CANDID CRITIC

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 423, 3 May 1937, Page 6

CANDID CRITIC

NEW ZEALAND TO-DAY Business Interference Further criticism of New Zealand and Australia has been made by English business men who attended the Congress of the Federation of Cham- I bers of Commerce of the British Empire at Wellington last November. Following the example of Mr J. F. Emlyn Jones, Sir Arthur Aiton, of Derby, told his fellow townsmen recently that the standard of living at present being upheld by both Dominion Governments was “fictitious and fallacious,” because it was a standard “that could not be maintained in Great Britain, where competition from world trade had to be faced.” Sir Arthur is reported by the Derby Evening Telegraph to have said that the people of Australia and New Zealand asserted that because they desired the standard of living that they had established, British people should be taxed so that the Dominions could have a free market in this country. “I say that it is not right that we should tax our people so that others can maintain a standard of living which could not face world competition,” Sir Arthur said.

“Not only do they say this, but they claim also that they should have secondary industries, and that ‘ they should be able to produce goods instead of buying them from Britain. Furthermore, they say, “We shall take the bread out of the mouths of our own people by putting up fictitious industries that cannot stand up for a week unless they are protected by high tariff walls.’ I have come to the conclusion that we must do the same. We must treat our agriculture as a secondary industry. We must support it and back it up, even if it is necessary to put up tariffs against other people coming in.”

About Six Years. Sir Arthur said that the Australians were ahead of the New Zealanders by about five or six years. They were still advanced in their views, but they were not ready to butt their heads against a stone wall, as were the people of New Zealand. He could not understand why New Zealand had an Upper House, for it was not an independent body, and could have little check on the Lower House. It had a Government that was considerably toward the Left, and which had been in office for nearly a year at the time When he visited the country. The Government had a clear majority, and was able to do just what it liked, because the Upper House had no check on it. The second House of England was a little weak, hut in New Zealand there was no check at all. New Zealand was fortunate in one thing. Her new Government took office at a time when the prices of raw materials were rising, and for that reason she would be able to finance her new legislation for a time. But if, as in the past, there came times of bad trade, how was she going to fare? If she did not build up a strong position in times of good trade, she would be faced j with difficulties when trade declined. I The Government was interfering with many things that a Government would hesitate to interfere with hi this country, Which had to meet world competition. New Zealand was not in the same position. Her Government had brought into force an Industrial Efficiency Act which provided that nobody could start a new business without a license. No business could, in fact, be carried on without a license from the Government, and that license might be withdrawn at any time. Sir Arthur did not know where the Act would lead to, but he considered that it was not a good thing for the industries of the country, or for the working people. Immigration Question. A New Zealand Minister had said that his country could sell her goods through London merchants, but that she would declare how they were to be sold. They betrayed a woeful ignorance of commerce, for it was the buyer, not the seller, who said how goods should be sold, for he was in a position, if he chose, to refuse to buy, and was no worse off by it. Referring to New Zealand offering a splendid opening for migration, Sir Arthur said that after spending considerable time on that subject, he was forced to the conclusion that in neither New Zealand nor Australia was there any opening whatsoever. The people of those countries were willing to accept, graciously, immigrants only if they could go with £lOOO per family. Personally, he felt that persons with £lOOO could do as well in Great Britain as in any other country.