before the war, altliough the wholesale prices of commodities in Britain were 7 per cent. lower than before the war, showing a margin of 50 per cent. Australian producers were selling wheat 33 per cent. lower, butter 8.7 per cent lower, mutton 23 per cent lower, lamb 11 per cent lower, apples" 52 per cent lower, wool 12.42 per cent lower than in July, 1914; hut the consumers were not getting the benefit of this fall in prices. In the seven years from 1922 to,, 1929 Australian imports from and interest payments to Britain were £3,000,000,000 more than Australia reeeived from her exports to Britain. Mr. Hogan add'ed that the British bondholders had made no sacrifice to help Australia. A reduction of interest charges payable to Britain -was . necessary to Australia, and also a drastic reduction in distributors' and retailers' profits. These were economic necessities to both Britain and Australia, in order to increase the consumption and make trade flourish again, replacing the present condition of economic stagnation which the Ottawa Conference is striving to relieve.