Wairarapa Times-Age MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 1941. WAR AND AFTER-WAR ECONOMY.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 1941. WAR AND AFTER-WAR ECONOMY.

TX mi ;i(!(li'ess ;it Dunedin the other d;iy. Sir llnrry lint leibee, Hiyh Comniissioiier for the United Rinjiylom, spoke of trade ■ relations between this eonntry and Britain liotli in existing war conditions and in the conditions that will arise when the war is over, Al a broad view there mnst be full sympathy with Sir llarri' Batterbee's plea that this country should not seek to import from foreign countries goods Britain is unable at present to supply. Since the amount of toreign exchange available to the whole Empire is definitely limited, the effect of importing foreign goods which might be done without evidently would be to nullify in a corresponding degree the sacritices that are being made by all sections of the population of 1 he Mother ('oiintry. Even were that not so. a wise regard lor our own present and future economic position would dictate that we should restrict imports from foreign countries strictly to necessities. Whether we are in fact doing everything that is possible to limit imports from foreign countries may be doubled, hut wo certainly should aim while the war continues at reducing lln'so imports to a minimum. The effect of this policy is not only to interlock with the strict measures of war economy that are in force in the Visited Kingdom, Iml to increase Io a maximum the proportion of our war costs which we are able to mt'el out of current production. tn |l>e extent to which Wt' establish surplus sterling credits in London and apply them to meeting war costs, we shall limit the amount of war debt- —it will be in any case a serious burden—which will remain outstanding when the war is over. A more difficult uuestion x\;i:s touched upon, very brielly, by Sir Harry Batterbee, when he said:— There is no need for me to assure you that established trade connections with New Zealand are greatly valued and that as soon as the war is over we hope to see these connections developed and extended. . . . Everyone of course will agree that mutually advantageous trade bet ween this country and (treat Britain should be developed on l lie greatest possible scale. It is well understood also, however, that developments are in train both in the Mother Country and in the overseas Empire wliitdi are bound to influence and modify very considerably Ihe course of interImperial trade. As to the lines on which trade is likely to be conducted in and beyond the Umpire after the war some sharply divided ojiinions have been expressed. For instance, in an address at Auckland some time ago. Professor H. Belshaw said that the Dominion should siqiport an imperial policy directed towards lowering trade barriers, not only within the Empire but also with non-Empire countries. Professor Belshaw added : — Except in the immediate post-war period, when import control may be necessary. New Zealand should move towards the abolition of import control by giving something more than lip-service to the ideal of international economic co-operation. A decidedly different view was expressed by an oversea writer who observed in a recent article that one direct result of Hie war will be the development of Dominion secondary industries on the one hand and a revival of British agriculture on the other. In a recent speech in London, Mr R. G. Menzies (then Australian Prime Minister) was quite frank about Australia’s attitude. .He made it plain that Australia did not intend to regard her new industries as merely war time measures. Much the same view can be expected from the British farmer. The double transition promises to be one of the major Empire post-war problems.

A good’inany people agree with Professor Belshaw in demanding Hie lowering of 1 rade barriers, but the only real barriers to trade in this country are those tvhicli diseriminale in favour of Britain and other Empire countries against foreign countries. Over an extended period of years our national practice has been Io buy all Hie imports we are able to pay for. Even under Hie policy-of control our imports have remained at a very high level. Our war time excess of exports —Hie figure for tin* twelve months ended on -Inly 31 last was Cl!),471,000 in New Zealand currency—cannot be regarded as excessive for a country which is adding a substantial war debt io external obligations that were already heavy. Dike Australia, New Zealand, in facing its post-war problems, is bound Io rely to a material extent upon an enterprising development of secondary industry, which will permit and ensure an expansion of population in the right conditions.