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domination over the agriculture and indus- try of Europe, she can afford to abandon self-sufficiency and embark on a policy of exporting goods, and it may be raw materials, including coal, at prices which will place the industry of this country at a serious disadvantage. Some time ago we heard a great deal about the Opel car. The President of the Board of Trade will recall the Debate we had in this House, and the concern expressed in all quarters of the House about the excessive importations of that car. It was significant, though it may have been over- looked by hon. Members, that the imports of these cars diminished. Why was that? It was due to the need for producing armoured cars owing to the situation arising from the Sudetenland question. That is over, and we can now expect a resumption of those exports. The right hon. Gentleman shakes his head; he does not agree; but that is the information I have, and from unimpeachable sources.
International Situation I NOVEMBER 1938 economic existence is shattered. She will become, in due course, unless we are careful, a vassal of the German Reich, What will be the position of the United Kingdom? The Prime Minister said this afternoon that Czech trade would not suffer. That may be, but the question I ask hon. Gentlemen to consider is: Are we in a stronger economic position in consequence of the Munich Agreement? The Prime Minister is not alarmed about the consequences, and says that there is nothing to worry about. Is that the view of the President of the Board of Trade? Is it the view of our industrialists, of the textile industry or the coal industry? Are they not concerned about the formidable position of Germany, more formidable now than ever before? It will certainly be more formidable in the future, as I shall try to prove. The Prime Minister says that Germany must always have a dominant position in South-East Europe. That may well be so, but that is not the problem. I shall state the problem.
However much we sympathise with the truncated Czech State and its unhappy people, we are forced by the turn of events to consider the consequences to the industry of this country. Nothing could be more foolish than to under-estimate what the absorption of the Sudeten area into the German economic system really is. Germany is enormously strengthened by the Munich Agreement. She has acquired considerable territory and is able to utilise the services of a vast army of additional workers, many of whom are un- skilled. She can dominate the economic life of Central and South-Eastern Europe. Germany has for some time had an un- favourable balance of trade. Imme- diately before the Anschluss there was a favourable balance, but mobilisation plus the dislocation of industry owing to war preparations, forced her to curtail ex-
That led to ports.
an unfavourable balance of trade. Now she is demobilised or in the process of demobilisation, and has mineral resources newly acquired. She has two million additional workers, skilled in industry, in the territories, which are mainly industrial. It is neces- sary to buy very large quantities of food- stuffs, which may be paid for by greater quantities of manufactured goods.
Before the Munich Agreement, Ger- many was pursuing a policy of self- sufficiency. Now, because of her
Indeed, the Munich Agreement, with its surrender, the dismemberment of the mili- complete abdication of the democratic tary power of Czechoslovakia, and the
countries, have given Herr Hitler pre- cisely what he has been seeking all along, namely, the acquisition of sufficient economic strength to proceed with the greatest trade drive the world has ever
seen.
Europe and in South America.
Already we see signs of that in Nor should we forget the methods that accom- pany it; the manipulation of currency, the curious clearing arrangements I use polite language-the process of barter, plus intimidation and possibly the threat of force. How is that threat to be countered? How are we to meet and withstand the shattering blasts which soon will confront the industries of the United
Kingdom? Can we afford to be undercut and undersold in the markets upon which we have depended? Can our exporting districts stand it? It is not of any use to remind us that the bulk of the trade in South Eastern Europe was in the hands of Germany and Italy. I am well aware that we had only a small percentage of that trade, possibly about 6 per cent., as against Germany and Italy's 75 per cent. That is true; but it is in our Scan- dinavian market-a market of supreme importance in South America, and it may well be in some of our Dominions, for I am not unmindful of the position in South Africa, where the blow will fall.
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