foreign goods that were once imported free. The Act abolishes the duty on tea grown in the Empire, and supplies machinery for establishing reciprocal trade relations.
In introducing the Bill, he said he believed that it was the duty of all who wished the Empire well to facilitate the granting of preferential trade with the Mother Country, but he thought that it was better to go further, take a broader view, and give preference to all within the Empire. He looked upon the Act as hardly anything more than an affirmation of a principle. It seemed to him to be only an instalment of a great deal that was to come afterwards. He scouted the idea of receiving something from the Mother Country in return. He refused to take up that attitude at the Premier’s Conference, and gave another refusal in the colony. New Zealand, he said, must be prepared to give, and he left it to the Mother Country to say what the return should be, or whether there should be any return at all.
He never ceased to look upon the Empire’s trade as its life-blood, and he often said that the vaunted open door of the United Kingdom was the open Sheol of trade and the Hades of the British manufacturer and workman.
He pointed out the importance of Great Britain establishing and maintaining supremacy in the Pacific. He lost few opportunities of expressing the strong opinion he held on this question. He believed that English statesmen did not realise the danger which he saw in the distance. A few months before he died, he wrote to a friend in England:—
“The Pacific Islands question is of paramount importance. Under the altered conditions now existing, which in the future will be greatly changed, to the advantage of other nations, by the construction of the Nicaragua and Panama Canal, numbers of industries will be greatly affected. In fact, it is difficult to grasp the momentous issues involved. Unless British statesmen grasp the situation and provide therefor, they will find in years to come the weak spot. They will discover that the most deadly blow will be struck at our Empire in the Pacific itself.
“The Japanese have stopped the Russians in the East, and what is going to happen in the West, who can tell? It is well ever to be prepared. With industries crippled and food supplies stopped, the people in the heart of our great Empire will be in a bad way. It is not too late for action. Prevention is better than cure, and we must be up and doing. If our kindred at Home do their part, then the self-governing colonies will not fail when the occasion arises. Meantime, wherever possible, the British flag should float over the islands of the Pacific.”
