Evening star., 1934-04-22
British Farm Leader
Upholds Nationalism
BY A. G. GARDINER.

LONDON. April 21.-The British
Empire is becoming shadowy struc-
ture under the blows dealt it by
Walter Elliot, the minister of agri-
culture in the national government.
Mr.. Elliot is our parallel to your Presi-
dent Roosevelt, He is our man of
action and ideas, but, while Mr..
Roosevelt is an empiric who passes
from one experiment to another in
his passionate quest for the solution
of his riddle, Mr.. Elliot is a doc
trlnaire who is convinced that he has
the solution and drives ahead with
fearless impetus, reckless of conSe-
quences.
Beginning as Fabian Socialist, he
has become the big noise in the Con-
servative party and the driving force
OF the government in the field of do
mestic reconstruction. He believes
that ''nationalism" has come to stay
and that international trade. on which
Britain has prospered in the past, is
in permanent decline. The business
Of the country. therefore, is to pro-
tect its own market and make itself
sell e1-supporting. Agriculture is to be
made the foundation of the state and
the interests of the consumer must
be sacrificed to those of the agricul-
tural producer. Industry is to be
compensated by enjoying a monopoly
OF the home market.
Hence the revolution wrought in
p-i@;
policy. Tariffs have rained down on
us like locusts from the skies. Every
day produces its quota" for this,
that or the other. Where neither
tariff nor quotas will serve, subsidies
are instituted to keep the pot boiling.
Where it is all to end, no one
knows. But, apart from its other
consequences. 1t is threatening some
thing like economic war in the Brit
ish commonwealth. For, in his de-
termination to set home agriculture
on its feet at all costs, Mr.. Elliot
has come in conflict with the domin-
ions. Under the Ottawa agreements
the old English principle of free i'm
ports was confined to members of the
British Empire, while tariffs of vary
ing heights were imposed on imported
foreign goods. These agreements
have been helpful to the dominion
farmers, but disastrous to the home
farmer.
Meat and bacon, cheese and butter
have poured into the country from
the dominionS under the Ottawa
agreements in unprecedented quantity
and it is no consolation to the British
farmer that he is beaten out of the
field by competitors who belong to
the British commonwealth. If he is
undersold by the farmers of New Zea-
| land, Australia, or Canada he is in
no better case than he was in being
undersold by the farmers of Denmark
II he is to be put on his feet he must
be protected against his dominion
rivals as well as against his foreign
rivals.
That is Mr.. Elliots view, and he
has made it clear that as soon as
his hands are freed from the Ottawa
shackles quotas will be applied to
the cheese and butter, beef and NUT
ton which are imported into Britain
from the dominions. This has natu-
rally alarmed the oversee producers
and governments. The British market
is the main market for their prod
ucts. In the case of New Zealand,
for example, it is almost the only
market, and in its apprehension the
government of that country has pro-
posed to reduce drastically the pro-
tective tariff on British goods in re-
turn for the unrestricted entry of New
Zealand primary products into Great
Britain. To this proposal the reply
has been made that planned market
ing is the accepted policy of the ma
tional government and that quotas,
even in regard to dominion products,
are essential to it.
Thus the stage is set for a serious
economic quarrel between Britain and
the dominions, In the course of which
the Ottawa agreements will go by the
board, and the interests of the British
consumer will be further sacrificed to
the needs Of agriculture. In short,
the farther Britain goes in the deser-
ton of free trade the more various
are the difficulties in which it be-
comes involved.
.(Copyright, 1934.)