BRITISH GOODS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 March 1941, Page 7

BRITISH GOODS

SMALLER IMPORTATION URGED BY HIGH COMMISSIONER. PRODUCTION OF ESSENTIAL THINGS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. Normally it would be the duty of the United Kingdom representative in New Zealand to urge the greater importation and consumption of United Kingdom goods, but today the circumstances were exceptional and he was going to plead not for the larger importation but the smaller importation of British goods, said the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom. Sir Harry Batterbee, at the annual dinner of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last night. When he asked that people should do without goods normally obtained from Britain, he meant that they should do without them altogether. Nothing would be gained if they were to import such goods from other countries —unless they are of a character essential to the war effort. "The lime has come." he said, “when productive resources throughout the Empire should be concentrated on producing only absolutely essential things, when civilian consumption of all kinds should be reduced to a minimum and the money saved contributed to the war, so that the whole of the available manpower, financial power and factory power throughout the Empire may be devoted to the common war effort.”

War Concentration. A recent Press cable stated that 3009 factories in Great Britain were closing within a month with a view to concentrating all industry on war work. That meant that it had been found necessary to modify and make more selective the United Kingdom export drive. It had been necessary to divert that drive to the export of essential goods and to export for the time being to non-sterling countries rather than sterling countries. That did not mean, of course, that the United Kingdom was not anxious that her export trade should be kept going so far as practicable in war circumstances, but it did mean that it was the desire of the United Kingdom Government that it be strictly subordinated to the war effort. Importance of Economising. It was impossible to over-emphasise the importance of economising in petrol. both from the point of view of saving dollars and from that of defence. Petrol was absolutely essential to modern war. “We all of us hope,” said Sir Harry, “that trouble may not come tn the Pacific, but if it does come I am giving away no secret when I say that every gallon of petrol now in the country will be required, not once, but two or three times over. There can be no doubt that one of the first acts of an enemy would be to raid our petrol supplies. “Therefore, from the defence aspect, quite apart from the economy aspect, everyone who wastes a gallon of petrol or who encourages such waste is acting in a manner inimical to the interests not only of New Zealand but of the whole Empire and of the Empire’s war effort.”