SHIPMENTS UP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 234, 2 October 1937, Page 12

SHIPMENTS UP.

OVERSEAS VOLUME. PORKERS AND BACONERS. TRADE WITH THE ORIENT. Pork shipments have also shown a considerable increase, according to the chairman's statement, as will be seen by the comparison for the decade 192627 to 1930 37:— Season. Carcases. 1920 27 .... Porkeri .... 45,147 Racon«»r» ... 29,486 1936-37 .... Porkers „... 425,783 Baconers ... 240,559 The exportable surplus of butter has increased by 5 per cent over the season, a total of 149,025 tons being exported. With the exception of 3170 tons, the whole of this has been absorbed by the British market. Shipments of cheese show an increase of 1 per cent to 85,106 tons, only 180 tons going to foreign market® and the rest to Great Britain. All overseas wool shipments were satisfactory, the quantity shipped to Japan, viz., 105,000 bales, showing an increase of 25,000 bales over the previous year, which was practically double the quantity shipped during the 1934-35 season. Trade with the East. Trade generally with the East showed considerable improvement through the year, although owing to the hostilities between China and Japan the future outlook is obscure.

Coastal shipping has also benefited by the large increase in imports, and we have not experienced any great difficulty in securing full cargoes in this direction. Passenger traffic, mostly due to the Coronation, has shown a marked expansion. A large number of New Zealand passengers travelled by the CunardWhite Star Atlantic liners as well as the Port Line vessels, both of which were filled to capacity. We act as agents for both these lines. Insurance Department. A further increase is disclosed in our earnings under this head for the past year, and this has been brought about in the face of keen competition. We are, however, looking for still more business in this department, and we feel that even greater support can be afforded by shareholders and customers. As chief agents in the Waikato for the New Zealand Insurance Company, Ltd., we can arrange cover for fire, accident or marine risk, and inquiries will be welcomed. # Warning to Farmers. There is one subject which in my opinion is of vital importance to the farmers of the Dominion. It concerns them individually and collectively. New Zealand to-day is travelling along an experimental and possibly a dangerous road. We are a very long distance from the great consuming markets on which we depend for the disposal of our produce, and the fact that our dairy produce becomes the property of the State «r Boon as it is shipped does not affect the position as regards the return to the Dominion. It must be sold in competition with other countries. It will not be denied, by anyone connected with the primary industries, that there has been a rapid rise in production costs, and, over a wide range, that affects the net return to the men on the land. Tendency to Forget. In referring to this subject it is not my intention, or desire, to create any unnecessary nervousness, but in times of prosperity there is a tendency to forget, or overlook, important factors. The movement of costs is one which I regard as being of such vital importance to the country that it must have the attention, not only of the producers, but also of the authorities. This is not a self-contained country. It depends to a very large extent on outside competitive markets for its chief source of income. Those who export, be they State Department, trading companies, or individual producers, cannot control overseas prices or escape the effects of developments and policies of other countries. We are dependent upon the British Navy for the maintenance of open sea lanes to our markets, and are thankful for the protection thus provided, but no one has suggested that New Zealand, one supplier among many, can acquire any power that would influence market prices.

Potential Dangers. There are, it must be remembered, alternatives available to consumers overseas, and whenever prices for goods and foodstuffs become dear—relatively speaking—then the consumers at once turn'to the substitute, such as margarine for butter, or rayon for cotton, and now, it has been reported, a substitute for natural wool. These artificial fabrics are the results of scientific developments, and they have their repercussions in the industrial life of this Dominion.

To illustrate what I mean in this connection, let me read this brief extract with reference to artificial wool. The threat of European substitutes for wool to the producing countries of the world was increasing daily and the time was fast approaching when united action would have to be taken to combat it, said Senator T. Guthrie on his return from London recently, as representative of the Australian Wool Board at the recent international textile conference in Paris. Last year the world had used wool substitutes equal to 6,000,000 bales of greasy wool, or twice the total of the usual annual Australian clip.

"Tremendous quantities of wool substitutes are being made in Europe, from wood pulp in Germany, and from milk in Italy," said Senator Guthrie. "I am not afraid of the competition from the Italian substitute, lanital, which has many disadvantages, but I frankly confess my fear of the German substitute, woolstra, which has been improved tremendously, and which is becoming better every day. I carefully examined samples of woolstra, which is made from vegetable fibre, and with the naked eye I could not detect any difference from Australian wool. To Fight Substitutes. "We must not view the future lightly. It is necessary for the wool-producing countries to unite in a campaign to fight substitutes. Not only must there be a world-wide campaign of publicity to tell the people of the undoubted merits of wool, but money must be spent on biological research to reduce costs of wool production, and on technical research to make wool more attractive for the wearer.

"We cannot afford to sit down smugly because wool is Belling well. The wool market is good, because stocks in the world have never been lower. But millions of yards of substitute fibre arc being sold as wool. You can even buy it in Australia. I think that the wool--1 producing countries must iooa introduce

uniform legislation to protect the consumer against adulteration of woollen goods." There is, it must be admitted, a limit to the prices that can be obtained for our exportable surplus in competitive markets overseas, and that at once makes the question of production costs one of immense importance. The aim is to produce on an economic basis, so that the Dominion, by means of a high quality level and assured supplies, may be able to maintain and extend its hold on the British markets. If the wool produced by the leading countries were all going into consumption the outlook in this particular would be much better, but it has been reported that, owipg to the unsettled international position and the rearmament programmes, many countries are accumulating in military stores either woollen good*, uniforms, blankets, shirts, socks, etc., or the raw material for the manufacture of these things, and this cannot go on indefinitely. British Market. Our mainstay in the matter of export* is the British market, but the Mother Country draws supplies from a widelyscattered Empire, as well as from nations with which she is at peace and whose goodwill is of value. Nothing is more certain than that British statesmen do not want war, but experience has shown the tremendous importance of having reliable friends in troublous times such as these. Britain's avowed policy, stressed in the cable news in the last week or two, is to maintain conditions favourable to the steady recovery of world trade, and in that respect New Zealand, as a producer of foodstuffs and raw materials, stands to benefit materially.

There is, therefore, a duty imposed on us as consumers, namely, to do all that lies in our power to assist British industry by taking more and more of its manufactured products—that is, goods that can be more economically produced in Great Britain than in New Zealand. Tariffs are barriers to trade, and New Zealand is pledged to promote trade within the Empire as a matter of basic policy. The principal exports from this country for the year ended June 30, 1937, were:— £ Dairy produce 22,264,326 Meat 14,887,787 Wool 18,770,643 and skins .... 3.086.146 Fruit and seeds 956,072 60,064,974 Other products such as fish, rabbitskins', flax, kauri gum, gold and silver, leather, timber and other things totalled £4,073,762, making a grand total of £64,138,736. It will have been noticed that over £60,000,000 of this total was accounted for by products of the land, and our producers hope to increase their production steadily, so that too much attention cannot be paid to the factors of quality and costs, for the produce is disposed of in a competitive market.

I realise that, when times are good and the outlook appears to be bright, what may be interpreted as a word of warning is often taken to mean pessimism. That certainly is not my intention, but I do wish to stress the fact that, to be stable, production must be on a sound economic bams, and to command growing markets quality must be constantly improved. Eastern Markets. With the possibility of an everexpanding output, as science is applied more and more to production, tha Dominion should examine most carefully the markets in the East. According to recent reports, Australia has buil*. up a rapidly-expanding export trade with India and Malaya. There seems t-j be no obvious reason why New Zealand should not obtain a fair share of these markets by taking (from India especially) goods which can be produced there far cheaper than we in New Zealand can produce them, in exchange for more of our primary products. Such markets are not built up in day, but by enterj prise, and with the co-operation of the political authorities it should be possible for us to obtain a larger share of the business. It would be better to build steadily and safely. New Zealander* have endorsed the policy of trade within the Empire, not altogether for selfish purposes, but in the belief that it must react favourably on world trade, and it is on the restoration of that trade that renewed world prosperity depends.