Liberals Support Labour

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 922, 15 March 1930, Page 9

Liberals Support Labour

VICTORY ON CENSURE MOTION Noisy Scene in Commons BITTER FEELING ON TARIFF QUESTION MOIS\ demonstrations marked the division on the Conli servative motion of censure on the Labour Government m the House of Commons, and some bitter exchanges were made across the chamber on the question of tariffs. The Liberals voted solidly with the Government and gave the MacDonald Ministry a clear majority of 73 votes.

United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, Friday. Ta moving the Conservative censure motion on the Labour Government in the House of Commons, which gave a victory to the Government by 308 votes to 235, Mr. Stanley Baldwin, leader of the Conservative Party, said he regarded the situation as one of extreme gravity. He hoped the Chan- 1 celior of the Exchequer would make it quite clear whether or not he in tended, at any time, in combating the evils of unemployment, to have recourse either to any single duty or a general duty as a remedy for unemployment. High tariffs, ho thought, were bad, but they would not cure them by pulling down their own barriers. He believed that was the whole tendency of the economic life of Europe, and Britain was left outside it. Referring briefly to the Dominions, Mr. Baldwin said it was his view, and that view' was shared by thoughtful men of all parties in all the Dominions, that unless something could be con* structed in the way of economic cooperation with a view to the economic unity of the Empire, there was a real risk that in time the threads which bound the Empire, which were already gossamer, might break. WAY TO ECONOMIC UNITY With the breaking of those threads would go the hope of the world for peace and progress. He had not been able to see any way in which economic unity could be approached except by utilising duties. Mr. Philip Snowden, Chanceller of the Exchequer, denounced what he described as a deliberate conspiracy by certain interests to discredit the Government. Stories of the closing down of factories had been appearing daily in the Press and the entire increa.se in unemployment had been attributed to the policy of the Government, particularly in regard to his own personal responsibilities in respect of certain industries. If the latter had any influence at all it could only be infinitesimal if only 3 per cent, of the workers were employed in the safeguarded industries. In regard to the complaint that he bad refused to declare the Government’s intentions regarding safeguarding and the McKenna duties, Mr. Snowden said that on the first day the Government met Parliament the Prime Minister, Mr. MacDonald, stated that no further applications for safeguarding w'ould be considered, that the existing duties would expire at the appointed date and that the future policy of the Government would be declared at the right time. QUESTIONS FOR OPPOSITION

were two questions which had been ; put to the protectionists tens of thou- : sands of times and no answer had ! ever been given. The first was if protection would cure unemployment in Britain, why [ had it not done so in highly protected i countries? The second question was, if protec- j tion was a good thing for the workers, J why were wages in those highly pro-1 tected countries only half the wages I in Britain? When the Conservatives had answered i those questions, Mr. Snowden said, lie would continue to discuss the subject, but not till then. The main purpose of the motion was to condemn him because of his reticence about those duties. He would make no statement beyond what he had already said. Sir Herbert Samuel said the Liberal Party unhesitatingly supported the Government in resisting the motion. It was somewhat surprising that the Opposition front bench should have introduced a motion inviting the Chancellor of the Exchequer to take the almost unprecedented course of declaring in advance what duties he intended to propose. It was true that uncertainty was affecting business, but it was the natural sequel to the bringing of this question of tariffs on to the floor of the House of Commons. The Liberals were free traders because they were convinced that policy was the best for the country in the present circumstances Sf the world. SNOWDEN NOT BELIEVED Mr. Winston Churchill, ex-Chan-cellor of the Exchequer, said this censure motion was specially focussed upon Mr. Snowden, who had said he was the victim of an organised conspiracy and that there was a deliberate policy on the part of certain interests to create unemployment in order to discredit the Government. But did anyone believe it? There was nothing more common than this persecution delusion, said Mr. Churchill, but these were early days for the Chancellor to show signs of the mania. If he was in that condition three weeks before the Budget, what would he be reduced to by the eud of July. Mr. Suowden ought to he fair to the protected trades instead of talking mockingly about Jews’ harps and popguns. Mr. Wedgwood Benn, Secretary of State for India, summed up for the Government and the division was then | taken amid noisy demonstrations, j The High Commissioners for New Zealand and South Africa, Mr. T. M. ' Wilford and Mr. C. T. te Water, and the ex-Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. j S. M. Bruce, were among the inter- | ested listeners to the debate.

As regarded the demand made in the motion for an extension of safeguarding, Mr. Snowden said there