TARIFF TRUCE DEBATE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 914, 6 March 1930, Page 11

TARIFF TRUCE DEBATE

DANGER TO BRITAIN STRESSED MR. GRAHAM’S EXPLANATION British Official Wireless RUGBY, Tuesday. In the House of Commons Sir Philip Cunliffe-Llster (Conservative), a farmer President of the Board ol Trade, initiated a debate on the subject of the Tariff Truce Conference. If the convention went through, he said, every single one of Britain’s competitors could, for the w'hole period of the convention, maintain its duties exactly where they were today, and use the exceptions to raise them in certain circumstances, while this country would be absolutely bound not to put on a duty in any circumstances. Mr. \V. Graham, President of the Board of Trade, in reply said a large part of the attack on the truce had been due to a mistaken notion that it was proposed to stabilise tariffs for a period of two or three years at their present level. The idea was that there should be an effort to arrest the upward movement of tariffs, and then have a systematic investigation of the proposals that could be made for theii reduction. The Minister dealt at some length with the proposed draft convention, and admitted that it was not easy to define fiscal duties, and that the exceptions were also presenting diffi culties. He could say but little morewhile the conference was still sitting. Mr. Graham said he did not dispute that the Dominions had indicated that they could not be parties to the discussion, but he did not believe that the idea of the British Empire as a self-contained economic unit was a practical proposition.

The discussions at Geneva did not preclude co-operation within the Empire, provided it was based on mutual efforts to get rid of restrictions, and not to increase them.