DELAY CRITICISED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1938, Page 7

DELAY CRITICISED

NEW ZEALAND EXCHANGE CONTROL LONDON CITY OPINION. SOME FEARS FOR TRADE OUTLOOK. (Independent Cable’Service.) LONDON, December 7. City opinion, specially among the banks, regarding the New Zealand Government’s trade and currency regulations, is that New Zealand is now taking the right measures, but that they would have been better taken months ago. There is no fear that New Zealand will fall into default or be unable to put her house in order, but there are fears for the trade outlook betweenBritain and New Zealand. British exporters want to know more clearly what New Zealand intends regarding luxury imports, such as motors, whisky, fancy leather goods, and domestic comforts. These circles are puzzled by what has been announced here, because it does not make clear what will happen to the orders of New Zealand importers for periodical delivery of goods running into next year. Traders in Britain fear that they may be the victims, specially those concerned in luxury exports. TOTALITARIAN METHODS. “The Times” (Conservative), in a leading article today, says that New Zealand has become the first British country to abandon the traditional British system of open markets and to experiment with regulated or selective trade methods characteristic of the totalitarian countries. “because of the trend of trade, these measures have not surprised either London or Wellington, though it is regretted that the Government’s policy of lavish expenditure should have produced so quickly its inevitable effect in financial and currency embarrassments, whatever the motives inspiring the Government were. “No one can regard the new development without grave uneasiness who has seen how such restrictions, once introduced, tend to increase in their severity and complexity. It is more to be regretted because it is a move away from the policy of the AngloAmerican agreement, which aims at extending the volume and area of open marketing.”

HIGHER EXCHANGE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIST’S SUGGESTION. REDUCTION OF REAL COSTS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. SYDNEY, December 8. Official advice of the New Zealand Government’s Orders in Council dealing with the licensing of exports and imports was received by the New Zealand Trade Commissioner in Sydney today. Professor Hytten, economic adviser to the Bank of New South Wales, commenting on the situation in New Zealand, declared' that the most obvious way of carrying on would have been simply to have allowed the exchange rate to go to a higher figure.

This would have reduced real costs, as opposed to money costs in industry and would have saved a good deal of expenditure which the Government was now going to face in connection with the guaranteed price of butter.