TRADE RELATIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 May 1939, Page 5

TRADE RELATIONS

NEED OF CLOSE TOUCH WITH BRITAIN ATTITUDE OF THE FINANCE MINISTER. MR HAMILTON'S CRITICISM. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, April 29. "It might be construed from the comments of Mr Nash in announcing his intended lour overseas that he is going abroad with the thought that if Britain does not both agree with his policy and give him the assistance he requires in his acute difficulty then, as an international rather than a British Commonwealth nation thinker. he might turn elsewhere," said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Hamilton, in a statement this morning. "The quicker Mr Nash forsakes that thought the quicker he will fall >n line with the general sentiment of the people of the Dominion. New Zealand has had and still has no greater friend than Britain, and there is no other country to which she is so closely linked in national thought. "Britain has always treated us with the utmost consideration and generosity, and in all our trade relations she has given us good measure, pressed down and running over. Right up to and since the Ottawa Agreement Britain has been the Motherland in more than name, and it is sincerely to be hoped that Mr Nash will not be unmindful of that when he is abroad seeking aid for the difficulties he himself has created. "Perhaps Mr Nash finds it a bitter pill to swallow today to admit his policy has crumbled of its own unbalance, but it would show gross miscalculation of the sentiments of the people if Mr Nash endeavours to bluster his way through his difficulties with threats to British interests that he might turn to foreign interests for support.” Mr Hamilton said he could not make this point too strongly at this time since the Dominion’s financial structure was" endangered. Any injection of foreign capital or commitment could not be other than fraught with dangers and difficulties. We did not want any tinkering with our economic balance with the Motherland, which would inevitably lead to distressing repercussions. .“It-is not sufficient assurance to give lip-service to British interests and in the very next breath talk of the possibilities of internationalism with an emphasis that is not in proper perspective either with our development to date or with our obligations. Mr Nash has shown his inclination toward this emphasis on several occasions, and in his present dilemma it cannot be helpful to the Dominion’s recovery.”