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Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1035, 28 July 1930, Page 11

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PLAN FOR ORGANISATION British Official Wireless RUGBY, Saturday. In the course of a debate in the House of Commons, the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. W. Graham, referred to the position in the Lancashire cotton trade. The Minister said the boycott of cotton goods in India had brought a large part of that trade to a standstill and the conditions in the Far East had aggravated the position. He referred to the more recent report of the Cotton Committee, which recommended that amalgamations and co-operative organisations should he set on a good basis. One of the greatest tragedies of the trade had been the segregation ° l i l ]? different parts of the industry and the necessity of those parts which yv ere relatively strong financially commg to the assistance of other parts which greatly needed help. The question was whether the necessary organisation for these different sections could he made on the basis which the report had suggested without bringing about an element of compulsion. At present the Government was most anxious that the joint committee, representative of the employers a /*d trade unions in the industry, Sh *?v U Proceed as rapidly as possible with its analysis of the report and with the consideration of every step which could be taken to give effect to its recommendations. FUSION URGED The Government preferred that the Lancashire cotton industry should do this voluntarily without legislative interference. Legislation pf that kind however, would be necessary in the e Y. ent the regrettable failure of the effort to promote fusion on the lines of what had been done in other industries in Britain. The “Manchester Guardian” advises the cotton trade to take note of this speech. It says: “We share Mr. Graham s hope that it will not be necessary to invoke any legislation to deal with problems which are generally best solved by those actively engaged in the industry concerned, hut it rests entirely with the industry to prove that it can manage its own affairs without outside assistance.” Various sections of the cotton trade are now discussing the committee’s report.