PRICKLY PREFERENCE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 489, 5 November 1948, Page 19

PRICKLY PREFERENCE

BRITAIN’S COLONIES in WORLD TRADE. By F. V. Meyer, Ph.D., B.Sc. (Econ.) Issued undér the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Geoftrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press. ITH the British Government driving to develop the colonial empire, this full study of the history and economic effects of Imperial preference when applied to the trade of the colonies (as distinct from the Dominions), has a timely as well as a general interest. It is, however, a book for the student, professional or amateur, rather than the ordinary reader. Particularly is it a book for the experts who have to advise governments. Indeed it has an official origin, for it is a slightly altered version of a thesis accepted by the University of Lendon, and the thesis was based on memoranda written by the author at the invitation of the Colonial Office when he was a research assistant at the~ London School of Economies. The book is packed with facts and figures and deductions covering colonial trade in all its variety of kind and direction. It is impossible heré to do more than make one or two observations on a detailed treatment of a world-wide (continued on next page)

BOOK REVIEWS (Cont'd)

| and intricate subject, The study illustrates the gulf that so often yawns between dreams and realities. Looking at the size, variety, and possibilities of the British colonial empire, one may be easily tempted to believe that Britain should encourage the development of this vast estate by a general system of trade preferences. Dr. Meyer shows that there- are many difficulties in the way of such a policy’s success, Trade between countries criss-crosses like the threads in a fabric (only this is a very rough one). Complications arise. Other Powers give preference to their colonies, and in any case there are groups of British . colonies that have _ special regional interests in which non-British areas are involved. Dr. Meyer’s conclusions will not please enthusiasts for preference. He favours a continuation of preference for the West Indies and a few other colonies, in respect to certain products, and the abandonment of preference elsewhere. The thoroughness and objectivity of this investigation are a credit to British economic scholarship, and an example of the British policy of free enquiry, It is the sort of book one expects to ‘be sponsored by that deep-searching and disinterested body, the Institute of Inter-

national Affairs.

A.

M.