TRADE AND THE FLAG.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 207, 29 August 1912, Page 4

TRADE AND THE FLAG.

THE IMPETUS OF PREFERENCE. During his address to the members of the Chamber of Commerce to-day, on the necessity for Empire knowledge in relation to commerce, the Canadian Commissioner (Mr. W. A. Beddoe) had some shrewd comments to make on a popular fallacy. "It has been said," he remarked, "that trade follows the flag. This may be so to a limited extent, but I am convinced that trade follows hard upon reciprocal preferential tariff, supplemented by adequate transportaition facilities, coupled with a thorough knowledge of empire trade con- > ditions. Previous to the establishment o.f the Canadian Eastern service to New Zealand, the advantages of preferential tariff were not enjoyed to any great extent by Canada, and since the inauguration of the Vancouver service, New Zealand has participated in a trade which was never enjoyed before.' "The countries which enjoyed preferential tariff," he went on to say, "would ex- ! change their products to the exclusion of countries which repelled trade by a high protective tariff. For example, New Zealand shipped, from October, 1910, to March, 1311, 222 boxes of butter to San Francisco. These shipments commenced with fifty boxes per vessel on 22nd October, 1910, and dwindled to two boxes on 11th February, 1911, and on March 11, 1011, shipments ceased. During the same period there were shipped to Vancouver, via San Francisco, 8,975 boxes." -------••--__-----_-_-_